328 DIVISION III. ARTICULATED ANIMALS.— CLASS IV. INSECTA. 
There are few persons who have not observed this caterpillar moving 
along on a twig or slender branch of shrubs, plants, and trees, and been 
struck by the curious operation. It seizes hold of the twig with its six fore 
legs, and then elevates the intermediate segments of the body into an arch, 
until the hind ones are brought close to the others, when it disengages its 
fore feet, and thrusts forward the body its full length, and then repeating the 
operation till the journey is ended. 
Most caterpillars are vegetable-eaters; but some feed on the hard and 
solid parts of wood, which they soften with a secretion discharged from the 
mouth, and others attack cloths and furs, —as the moths, —and do great 
injury. Some of the caterpillars are social, and live together under a shelter 
they construct together; others make cases to dwell in, and still others make 
galleries in the pulp of green leaves. Some of them make their appearance 
in winter, and we have often seen one of the moth species, in its furry coat 
of black and reddish-brown, moving along on a sunny bank, in the coldest 
weather. They generally moult four times before passing to the chrysalis 
state. 
This order is divided by systemists into three families, and these again 
into many genera; but the three great genera of Linneus — Papilio, 
Sphine, and Phalwna, represent the tribe with sufficient fulness for our 
purpose. 
Paritio. — The Butterflies. These are diurnal insects, which delight in the 
sunshine, and flutter, apparently with e¢reat pleasure, through the sunny hours 
of the summer day. The Papdliones are remarkable for their beauty, and 
for the series of transformations they undergo before reaching the perfect 
state. The female lays a great quantity of eggs, which produce the cater- 
pillars so destructive to the foliage of vegetables. After a short period the 
caterpillar becomes a chrysalis. These chrysalides are of various forms, 
and sometimes adorned with bright golden or silvery spots. Here the cat- 
erpillar closes its career, and the gorgeous and brilliant butterfly, born of 
its decay, comes forth in glory and splendor, the admiration and wonder of 
all beholders. It is not strange that this great marvel of nature should have 
suggested to the poetic mind of the Greeks their most expressive and elo- 
quent symbol of immortality, viz., the butterfly emerging from the 
chrysalis. 
The most splendid specimens of the genus are the Hquites, or Knights, of 
Linnwus, the most beautiful of which are found in South America, espe- 
cially Brazil, where they cover the groves, gardens, and fields with their 
luxuriant glory. 
The species are too numerous to be recorded here. 2. machaon, or 
Swallow-tailed Butterfly, is a splendid insect. 2. Danai candidi and P. 
