84 



THE REPORT OF THE 



[19 



The antennae or feelers are thread like, and club shaped at the ends. (Have all 

 butterflies and moth similar feelers ?) The eyes are quite prominent, and if they are 

 examined with a strong lens a large number of facets (Fig 35, b) will be seen. Such eyes 

 are said to be compound. 



Fig. 37.— (a) Head of Cabbage butter- 

 fly, showing eye, long antennae and 

 coiled sucking tube, (b) Head with 

 sucking tube uncoiled. 



Fig. 38. — A Cabbage Worm, showing the yellowish band 

 along the back, the breathing pores, and yellowish 

 dots along the sides, the three pairs of true legs in 

 front, the five pairs of prop-legs behind, and the hairs 

 and black dots on the back. (Somewhat magnified.) 



Perhaps the most interesting structure of 

 the butterfly is the long sucking tube which is 

 usually coiled up like a watch spring, (Fig. 37, 

 a). Jf we observe a butterfly while on a visit 

 to a flower, we shall find that the sucking-tube is 

 uncoiled (Fig. 37, b) and thrust into the corolla, 

 and that the nectar is sucked by means of 

 little muscles acting on a bulb or sac at the 



base of the tube. The process resembles that by which wate^ is drawn up through a 



straw inserted in the mouth. 



The eggs are laid by the female butterfly on the plant which serves as food for the 

 caterpillar. Pupils should look on the underside of the leaves of cabbage, turnip, rape, 

 mignonette, and other cruciferous plants for the pale yellow, flask-shaped, erect bodies, 

 and examine carefully with a lens to find the vertical ribs on the eggs. The teacher 

 should direct attention to the fact that the eggs are seldom placed in clusters but are 

 somewhat scattered. 



In about a week the tiny caterpillar comes out of the egg. (Note how long it takes 

 to become full grown, and how often it moults). The color is green like its food-plant. 

 All should examine carefully and find the yellowish band along the top of its back, the 

 row of yellow spots along the sides and the fine black dots on its body. When full grown 

 the caterpillar is nearly an inch in length. (Fig. 38). Then there are indications that 

 another change is about to take place. (What are some of these indications 1 Where do 

 you generally find the chrysalids ?) 



Very frequently in the autumn many cabbage-worms present a distended and 

 sickly appearance. They are sluggish and have no desire to eat. If some of these 

 worms be put in a box and taken to the house, where they can be observed frequently, 



