CHAPTER XLVIII 



CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES 



*/^VF all insects butterflies are the most graceful, 

 V_>/ the most worthy of childhood's eager desire. 

 Oh, how beautiful they are ! Poised on a flower, they 

 seem to form a part of it and to animate it with the 

 gentle beating of their wings. You cautiously draw 

 near, you crouch down and make a quick clutch with 

 the hand, but the beautiful creature is no longer 

 there. It is waiting for you on another flower, quite 

 unconcerned at your designs on its freedom. Let 

 us leave it, then, to flit from one cluster of lilacs to 

 another, and occupy ourselves a while with an ac- 

 count of its structure and habits. 



"All butterflies have four wings suitable for fly- 

 ing, two upper and larger ones, and two lower ones 

 half hidden under the others. Here we find no horny 

 sheaths such as are worn by the scarab and the June- 

 bug, no protecting case under which the membranous 

 wings are folded to guard against laceration. The 

 scarab is a clod-hopper, well acquainted with the 

 harsh irregularities of the ground. He pursues his 

 plodding course on foot, and it is only rarely that he 

 spreads his wings in flight. The butterfly is a deli- 

 cate creature of the air, very seldom using its legs 

 for walking, but finding them of service when it 



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