CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES 253 



fear, so harmless do they look. But there are others, 

 of a larger size, wjhich carry on the back, toward the 

 rear, a menacing horn, a sort of hook, of which it 

 seems prudent to beware. This apprehension, how- 

 ever, is groundless : the horn is inoffensive, being not 

 a weapon but a mere ornament. Caterpillars thus 

 equipped become large butterflies flying in the late 

 evening twilight. 



"Still others have an even more repulsive look, 

 bristling as they do with clusters of prickles and with 

 tufts of long hair. From these ugly creatures, whose 

 very touch would be so disagreeable to us and would 

 make us utter cries of fear, come some of the most 

 beautiful butterflies of our part of the world. Such 

 is the caterpillar that browses the leaves of the net- 

 tle -and becomes the Vanessa Io or peacock-butterfly. 

 It is black with white spots, and wears a rough armor 

 of toothed prickles. The butterfly, the Vanessa, has 

 wings of a bright brick-red adorned with a large eye 

 of mingled black, violet, and blue. Who would ever 

 imagine, unless he had seen the transformation or 

 heard about it, that so ravishing a creature has such 

 an origin? 



"But for all their hairs and prickles caterpillars 

 need cause us no alarm. Nothing about them jus- 

 tifies the fear they too often inspire. No caterpillar 

 is poisonous, no caterpillar seriously injures the 

 hands that touch it. Yet it is well not to repose full 

 confidence in hairy caterpillars : sometimes the hairs 

 become detached -and cling to the fingers, causing 

 rather lively itching sensations. But a little scratch- 



