DEVELOPMENT AND METAMORPHOSIS. 



35 



these eggs hatch tiny green caterpillars less than a quarter 

 of an inch long ; these begin eating the tender tomato leaves, 

 moult four times, and grow to a size of about four inches. 

 At the caudal end of the abdomen there is a blackish- 

 green or bluish-black horn pointing backward; and along 

 each side is a row of yellowish stripes placed obliquely. 

 During the three weeks of the larval life these cater- 



FlG. 17.— Larva of tomato worm. {Kellogg, after Soule; somewhat reduced.) 



pillars eat enormous quantities of leaves, and they seem 

 especially to enjoy finding a tomato— green or ripe, it 

 does not matter; of course this means more to eat and 

 less work to get it. At the end of this time they stop 

 eating and burrow into the ground at the base of the 

 plants which they have been eating, and lie inactive. If 

 the poor catei-pillar is in a pan in the schoolroom and 

 cannot make you understand what it needs, it will crawl 



