HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 



is narrower decidedly than the width of the larg- 

 est "coin." The great spangled varies so in size 

 that specimens of it are often not larger than the 

 silver-spot, so this wide buff band is the only 

 thing that distinguishes the species. 



The history of the great spangled caterpillar 

 is an interesting one. It hatches from the egg 

 in the fall as a tiny olive caterpillar ; it may take 

 a bite or two of the egg-shell, but never another 

 mouthful ; with this scanty breakfast to sustain 

 it it meets the rigors of winter. It lies dormant 

 until spring melts its coverlet of frost and snow 

 and spreads an early banquet of new violet leaves 

 for this fasting baby. It is always a shy insect, 

 feeding only during the night and hiding by day ; 

 it changes to a dark-brown chrysalis beneath 

 stones or sticks or other objects on the ground 

 which may give it shelter. 



The species is single-brooded in the North and 

 probably double-brooded in the South. It occurs 

 in Canada and the northern half of the eastern 

 part of the United States. 



The mute insect fixed upon the plant 

 On whose soft leaves it hangs, and from whose cup 

 Draws imperceptibly its nourishment, 

 Endeared my wanderings. 



Wordsworth. 

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