180 OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CLASS — INSECTA 



The swallowtails are our largest butterflies, and are 

 easily recognized by the prolonged, tail-like appendages 

 of the hind wings. The black ground color of the wings 

 (Fig. 121) is usually conspicuously banded and marked 

 with yellow, and metallic blue or green. The larvae, or 

 caterpillars, of these butterflies are common on caraway 

 and parsley, and on apple, cherry, plum, tulip trees, etc. 

 The caterpillars are peculiar and interesting, because each 

 one has two fleshy " horns " that may be pushed out 

 through a slitlike opening on the top side of the front of 

 the thorax. The horns are thought to be for the purpose 

 of defense; for in some species, at least, they exhale 

 when pushed out a very disagreeable odor. There are 

 several species of swallowtails, among which are the black 

 swallowtail, the tiger swallowtail, and the zebra swallow- 

 tail. 



The monarch is a very common butterfly and is abundant 

 over the middle and eastern United States. It has light, 

 tawny brown wings with black veins and two rows of white 

 spots around the edges. The caterpillars, which live upon 

 various species of milkweed, are yellowish in color and 

 banded with black. The chrysalids are bright green, 

 dotted with gold. 



Moths. — Even a beginner will hardly mistake a moth 

 for a butterfly. The caterpillars of moths are, as a whole, 

 very much more abundant and more injurious than those 

 of butterflies. There are also many more species of moths 

 than butterflies. The larvae of some moths are among our 

 worst insect pests. 



The large green " worms " found on tomato plants are 

 the larvae of a magnificent hawk moth (Fig. 122). The 

 moth has long, narrow, graceful wings that are ash-gray in 



