THE METAMORPHOSIS OF INSECTS. 



241 



frost. Some line this cell with silk, making thus a soft 

 covering for the body, and shutting out more effectually 

 the cold. Some of the caterpillars accomplish the same 

 object by constructing above ground a cocoon specially 

 adapted to guard against the cold. This is exemplified 

 in the case of one of the largest and most splendid of 



our American Mothsi 

 — the Cecropia Moth, 

 Fig. 186 (p. 240). It 

 is found, as Professor 

 Jaeger states, all the 

 way from the Canadas 

 to the Mexican Gulf, 

 and also in all the "West- 

 ern States. It has large 

 wings, measuring five 

 to six inches from tip 

 to tip. The scales on 

 them, § .397, are dusky 

 brown. The borders 

 of the wings are richly 

 variegated, the anterior 

 ones having near their 

 tops a dark spot re- 

 sembling an eye, and 

 both pairs having kid- 

 ney-shaped red spots. 

 Y 414. In this case the 

 ' caterpillar, or larva, 

 Fig. 187, is nearly as 

 beautiful in colors as 

 the perfect insect or 

 imago. It is of a light 

 green color, and has 

 coral-red warts, with 

 short black bristles, 

 over its body. It feeds 



187 — The Caterpillar, or Larva. 



