THE CATERPILLAR. 5 



in the body of the caterpillar. The palpi are organs of touch, 

 and seem to be of use to the caterpillar when moving about. 



Immediately after hatching, many caterpillars eat the egg- 

 shell for their first meal ; they then settle down to the business 

 of feeding and growing. It should be remembered that it is 

 entirely on growth made whilst in the caterpillar stage that the 

 size of a butterfly depends. In the course of a day or two the 

 necessity arises for fasting, as moulting, an important event, is 

 about to take place. Having spun a slender carpet of silk on a 

 leaf or twig, the caterpillar secures itself thereto, and then 

 awaits the moment when all is ready for the transformation to 

 commence. After a series of twistings from side to side and 

 other contortions, the skin yields along the back near the head, 

 the head is drawn away from its old covering and thrust 

 through the slit in the back, the old skin then peels downwards 

 whilst the caterpillar draws itself upwards until it is free. The 

 new skin, together with any hairs or spines with which it may be 

 clothed, is at first very soft. In the course of a short time all is 

 perfected, and the caterpillar is ready to enter upon its second 

 stage of growth. At the end of the second stage the skin- 

 changing operation is again performed, and the whole business 

 is repeated two or more times afterwards. Finally, however, 

 when the caterpillar has shed its skin for the last time, the 

 chrysalis is revealed, but with the future wings seemingly free. 

 These, together with the other organs, are soon fixed down to 

 the body by the shell, which results from a varnish-like ooze 

 which covers all the parts and then hardens. 



Generally speaking, newly hatched caterpillars, though of 

 different kinds, are in certain respects somewhat alike, but the 

 special characters of each begin to appear, as a rule, after the 

 first change of skin {ecdysis), and these go on developing with 

 each successive stage (stadium) until the caterpillar is full 

 grown. The form assumed in each stage is termed the znstar, 

 therefore a caterpillar just from the egg would be referred to as 



