CORRESPONDENCE COURSE IN ENTOMOLOGY. 



Conducted Under the Auspices of The Agassiz Association. 

 Lesson IV. THE PUPA. 

 WHAT A STRANGE THING IS A CHRYSALIS. 



In the magnificent works of Dr. Sam'I H. Scudder entitled "The Butterflies 

 of New England," works which represent stupendous labor and genius, the illus- 

 trations of the various chrysalides are singularly fascinating. What queer shapes, 

 what curious designs, what exquisite colorings! What a wonderful stage in the 

 incarnation of a butterfly is the pupa! How utterly inconceivable that beneath 

 the skin of a caterpillar is concealed a chrysalis, and enclosed in the pupa is an 

 imago ! The worm stage represents the humblest and most generally despised 

 form of animate life, the butterfly the most glorious, exalted, enchanting and 

 resplendent form. Between the two is this strange, mysterious, pupal link in which 

 animation seems almost suspended. All the senses except that of feeling are 

 obliterated, and a slight wriggling motion when disturbed is the only indication of 

 feeling. Sight, taste, smell, hearing have perished. The caterpillar has died. 

 The larvae of many moths bury themselves in the ground and utterly disappear, 

 leaving behind something vastly different from a larva and wholly unlike a moui 

 or butterfly. Life, death, burial, resurrection are so strongly typified and empha- 

 sized, in the transformations of insects that it is little wonder these transformations 

 are recognized as mute and eloquent sermons on immortality. 



FROM WORM TO CHRYSALIS. 



Watching for the first time the change from caterpillar to pupa inspires 

 strange thoughts. Perhaps you saw that caterpillar as it hatched from the egg 

 and have nursed, fed and cared for it every day of its life. You have learned 

 to really like it. You have given it the freshest of leaves, worried when it failed 

 to eat, rejoiced over its change of raiment after each molting period, and have 

 anxiously observed its restlessness and evident unhappiness as the pupal stage 

 approached. You have seen it shrivel up and lie so still that you felt it must be 

 dead. Suddenly the shrivelled skin splits at the head and thorax and the wriggling 

 chrysalis is disclosed. The head, legs and all that seemed to constitute the cater- 

 pillar is crumpled up into a pitiful little pile of wreckage. The thing you cared for 

 so tenderly was only a mask. The true ego, the inner self, the only part that 

 survives is the chrysalis, and plainly marked on its moist, soft covering are the 

 head, legs and^ folded wings of a butterfly. 



WHEN TO FIND PUPAE. 



Fall and Winter are the best seasons to search for cocoons because the leaves 

 are gone, the twigs and branches are bare, and one is more likely to find them. 

 Some moths and butterflies hibernate and these can be occasionally captured; some 

 species pass the winter season in egg and larval state ; but the best of the 

 winter collecting is gathering cocoons. Until you have mastered the trick of 

 searching for them you will think the task impossible, but after a little practice and 

 experience you will wonder how you lived so many years without discovering 

 these queer little objects. As soon as the Autumn leaves flutter to earth the work 

 begins and it continues until the Spring verdure conceals their hiding places. It 



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