CORRESPONDENCE COURSE IN ENTOMOLOGY. 



Conducted Under the Auspices of The Agassiz Association. 



Lesson V.— THE ADULT. 



"OF WHAT USE ARE BUTTERFLIES?" 



That question is asked oftener by beginners than any other. It is a 

 proper, natural question for one to ask who learns, for the first time, that 

 butterflies can be sold. Everything that brings in money must be useful, or 

 in some manner must contribute to the welfare or happiness of mankind. And 

 yet, at the outset, this question used to jar upon my nerves. To one of my 

 first correspondents, No. 33, I believe, who had politely asked, probably from 

 sheer curiosity, "What commercial purposes are butterflies used for?" I ex- 

 ploded as follows: "None, I think. It is said that the Chinese make medicine 

 out of certain varieties, but I really do not believe it. Science generally claims 

 to ignore commercialism. If you asked the Astronomer of what commercial 

 use are the stars, he would blink at you in astonishment. Of what commercial 

 use are the 'lilies' or what does it matter commercially 'how they grow?' yet 

 we are told to 'consider' them. John Muir, at a public meeting given in his 

 honor at Portland, was asked if he saw gold in the streams of Alaska. This 

 was long before gold was discovered and the man thought he was asking a good, 

 practical question. Muir's reply was: 'I don't remember to have noticed. 

 If there had been a lump of gold where I was drinking I would have admired 

 it no more and no less than I would any other pebble.' Of what use com- 

 mercially are the paintings of the great masters? or the Aurora Borealis? 

 or the music of the spheres? Anything so beautiful as a butterfly's plumage, 

 or a beautiful note in music, or the rainbow in a mountain cascade, or a spray 

 of maidenhair fern or the sunset glow on Mount Rose does not need a commer- 

 cial value. Butterflies are not used for commercial purposes; they are studied 

 for scientific purposes; they are studied because they are the most marvelously 

 beautiful of God's creatures." I felt better after I had thus exploded, but when 

 correspondent after correspondent asked the same question, I thought better 

 of the matter and apologized to No. 33. 



PROVIDE PERCHES FOR NEWLY HATCHED ADULTS. 



When the queer little adult emerges from the pupa, with its wings folded 

 and crumpled together, its big head and soft, moist body, it has slight semblance 

 of a butterfly. Its first necessity is to reach some twig, the under side of a 

 piece of bark, a stick or a board to which it can cling and allow its wings 

 to hang down and expand. The pupa, when the time for hatching approaches, 

 must be placed near the side of the cage, or provided with a loose covering 

 of twigs, branches, or something upon which it may climb and hang suspended, 

 back downward. Cages with cloth sides and top, made of wire netting, of 

 rough, unplaned boards, or of coarse pasteboard, afford safe and satisfactory 

 surfaces for the feet to cling, but the newly hatched butterfly should not be 

 compelled to travel far to reach its perching place. The grass and weeds and 

 bushes under natural conditions offer abundant resting places., and in artificial 

 surroundings careful provision must be made. Unless great care is taken in 

 this respect the wings will not properly develop and the insect will be crippled 

 and ruined. 



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