102 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. 



which to undergo their pupa stage, those of Butter- 

 flies scarcely ever provide any sort of protection for 

 this state. When the larva; are full grown and cease 

 to feed, they betray the same uneasiness which is 

 common to other larvae, and frequently quit, as in 

 disgust, the plant on the foliage of which they have 

 been nourished, in search of some situation deemed 

 more secure, as may be witnessed by placing the 

 Caterpillars of two or three common species in the 

 Vivarium, such as that of the " Cabbage White," 

 and that of the small Tortoise-shell or Peacock 

 Butterflies. Notwithstanding this apparent anxiety 

 however, they are at last content merely to fasten 

 themselves to some place which their instinct sug- 

 gests to them as convenient, by means of a loop 

 formed of a few threads of a web which they 

 have the means of spinning. 



The process is effected in the following manner: — 

 The Caterpillar of the common Cabbage White 

 Butterfly, when for this purpose it has taken its 

 post against a branch or wall, or piece of paling — 

 for it seems to prefer a solid support — first spins 

 from its mouth a small knot of silky thread, which it 

 fastens on one side of its body near the front pair of 

 ventral legs. Then, passing the head over to the 

 other side, it carries a thread with it and attaches it 



