2l8 



pet, its curious gait, for it is a bad walker, 

 and does not spread out the web of its feet, 

 its half-upright attitude, and shrewd look 

 being all striking characteristics ; but the 

 most curious thing is the short period in 

 which a bird, so entirely a sea bird as this is, 

 has made itself comfortable on land, and 

 accustomed itself to domestic life, and it is 

 most comical to see it waddle down the gar- 

 den for worms, snapping at flies as they come 

 near it. — John E, Robson, West Hartlepool. 



THE PUP^E OF 

 LEPIDOPTERA, 



By Joseph Anderson, Jr. 

 See Plate 19. 



I wonder how many persons unacquainted 

 with the study of insects if asked the mean- 

 ing of the word pupa would be able to return 

 a correct answer. But tell them that the 

 word has the same signification as chrysalis, 

 and they would at once understand the term, 

 and yet the two are not strictly synonymous. 

 The word chrysalis, as I need not remind 

 you, is a Greek derivative signifying gold, 

 and is applicable to the Papilionidse only, 

 and in reality to but a few of them : the 

 chrysalides of the Vanessida, such as Peacock 

 (Vanessa Io j, the Tortoiseshells (Urticce and 

 Polychloros), the Red Admiral (Vanessa 

 Atalanta ) glittering as if made with this 

 precious metal. Aurelia, from the Latin 

 durum, was another word, now become 

 obsolete, frequently used by the fathers of 

 entomology in their writings on the subject. 



We see, therefore, that the word chrysalis, 

 although the most generally understood, can 

 with propriety be used for a very small por- 

 tion of lepidopterous insects. The great 

 naturalist Linnaeus, however, invented a term 

 that would apply to this stage of metamor- 

 phosis in all insects, that of Pupa, the perfect 

 insect being bound up or masked in the 

 pupa-case. 



The Pupse of insects are divided by New- 



man into three kinds : Amorphous, Necro- 

 ; morphous, and Isomorphous, long words but 

 easily explained. The first, Amorpha, when 

 they do not resemble the imago ; Necro- 

 morpha, when tney are very like it, the third, 

 Isomorpha, when they are similar to the 

 perfect insect, except that they are wingless. 

 It is scarcely necessary to say that the lepi- 

 doptera belong to the first of these divisions. 

 Should you prefer English terms some have 

 been invented ; for myself I must confess that 

 I prefer those just given. This is a matter ol 

 opinion, here are the divisions in English for 

 you to decide. A pupa in which the future 

 limbs are shown outside the case is "obtected;' 

 a "nymph ' is a pupa in which they are folded 

 up ; but not, as in the coleoptera, enveloped 

 in a hard uniform case; and when no parts o: 

 the future insect are visible, being hidden ir 

 a smooth uniform case, as in dipterous in 

 sects, the term "coarctate" is employed, 

 My notes will be confined to the first divisior. 

 of pupse, in science Amorpha. 



I suppose most people know that a butterfl) 

 or moth in the cycle of its existence passes 

 through four stages : the egg, larva or cater 

 pillar, pupa, and imago. But would it not 

 be new to some to be told that " ab initio,' 

 the future insect existed in a rudimentary 

 condition, and that the various metamor 

 phoses are a constant succession of clothe; 

 changing ? The egg shell is thrown off, anc 

 the caterpillar appears, then goes on eating 

 with voracious appetite till his clothes gel 

 too small for him, they slit down the back 

 and he appears in a new suit, changes his 

 juvenile suits several times; at length get: 

 rid of theoa altogether, dons the sober pup; 

 dress, throws this off, and, clothed in a robfS 

 of beauty, with colours bright from heaven'aj 

 dyes, comes forth a perfect butterfly, or mothl 

 to enjoy an existence as dissimilar as ma}j 

 well be to aught that has preceded it — ail : 

 existence of unmixed pleasure, of disporting 

 in the sunshine, and sipping the nectar froir 

 the chalices of Mowers. This is a rapid sketcl 

 of the life. history of a lepidopterous insect. 



