State Agricultural Society. 555 
members, I know not bow it can draw the end of its body out of the 
larva skin, except by shortening it, although Reaumur says it has 
ceased to shorten and lengthen itself. And several considerations 
seem to render it wholly impossible for the pupa to release the end 
of its body in the manner stated. Hanging as it does closely girt 
about by a loop around its middld, its body cannot be moved forward 
a third of its length without breaking the loop. The loop it should 
be observed is more or less imbedded in and glued to the surface, 
whereby the releasing of the bind end from the larva skin in the 
manner stated must be effected wholly by the half of the bod}’ back 
of the loop. This half of the body is three-eighths of an inch long, 
with two-thirds of this length covered by the larva skin with its tip 
fastened to the little hillock of silk threads; being thus situated I 
know not how it can draw itself out of the larva skin except this 
half of the body shortens itself to one-third of its length, and this it 
is obviously incapable of doing. But it is unnecessary to pursue this 
subject further. Suffice it to say that with Reaumur’s statement 
in my thoughts and my attention fixed upon what was taking place, 
I have distinctly seen the vermicular motion continue, the body con¬ 
tracting and lengthening alternately and crowding the larva skin back¬ 
ward, further and further, until all the segments of the body except 
the last were released. And how Reaumur came to fall into the error 
it thus appears he has done is unaccountable to me. 
The pup;e are three-quarters of an inch long, and about one-fourth 
as thick. They are quite rough and uneven anteriorly, with pro¬ 
jecting ridges and angular points on the back, and the head pro¬ 
longed into a tapering horn. In their color they are variable as the 
chameleon, the same pupa sometimes changing to a wholly different 
color in twenty-four hours. Is their color influenced by that of the 
surface on which they are placed ? A worm which I confined in a 
stone jar, which was dark-brown inside, girt itself to this surface, and 
changed to'one of the darkest colored pupae I have seen. They are 
frequently green, or bluish-green when they have newly entered the 
pupa state, but this color fades after a time. Others are flesh-colored. 
Others are brown, often of a pale umber tint. Their most common 
color is gray, usually pale or ash gray, and they are freckled with 
numerous black dots. When the time is near for them to give out 
the butterfly the wing-sheaths become bright yellow, and show also 
the black spots of the wings, whereby we are able to ascertain the 
sex of the butterfly some weeks previous to its birth. 
