30 
THE BUGOEOGIST 
can think how much they eat and how fast they grow 
when I tell you a little about the larva or caterpillar of 
the Silk-worm. 
When it hatches out it weighs about one twentieth 
of a grain ; when ten days old it weighs one half a grain 
or ten times its first weight; when thirty days old, thirty- 
one grains or six-hundred twenty times its first weight; 
when fifty-six days old it weighs two-hundred-seven 
grains or four-thousand-one-hundred-forty times its first 
weight. Just think ! If we should ever grow to weigh 
four-thousand times our first weight, what clumsy things 
we would be. The caterpillar lives to eat, so to speak. 
But his life is not long. After a few weeks he 
will be asleep. What! Asleep in summer ? Yes, in 
summer. 
The eggs of this one are laid on the under sides 
of turnip-leaves. In about three or four days they hatch. 
The larvae or caterpillars then live for about three weeks. 
And after that, fall asleep for about three days. On 
awakening, do you think they will awaken caterpillars? 
You will be surprised when I tell you no. They will be 
butterflies when they awaken. 
This larvae is one of the kind known as the Cabbage 
or Turnip butterfly. It will turn into a butterfly like 
that yellow one or that whitish yellow one before you. 
