32 
FINDING NATURE’S TREASURES 
moth?” asked Buddy. “Mother told us that is the way 
the caterpillar of the swallow-tail butterfly does.” 
“Yes, this caterpillar will go to sleep, too,” answered 
Uncle Jack. “First, it will dig down into the ground and 
make a little room for itself. It will then turn into a 
dark brown pupa with a handle like a jug.” 
“Why does it have a handle?” asked Marylee. “Does 
it want someone to carry it around?” 
“No,” replied Uncle Jack. “That is not a real handle, 
but there inside is its long mouth.” 
“What a queer place for a mouth,” said Marylee. “It 
must be longer than the mouth of a butterfly.” 
“It is longer,” said Uncle Jack. “When you look at 
the pupa you can see the baby wings under the brown 
shell. You can see the eyes, too. The pupa stays in the 
little room all winter. In the spring, it changes into a 
beautiful moth and comes out. Now, Buddy, can you 
tell all the things that a moth is, while it is a baby?” 
“I think that I can, Uncle Jack,” answered Buddy. 
“A moth lays eggs. Baby caterpillars hatch out of the 
eggs. The babies grow and keep changing their skins 
until they become big caterpillars. The big caterpillars 
change into pupas, and pupas become moths.” 
“That is well told,” said Uncle Jack. 
“What kind of a moth will this caterpillar be?” asked 
Marylee. 
“It will be a humming-bird moth, or as it is sometimes 
called, a hawk moth.” 
“Do you mean a moth like those that come to our 
honeysuckle and look like humming birds?” 
