84 
HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packakd. 
hairs from its body and dextrously weaving them into a firm 
texture without the aid of silken threads, the hairs being 
held firmly in place by the barbs. 
“June 13th, the Ctenucha larva began to construct its co¬ 
coon. Early in the morning it described an ellipse, upon 
the side of the glass vessel, of hairs plucked from just behind 
the head. From this elliptical line as a base, it had by eight 
o’clock built up rather unequally the wall of its cocoon, in 
some places a third of the distance up, by simply piling upon 
each other the spinulated hairs, which adhered firmly to¬ 
gether. At four o’clock in the afternoon, the arch was com¬ 
pleted and the larva walled in by a light thin partition. 
Soon afterwards the thin floor was made. No silk is spun 
throughout the whole operation. I afterwards carefully ex¬ 
amined portions of the cocoon under the microscope and 
could detect no threads of any kind.” 
From this it will appear that aside from their defensive 
nature, these barbed hairs come into play when the insect 
prepares to lay aside its caterpillar skin like an old garment, 
and go into retirement as a chrysalis. So also the hairs of 
the “woolly bear” caterpillar (Arctia Isabella) and of the 
common Vanessa butterfly ( Vanessa Antiopa) are poisonous 
to children. 
The caterpillar of another moth, the Empretia stimulea , is 
said by Dr. Clemens to be very annoying. “The spines with 
which the horns are supplied produce an exceedingly painful 
sensation when they come in contact with the back of the 
hand or any portion of the body in which the skin is thin.” 
The caterpillar of the Io moth ( Hypercheiria Io , Fig. 64 ; 
65 a, 6, c, spines), which feeds commonly on corn in the 
southern states, though in New England it feeds on the 
maple, is covered with stinging hairs, which are often pain¬ 
ful when detached. 
The caterpillar of the Maia moth ( Hemileuca Mata, Fig. 
66 a, caterpillar) is armed with still more annoying spines. 
20 
