indicated : Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, 
Butterfly, Egg. 
Why they migrate is not known but 
evidence enough has been brought in 
by eye witnesses to prove that this 
does occur. One flight seen in Switz- 
erland lasted for two hours, the con- 
tinuous stream of insects being ten or 
fifteen feet wide and made up of the 
species called the Painted Lady. Similar 
companies have been seen at sea, as 
Mr. Darwin bears witness, also before 
and after tornadoes in certain places. 
In Ceylon a gentlemen drove through 
a cloud of white Butterflies for nine 
miles. But very interesting to us, is a 
great migration recorded to have been 
seen in our own country, in Massachu- 
setts, about Oct. I, 1876. These are 
strange stories, but really hardly more 
strange than other facts about these 
little animals, graceful and beautiful 
in form and motion, whose very 
presence adds greatly to the charm of 
mother Nature. 
Such quantities of eggs are laid by 
the Butterflies that if certain animals 
did not contend against them, man 
would not be able to withstand the 
ravages of the Caterpillar. Man has 
one powerful ally in the birds 
which devour enormous quantities of 
these eggs, but a still more powerful 
ally is the Ichneumon Fly. This little 
insect is a parasite through its grub 
state and chooses as its host either the 
egg of the Butterfly or the Caterpillar. 
The full grown Fly lays its egg by 
means of an ovipositor, a sharp, hol- 
low instrument with which it can 
pierce the skin or shell of its victim. 
The eggs of the fly hatch and the 
grubs feed upon the Caterpillar, but 
usually do not touch upon its vital 
parts until it is full grown, then they 
devour them and within the skin of 
their former host form their own 
cocoons. Sometimes they wait until 
the Caterpillar assumes its Chrysalis 
state before they finish their dread 
work, then much to the surprise of 
interested beholders, a little cluster of 
flies appears at the breaking of the 
cocoon, and no beautiful Butterfly. 
Some of these brightly colored little 
messengers of gladness live through 
the winter. Usually they pass this 
trying period wrapped warmly in the 
cocoon or nestled under some leaf, still 
a Chrysalis; but a few species weather 
the cold and the snow and, shut up in 
some hollow tree or some empty shed, 
sleep away the happy days of Jack 
Frost and Santa Claus and are ready 
to awake with the spring, when they 
are not abashed in their bedraggled 
garments to appear among their 
brothers, who come forth brightly 
clad, fresh from the soft, warm resting 
place of the cocoon. 
Perhaps the marvelous migration of 
Butterflies which occurred on Oct. 3, 
1 898, will be more interesting to us than 
those already mentioned because it 
happened so recently and in our own 
country, and perhaps, most of all, be- 
cause the reason for flight is hazarded. 
The inhabitants of Wichita, Kansas, at 
3:15 o'clock in the afternoon of that day 
were greeted with the sight of many 
Butterflies flying south. Gradually 
the number increased until business 
practically ceased, the inhabitants all 
turning out to view the brilliant spec- 
tacle. The stream of yellow and 
brown insects, with the accompanying 
purr and brilliant effects of fluttering 
wings flowed on until within a half an 
hour of sunset, and even after this, 
millions of stragglers hastened south- 
ward. But you are interested in the 
reason given? They say that our 
little friends were driven away from 
their customary haunts by the forest 
fires in Colorado. This is only one 
more supposition to add to the list 
already awaiting some enterprising 
student, who shall at last solve the 
mystery of these wonderfnl flights and 
fully acquaint us with all the other 
interesting facts which our little But- 
terflies are still keeping secret. 
25 j 00, 
145 
