A The 
Inthe next place then, we likewife refer to 
this order called the Aurelia, the noéturnal 
Butterflies, Phalenz, or Moths. I preferve, 
and can fhew the curious, one hundred and- 
ninety-three {pecies of thefe creatures; of 
thefe, thirteen are very large ; twenty-cight of 
a middle fize ; eighty-fix {maller; and fixty- 
fix very minute. In this number there are 
thirty-five nocturnal, or night Butterflies; 
which, together with their refpective Cater- 
pillars, and their changes, have been defcribed 
by Goedaert, and painted in their natural co- 
dours. I have likewife fifteen or fixteen fpe- 
cies of the Chryfallides; fome of which are 
naked or fmooth; others rough, having caft 
the hairs of their outward fkin ; others are dif 
tinguifhed with wreaths and various colours ; 
- others are* colourlefs and naked ; and others 
are, as it were, interwoven, and exhibiting a 
reprefentation through this web. I can like- 
wife fhew many of the eggs of thefe Butter- 
flies; fome of thefe are covered with hair; 
others furrounded with a kind of froth, and 
others again are hidden in other manners. I 
likewife preferve fome fingular and very beau- 
tiful webs, nets and membranes, wherein they 
enclofe themfelves, with the greateft circum- 
fpection, and in a moft wonderful manner, 
when they are about to change: it 1s, indeed, 
hard to comprehend, how thefe little crea~ 
tures can confine themfelves in fuch clofe and 
narrow prifons; and can, though completed 
or folded up in thefe, perfect their webs *. 
The induftrious Goedaert has delineated 
fifty-feven fpecies of Chryfallides ; but Iam 
forry to fay, that among them all there is 
{carce one accurately reprefented, as I {hall 
hereafter fhew beyond a doubt. Indeed, a 
great many things occur, occafionally, in the 
figures of Goedaert, which fhould be cor- 
rected. 
It is certainly worth obfervation, that, as 
well by the night as in the day, we obferve 
innumerable living little creatures fluctuating 
in the air. This is not peculiar to the no¢ctur- 
nal Butterflies; for immenfe {warms of Beetles, 
and very many fpecies of water infects, betake 
themfelves to the air after fun-fet. ’Tis for 
this reafon we obferve flowers, trees, fields, 
and gardens frequented, night and day, by in- 
numerable infeéts, which feek for food upon 
them; that is, the great and fupreme Creator, 
whofe providential eye is always open on all 
created beings, appoints thefe creatures night 
for their day, and day for their time of reft, 
fince all things are at his pleafure, and in his 
~power. If at night you carry before you a 
lighted torch, you will entice towards you 
many fpecies of fuch infects; and, when al- 
lured and deceived by the light, you may 
eafily catch them. ; 
Among the nocturnal Butterflies, which I 
oreferve, there is one, a Meth, the largeft that 
BO’O0 K.. of N Ao PeU, RE or, 
has been taken in Holland. It is produced 
from a very deftruétive Caterpillar, with thin 
hair, which eats the bark, and even wood, of 
the Willow. This Caterpillar is called Spon 
dyla rubra by Mouffet. I have fometimes fed 
it for a whole year on white bread only. 
Mouffet relates, that the largeft Moths kill 
with their wings, and afterwards devour, the 
{maller kinds: but this, I have found, is con- 
tradicted by experience; for the Moths are 
provided only with a hollow trunk for their . 
mouth. To which may be added, that many 
of thefe infects, as foon as they become fit for 
generation, entirely quit their former mif- 
chievous difpofition, and, taking no food after- 
wards, apply themfelves only to propagating 
their fpecies. Indeed, fome do it more late, 
others earlier; according as their eggs become 
more or lefs mature, whilft they lie in the 
habit of a Nymph, nay, and in the Caterpillar- 
form. Thofe kinds muft be excepted, which 
have the care of feeding their young; for it is 
abfolutely neceflary, that fuch fhould be longer 
preferved alive alfo by nature, for the fake of 
their young. Thofe which are not obliged to 
rear their young, as the Butterfly kind in ge- 
-neral, we obferve, die very foon after they are 
produced in their winged ftate. So that hence 
we fee, the whole change of thefe creatures is 
begun and finifhed by nature, with regard to 
their generation only; as is more evident from 
thofe fingular obfervations I have made on 
Bees. 
In the Ephemeri, nature has ordered the 
bufinefs of generation in a different manner; 
for, as fhe has denied coition to thefe infeés, 
the females are obliged to caft their feed into 
the water, in'the fame manner as fith caft their 
fpawn: this they do in the time when they 
beat and fly up and down on the furface of 
the water. On the other hand, the male Bees, 
have air, inftead of water, into which they 
difcharge their {perm. 
I preferve -alfo that fpecies of Butterflies, 
which the celebrated John Bauhinus has de- 
{cribed in his treatife of hurtful winged ani- 
mals, publifhed in French in the year 1693. 
I have reprefented the Caterpillar of this fpe- 
cies, the Chryfalis, and the Butterfly itfelf, in 
Tab. XXIX. Fig. 1. 1. and 111. and have given 
it the name of Pernix. 
I preferve likewife various fpecies of thofe 
nocturnal Batterflies, known particularly by 
the name of Moths, becaufe they are produced _ 
from worms of the fame name, that eat cloaths; 
and others that feed on paper, books, and duft, 
as well as the leaves of trees. Among thefe 
worms there are fome which, like Tortoifes, 
carry their houfes about them: this will appear 
in our fucceeding particular obfervations. Be- 
tween thefe Moths and the other nocturnal 
Butterflies, which are called alfo by the fame 
general name, there is this difference, that the. 
* All that is required to produce the perfe& Fly from the Chryfalis, is the evaporation of the abundant moifture; and this will 
happen in 
{tate, is vari 
days is fuficient for fome, and that others lie as many months. 
a fhorter time in hotter weather, and will require longer in cold. Hence, the period of the fame {pecies lying in this 
ied by* accidents ; and that of different {pecies, is alfo in its nature extremely various. Reamur has found, that eight 
former 
uy 
