_ beautiful Butterflies. 
The MS FOR ¥. 
In the webs, which Caterpillars form, there 
is obferved a wonderful variety; for as’ they 
ferve them in the place of nefts, every Cater- 
pillar, according to its peculiar nature and dif- 
pofition, forms and perfects its web its own 
way. Though thefe webs are conftructed with 
wonderful art, yet thofe Caterpillars, which 
are enclofed in no web, excel all others in art 
and invention. Some of thefe, which bury 
themfelves under the earth, are inftructed to 
make caverns or holes in it fo artfully, that 
they feem to have a more fecure habitation 
there, than others in their walls. Some others, 
that remain above the earth, have the art to 
fix their webs with fuch ftupendous dexterity 
to plants, trees, walls, and in hedges, that they 
fafely hang with it, though expofed every way 
to the furrounding air; and are at length 
changed, after cafting their fkin, into very 
It is moft wonderful, 
that thefe little creatures, at the time of their 
change, know how to difengage their claws 
from the web, and to change the fkin of thefe 
their fmalleft parts, together with the fepa- 
rating exuvie; whilft, at the fame time, they 
remain fixed by thofe claws in the web. In- 
deed, in this art, the Caterpillars by far excel 
the moft active of the human fpecies in their 
gefticulations. I have likewife feen fome 
Caterpillars, which knew how to bite off a 
certain part of the leaves of trees; and, as in 
a fafe habitation, afterwards have enclofed 
themfelves therein, by the help of the threads 
they have fpun. Others weave oval nefts ; 
others exactly round ones; others oblong ones; 
others make them channelled; others fuch as 
are like a delicate network ; others angulated ; 
fome weave into their work wood, fand, fhells, 
ftones, and other matters: others fimply, tho’ 
very artfully, roll themfelves up in the leaves 
of plants and trees. In a word, the wonder- 
ful ingenuity of Caterpillars is manifefted in a 
thoufand inventions; and in all of them the 
hand of the Great Creator is moft clearly feen, 
who has infufed fo much prudence, as it were, 
and wifdom into thofe creatures, exhibited in 
order, weight, and meafure. 
I have particularly treated of the Butterflies 
hitherto defcribed in the third chapter of this 
work; and I have’ fhewn there, that the in- 
duftrious Goedaert, in Part I. Obf. 59, and 
Part II. Obf. 30, has given a fhort defcription 
of them, and exhibited their figures ; though 
he did not perfectly know thefe creatures, 
nor could diftinguifh the male from the fe- 
male. 
Ob. ToNe Sek. Tog. | - 9g 
FG. vii. 
Ihave found thefe creatures, here treated 
of, not only in our part of the Nétherlands, 
but alfo in France; but they were of a dif- 
ferent {pecies. This will appear by the eighth 
figure, wherein I reprefent thefe infects in the 
act of coition. The female of this {pecies is 
abfolutely without wings, (Tab. XXXII. Fig. 
vill. a.) and has two fhort horns, fix legs, and 
a body divided into feveral rings. The male, 
on the contrary, is exhibited with two beauti- 
ful horns and four wings, 4. and with a body 
fomewhat larger than that of the Holland But- 
terfly, delineated under N°. VI. Thefe were 
alfo noéturnal Butterflies; but their bodies 
were more {wollen than thofe of Holland; the 
male whereof is diftinguifhed for its {maller 
body and {moother wings. Thefe French But- 
terflies are variegated with a gray and blackifh 
colour, mixed with white. This mixture ren- 
ders them very beautiful. The divifions of the 
back are tinged with a browner black; and 
there are, moreover, obferved fome yellowifh 
rings in that part, confifting of hairs. From 
what Caterpillars thefe Butterflies are produced, 
Ido not know. I found them in a field in 
the act of coition; fo that, from thence, .I 
could affirm for certain, that the male and 
female are the two fexes of the fame {pecies. 
The remarkable neft, which I, have: deli- 
neated in the hiftory of the Ephemerus ; firft 
publifhed feparately, and which I proved at 
the fame time to be conftructed of {mall bitten 
pieces of wood, laid together, and joined like 
the beams of houfes in Ruffia ; this nett, I fay, 
is built by the wood-eating Caterpillar, which 
inhabits it, and carries it about on its back 
in form of a pyramid. Thefe Caterpillars are 
likewife changed into a winged male, and a 
female without wings. This appeared very 
evidently to me, when, upon opening the neft, 
I found the Chryfalis of the female and the 
Exuvie of the Caterpillar in it. Therefore, 
feveral pairs of little creatures feem to exift in 
nature; the males of which have this peculiar 
privilege above the females. It likewife ap- 
pears from thence, how much the infe@s of 
one and the fame fpecies may differ from each 
other. Perhaps the fame thing likewife holds 
in fome quadrupedes, birds, or fithes; particu- 
larly in thofe fpecies, the males or females 
whereof we have not yet been able to diftin- 
guifh. Some fay, the Snake has no difference 
of fex, which others again deny. I cannot 
prefume to decide this controverfy, as I never 
took any particular pains about that fubject. 
C The 
