Smithsonian Institution Libraries Gitte of DR. FREDERICK M. BAYER Pere i seu wri Re tek any Tak fat hen Lyte if pamiin ; i Hey ie i UNRULY fifth Tareas ater HORA ORI oo a Dy et Paani PK rte ay i i in | ny hs git ty) ? ' f i De | an 4 q neo : i j . i rl on eee i rn ; voug pin ay ik YAS AME a! ms he By Owe 7 Ne Cat AE - » hr a Ny nid ae ony, ; Ay ABE = ‘afi i AE AOE i ‘ a Pavel e CP va ; ur i, COCR eal anh J } TALON. 7 a i Hayon te PRN : j Tie VOM ets iit ta 4 Tidina % ma Wi Das oh io wnt est om hoe? iv a ii ¢ Ny ap ran : en i a Hey nae Th ts hoe a | yas : ays) flees en ae “st _ Tray 7 Oe iy ae RL sp RUD er i ae Pe Rea eA " rye) ts Cae 2a i) We Lae ae Hye 3) vai ; oN im m ‘ foal ane En vid SY lee 1 eae MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES DENTON Uprer Sipe ATTACUS CYNTHIA As Nature Shows Them MOTHS AND BUTTEREFLIES OF THE ONE De SALES EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS With over 400 Photographic Illustrations in the Text and Many Transfers of Species from Life By SHERMAN F. DENTON VOLUME | THE MOTHS J. B. MILLET COMPANY BOSTON Copyright, 1900, By BRADLEE WHIDDEN PREFACE. Screntiric works on butterflies are not rare in most libraries; but to the enthusiast who loves these creatures for their beauty and variety there is usually very little of interest in scientific details. It is the aim of the present work to represent our native butterflies and moths not as dried and mutilated specimens in a cabinet, with pins stuck through them, nor as dissected fragments for scientific classification, but as one sees them in our woods and fields, fresh and lovely. From the standpoint of the artist and the decorator, the study of the de- signs and color patterns on the wings of butterflies may be of valuable assist- ance. Such combinations of pleasing tints are rarely found in the handiworks of man. What better school could be found for the colorist than is within the reach of the humblest aspirant for fame as artist or decorator? Think of students copying the dingy works of the old masters year after year, when at their own doors the grandest combinations of colors that Nature can produce are passed by without a thought! We have close about us the best that Nature is capable of producing, if we but use our eyes to see it. The life histories of many of the lepidoptera are replete with interest, and the knowledge of not a few is essential to man’s welfare. To the gardener or the florist the study of entomology is a necessity, and the recognition of his enemies and friends in the insect world is of first importance. To those who have, or desire to have, a cabinet of specimens, this study will be found of never-failing interest, as one may pursue his researches through all seasons of the year. Improved methods of mounting and keeping such specimens render their preservation and care a simple matter; and the collections made in one’s childhood may be kept to delight one’s old age. The practical hints on collecting and rearing specimens, the result of many years’ experience, will be appreciated by beginners and the new methods of illustration herein used will greatly help the student in identifying and naming his specimens. v1 PREFACE. The colored plates, or Nature Prints, used in the work, are direct trans- fers from the insects themselves; that is to say, the scales of the wings of the insects are transferred to the paper while the bodies are printed from engray- ings and afterward colored by hand. The making of such transfers is not original with me, but it took a good deal of experimenting to so perfect the process as to make the transfers, on account of their fidelity to detail and their durability. fit for use as illustrations in such a work. And what mag- nificent illustrations they are, embodying all the beauty and perfection of the specimens themselves ! As I have had to make over fifty thousand of these transfers for the en- tire edition, not being able to get any one to help me who would do the work as I desired it done, andas more than half the specimens from which they were made were collected by myself, I having made many trips to different parts of the country for their capture, some idea of the labor in connection with prepar- ing the material for the publication may be obtained. I will say, however, that there never was laborer more in love with his work, or one whose labors took him among pleasanter scenes. In collecting such a large number of specimens, many new facts in regard to the habits of these charming creatures have been observed, and to write interestingly of their lives and to give a few examples of their marvellous beauty has been the aim of the author. SHERMAN F. DENTON. WELLESLEY, Mass., 1899. LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRA PArn [ Cforus)), Butterfly Scales Antenne . Tongue of Sphinx . ‘ Development of a Butterfly . Caterpillar of Butterfly . Development of the Moth Detail of Net Rim . The Net Completed Poison Box F Shape for Collecting Papers 3 The Folding of Collecting Papers Bundle of Insects in their Envelopes Oven for Drying Insects Relaxing-Box . Insect Spread on Setting Blow Forceps for Handling Insects Various Forms of Plume Moths Pterophorus pentadactylus Alucita hexadactyla Tinea flavifrontella Tinea granella Hyponomeuta alle panctatelle Depressaria robiniella Various Forms of Leaf-Rollers Lozotenia cerasiovorana Lozotenia rosaceana Antithesia pruniana Carpocapsa pomonella . Various Forms of Snout Moths Galeria cereana Crambus girandella Larve of Geometrid Moths Angerona crocataria Brephos infans Anisopteryx vernata Anisopteryx autumnata Zerene catenaria Amphidasis cognataria . Rheumaptera hastata TIONS. vill LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Hybernia tiliaria. ; : : F : ; 3 ; : : : : 5 Oy Petrophora diversilneata : ; ; : : : j ; : : . 83 Hematopis grataria : : : : 5 : : : ; F : : . 53 Geometra iridaria . ; : : : : : ‘ : ; : , F gS} Eutropela clematata —. : : é : : : : 3 : : ; . 99 Endropia marginata - ; : ; , : : ; ; : ; a t3Y5) Therina seminudaria — . ; . : : : : : ; =~ OO Endropia hypochraria_. ; : : : : . : : : 3 : 5 tats) Acidalia ennucleata : : : : , ! ‘ ; : . 59 Eutropela transversata . ; : : : ; : 5 ; : : . 0d Erebus odora . : : : ; : : ; : 3 ; : 5 BY Catocala relicta . : : : , : : : : : : . 62 Catocala concumbens — . : : : : ; : : : : 5 BS Catocala epione . : : F : : : : ; é : : : . 63 Catocala fratercula : 3 ‘ : : : : : ‘ ; ; : . 64 Catocala parta : ; . : : : ; ‘ . : : ; 5 5 865 Catocala cerogama ; : ; : : : : ; ; ; ; : . 65 Catocala unijuga . : : ; : : : : ; ‘ : : 3 5 At) Catocala subnata . ; : : ; : : : : : ; ‘ : . 65 -oaphila quadrifilaris — . : : : : : ; , ‘ : : ; . 68 Drasteria erechtea . 5 é ’ : ; : : : : : ; ; . 68 Catocala innubens . : 5 ; : : ? ; : : : : 5 OY Catocala flebilis —. : ; : ; : : : : Z : : . 5 wy Catocala desperata : : ; - : : , : : : ; ; 5 oe) Catocala paleogama — . : : : ; : : : : : : : 5 (oY) Euclidia cuspidea . : : : : : ; : : ; , : : eel Rhodophora florida ; ‘ ; : : : : : : F : el Larva of Hellophila unipuncta — . : : : ; : ; : : : 4 Plusia simplex : , ; ; 5 : : : 2 F : : > 3 Plusia putnami ; : : : ; : : : : : , 2 Gortyna nitela : ; , : : : ; : : : : . 74 Cucullia speyeri. : F : . : : : F : A te: Pyrophila pyramidoides : , : 5 ; : ; : : : 5 1h Mamestra picta. : : : : : : : : ‘ : : : es ~ Ua Larva of Mamestra picta —. : . : : : : : ; ; eo Agrotis tassellata . . : F ‘ : ; ‘ : : : ; : a UG Agrotis cnigram . : F ; j : : : : ‘ : : : A ts Agrotis normaniana : : ; : : ‘ : : : : : : 5 ott Agrotis herilis : : : : : : : : ‘ : : : a {fs} Agrotis venerabilis : ; 3 : ‘ ; : 2 : : : : 5 Hie’ Calocampa nupera. 8 Catocala antinympha : ; : : sth) Catocala amica —. : ‘ : : ; 5 : : : : ‘ : 6 Of Aputela lobelia — . 3 , : 3 : ‘ : : : 5 : é 1) Eucirredia pampina —. : : . : : : : : : : : a th Parthenos nubilis . F : ‘ ; : : ‘ ; ‘ : . ; 5 | US Plusia wrea. : : ; : : : : ; : ‘ : ; ‘ 5 Apatela americana : : ; : 5 : : : ; : : ; 5 toil Gramatophora trisignata : : : : : : : : : : 5 kell Larva of Gramataphora cneionata F : : : : . 5 3 : 5 (ee Xylutes robiniw. Female. ; : : : ; ‘ : ; i : a fees LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS. Xylutes robiniew. Male Sthenopis argentata Clisiocampa americana . Clisiocampa disstria Tolype velleda Tolype laricis : Gastropacha americana. Anisota senatoria Anisota rubicunda. Chrysalis of Anisota rubicunda Citheronia regalis. Male. Larva of Eacles imperialis FKacles imperialis. Male and female math 5 Saturnia io. Female Larva of Saturnia io é : Chrysalis and cocoon of Saturnia io Saturnia maia. Male Larva of Attacus cecropia Section of cocoon of Attacus cecropia . Swamp and upland forms of cocoons of eaens cecropia . Larva of Attacus promethia . Cocoon of Attacus promethia Attacus angulifera. Male and female moth Larva of Telea polyphemus . Cocoon of Telea polyphemus Actias luna. Male Porthesia chrysorrhoa Cerura borealis Larva of Cerura borealis Larva of Edema albifrons Edema albifrons Ceelodasys unicornis Celodasys biguttata Larva of Colodasys Nerice bidentata Larva of Gidemasia concinna Pheosia rimosa : Apatelodes torrefacta Larva of Datana Datana ministra Limacodes scapha . Limacodes querceta -arasa fraterna Lagoa crispata Case of the Evergreen Bue Wek m Halisidota carye . : : Halisidota tessellata Larva of Orgyia leucostigma Leucarctia acrea Phragmatobia rubricosa Larva of Pyrrharctia isabella 1X PAGE 84 85 87 88 89 90 90 91 93 93 94. 96 97 99 100 100 101 102 105 104 105 106 107 110 110 113 117 118 118 119 119 119 119 Nal) 120 120 120 121 PAL 122 122 123 125 124 124 125 126 126 127 127 128 x LIST OF TEXT Pyrrharctia isabella Cocoon and pupa of an Arctian Arctia nais Arctia arge Arctia phalerata Arctia virgo . : Larva of cyenia egel Callimorpha lecontei Hypoprepia miniata Ctenucha virginica Lycomorpha pholus Eudryas grata Alypia octomaculata Psychomorpha epimenis Melittia cucurbite . ‘ : : JEigeria exitiosa. Male and female /Egeria tipuliforme /Kgeria pyri Larva of Sphinx Moth Pupz of Sphinx Moths . Hemaris thysbe Hemaris diffinis Deilephila chameenerii Deilephila lineata . Kveryx myron Pupa of Everyx myron . Larva of Everyx myron Everyx cherilus Philampelus pandorus Larva of Philampelus pandorus Philampelus achemon Macrosila quinquemaculatus : Larva of Macrosila quinquemaculatus . Macrosila carolina . Larva of Ceratomia quadricornis . Ceratomia quadricornis . Daremma undulosa Dolba hyleus . Sphinx gordius Sphinx chersis Sphinx drupiferarum Chloerocampa tersa Thyreus abbotii Amphion nessus Larva of Smerinthus Smerinthus geminatus Smerinthus excecatus. Male Smerinthus myops . Triptogon modesta ILLUSTRATIONS. LIST OF COLORED PLATES. TRANSFERS FROM LIFE. FACING PAGE ATTACUS CYNTHIA. Upperside . : ; 3 Frontispiece CATOCALA CARA . : ; : : : : ; > 62 SATURNIA IO . E ‘ : : : ; : , . 100 ATTACUS CECROPIA . F : : é ' é : 2 ATTACUS CYNTHIA. Under side ; 5 é : ; . 104 ATTACUS PROMETHIA. Male . . . : ; 5 OG ATTACUS PROMETHIA. Female : : : ; F . 106 TELEA POLYPHEMUS. Upper side . : : : : Sela) TELEA POLYPHEMUS. Under side . , ' ; : ae alsl() OCNERIA DISPAR . : " ; . ; : . 3 AlAs UTETHEISIA BELLA . . : : 3 ; ‘ ; 5 ley, DEILEPHILA LINEATA . 2 . ; : . : . 142 MACROSILA QUINQUEMACULATUS . : A , : . 148 The Life History Implements for Collecting Preparations for a Cabinet How to make a Collection Collecting Moths Classification : Heterocera. ‘The Moths Micro Lepidoptera Pterophoride Tineida Tortricidze Pyralide . Geometride Noctuids Bombycide . Zygenide Sphingide CONTENTS. HETEROCERA THE MOTHS Lepidoptera; or Scale=winged Insects. IE, CE, SEES ORY. aS SS ESS SSS THE name Lepidoptera was first applied by the naturalist Linneeus to the order of insects known as butterflies and moths. The dust which covers the wings and bodies of these insects, when placed under a microscope of low power, is seen to be composed of minute scales. These : vary in form from those elongated into hairs | to flat wide plates not unlike in appearance the scales of fishes. The variety in shape and color of the scales of different species of Lepidoptera is amazing, and a number sprinkled on a microscopic shde will frequently display all the glitter and iridescence of a casket of precious jewels. To these scales the beauty of coloring of this order of insects is entirely due; for when they are removed, the Butterfly Seales. wings are seen to be composed of veins or ribs, with thin transparent membranes extending between them. Many of the scales are striated or corrugated and decompose the Lght in sucha way as to give to our eyes those combinations of colors so pleasing to behold. They are 2, MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. frequently arranged on the wings in regular order, as are the scales on reptiles or fishes, and when removed leave a shght scar on the mem- brane where they were attached. In studying the structure of a butterfly, turn it underside upper- most. It will then be seen to be composed of three distinct parts : the head, which supports the antennie (popularly known as feelers), the eyes, and the mouth parts; the thorax, to which are attached two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs; and the abdomen. The eyes of butterflies and moths are compound, and the facets vary in clifferent species from several hundred to many thousand. The vision of some of the higher butterflies is exceedingly acute, as one will often have reason to note when cautiously endeavoring to approach some coveted prize near enough to use the net. Many moths, on the contrary, seem to be simply able to distinguish between light and darkness, and are apparently more often guided by the sense of smell than of sight. The antenne have been supposed by some naturalists to be organs of smell. and there is certainly good foundation for this supposi- tion. They vary in shape from hair-like and feather-like in many of the moths to rods with club-shaped ends in most of the butterflies. Antenne, By the antennew the beginner may most easily distinguish between butterflies and moths. The antennie of butterflies are nearly always blunt or knobbed at the ends, while the same organs in moths are generally pointed. The mouth parts of the lepidoptera are constructed for sucking the sweets from flowers or the juices from other substances; and while some of the moths have no way of taking nourishment in their perfect state, most of the species of this order are provided with a DSI ” THE LIFE HISTORY. o lone tongue which, when not in use, is coiled into a close spiral between the palpi. This reaches its greatest development in some Tongue of Sphinx. of the sphinx moths, enabling them while on the wing to extract the nectar from the deepest flowers. While most of the lepidoptera have six well-developed legs, a group of butterflies, the Mymphalide, have the first pair so small and weak that they are probably of very little use to the insect. The legs are used almost wholly for clinging to substances while the insects are at rest, as very few of the lepidoptera walk or run to any extent. The butterflies are day flyers, and in the hot sunny hours they sport through the woods and fields. The moths fly mostly by night, and are frequently more hairy and larger bodied than the butterflies, while their colors are usually softer and more blended. The life history of one of the insects we are considering, from the ege to the fly, is most interesting. The perfect insect lays its egos, by a wonderful faculty, which for want of a better word we eall instinet, upon or near the species of plants which are to furnish the food for the future caterpillars. These eges, often very minute, are of various shapes and are ornamented in a variety of ways. Some are oblong; others almost perfect spheres; others again flattened above and below, while their outlines are circular. With these shapes go smooth and sometimes highly polished surfaces. Some resemble low vases with turned-over and fluted edges, while they are adorned with raised patterns or sharply cut grooves or circular pits, or in other examples studded with nodules or even with spines. Others bear a general resem- blanee to a lady’s work-basket in shape and reticulated ornamentation. Some have a lid or cover, which is raised by the caterpillar when about to emerge from the shell. They vary too, in color as well as in shape and ornamentation: some are white or of a pearly lustre, some blue or gray, while a large number are green, and a few brown 4. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. or black. An interesting collection may be made of these egos alone, and an entomologist can often tell from examining an egg the species of butterfly to which it belongs. When the larva emerges, so small and so unlike the mature insect, no one would guess what 1t was to be. It crawls to the tips of the tender young leaves and makes its first meal. It soon begins to grow rapidly ; and as it grows its skin becomes too small for its con- stantly increasing bulk, and a new skin begins to form under the old one, which after a short period of rest the caterpillar casts off. This is done-in the following manner: the insect first spins upon the leaf or twig upon which it rests a mat of silk to which it can hold firmly with its claws and claspers. It ceases to eat for a period and remains perfectly quiet upon the mat. It becomes so dull and sickly in appearance that one might suppose it was about to die. At length it begins to twist its head from side to side vigorously, and after a series of contortions in which the forward segmeuts swell and shrink alternately, the skin splits down the middle of the back and the rent is further enlarged by the struggles of the insect until it ean draw its head and legs out of the opening, when by securing a firm hold with its forward hooks it crawls out of its old skin look- ing as bright as a gold coin fresh from the mint. It is feeble and exhausted from its labors, while its skin and even its head and legs are soft and tender, and it now remains quiet until the skin dries and toughens by exposure, when it is ready once more to attack with renewed energy the tender leaves of its food plant. The cast-off skin sometimes retains the shape and colors of the caterpillar to a surprising degree —a veritable ghost of the former insect. Some caterpillars devour their outgrown garments as a first meal after each moult; others leave them where they were cast ; and one species carries in front of its head on a tuft of hairs, during its caterpillar life, the cast-off shells of its head which were shed with each change of skin, thus keeping in sight a record of its out- erownh coverings from infancy. When the caterpillars are gregarious these cast-off skins in groups representing each moult of the colony may frequently be seen on one plant. The moulting period is a crit- ical time in the life of the larva, for it is not only helpless to resist the attacks of enemies but it may die from exhaustion in the act of shedding its skin. The larva eats ravenously (sometimes devouring twice its weight of food in twenty-four hours) after it resumes activity, with a Development of a Butterfly. THE LIFE HISTORY. corresponding rapid growth in size. In consequence its new coat soon becomes too small, and the moulting process is repeated several (sometimes five or six) times, with corresponding changes in the size of the larva. In many instances there are marked changes in the colors and the shape of the caterpillar after each moult. At length, in the course of several weeks, the insect arrives at its full growth. It now ceases to eat, and looks about for a suitable place in which to pass its period of inactivity, known as the pupa or chrysalis state. And here, before he spins his cocoon or changes to a pupa, we will take a last good look at him. The larva of a lepidopterous insect is jointed or segmented into thirteen divisions. First comes the head, which is usually hard and horny; the eyes, twelve in number, are very small, and are placed near the mouth. They are simple eyes with very convex lenses, so that the range of vision must be very short; in fact, so deficient is the sight of caterpillars one may conclude that they are guided more by the sense of feeling than by sight. Place a caterpillar on a twig and watch it ascend, feeling its way and reaching out from side to side before every advance movement. When it reaches the top, it does not survey the scene below, but taking a firm hold with its last two or three pairs of claspers, it stretches its body out to the utmost, swinging first one side and then the other, in order to feel if there is @ beyond on which it can lay hold. anythin The jaws of a caterpillar move horizontally and are powerful in- struments, capable in the larger species of biting through the tough ribs of leaves as the insect reaches them while feeding. Crawling down the midrib of a leaf the caterpillar advances toward the edge, and holding the leaf between one or more pairs of its horny front legs, it brings its jaws together on opposite sides, cutting out a small piece with each bite, and continuing this down with regular order, it soon cuts out a large semicircular space, taking ribs and all. A smaller caterpillar will simply eat away the soft parts of the leaf be- tween the small ribs, leaving a skeleton; while the very minute leat miners burrow in the substance of the leaf between the upper and lower skin. The noise made by a large eolony of larve while feeding has been compared to that made by a heavy shower of rain on an attic roof; and the quantity of food which they require is well-nigh appal- ling to a novice who has started perhaps with several hundred tiny ereatures which could all make a meal on a handful of leaves, and 8 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. finds that they need bushels of fresh food daily when nearly full grown. Of course, in a state of nature the large larvee are usually widely scattered, so that their ravages are not so noticeable; but when feeding a large number hatched from eggs one is liable to find he has an elephant on his hands. A little protuberance under the mouth of the larva is the silk- spinning organ. This is the external opening to the silk secreting elands, which consist of two tubes or sacks, one on either side of the body, containing the viscid fluid which, by exposure to the air, dries and hardens into silk. This silk is used in a variety of ways by the different species of caterpillars. Some colonies build nests for their mutual protection; others attach a thin thread to the leaves and branches of the plants as they crawl over them, so that they are with difficulty shaken off, for they merely let themselves down on their threads a short distance and then crawl up again when the danger is past. Many species spin cocoons as silky coverings for themselves when they are about to pupate: and a good many of the butterfly larvee not only attach the posterior extremity of the abdomen to a silken carpet but anchor themselves with a strong cable spun about the body and attached to the substance from which they are sus- pended. If we examine a caterpillar, we shall notice that the first three pairs of legs, attached to the second, third and fourth segments Caterpillar of Butterfly. (calling the head the first), are different from the fleshy legs or claspers. These first six legs are hard and horny and provided with claws or hooks at the ends. ‘They are the true legs and correspond to the legs of the perfect fly. The usual number of claspers is five pairs, and these are placed on the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and THE LIFE HISTORY. !) thirteenth segments —the fifth, sixth, eleventh and twelfth seg- ments having none. A number of caterpillars, however, have but a 5 four pairs of claspers (also called abdominal legs or prolegs), while a few have but two pairs, and these situated at the extremity of the body. The claspers are thick and fleshy, and may be extended or contracted, while their ends are surrounded with a number of minute hooks. These prolegs or claspers are absorbed into the abdomen of the insect during its transformation into a pupa. In walking, a caterpillar advances by an undulating motion, extending and contracting its body. A few species (the geometrids ) advance by bending the body up into a loop and then extending it to its full length. These are sometimes called inch-worms or measure- worms, from their mode of progression. Insects breathe through spiracles or air-tubes in their sides; and the openings of these tubes are often plainly visible in caterpillars, especially in smooth ones. They are located on the segments, one on either side, and are often enclosed in a small circular or oval patch of color. The variety of the shapes and colors of caterpillars is well-nigh endless, and often most wonderful, they being adapted in many instances to so resemble the plants upon which they feed that their enemies are baffled in their search for them. Some look and act as if they were venomous, while others are by their repulsive or even terrible appearance calculated to frighten insect-devouring creatures. Some are smooth-skinned, some humped, or covered with bunches, tubercles, warts, fleshy filaments, horns, spikes, spines, bristles, hairs or down, and sometimes a combination of several of these. A few sting like the nettle, while others shed their sharp pointed hairs which work into the flesh if they are roughly handled. Some secrete strong, disagreeable odors, while some are perfumed like a dandy at a ball. Their colors are scarcely less wonderful. Some bear large spots which look like great eyes watching from the leaves. Some are striped or banded, or sprinkled with dots. They are of every imaginable color or shade, but the majority are green, and so nearly resemble the leaves among which they feed that it is difficult to see them. Some look as if made of bark and covered with lichens; others so closely resemble twigs with their minute knots as to deceive even the expert. 3ut with all these subterfuges for protection, the birds, toads and ichneumon flies find most of them out; thus, in spite of the countless 10 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. millions which hatch from the eggs each season, their numbers are mostly kept within bounds. But to resume our history of the life of the caterpillar. As before mentioned, some species make for themselves cocoons ; others burrow down into the soil or hide among the fallen leaves at the roots of trees; while still others have no covering, and suspend themselves by silken webs in various localities. In preparing for the pupa state a change takes place in the appearance of the caterpillar. Its colors fade ; it shortens and thickens; and at length, after move- Development of the Moth. ments similar to those which it uses in changing its skin in moulting, a seam opens in the back, and the larval skin is worked backwards and finally off. Tt 1S now @ pupa or chrysalis, looking neither like the caterpillar which it was nor the fly which it is to be. By close examination the legs, wings, antennee, ete., may be clearly made out; but how com- pactly they are placed together! Not a particle of room is wasted. It seems most marvellous that from this inactive, fossil-like creature, THE LIFE HISTORY. ial a butterfly full of life and beauty shall emerge. Beneath this hard and usually dull-colored exterior, what wonderful changes are tak- ing place! Simple eyes give place to compound eyes; biting jaws change to a sucking tube, with its palpi; antenne spring from its head, wings from the sides of its body, and a delicate scale armor covers the whole. What tale from “The Arabian Nights” can equal marvels in the life history of a common butterfly? At length after weeks, in some cases months, of inactivity, through the shell of the chrysals may be dimly seen the colors of the developing insect. A slight split opens in the back of the shelly case, and as this widens and opens the butterfly slowly crawls out, and, after finding a suit- able place, hangs almost motionless. The creature is still very unlike the butterfly with which we are so familiar. Its body is soft and weak; its wings are no larger than one’s finger-nail, and it looks wet and bedraggled. But watch it. Its wings begin to swell with the fluid which is pumped into them from its body. It appears to grow as we look, and in half an hour it is a glorious creature, a living jewel. Oh, how perfect and beautiful it is — not a mar on its velvety wings! We rarely see one ina wild state so fresh and flaw- less. It is now at its best. It has reached this grand climax after weeks of preparation, and we can but admire its wondrous beauty. With the emerging and developing of the perfect insect, its growth ceases, for a little butterfly never grows to be a big one. A part injured, a wing torn, is never mended; loosened scales are never replaced; and its life from now on sees it less bright and beautiful day after day. After depositing its eggs for the next generation it soon becomes a tattered, helpless creature, and falls an easy prey to one of its many enemies. iy MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING. THE NET. First of all and most important of all is the net. The lightest, most serviceable, and in every way the best net that I know of is made with a rim of rattan. Procure a light piece of straight-grained pine, two feet long and one inch thick. Plane it down for a net handle a little smaller at one end, and make a grove with a gouge, on either side of the smaller end, four inches long. Now, take a Detail of Net Rim. piece of rattan sixty-six inches long, rather thicker than a lead- pencil, and fasten the ends to the handle with two bands of copper wire. This will make a net about eighteen inches in diameter. By now taking a short piece of rattan, twenty inches long, making a long level at both ends, grooving them out a little and wiring it to the rattan hoop, as shown in the following figure, you have a splendid rin fora net, and one that will last for years. In order to be sure IMPLEMENTS FOR COLLECTING. 13 that the hoop will be symmetrical after it is completed, it is a good plan to first fasten the small piece of rattan on with twine, and when it is satisfactory in shape, wire the whole together in a substantial manner. The rattan will bend better if soaked in hot water for an hour.