Nature biographies; the lives of some every-day butterflies; moths; grasshoppers and flies . nch. The beltterminates abruptly at each end,although it is not as a rulesquared off. The outside ofthe belt consists of a glistening,varnish-like, brownish or lead-gray material, which covers theeggs. When the eggs are firstlaid, and for some months after-ward, this covering remains en-tire, but as the winter passes itbecomes more and more broken,so that by spring it generallyhas a rather ragged removing the covering theeggs will be found beneath,resting side by side at rightangles to th
Nature biographies; the lives of some every-day butterflies; moths; grasshoppers and flies . nch. The beltterminates abruptly at each end,although it is not as a rulesquared off. The outside ofthe belt consists of a glistening,varnish-like, brownish or lead-gray material, which covers theeggs. When the eggs are firstlaid, and for some months after-ward, this covering remains en-tire, but as the winter passes itbecomes more and more broken,so that by spring it generallyhas a rather ragged removing the covering theeggs will be found beneath,resting side by side at rightangles to the supporting twig<Fig. 46). Each egg is a triflelonger than wide, and is coveredwith a reticulated network ofthe same varnish-like material that conceals the mass asa whole ; this network serves to attach the eggs to thetwig, and to each other. The eggs are of a dull graycolour, showing white in some places. When the cater-pillars hatch they gnaw off a circular cap on the upperend of the shell, and come out through the hole thusmade. Each egg is about one-twentieth of an inch long. 41. Fig. 45. — Egg Mass of Forest TentCaterpillar. Nature Biographies. The number of eggs in one beU varies from less than150 to more than 225, the average being nearly the insects are so abundant that there is a partialexhaustion of the food supply of the caterpillars, thenormal number of eggs are not laid, the egg-rings beingmuch smaller than usual. These egg masses are deposited in July, and remainunhatched until the following spring. The actual forma-tion of the tiny caterpillars from thecontents of the Qgg takes place, how-ever, within a few weeks after theyare laid. By a careful examination,the minute but fully formed larvaemay be found within the egg-shellsany time between September and thefollowing April. The caterpillars re-main during this long period quietlyconfined within their narrow houses,but when the warm rays of the springsun penetrate their abodes, they eatoff the tops
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1901
