Nature biographies; the lives of some every-day butterflies; moths; grasshoppers and flies . Fig. 17. — Young Viceroy Cater-pillar resting on Poplar Leaf. Nature Biographies. a protection to it, as it would more readily escape obser-vation as an object distinct from the leaves, all being inmotion together; but on the more stable leaves, like the willow, the mo-tion in a feeblewind would notbe sufficient tobe serviceable,and here, atleast, the pack-et comes intoplay. An ob-ject in motionamong othersat rest is a no-ticeable thing;a fact well rec-ognized amonganimals, as ahost of themshow w henth
Nature biographies; the lives of some every-day butterflies; moths; grasshoppers and flies . Fig. 17. — Young Viceroy Cater-pillar resting on Poplar Leaf. Nature Biographies. a protection to it, as it would more readily escape obser-vation as an object distinct from the leaves, all being inmotion together; but on the more stable leaves, like the willow, the mo-tion in a feeblewind would notbe sufficient tobe serviceable,and here, atleast, the pack-et comes intoplay. An ob-ject in motionamong othersat rest is a no-ticeable thing;a fact well rec-ognized amonganimals, as ahost of themshow w henthey fear beingseen. Thispacket at-tached by loosesilken threadsm o V e s, asstated, with abreath of wind,and so woulddistract atten-tion from its Fig. 18. —Viceroy Caterpillar resting on Poplar Twig. architect near. The Viceroy Butterfly. by, who has taken pains to place it at the farthestremove from his perch, while still (to avoid undesirablesteps) on his daily track. If this be really its object, itis surely one of the oddest devices in nature. The caterpillars of this early summer brood continueto feed and grow, moulting twice more, at intervals of aweek. As they becomelarger the two spiny hornsjust back of the head be-come more conspicuous,and the general colour be-comes a peculiar mottledcombination of greenisholive and gray, the darkercolour being at each end andthe lighter in the middle,as may be seen by referenceto the accompanying pic-tures of these the insect gets toolarge to rest in comfort andsafety upon the midrib ofthe leaf, it spends its daysupon the twigs, restingquietly for hours, head downward, in such positions asare shown in Figures i8and 19. The colouring of theinsect is such as to suggest a bit of bird dung, and theresemblance is made more marked by its fo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1901
