Butterflies and Moths (British)Furneaux, William S.
Science
Butterflies and Moths (British)
Furneaux, William S.
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
A great variety of situations are chosen by the different species at
this time. Some will fix themselves on their own food plant, and there
remain till they finally emerge in the perfect state, suspending
themselves from a silken carpet, hiding themselves in a rolled leaf, or
constructing a cocoon of some kind. A large number walk down the food
plants, and undergo their changes in moss that happens to lie at the
foot; or construct a cocoon on the surface of the ground, utilising for
the purpose any decayed leaves, fragments of vegetable matter, or pieces
of earth or small stones. Many seek a further protection than this, and
burrow into the soil, where they either lie in a little oval cell that
they prepare, or in a cocoon constructed by spinning together some
particles of earth. Again, there are those caterpillars, chiefly of
butterflies that frequent our gardens, which find their way to the
nearest wall or fence, and there secure themselves in a sheltered nook.
We will watch a few of these varied methods of procedure, taking as our
first instance the caterpillar of the common Large White or Cabbage
Butterfly.
When fully fed, this larva seeks out a sheltered spot, generally
selecting the under surface of some object, or of the ledge of a wall or
fence. Sometimes it will not even leave its food plant, though it
generally walks some considerable distance before a suitable shelter is
found. Having satisfied itself as to the site of the temporary abode, it
sets to work at spinning a silken carpet. At first the threads spread
over a rather wide area, and seem to be laid in a somewhat irregular and
aimless manner; but after a little time its labours are concentrated on
one small spot, where it spins several layers of silk fibres.
This done, it fixes the little hooks of the claspers firmly in its
carpet bed, and then proceeds with a highly interesting movement. It is
not satisfied with only the one mode of suspension. In fact, this alone
would hardly be safe, for when it casts its skin, as it is shortly about
to do, its claspers will all disappear; and although it afterwards
secures itself by the 'tail,' it would be dangling in such a manner as
to swing with every breeze--a very unsatisfactory state of affairs,
especially with those that pupate late in the summer and remain in the
pupal state throughout the winter storms.
Its next procedure, then, is to make a strong silk band round the middle
of its body, so as to keep it close to the surface against which it
rests. But how is this to be done? It bends its head round till the
spinning organ can be applied to a point close beside the middle of its
body. Here it fixes one end of a thread; and then, gradually twisting
its body, brings its head round to the other side, still keeping it
close to the same segment, and fastens the other end of the thread
exactly opposite the point at which it started.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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