CHAPTER IN "UNNATURAL" HISTORY.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 18, Issue 41, 21 May 1907, Page 2

CHAPTER IN "UNNATURAL" HISTORY.

THE FUNNY PRANKS OF GAJTERt PILLARS. ~ .j. , Considering the fitful brevity of tho caterpillar's life, ho works harder than any man living. I have watched him with some care through all his several changes. Ho begins his career by nibbling at the inner side of his fragile eggshell. He finds he can sprawl very well inside, but he wants more elbow-room. Then he sticks his two foremost mandibles right through the soft shell of the egg, and ho finds ho has done the trick. Now he begins his work in real earnest. Following the instinct of nil living creatures, great and small, he takes to feeding, and ,as thero may b.o little solid f«od in the near vicinity, ho devours a considerable portion of the eggshell which enclosed him but a few moments before. This sterns so funny ; but I have watched him through a microscope on this operation with remarkable avidity. Now that he has made a "bi'W" hole in tho sho/11, ho isi .well ablo to leap out, and as the eggs are laid to the tuno of 60 to 100 in one hatch on tho under si do of a leaf.— such as an elder or nasturtium—he sallies forth, sprawling and contorting, for something more substantial than eggshells. Ho must eat. He Is hungering. His time is short. He must hurry on. Ho gets to tho end of the leaf, and then begins his serious operations. If the leaf edge is uniform, lie sets himself astride the ?dgo ntin carves in a downward diection. much like a woodman chopping the outer bark from a tree. If 1 : leaf edge is saw-like, he will lot it alone. He does not believe in seesaws. Turning back ho digs a hole In th- body oT tho leaf, and makes a nice smooth edge for himself. Then lie goes on with his gnawing until ho has simply'glutted' himself. Surely the caterpillar dooe not masticate \ery much. He gnaws away at tho rata of IDO times por minute ; then ho comes to a hard vein, which brings him to a full stop. B.ut not for long ; he finds another soft apot, and digs away again as furiously as Bvor.

CATERRILLARS THRIVE FAST. Very likeJy, with such a gluttonous appetite and a fine array of digestive glands he ought to get on. So ho does. You caii almost see him grow. Funnily enough, however, his skin will not grow; consequently his oody becomes so awfully tight that tie is sadly uncomfortable. Something terrible must happen if he cannefc accommodate himself. As his "clothes" jet tighter and tighter, he proceeds la skin himself. He turns jnto a corner or some darkened recess, where appears to be lo.oklug; and makes* a slit in hia skin just rounU ike narrow porWen of his neck. Then jo doffs all off below his "color," j,Nd appears in a brand-new skin, a little largex than the last, and of a Bright, fcishionable green colour. Now bo looks respectns-te, and feels quite jo'm or table—for a time. While all this changing of clothes has bewi go.ng on the poor caterpillar has been foodlpss. However, he now fully recoups himself with tho heartiest meal ho over hud. Then another strange move comes over him. He takes it into his head that his hoad is too big, and it roally is larger than ho can bear, The skull-cap which covers it is like the skm—it will not grow, and it becomes close-fitting. He simply throws his skull-cap on one side, and has another one quite ready with new eyes, new jaws, and a new mouth. Then he turns to the feeding business again; in fact, he is so foarfully hungry after these •'suiting'' operations that he is not content with mcro leaves. He actually devours his i.ld skin. Tho old skull is too harl for him ; he lets this severely xlouc. During his grub stage he et.<wsra hl» »kin and skull four or Jtre Vtxvos, and cwioe or thrice he will devour the former. A GREA'.' CHANGE. -Thc» '* inakos a radical change sUh '& whole seli»~flk'ta, skull, and

all. It is thorough, in roair u y ais one of the most remarkable changes in Nature's world of wonders. The caterpillar becomes lazy, stupid, ond lethargic. ' He loses his voracious appetite ; eats nothing ; will not move. You prod him with a pin. Tie turns up his nose as if to say, -"-Let me alone ;"■ then he goes to rest again. He is alive, very much so, and breathes through all the spiracles and air-vessels which form pert of his body. But there he lies just as if dead. Just watch him. Something is going to happen. Now we are coming to it. Soe how he pierces the end of his skin and emerges fromi it a beautiful chrysalis of brilliant golden colour. His old skin l'esembles a piece of burned match stick. In his new form he is much like a mummy in miniature wrapped in swaddling clothes. He has lost his head entirely—his arms, his legs, his 18 hands and feet are all gone. Here he lies an inert mass, fully alive, waiting for the sunshine ©f next spring, when he will turn himself out a fully-fledged butterfly. CATTEEPILLARS ARE TERRIBLE CANNIBALS.

When the caterpillar has grown to his fullest extent and settles down to his quiet life, and more lively members of his kind appear to know of this, and when he is unable to help himself they have a knack of helping themselves to him. While he is sleeping he is mercilessly attacked by younger caterpillars, who strike at his very wtalsiand carve holes into his body with fearful rapacity. The poor, gouty victim has no chance of escape. Ho is killed and eaten on the spot, actually by some oi his quondam friends. Nothing is left of him but the bony part of his head, for when once the young, voracious caterpillar has tasted blood his thirst for it knows no bounds. Elder leaves and such trifles have no juice for him. Ho wjll even pounce on a chrysalis, dig into its softer parts, and empty tho whole casing as clean as if it had been washed. Beware of the ravenous caterpillar !