Show October tober Observations I The Insect Beautiful on Western Butterflies BY J H PAUL DIRECTO DIRECTOR OF NATURE STUDY IN THE STATE NORMAL Because of their beauty butterflies have always held the foremost place among Insects Because of their mar marvelous marvelous marvelous transformations they show us the miracle and romance of ot Insect Ute life In all Its wonder Tiny eggs change Into caterpillars that are often otten of at large size and of formidable appearance though really quite harmless cater caterpillars caterpillars caterpillars pillars transform Into curious careen closed creatures called which hang for a week or two quite still and finally the develop Into the glorious and creatures that float over the flowers and are the especial favorites among amons all the children of oC the sun Easily collected they may so be used u ed In school schiol schoolwork work as to guide and gratify the col collecting collecting collecting mania possessed by nearly every normal child With little skill kill and with less learning In this branch of nature every teacher can have a collection of at forms so striking and of colors so marvelous In their brilliancy or delicacy that the Insect world will lose most of its horror to the most tim timid timid timId id and abnormally sensitive If It these those observations and collections are ire begun In school days the boy or girl will be immune thereafter from the thrills of at Instructive dread that torture many people through life lite on account of at the insect visitor In some of ot its forms How much better is the poets feeling toward these marvelous marvellus creatures Stay near me medo do not take thy A little longer stay In sight Much converse do I find in thee Historian of my Infancy Float near leal me do not yet depart Dead times revive In thee Thou gay creature as thou art artA artA artA A solemn Image to my heart Wordsworth To a Butterfly The Tiger Swallow Tail Tall TallA A few weeks ago the writers atten attention attention attention tion was arrested by the flight of at a pair of at large yellow and black butterflies of at extraordinary size and beauty which fluttered slowly and gracefully as if It without fear from the flower garden to offal In the street rising and falling In graceful flutter ings and finally soaring high in the theair theair theair air to be lost to sight bight These were Tiger Swallowtails members of at a n rge family of at splendid beauties ion fined to the tho temperate regions of ot America At times they become so numerous that Scudder once captured of them on a single cluster of oC lilacs The mature caterpillar Is 19 smooth leaf leat leafgreen leafgreen green In color with a reddish head and anda a double stripe of ot yellow and bick bl ck across its back In its final stage it weaves a hammock formed of at threads interlacing across a leaf and reposes r poses I on this elastic bed till It is teady to pass pars Into a straight rough rugged chrysalis which after utter afterward afterward ward turns Into this gorgeous butter butterfly butterfly butterfly fly The White Butterfly For observation of this well known white species go Into a cabbage patch Among Amon any an of at the plants whose leaves are perforated or cut out along long the edges you may find several smooth green caterpillars about an Inch long which Is the cause of these perforations perforations The caterpillar is the larva of ot ofa ota ofa a white butterfly Into which It would have changed had it been latched from the egg earlier In the season On some of oC the leaves Is a tiny ob object the egg of at the butterfly The ThO egg first hatches into a very small green wormlike creature that begins at once to nibble the cabbage leaves leav s After eating for a few tew days the cabbage cabbageworm cabbageworm worm arm takes a rest and or casts cruts its skin Then it eats again for about a week eek and again Its skin has become too tight for it splits or en along the back and the vorm makes its way wa out of oC its old skin clothed with one entirely new The may occur twice more before the cat is full tun grown and then comes the great change of Its life lICe This species pe des cies finds a sheltered place and spins a silken loop with which to hold bold up the front end of oC its body and entangles its hind legs in a similar tuft Then the body bod thickens the skin cracks along the back and there emerges a new rew sort of at creature the pupa from the cater caterpillars caterpillars pillars skin which hangs as a chrysalis supported from the two ends by the silken skeins Two weeks later the chrysalis spits open and a white but hut butterfly butterfly comes out outA outA outA A good Insect cage cago for watching the transformations may be made from a chalk box by cutting a larg large e square out of at the center of ot the lid and tacking over oer this opening a wire screen en We Ve thus have a small box with sliding lid lidIn lidin In which cabbage leaves leavea with cater caterpillars caterpillars caterpillars pillars on them can be placed and mid all aU aUthe the subsequent transformations from worm orm to butterfly observed by the stu students students students dents The Monarch The largest of ot our brown butterflies Is the Monarch which ranges the field fIed from midsummer till autumn Its eggs are laid on the milkweed and md the cat caterpillar appears to feed teed entirely upon the soft leaves of ot this milky plant The rhe larva a black and white species with two long horns often spins on the under side of oC the leaf a little mat of silk to which It clings head downward for a day when about to be become become become come a chrysalis As It U does docs s so o it changes Its Us skin and emerges as a shell case broader be he below helow below low than above Presently reversing these t proportions the case becomes becom s a beautiful green bespangled w with ith golden spots For nearly nearl two weeks the insect remains hanging to the leaf till the In Indistinct Indistinct Indistinct distinct form of ot a butterfly Is imly visible through the thin outer covering After Atter awhile this envelope bursts and ind the forelegs ot the butterfly grasp at atthe atthe atthe the leaf leat above while another pair hold to he the empty chrysalis The wet crum crumpled crumpled pled wings dry dr out and expand as the body juices run Into their veins vel liS T TJ Then en the butterfly gets upon the leaf and after atter an hour or two takes The Viceroy Another common butterfly with us is the Viceroy Next ext to the Monarch In size among the brown butterflies it Is III also very ver like the latter in color which it is believed to for protection against its bird enemies For the Mon Men Monarch arch has a bitter tate taste while the Viceroy has not therefore say the ad advocates advocates advocates of at the theory of at the survival of at the fittest those Viceroy ro butterflies which resembled the Monarch have persisted and multiplied till WI today this I is one of ot the most c species specie The rill I caterpillar hatches hatche from an egg on a I willow leaf The tiny tin creature first tats cats ts the egg shell from which it has Just emerged possibly in order to o hin hinder hinder hinder der discovery by enemies that would recognize the empty shell It also pro protects prot t ts itself by resting on the under side sida of the leaf leat during the day feeding only at night Moreover It adopts a singular device thus hus described by Mr Scudder With silken threads It fastens a few bits of ot leaves together and se e et ij t I c i k ri I D I cures the bunch to a leaf rib As fast as the leaf leif is Js eaten it removes this packet which is about the size cize of It a small pea farther and farther down the he midrib away from its perch always keeping seeping it near the eaten edge The packet is so loosely attached that It t Is moved by the least breath bre th and ind so 50 it would distract attention from Its ts architect near by who has taken pains to place it at the farthest re ye remove remove move from his perch but near enough to o be easily shifted Its motion would take the birds attention and ana the cater caterpillar caterpillar pillar would w uld remain undiscovered If U this be really Its object It Is 19 surely one oneat of at the oddest devices In nature When the larva Is full grown It Is a strange stran f greenish and olive olve gray gra caterpillar that becomes a u chrysalis suspended to a limb After a week the butterfly emerges and lays eggs for fr a second brood When these are two thirds grown writes Dr Riley they build for themselves them serves curious little houses in which they pass the winter First the larva fastens the stem of the leaf leat with silken cables securely to the twig from which It grows It then gnaws off oft the blade of at the leaf bay leav leaving bayIng ing little else but the midrib Finally It rolls roUs the ther remaining part of ot the blade of ot the leaf leat Into a cylinder sewing the edges edged together with silk The whole has the appearance of at the leaf of ot a miniature pitcher plant a cylinder cylinder der whose length Is over halt half and Its width over of at an inch These curious little cases may be commonly found upon our willows willow and poplars in winter time The larva having completed Its work composes itself for forthe forthe forthe the winter Here it remains till Ull the tile catkins are In bloom the next spring when it retreats from its house and ard commences feeding Not the least wonderful part of the phenomenon Is that It is only the autumnal brood of ot larvae that form houses house to lo live in during the inclement season of the year Jear the summer brood having no occasion to shelter themselves from cold The range of the brown Viceroy which is similar to the Monarch and therefore avoided by birds Is practical practically al ly h the same as that of Its great patron latron while no other of the Viceroy genus has hasso hasso hasso so wide a distribution The Mourning Cloak x xA A pair of wings edged by bya a border which Is Irregular Irregular Irregular ular much like the thc top of ot our saw toothed mountain ranges distinguishes a species of ot extraordinary beauty and Interest the Mourning Cloak or Anti opa epa butterfly one of the tho most widely distributed of at all aU the species The one Colle oneat oneat at hand captured by some me of ot the school children measures about two and a half halt inches across the outspread wings In these days they are still fly flying tl flyIng ing about in the sunshine and almost invariably settling In sunny places In such a position with the back to tb the sun that it always receives the utmost benefit from the suns rays ras After awhile it will creep into a a hollow tree or under bark or rocks to remain till the warmth of at spring shall thaw it again Then It will lay its eggs on 10 wil willows willows willows lows poplars or elms In little clusters of twenty or more encircling the tt twigs These hatch In about two weeks Into small blackish spring caterpillars which eat out the leaf blades leaving all the veins untouched As they pass from oen leaf leaC to another each spins a delicate thread to which It clings When a week old the skin Is shed and the process takes place three times more at Intervals of ot about one week The creature comes forth each time with a new covering which will stretch a little but which finally final splits spills down the back as the Insect too large for It As these spring creatures grow larger they devour the veins of the leaves sparing only the midrib By this time their webs have havo formed a sort of ot swinging carpet that bridges the space from stem to stem At length lenth each seeks a sheltered place clace and spins a web say on the under side of a pole In this it entangles Its Ith it lurid hind legs and hangs head downward till the outer skin splits along the b ck Now It wriggles out entirely unlike a caterpillar but not yet a chrysalis only gradually taking the form In which It hangs for a fortnight It then emerges ern lifting Its head upward as a butter butterfly butterfly butterfly fly to range the fields till tin August At this time It goes into summer quarters and completely disappears for while by hiding as If asleep underneath bark or hanging downward from a limb lIm It Jt revives reves in early autumn and begins to search for tor the honey and flowers or fruits or for tor that deposited upon leaves by b the aphides or or r plant lice The Red Admiral The Red Admiral Is another of ot the few butterflies that like the Viceroy hibernate live through the winter It ItIs ItIs ItIs Is two and inches Inch s across its outspread wings which are black above the hinder pair with a broad border of ot brilliant red This red strip Is continued across the middle of at the forewings which have p i 3 a white I broken band of at color L way y between the red band and tt t tip Up of ot the thil wing wIn wInt 2 t The Monarch In all its life stages I B full grown larva C chrysalis info Ino which the larva transforms D full tull grown butterfly a egg greatly magni magui magnified magnified fied fled from which the larva develops b head of young larva c milkweed leaf leat d folded antennae e f t segments of at body I On the underside the hind wings and tips bf the are marbled with light and dark wavy markings It comes from Its winter hiding place late in spring eggs in m June singly on the upper side of at leaves avoiding the veins In five or six days a spiny caterpillar is hatched which feeds on nettle leaves and grows a little over an Inch In length This creature soon climbs to the topmost leaves and lin lining lining linIng ing one of at them with silk draws its edges together to form torm a canopy where it lives concealed solitary and indo indolent Indolent indolent lent It feeds at night on the sub substance substance substance stance of the leaf forming its house but spares the framework After it takes another leaf and makes a new canopy somewhat differ different different different ent After each moult It seeks a new leaf and as regularly proceeds to eat eal itself out of house and home till It finally final passes Into the chrysalis form to emerge as a butterfly early In July These butterflies lay eggs that hatch hatcha a second brood by September and fly lIy about till un the cold weather of October drives them to find a hiding place til till Ull spring They may often otten be caught on sliced apples drying in itt the sun flun It is a striking specimen but Its larvae have parasite enemies that frequently de destroy destroy destroy stroy them The parasites are arc small and creatures that sting the caterpillar laying an egg In its body as they do so The eggs hatch Into small maggots which eat up their host and the butterfly falls How Ho to Study Them Observation of the insect beautiful the moths and butterflies and study of the of the as this group is called may be begun In Inthe Inthe Inthe the fall by all grades grade These Insects are suited for closer study and rearing to the work of ot the sixth grade Notice what plants the butterfly prefers and cage cage and rear any caterpillars cater found feeding on these plants Good guide books boks for this study anc and observation are Scudder Everyday Butterflies Comstock How to Know the Butterflies Weed Nature Biographies Comstock Insect Life Holland Butterfly Book Dickerson Moths and Butter Butterflies Butterflies flies files Of Ot these Insect Life Lire is preferable if it only one is purchased since It n covers the field of In Insects Insects sects Smaller books are Weed Sto Stories ries of insect t Life LIf and Comstock Ways Wa s of t the In using any of these books it is a great help to know which of the species named therein occur commonly in Utah and the Rocky mountains Common Utah Species We have then frequent in Utah the Monarch Anosia a milk milkweed milkweed milkweed weed butterfly the |