oftenerthan the generality o f caterpillars, that is, more than
four, five, or fix times, for feme have been obferved to moult
above nine times.
We have already taken notice o f thefe changes in the laft
chapter. The caterpillar generally falls for fome days previous
to the moulting, the flelhy and -other interior parts o f the head
are then detached from the old Ikull, and retire as it were within
t e neck; it is foon however cloathed with pieces iimilar to thofe
it has abandoned, only larger and at firft very foft. When the
new 1km and the other parts are formed, the old lkin is to be
opened, and all the members withdrawn from it, an operation
■ naturally difficult, but which mull be rendered more fo from the
an<^ we®k hate of the little creature at that time. The cater-'
pillar is always much larger after the change.
It appears from the experiments of M. Lyonet, that this caterpillar
generally palfes two winters at leaft, i f not three, before it
affumes the pupa Hate, but then it neither alls nor eats in the
winter, forming at the approach o f this feafon a little cafe or
habitation, the infide o f which is lined with filk, and the outfide
covered with fmall pieces o f wood like fine faw-dult: inclofed in
tins it waits the return o f fpring. They are fometimes three
inches and an half long when full grown, the fmalleft about two
inches. The fize which they attain is very great, if compared
with that o f the new bom caterpillar, which does not exceed one
twelfth o f an inch, an increafe in growth much fuperior to that
o f the larger animals.
It
3 Z7
I t generally prepares for the pupa Hate in the month o f M ay;
it’s firft care being to find a hole in the. tree fufficient to give iffue
to the moth : and i f it finds none proper for the purpofe, it
makes one equal in fize to the future pupa. The hole being
made or found, it begins to conftrua a cafe or cone, which it
forms o f thin pieces o f wood, uniting them together, by filk,
into an ellipfoid ffiape; the outfide is formed o f little Hicks united
together in all diretlions; the caterpillar takes care that the
pointed end o f the cafe may be always oppofite to the mouth
of the hole : having finifhed the outfide of the cafe, it lines the
infide With a filken tapeftry, o f a clofe texture in all parts, except
the pointed end, and where the tiftue is loofer, inorder to facilitate
it’s efcape at a proper feafon. The work beingfinifhed, the caterpillar
places itfelf in the cafe in fuch a manner, that its head
may always lay towards-the opening o f the hole in the tree or
pointed end of it’s cafe.
In this Hate it remains at reft for fome time; the colour of the
lkin firft becomes pale, afterwards the whole (kin appears brown.
The interior parts o f the head are detached from the Ikull, the
fegs retire or -withdraw themfelves from their exterior cafe,,
the body fhortens, the pofteriorpart grows fmall, while the anterior
part fwells fo much, as at laft to burft the {kin, which, by a
variety of motions, it pulhes down to the tail, and thus exhibits
the pupa, in which the parts o f the future moth may be eaiily
traced.
The covering o f the pupa is at firft foft, humid, and white,
but it foon dries and hardens, and is then o f a marron colour;
the fore-part, in which the lineaments of the head, the legs,- andi
6 ' the