The /mayo.—When the pupa has arrived at maturity its coverings split and allow the emer gence of the 'imago' or perfect insect. "Hardly anything in the range of insect life," remarks Dr. W. d. Holland. "is more interesting than the rapid development of the butterfly after its first emergence from the chrysalis. . . The imago, as it first emerges, is provided with small. flac cid wings, which, together With all the organs of sense. such as the antennae, require for their com plete development the injection into them of the vital fluids, which. upon first emergence. are largely •ontained in the cavities of the thorax and abdomen. Hanging pendant on a projecting twig, or clinging t(1 the side of a. rock. the in sect remains. fanning its wings, while by the strong process of circulation, a rapid injection of the blood into the wings and other organs takes place. accompanied by their expansion to normal proportions, in which they gradually at tain to more or less rigidity. . . The body is robbed of its liquid contents in a large de gree; the abdomen is shortened up; the chitinous rings which compose its external skeleton be com• set and hardened; the wings are expanded, and then the moment arrives when, on airy pin ions, the creature that has lived a worm-like life for weeks and months, or which has been ap parently sleeping the sleep of death in its eere ments, soars aloft in the air, the companion of the sunlight and the breezes."
It is impossible here to go into any descrip tion of butterflies and moths. Butterflies, as a rule, are more brilliant than moths, many of them. in the tropics, especially resplendent in metallic hues, rivaling those of the 'eyes' of peacock-plumes. Moths:, on the contrary, are more usually dull of hue, and less given to ap pearing in open places, even when they fly by day, yet some are high-eolored and beautiful.
Both butterflies and moths, and their caterpil lars, may resemble to some extent the shape of the object or the coloration of their background, or of other insects. Thus they illustrate most strikingly and copiously various phases of 'mim icry' and 'protective coloring.' Butterflies, like bees and many other insects, carry pollen from flower to flower, and hence aid greatly in the formation of seeds. See Cross FERTILIZATION.