Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-06-03
WONDERS OF THE LIFE
AMONG MANY INSECTS
Its Threefold Changes, or Metamor.
phosis. From Human Expo
riencc Viewpoint.
ROMANCE OF THE BUTTERFLY
Asterias Variety INDUCES I'm Many
Changes and Adornments as It
Grows Larger, Shedding Coat AZ.
ter Coat.
BY GARRETT r. sERyIss.

There Is much for us to learn, much
that will do us a great deal OF good. in
studying what we often contem ptuousiy
call Tho lower animals." No doubt
the proper study OF mankind ia man."
as MIR. Pope. tho poet. said. but one of
the most effective ways to study man
is>to consider how he differs from
| other creatures. some OF which, for all
that we can see might have been
! developed. instead Of him, into world
masters. Indeed, the creatures scion
| tihcaily named hcxapoda ("popularly
called insects" remarks an up-to-dat.
| naturalist) seem to have come very
near getting the mastery OF the cart,
by virtue both of numbers and OF
capacity to take advantage OF tcrres-
trial conditions.
me insect. or hexapod (six -legger)
! is. II you leave the great human brain
out or account. a more wonderful ami
mai than man. It's life history is in
comparably more marvellous than his.
Man Is always man; he has only one
form throughout his entire existence:
ne lives but one unvarying kind OF life.
SIMPLY getting bigger as he grows
oioer. up to certain point. 1t makes
human life seem rather monotonous
when we consider what transforms.
lions newiy-born insect has before
him' III ne the inscct) could carr;
the memory OF his various transfgura-
ions throughout lifetime. his per-
sonal "reminiscences would make a hook
OF confessions" such as could not b.
matched in human autobioEraphy.
ha
inss: % when I was a caterpillar"
or "a larva:" te) when was n cry
sails" or "a pupa;" t3) since got nv
wings and became an image"
Under each form. though the per-
sonal!ty or individuality remains the
same. the insect is very direren,
looking creature. and in every guise he
has a class OF adventures peculiar to
the special phase of his protean ex-
istence In which he happens TO be at
tho time lie begins from an egg. in
which he simply follows the general
rule OF animal inception. Then he
makes his appearance in his nrst active
role az larva, which may have the
form OF grub.'a mageot, or cater
pillar, according to what insect race
he belongs to.
BEGINS LIFE AS SMALL
WHITE WEIGHING WORM
II. In adult life. he Is to be a fly.
no appears first as maggot a little
white worm. II he is a beetle when
Els last curtain falls, he was a grub
at the rise OF the nrst. II he Is TO be
a moth or a butterfly, he begins as
a caterpillar
Just as II Is impossible to compre-
bend history without surrounding one
SELF. by the aid OF the Imagination
with the atmosphere OF remote times
SO YOU cannot understand insect life
unless you put yourself. SO to speak,
In the shoes OF the insect Itself. Take.
for instance. the beautiful Asterias
butterfly. which resembles a patch OF
| glossy black silk suddenly endowed
with futterinK life and cleaning in
the sunshine with flashes OF red. yell
low and blue embroideries
Early in Its life. when Il Is a full.
green caterpillar. banded with black
stripes that are buttoned with gold
dots. IT has no more outward sueEes-
ton OF possessing an undeveloped
power OF flight than has a fshworm.
under It's feet. It's sole impulse Is to
find something that 1t likes to eat and
TO cat it. 1t is particularly fond of
parsley. carrot. celery and parsnip
leaves 1t appreciates a good garden
and pays no attention to the sky. II
1t has any thought OF wings. Il is only
as corrected with dreaded enemies
which sometimes swoop down from the
air and snatch caterpilalrs away from
their feasts.
The only excitement In Its monoton
GUS life OF chewing and swallowing
| consists OF series OF transformations
in colors and adornments as II grows
larger. To begin with. It is only a
tenth OF an inch long. and black, with
couple OF white hands. IT usually
makesi its start In life early in June
IL sheds coat after coat. each new one
different from the preceding. es grow
ing boy proceeds from baby dresses
to knickerbockers. and then trousers.
and next grown-up clothes and In
three or four weeks 1t increases from
tenth Of an inch to an inch and
half In length. and assumes the green
striped and gold-buttoned vestmen. al
ready described. IT is beautiful crea-
ture. though 1t attracts. as yet. no low.
ing eyes from companions of its own
race, because, in this stage Of their
existence, insects know no charms Of
sex.
About midsummer this green gonr-
mand loses his appetite and stops cat
ing entirely. Some inner feeling tells
him that a great change is about to
come over him. He is about to fall