Outdoor Visits  by Edith M. Patch

Some Insects in Winter

The day was warm for December. So some of the snow had melted.

The sunshine touched one side of an old tree in the park. There was a hollow in that side of the tree.

A butterfly had been sleeping in the hollow. She rested all the cold winter days and nights. She did not feel cold while she was asleep.

On this warm day the butterfly waked. She moved her wings. She saw the bright sunshine outside and flew out of the dark hollow.

The butterfly was not thirsty while she was sleeping. But she felt thirsty, now. She had not had a drink for about eight weeks.

She liked sweet nectar to drink. In the fall she had found some in many flowers. But there were no flowers in the park in December. There was no nectar for her, now.

So what did the thirsty butterfly do? She flew down to the tiny pond of melted snow and drank some water.

Don and Nan were playing in the park. They saw the butterfly come down to the melted snow.

They were glad she found some water to drink. They did not scare her away. They liked to watch her.

"What pretty wings!" said Nan. "They are dark brown with yellow edges."

"Yes," said Don, "and there is black between the brown and yellow colors. And see that row of blue spots on the black!"

Mr. Gray was working in the park. Ted ran to tell him about the butterfly. He came to see it, too.

Mr. Gray said, "One name for this kind of butterfly is Yellow Edge.

"A Yellow Edge butterfly finds a dry hollow home in the fall. It sleeps there in cold winter weather. On warm days, like this, the Yellow Edge flies in the sunshine."

"I wonder what other kinds of butterflies do in winter," said Don.

"Will you tell us?" asked Nan.

"Different kinds of butterflies have different winter habits," Mr. Gray told them.

"Some kinds are eggs in winter. Caterpillars hatch from such eggs in the spring.

"Then each caterpillar grows and changes to a pupa. The pupa of a butterfly is called a chrysalid. When the butterfly inside the chrysalid case is old enough, it breaks the case and flies away.

"Some kinds are caterpillars in winter. They go to sleep in the fall and do not waken until spring. They do not feel hungry while they sleep."

"Do any kinds of butterflies live all winter in their chrysalid cases?" asked Don.

"Yes," said Mr. Gray, "that is the way a Swallow-tail does. Then it changes to a grown butterfly in the spring."

Don and Nan ran home as fast as they could go to tell Uncle Tom.

"Mr. Gray told us how different kinds of butterflies live in winter," said Don.

"Do you remember what he told you?" asked Uncle Tom.

"He said some kinds are eggs in winter and hatch in the spring. Some kinds sleep until spring while they are young caterpillars. And other kinds change to chrysalids in the fall and wait until spring before they change to grown butterflies. But Yellow Edges grow to be butterflies in the fall and find dry holes for winter homes."