Abstract
IF the experiment related below has never been made before, it appears to me deserving of notice in reference to instinct and evolution. The successful result of the experiment in a single case last year led me to repeat it on a somewhat larger scale this autumn. On September 25 I placed a number of the caterpillars of Puris brassicæ in boxes, and fed them with cabbage till they began to spin up. As soon as they had attached themselves by the tail and spun the suspensory girdle, and therefore before the exclusion of the chrysalis, I cut the girdle and caused them to hang vertically by the tail in the manner of the Suspensi. More than half of the caterpillars had been ichneumonized, and some accidents to the others finally reduced the number in which the experiment was fairly tried to eight. Of these, three came out successfully, the chrysalids maintaining their hold of the caterpillar-skin until they had succeeded in fastening themselves by their anal hooks to the silk to which the caterpillars were attached The other five, as might have been expected of all, fell to the ground for want of the suspensory girdle. Counting the case last year, here then are no less than four out of nine caterpillars of the Succincti, when artificially placed in the conditions of the Suspensi, adapting themselves to circumstances so greatly changed, and whether by plasticity of instinct or reversion to ancestral habit accomplishing a very difficult operation no less successfully.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
OSBORNE, J. Caterpillars. Nature 15, 7 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/015007b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015007b0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.