8. On Young Caterpillars Eating their Egg Shells.Mr. Scudder, Butterflies, p. 101, says, after describing the way in which the caterpillar eats out of the egg: “The taste he has gained of egg-shell seems to allure him; for, strange as it may seem, although placed by the provident parent within immediate reach of choice and succulent food, he will not taste it until he has devoured the last remmant of his prison-walls. Strange food this for a new born babe! The act, however, is plainly a provision of nature by which the tender animal is rid of a sure token to his enemies of his immediate proximity.” Surely here is an error in fact, and a wrong conclusion whatever the fact may be. I read the above statement on the 25th July last, and at once went to my garden to search for eggs of Libythea Bachmanni, on Hackberry leaves. The young caterpillars of this species are green, of a shade so near that of the leaves they feed on, that it is very difficult to discover them. Even where the tip of the leaf has been eaten, and their presence is suspected, it is easy to overlook them. I found at once three eggs and one young caterpillar. The egg from which this caterpillar had come was present at the base of the leaf on the extreme tip of which the little creature rested. A hole was in its side near the top, and no more had been eaten than just enough to permit egress.
The hatching mechanism of 130-million-year-old insects: an association of neonates, egg shells and egg bursters in Lebanese amber