Note 224 — LETTER XXX.
Reading edition
Müller, the Danish zoologist, relates, that he once met with a papilio which, with the true wings of the genus, had a head without antennæ or tongue, furnished with mandibles; and, in short, that of a true caterpillar. It was a female, which deposited eggs that proved barren. If this solitary instance was not a mistake, is it possible that some parasitic larva had devoured only the inclosed head of the butterfly, or so injured it that it could not reject the hard skin of the larva, and yet not be destroyed?