Close to 10,000 different kings of moths and butterflies are found in North America alone. And thousands more flit through tropical jungles and remote deserts of the rest of the world. Everywhere they add a touch of beauty and a note of mystery.

For moths and butterflies appear and disappear as if by magic. Some live only a few hours. Others — the moths — seem to prefer nighttime for their flying. And all of them owe their origin to strange wormlike caterpillars which plod slowly along like weird creatures of another world.

Yet the world of moths and butterflies is well known to scientists. They have watched these insects through their strange life cycle and have kept careful records of their behavior. In All About Moths and Butterflies, Robert S. Lemmon tells the scientist's story of these amazing winged creatures, their eggs, their caterpillars, and their chrysalises.

For every one goes through four stages of development. Look at the hickory horned-devil, for example. It is a six-inch green and white caterpillar with rough, curved "horns" and sharp spines scattered over its body. Yet from this ugly creature, will come one of the loveliest of moths — the royal walnut moth, a pale brown and yellow beauty with a wingspread of five or six inches.

Truly, the story of moths and butterflies is fantastic beyond belief!

From the dust jacket