Java Programming with Oracle SQLJ

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The animals on the cover of Java Programming with Oracle SQLJ are eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus). Butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera, from the Greek lepid, "scale," and pteron, "wing," for the scale-like flattened bristles that cover the wings of the moths and butterflies that belong to this order.

Butterflies start life as an egg laid by an adult female butterfly. From this egg hatches a caterpillar, which eats large quantities of plant matter and sometimes insects as well. It grows rapidly, shedding its skin up to five times before reaching its full size. Once at this size, the caterpillar gets ready for its metamorphosis into a butterfly. Unlike moths, which spin themselves a cocoon, butterfly caterpillars spin a small disk of silk, attach it to a twig or other support, and grab onto it with their cremaster, a sort of claw at the end of their abdomen. They then shed their skin again; the pupa is underneath. Inside the pupa, their tissues and organs break down into a liquid and then reform as a butterfly; this stage can take anywhere from a week to several years. When they emerge, breaking open the pupa and crawling out, they pump blood into the veins of their wings to extend them. Once the ...