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+Project Gutenberg's Moths of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton-Porter
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Moths of the Limberlost
+       A book about Limberlost Cabin
+
+Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
+
+Posting Date: August 3, 2012 [EBook #4907]
+Release Date: January, 2004
+First Posted: March 24, 2002
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Geoffrey Cowling
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Updater's note: this etext refers to "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table",
+by Oliver Wendell Holmes, and "A Girl of the Limberlost", by Gene
+Stratton-Porter.  Both books are in the Project Gutenberg collection.]
+
+
+
+
+
+MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST
+
+A book about Limberlost Cabin
+
+by
+
+Gene Stratton-Porter
+
+
+
+To
+Neltje Degraff Doubleday
+
+
+
+"All diamonded with panes of quaint device,
+Innumerable of stains, and splendid dyes,
+As are the Tiger Moth's deep damask wings."
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I      Moths of the Limberlost
+
+CHAPTER II     Moths, eggs, caterpillars, winter quarters
+
+CHAPTER III    The Robin Moth
+
+CHAPTER IV     The Yellow Emperor
+
+CHAPTER V      The Lady Bird
+
+CHAPTER VI     Moths of the moon
+
+CHAPTER VII    King of the hollyhocks
+
+CHAPTER VIII   Hera of the corn
+
+CHAPTER IX     The Sweetheart and the Bride
+
+CHAPTER X      The Giant Gamin
+
+CHAPTER XI     The Garden Fly
+
+CHAPTER XII    Bloody-Nose of Sunshine Hill
+
+CHAPTER XIII   The Modest Moth
+
+CHAPTER XIV    The Pride of the Lilacs
+
+CHAPTER XV     The King of the Poets
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I  Moths of the Limberlost
+
+
+To me the Limberlost is a word with which to conjure; a spot
+wherein to revel.  The swamp lies in north-eastern Indiana,
+nearly one hundred miles south of the Michigan line and ten
+west of the Ohio.  In its day it covered a large area.  When
+I arrived; there were miles of unbroken forest, lakes provided
+with boats for navigation, streams of running water, the roads
+around the edges corduroy, made by felling and sinking large trees
+in the muck.  Then the Winter Swamp had all the lacy  exquisite
+beauty  of such locations when snow and frost draped, while from
+May until October it was practically tropical jungle.  From it I
+have sent to scientists flowers and vines not then classified
+and illustrated in our botanies.
+
+It was a piece of forethought to work unceasingly  at that time,
+for soon commerce attacked the swamp and began its usual process of
+devastation.  Canadian lumbermen came seeking tall straight
+timber for ship masts and tough heavy trees for beams.  Grand
+Rapids followed and stripped the forest of hard wood for fine
+furniture, and through my experience with the lumber men "Freckles"'
+story  was written.  Afterward hoop and stave men and local mills
+took the best of the soft wood.  Then a ditch, in reality a canal,
+was dredged across the north end through, my best territory, and
+that carried the water to the Wabash River until oil men could
+enter the swamp.  From that time the wealth they drew to the
+surface constantly materialized in macadamized roads, cosy homes,
+and big farms of unsurpassed richness, suitable for growing onions,
+celery, sugar beets, corn and potatoes, as repeatedly has been
+explained in everything I have written of the place.  Now, the
+Limberlost exists only in ragged spots and patches, but so rich
+was it in the beginning that there is yet a wealth of work for
+a lifetime remaining to me in these, and river thickets.  I ask
+no better hunting grounds for birds, moths, and flowers.  The
+fine roads are a convenience, and settled farms a protection,
+to be taken into consideration, when bewailing its dismantling.
+
+It is quite true that "One man's meat is another's poison."
+When poor Limber, lost and starving in the fastnesses of the
+swamp, gave to it a name, afterward to be on the lips of millions;
+to him it was deadly  poison.  To me it has been of unspeakable
+interest, unceasing work of joyous nature, and meat in full measure,
+with occasional sweetbreads by  way  of a treat.
+
+Primarily, I went to the swamp to study and reproduce the birds.
+I never thought they could have a rival in my  heart.  But these
+fragile night wanderers, these moonflowers of June's darkness,
+literally "thrust themselves upon me."  When my cameras were
+placed before the home of a pair of birds, the bushes parted to
+admit light, and clinging to them I found a creature, often having
+the bird's sweep of wing, of colour pale green with decorations
+of lavender and yellow or running the gamut from palest tans
+darkest browns, with markings, of pink or dozens of other
+irresistible combinations of colour, the feathered folk found a
+competitor that often outdistanced them in my affections, for
+I am captivated easily by colour, and beauty  of form.
+
+At first, these moths made studies of exquisite beauty, I merely
+stopped a few seconds to reproduce them, before proceeding
+with my work.  Soon I found myself filling the waiting time,
+when birds were slow in coming before the cameras, when clouds
+obscured the light too much for fast exposures, or on grey days,
+by searching for moths.  Then in collecting abandoned nests,
+cocoons were found on limbs, inside stumps, among leaves when
+gathering nuts, or queer shining pupae-cases came to light as
+I lifted wild flowers in the fall.  All these were carried to my
+little conservatory, placed in as natural conditions as possible,
+and studies were made from the moths that emerged the following
+spring.  I am not sure but that "Moths of Limberlost Cabin"
+would be the most appropriate title for this book.
+
+Sometimes, before I had finished with them, they paired, mated,
+and dotted everything with fertile eggs, from which tiny
+caterpillars soon would emerge.  It became a matter of intense
+interest to provide their natural foods and raise them.  That
+started me to watching for caterpillars and eggs out of doors,
+and friends of my work began carrying them to me.  Repeatedly,
+I have gone through the entire life process, from mating newly
+emerged moths, the egg period, caterpillar life, with its
+complicated moults and changes, the spinning of the cocoons,
+the miraculous winter sleep, to the spring appearance;  and with
+my cameras recorded each stage of development.  Then on platinum
+paper, printed so lightly from these negatives as to give only
+an exact reproduction of forms, and with water colour medium
+copied each mark, line and colour gradation in most cases from
+the living moth at its prime.  Never was the study of birds so
+interesting.
+
+The illustration of every moth book I ever have seen, that
+attempted coloured reproduction, proved by the shrivelled bodies
+and unnatural position of the wings, that it had been painted from
+objects mounted from weeks to years in private collections or
+museums.  A lifeless moth fades rapidly under the most favourable
+conditions.  A moth at eight days of age, in the last stages of
+decline, is from four to six distinct shades lighter in colour
+than at six hours from the cocoon, when it is dry, and ready
+for flight.  As soon as circulation stops, and the life juices
+evaporate from the wings and body, the colour grows many shades paler.
+If exposed to light, moths soon fade almost beyond recognition.
+
+I make no claim to being an entomologist;  I quite agree with the
+"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table", that "the subject is too vast
+for any single human intelligence to grasp."  If my life depended
+upon it I could not give the scientific name of every least organ
+and nerve of a moth, and as for wrestling with the thousands of
+tiny species of day and night or even attempting all the
+ramifications of--say the alluringly beautiful Catocalae family--life
+is too short, unless devoted to this purpose alone.  But if
+I frankly confess my limitations, and offer the book to my
+nature-loving friends merely as an introduction to the most
+exquisite creation of the swamp; and the outside history, as it
+were, of the evolution of these creatures from moth to moth again,
+surely no one can feel defrauded.  Since the publication of
+"A Girl of the Limberlost", I have received hundreds of letters
+asking me to write of my experiences with the lepidoptera of the
+swamp.  This book professes to be nothing more.
+
+Because so many  enemies prey  upon the large night moths in all
+stages, they  are nowhere sufficiently numerous to be pests, or
+common enough to be given local names, as have the birds.  I have
+been compelled to use their scientific names to assist in
+identification, and at times I have had to resort to technical terms,
+because there were no other.  Frequently I have written of them under
+the names by which I knew them in childhood, or that we of Limberlost
+Cabin have bestowed upon them.
+
+There is a wide gulf between a Naturalist and a Nature Lover.  A
+Naturalist devotes his life to delving into stiff scientific
+problems concerning everything in nature from her greatest to her
+most minute forms.  A Nature Lover works at any occupation and
+finds recreation in being out of doors and appreciating the common
+things of life as they appeal to his senses.
+
+The Naturalist always begins at the beginning and traces family,
+sub-family, genus and species.  He deals in Latin and Greek terms
+of resounding and disheartening combinations.  At his hands anatomy
+and markings become lost in a scientific jargon of patagia, jugum,
+discocellulars, phagocytes, and so on to the end of the volume.
+For one who would be a Naturalist, a rare specimen indeed, there are
+many  volumes on the market.  The list of pioneer lepidopterists
+begins authoritatively with Linnaeus and since his time you can
+make your selection from the works of Druce, Grote, Strecker,
+Boisduval, Robinson, Smith, Butler, Fernald, Beutenmuller, Hicks,
+Rothschild, Hampson, Stretch, Lyman, or any of a dozen others.
+Possessing such an imposing array of names there should be no
+necessity to add to them.  These men have impaled moths and
+dissected, magnified and located brain, heart and nerves.  After
+finishing the interior they have given to the most minute exterior
+organ from two to three inches of Latin name.  From them we learn
+that it requires a coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus, ungues,
+pulvillus, and anterior, medial and posterior spurs to provide a
+leg for a moth.  I dislike to weaken my argument that more work
+along these lines is not required, by recording that after all
+this, no one seems to have located the ears definitely.  Some
+believe hearing lies in the antennae.  Hicks has made an especial
+study of a fluid filled cavity closed by a membrane that he thinks
+he has demonstrated to be the seat of hearing.  Leydig, Gerstaecker,
+and others believe this same organ to be olfactory.  Perhaps, after
+all, there is room for only one more doctor of science who will
+permanently settle this and a few other vexing questions for us.
+
+But what of the millions of Nature Lovers, who each year snatch only
+a brief time afield, for rest and recreation?  What of the masses
+of men and women whose daily  application to the work of life makes
+vacation study a burden, or whose business has so broken the habit
+of study that concentration is distasteful if not impossible?
+These people number in the ratio of a million to one Naturalist.
+They would be delighted to learn the simplest name possible for
+the creatures they or their friends find afield, and the markings,
+habits, and characteristics by which they can be identified.
+They do not care in the least for species and minute detail
+concerning anatomy, couched in resounding Latin and Greek terms
+they cannot possibly remember.
+
+I never have seen or heard of any person who on being shown any
+one of ten of our most beautiful moths, did not consider and
+promptly pronounce it the most exquisite creation he ever had seen,
+and evince a lively interest in its history.  But when he found it
+necessary to purchase a text-book, devoid of all human interest
+or literary possibility, and wade through pages of scientific
+dissertation, all the time having the feeling that perhaps through
+his lack of experience his identification was not aright, he usually
+preferred to remain in ignorance.  It is in the belief that all
+Nature Lovers, afield for entertainment or instruction, will be
+thankful for a simplification of any method now existing for
+becoming acquainted with moths, that this book is written
+and illustrated.
+
+In gathering the material used I think it is quite true that I have
+lost as many good subjects as I have secured, in my efforts to
+follow the teachings of scientific writers.  My complaint against
+them is that they neglect essential detail and are not always
+rightly informed.  They confuse one with a flood of scientific
+terms describing minute anatomical parts and fail to explain the
+simple yet absolutely essential points over which an amateur has
+trouble, wheat often only a few words would suffice.
+
+For example, any one of half a dozen writers tells us that when
+a caterpillar finishes eating and is ready to go into winter
+quarters it crawls rapidly around for a time, empties the
+intestines, and transformation takes place.  Why do not some
+of them explain further that a caterpillar of, say, six inches in
+length will shrink to THREE, its skin become loosened, the horns
+drop limp, and the creature appear dead and disintegrating?
+Because no one mentioned these things, I concluded that the first
+caterpillar I found in this state was lost to me and threw it away.
+A few words would have saved the complete history of a beautiful
+moth, to secure which no second opportunity was presented for five
+years.
+
+Several works I consulted united in the simple statement that
+certain caterpillars pupate in the ground.
+
+In Packard's "Guide", you will find this--"Lepidopterous pupae should
+be...kept moist in mould until the image appears."  I followed this
+direction, even taking the precaution to bake the earth used,
+because I was very anxious about some rare moths.
+When they failed to emerge in season I dug them out, only to find
+that those not moulded had been held fast by  the damp, packed
+earth, and all were ruined.  I learned by investigation that
+pupation takes place in a hole worked out by the caterpillar, so
+earth must touch these cases only as they lie upon it.  The one
+word 'hole' would have saved all those moths for me.
+
+One writer stated that the tongue cases of some pupae turn over
+and fasten on the back between the wing shields, and others were
+strangely silent on the subject.  So for ten months I kept some
+cases lying on their backs with the feet up and photographed
+them in that position.  I had to discover for myself that
+caterpillars that pupate in the ground change to the moth form with
+the feet and legs folded around the under side of the thorax, the
+wings wrap over them, and the tongue case bends UNDER and is
+fastened between the wings.
+
+For years I could find nothing on the subject of how a moth from a
+burrowing caterpillar made its appearance.  In two recent works I
+find the statement that the pupa cases come to the surface before
+the moths leave them, but how the operation is performed is not
+described or explained.  Pupa cases from earth consist of two
+principal parts: the blunt head and thorax covering, and the
+ringed abdominal sections.  With many feeders there is a long,
+fragile tongue shield.  The head is rounded and immovable of its
+own volition.  The abdominal part is in rings that can be turned
+and twisted; on the tip are two tiny, needlesharp points, and on
+each of three rings of the abdominal shield there are in many
+cases a pair of tiny hooks, very slight projections, yet enough
+to be of use.  Some lepidopterists think the pupa works head first
+to the surface, pushing with the abdomen.  To me this seems impossible.
+The more one forced the blunt head against the earth the closer
+it would pack, and the delicate tongue shield surely would break.
+There is no projection on the head that would loosen or lift
+the earth.
+
+One prominent lepidopterist I know, believes the moth emerges
+underground, and works its way to the surface as it fights to
+escape a cocoon.  I consider this an utter impossibility.
+Remember the earth-encrusted cicada cases you have seen clinging
+to the trunks of trees, after the insect has reached the surface
+and abandoned them.  Think what would happen to the delicate moth
+head, wings, and downy covering!  I am willing to wager all I
+possess, that no lepidopterist, or any amateur, ever found a
+freshly emerged moth from an underground case with the faintest
+trace of soil on its head or feet, or a particle of down missing;
+as there unquestionably must be, if it forced its way to freedom
+through the damp spring earth with its mouth and feet.
+
+The point was settled for me when, while working in my garden,
+one came through the surface within a few inches of my fingers,
+working with the tip of the abdomen.  It turned, twisted, dug
+away the dirt, fastened the abdominal tip, pulled up the head,
+and then bored with the tip again.  Later I saw several others
+emerge in the same way, and then made some experiments that
+forever convinced me that this is the only manner in which ground
+pupae possibly  could emerge.
+
+One writer I had reason to suppose standard authority stated that
+caterpillars from Citheronia Regalis eggs emerged in sixteen days.
+So I boxed some eggs deposited on the eleventh, labelled them due
+to produce caterpillars on the twenty-seventh and put away the box
+to be attended on that date.  Having occasion to move it on the
+twentyfourth, I peeped in and found half my caterpillars out and
+starved, proving that they had been hatched at least thirty-six
+hours or longer; half the others so feeble they soon became
+inactive, and the remainder survived and pupated.  But if the time
+specified had been allowed to elapse, every  caterpillar would
+have starved.
+
+One of the books I read preparatory to doing this work asserts
+concerning spinners: "Most caterpillars make some sort of cocoon
+or shelter, which may be of pure silk neatly wound, or of silk
+mixed with hair and all manner of external things--such as pieces
+of leaf, bark, moss, and lichen, and even grains of earth."
+
+I have had caterpillars spin by the hundred, in boxes containing
+most of these things, have gathered outdoor cocoons by the peck,
+and microscopically examined dozens of them, and with the
+exception of leaf, twig, bark, or some other foundation against
+which it was spun, I never have seen a cocoon with shred, filament,
+or particle of anything used in its composition that was not drawn
+from the spinning tube or internal organism of the caterpillar,
+with the possible exception of a few hairs from the tubercles.  I
+have been told by other workers that they have had captive caterpillars
+use earth and excrement in their cocoons.
+
+This same work, in an article on protective colouration, lays
+emphasis on the statement that among pupa cases artificially
+fastened to different objects out of doors, "the elimination was
+ninety-two per cent on fences where pupae were conspicuous, as
+against fifty-two per cent among nettles, where they were inconspicuous."
+This statement is elaborated and commented upon as making a strong
+point for colourative protection through inconspicuousness.
+
+Personally, I think the nettles did the work, regardless of colour.
+I have learned to much experience afield that a patch of nettles or
+thistles afford splendid protection to any form of life that can
+survive them.  I have seen insects and nesting birds find a safety
+in their shelter, unknown to their kind that home elsewhere.  The
+test is not fair enough to be worth consideration.  If these same
+pupae had been as conspicuously  placed as on the fence, on any
+EDIBLE GROWTH, in the same location as the fence, and then left to
+the mercy of playing children, grazing stock, field mice, snakes,
+bats, birds, insects and parasites, the story of what happened to
+them would have been different.  I doubt very seriously if it
+would have proved the point those lepidopterists started out to
+make in these conditions, which are the only fair ones under which
+such an experiment could be made.
+
+Many people mentioned in connexion with the specimens they brought
+me have been more than kind in helping to collect the material
+this volume contains; but its publication scarcely would have been
+possible to me had it not been for the enthusiasm of one girl who
+prefers not to be mentioned and the work of a seventeen-year-old
+boy, Raymond Miller.  He has been my sole helper in many difficult
+days of field work among the birds, and for the moths his interest
+reached such a pitch that he spent many hours afield in search of
+eggs, caterpillars, cocoons, and moths, when my work confined me
+to the cabin.  He has carried to me many of my rarest cocoons,
+and found in their native haunts several moths needed to complete
+the book.  It is to be hoped that these wonderful days afield have
+brought their own compensation, for kindness such as his I never
+can reward adequately.  The book proves my indebtedness to the
+Deacon and to Molly-Cotton.  I also owe thanks to Bob Burdette Black,
+the oldest and warmest friend of my bird work, for many fine moths
+and cocoons, and to Professor R. R. Rowley for the laborious task
+of scientifically criticizing this book and with unparalleled
+kindness lending a helping hand where an amateur stumbled.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II  MOTHS, EGGS, CATERPILLARS, WINTER QUARTERS
+
+
+If you are too fastidious to read this chapter, it will be your
+permanent loss, for it contains the life history, the evolution of
+one of the most amazingly complicated and delicately beautiful
+creatures in existence.  There are moths that come into the world,
+accomplish the functions that perpetuate their kind, and go out,
+without having taken any nourishment.  There are others that feed
+and live for a season.  Some fly in the morning, others in the glare
+of noon, more in the evening, and the most important class of big,
+exquisitely lovely  ones only at night.  This explains why so many
+people never have seen them, and it is a great pity, for the nocturnal,
+non-feeding moths are birdlike in size, flower-like in rare and
+complicated colouring, and of downy, silent wing.
+
+The moths that fly by day and feed are of the Sphinginae group,
+Celeus and Carolina, or Choerocampinae, which includes the
+exquisite Deilephila Lineata, and its cousins; also Sphingidae,
+which cover the clear-winged Hemaris diffinis and Thysbe.  Among
+those that fly at night only and take no food are the members of
+what is called the Attacine group, comprising our largest and
+commonest moth, Cecropia; also its near relative Gloveri, smaller
+than Cecropia and of lovely rosy wine-colour; Angulifera, the male
+greyish brown, the female yellowish red; Promethea, the male
+resembling a monster Mourning Cloak butterfly and the female
+bearing exquisite red-wine flushings; Cynthia, beautiful in shades
+of olive green, sprinkled with black, crossed by bands of pinkish
+lilac and bearing crescents partly yellow, the remainder transparent.
+There are also the deep yellow Io, pale blue-green Luna, and
+Polyphemus, brown with pink bands of the Saturniidae; and light
+yellow, red-brown and grey Regalis, and lavender and yellow
+Imperialis of the Ceratocampidae, and their relatives.  Modest
+and lovely Modesta belongs with the Smerinthinae group; and there
+are others, feeders and non-feeders, forming a list too long to
+incorporate, for I have not mentioned the Catocalae family, the
+fore-wings of which resemble those of several members of the
+Sphinginae, in colour, and when they take flight, the back ones
+flash out colours that run the gamut from palest to deepest reds,
+yellows, and browns, crossed by wide circling bands of black; with
+these, occasionally the black so predominates that it appears as
+if the wing were black and the bands of other colour.  All of them
+are so exquisitely beautiful that neither the most exacting
+descriptions, nor photographs from life, nor water colours faithfully
+copied from living subjects can do them justice.  They must be seen
+alive, newly emerged, down intact, colours at their most brilliant
+shadings, to be appreciated fully.  With the exception of feeding
+or refraining from eating, the life processes of all these are
+very similar.
+
+Moths are divided into three parts, the head, thorax, and abdomen,
+with the different organs of each.  The head carries the source of
+sight, scent, and the mouth parts, if the moth feeds, while the
+location of the ears is not yet settled definitely.  Some
+scientists place hearing in the antennae, others in a little organ
+on each side the base of the abdomen.  Packard writes: "The eyes
+are large and globose and vary in the distance apart in different
+families":  but fails to tell what I want to know most: the range
+and sharpness of their vision.  Another writer states that the eyes
+are so incomplete in development that a moth only can distinguish
+light from darkness and cannot discern your approach at over five feet.
+
+This accords with my experience with Cecropia, Polyphemus,
+Regalis, and Imperialis.  Luna either can see better, hear acutely,
+or is naturally of more active habit.  It is difficult to capture
+by hand in daytime; and Promethea acts as if its vision were even
+clearer.  This may be the case, as it flies earlier in the day
+than any of the others named, being almost impossible to take by
+hand unless it is bound to a given spot by sex attraction.
+Unquestionably the day fliers that feed--the Sphinginae and
+Choerocampinae groups--have fairly good vision, as also the little
+"Clear-wings" tribe, for they fly straight to the nectar-giving
+flowers and fruits they like best to feed upon, and it is extra
+good luck if you capture one by hand or even with a net.  It must
+be remembered that all of them see and go to a bright light at
+night from long distances.
+
+Holland writes: "The eyes of moths are often greatly developed,"
+but makes no definite statements as to their range of vision, until
+he reaches the Catocalae family, of which he records:  "The hind
+wings are, however, most brilliantly coloured.  In some species
+they are banded with pink, in others with crimson; still others have
+markings of yellow, orange, or snowy white on a background of jet
+black.  These colours are distinctive of the species to a greater
+or less extent.  They are only displayed at night.  The conclusion
+is irresistibly forced upon us that the eyes of these creatures are
+capable of discriminating these colours in the darkness.  We cannot
+do it.  No human eye in the blackness of the night can distinguish
+red from orange or crimson from yellow.  The human eye is the greatest
+of all anatomical marvels, and the most wonderful piece of animal
+mechanism in the world, but not all of power is lodged within it.
+There are other allied mechanisms which have the power of responding
+to certain forms of radiant energy to a degree which it does not possess."
+
+This conclusion is not "irresistibly forced" upon me.  I do believe,
+know in fact, that all day-flying, feeding moths have keener sight
+and longer range of vision than non-feeders; but I do not believe
+the differing branches of the Catocalae group, or moths of any family,
+locate each other "in the blackness of night," by  seeing markings
+distinctly.  I can think of no proof that moths, butterflies or any
+insects recognize or appreciate colour.  Male moths mate with females
+of their kind distinctly different from them in colour, and male
+butterflies pair with albinos of their species, when these differ
+widely from the usual colouring.
+
+A few moths are also provided with small simple eyes called ocelli;
+these are placed on top of the head and are so covered with down
+they cannot be distinguished save by experts.  Mueller believes
+that these are for the perception of objects close to a moth while
+the compound eyes see farther, but he does not prove it.
+
+If the moth does not feed, the mouth parts are scarcely developed.
+If a feeder, it has a long tongue that can be coiled in a cleft in
+the face between the palpi, which Packard thinks were originally
+the feelers.  This tongue is formed of two grooved parts so
+fastened together as to make a tube through which it takes flower
+and fruit nectar and the juices of decaying animal matter.
+
+What are thought by some to be small organs of touch lie on either
+side the face, but the exact use of these is yet under discussion,
+It is wofully difficult to learn some of these things.
+
+In my experience the antennae, are the most sensitive, and
+therefore the most important organs of the head--to me.  In the
+Attacine group these stand out like delicately cut tiny fern
+fronds or feathers, always being broader and more prominent on the
+male.  Other families are very similar and again they differ
+widely.  You will find moths having pointed hair-like antennae;
+others heaviest at the tip in club shape, or they may be of even
+proportion but flat, or round, or a feathered shaft so fine as to
+be unnoticed as it lies pressed against the face.  Some writers say
+the antennae are the seat of scent, touch, and hearing.  I had not
+thought nature so impoverished in evolving her forms as to overwork
+one delicate little organ for three distinct purposes.  The
+antennae are situated close where the nose is, in almost every
+form of life, and I would prefer to believe that they are the
+organs of scent and feeling.  I know a moth suffers most over any
+injury to them; but one takes flight no quicker or more precipitately
+at a touch on the antennae than on the head, wing, leg, or abdomen.
+
+We are safe in laying down a law that antennae are homologous organs
+and used for identical purposes on all forms of life carrying them.
+The short antennae of grasshoppers appear to be organs of scent.
+The long hair-fine ones of katydids and crickets may be also, but
+repeatedly I have seen these used to explore the way ahead over leaves
+and limbs, the insect feeling its path and stepping where a touch
+assures it there is safe footing.  Katydids, crickets, and
+grasshoppers all have antennae, and all of these have ears definitely
+located; hence their feelers are not for auricular purposes.
+According to my logic those of the moth cannot be either.  I am quite
+sure that primarily they serve the purpose of a nose, as they
+are too short in most cases to be of much use as 'feelers,' although
+that is undoubtedly their secondary  office.  If this be true, it
+explains the larger organs ofthe male.  The female emerges from
+winter quarters so weighted with carrying from two to six hundred
+eggs, that she usually remains and develops where she is.  This
+throws the business of finding her location on the male.  He is
+compelled to take wing and hunt until he discovers her; hence his
+need of more acute sense of scent and touch.  The organ that is
+used most is the one that develops in the evolution of any form
+of life.
+
+I can well believe that the antennae are most important to a moth,
+for a broken one means a spoiled study for me.  It starts the
+moth tremulously shivering, aimlessly beating, crazy, in fact,
+and there is no hope of it posing for a picture.  Doctor Clemens
+records that Cecropia could neither, walk nor fly, but wheeled in
+a senseless, manner when deprived of its antennae.  This makes
+me sure that they are the seat of highest sensibility, for I
+have known in one or two cases of chloroformed moths reviving and
+without struggle or apparent discomfort, depositing eggs in a
+circle around them, while impaled to a setting board with a pin
+thrust through the thorax where it of necessity must have passed
+through or very close the nervous cord and heart.
+
+The moth is covered completely with silken down like tiny scales,
+coloured and marked according to species, and so lightly attached
+that it adheres to the cocoon on emergence and clings to the
+fingers at the lightest touch.  From the examination of specimens
+I have taken that had disfigured themselves, it appears that a moth
+rubbed bare of down would seem as if covered with thinly cut, highly
+polished horn, fastened together in divisions.  This is called
+'chitine' by scientists.
+
+The thorax bears four wings, and six legs, each having five joints
+and ending in tiny claws.  The wings are many-veined membranous
+sacs, covered with scales that are coloured according to species
+and arranged to form characteristic family markings.  They are a
+framework usually of twelve hollow tubes or veins that are so
+connected with the respiratory organs as to be pneumatic.  These
+tubes support double membranes covered above and below with down.
+At the bases of the wings lie their nerves.  The fore-wings each
+have a heavy rib running from the base and gradually decreasing
+to the tip.  This is called the costa.  Its purpose is to bear
+the brunt of air-pressure in flight.  On account of being compelled
+to fly so much more than the females, the back wings of the males
+of many species have developed a secondary rib that fits under
+and supports the front, also causing both to work together with
+the same impulse to flight.  A stiff bunch of bristles serves the
+same purpose in most females, while some have a lobe extending
+from the fore-wing.  As long as the costa remains unbroken to
+preserve balance, a moth that has become entangled in bushes
+or suffered rough treatment from birds can fly  with badly
+damaged wing surfaces.
+
+In some species, notably the Attacine group and all non-feeding,
+night-flying moths, the legs are short, closely covered with long
+down of the most delicate colours of the moth, and sometimes
+decorated with different shades.  Luna has beautiful lavender legs,
+Imperialis yellow, and Regalis red-brown.  The day-flying, feeding
+group have longer, slenderer legs, covered with shorter down, and
+carry more elaborate markings.  This provision is to enable them
+to cling firmly to flower or twig while feeding, to help them to
+lift the body higher, and walk dextrously in searching for food.
+It is also noticeable that these moths have, for their size,
+comparatively much longer, slenderer wings than the non-feeders,
+and they can turn them back and fold them together in the fly
+position, thus enabling them to force their way into nectar-bearing
+flowers of trumpet shape.
+
+The abdomen is velvet soft to the touch, and divided into rings
+called segments, these being so joined that this member can be
+turned and twisted at will.  In all cases the last ring contains
+the sex organs.  The large abdomen of the female carries several
+hundred embryo eggs, and that of the male the seminal fluid.
+
+Much has been written of moths being able to produce odours that
+attract the sexes, and that are so objectionable as to protect
+them from birds, mice, and bats.  Some believe there are scent
+glands in a few species under the wing scales.  I have critically
+examined scores of wings as to colour markings, but never
+noticed or smelled these.  On some, tufts of bristlelike hairs can
+be thrust out, that give a discernible odour; but that this
+carries any distance or is a large factor in attracting the sexes
+I do not believe so firmly, after years of practical experience, as
+I did in the days when I had most of my moth history from books.
+I have seen this theory confounded so often in practice.
+
+In June of 1911, close six o'clock in the evening, I sat on the
+front veranda of the Cabin, in company with my family, and
+watched three moths sail past us and around the corner, before
+I remembered that on the screen of the music-room window to the
+east there was a solitary female Promethea moth, that day emerged
+from a cocoon sent me by Professor Rowley.  I hurried to the room
+and found five male moths fluttering before the screen or clinging
+to the wild grape and sweet brier vines covering it.  I opened the
+adjoining window and picked up three of the handsomest with my
+fingers, placing them inside the screen.  Then I returned to
+the veranda.
+
+Moths kept coming.  We began studying the conditions.  The
+female had emerged in the diningroom on the west side of the
+cabin.  On account of the intense heat of the afternoon sun, that
+side of the building had been tightly closed all day.  At four
+o'clock the moth was placed on the east window, because it was
+sheltered with vines.  How soon the first male found her, I do not
+know.  There was quite a stiff evening breeze blowing from the
+west, so that any odour from her would have been carried on east.
+We sat there and watched and counted six more moths, every one of
+which came down wind from the west, flying high, above the
+treetops in fact, and from the direction of a little tree-filled
+plot called Studabaker's woods.  Some of them we could distinguish
+almost a block away coming straight toward the Cabin, and sailing
+around the eastern corner with the precision of hounds on a hot trail.
+How they knew, the Almighty  knows; I do not pretend to; but
+that there was odour distilled by that one female, practically
+imperceptible to us (she merely smelled like a moth), yet of such
+strength as to penetrate screen, vines, and roses and reach her
+kind a block away, against considerable breeze, I never shall
+believe.
+
+The fact is, that moths smell like other moths of the same species,
+and within a reasonable radius they undoubtedly  attract each
+other.  In the same manner birds carry a birdlike odour, and
+snakes, frogs, fish, bees, and all animals have a scent peculiar
+to themselves.  No dog mistakes the odour of a cat for that of
+another dog.  A cow does not follow the scent of horses to find
+other cattle.  No moth hunts a dragon-fly, a butterfly, or in my
+experience, even a moth of another species in its search for a
+mate.  How male moths work the miracles I have seen them accomplish
+in locating females, I cannot explain.  As the result of acts we
+see them perform, we credit some forms of life with much keener
+scent than others, and many with having the power more highly
+developed than people.  The only standard by which we can determine
+the effect that the odour of one insect, bird, or animal has upon
+another is by the effect it has upon us.  That a male moth can
+smell a female a block away, against the wind, when I can detect
+only a faint musky odour within a foot of her, I do not credit.
+
+Primarily the business of moths is to meet, mate, and deposit
+eggs that will produce more moths.  This is all of life with those
+that do not take food.  That they add the completing touch and
+most beautiful form of life to a few exquisite May and June nights
+is their extra good fortune, not any part of the affair of living.
+With moths that feed and live after reproduction, mating and egg
+placing comes first.  In all cases the rule is much, the same.  The
+moths emerge, dry their wings, and reach full development the
+first day.  In freedom, the females being weighted with eggs seldom
+attempt to fly.  They remain where they are, thrust out the egg
+placer from the last ring of the abdomen and wait.  By ten o'clock
+the males, in such numbers as to amaze a watcher, find them
+and remain until almost morning.  Broad antennae, slenderer
+abdomen, and the claspers used in holding the female in mating,
+smaller wings and more brilliant markings are the signs by which
+the male can be told in most cases.  In several of the Attacine
+group, notably Promethea, the male and female differ widely in
+markings and colour.  Among the other non-feeders the difference
+is slight.  The male Regalis has the longest, most gracefully
+curved abdomen and the most prominent claspers of any moth I ever
+examined; but the antennae are so delicate and closely pressed
+against the face most of the time as to be concealed until
+especially  examined.  I have noticed that among the moths bearing
+large, outstanding antennae, the claspers are less prominent than
+with those having small, inconspicuous head parts.  A fine pair of
+antennae, carried forward as by a big, fully developed Cecropia,
+are as ornamental to the moth as splendidly branching antlers are
+to the head of a deer.
+
+The female now begins egg placing.  This requires time, as one of
+these big night moths deposits from three hundred and fifty to
+over six hundred eggs.  These lie in embryonic state in the abdomen
+of the female.  At her maturity they ripen rapidly.  When they
+are ready to deposit, she is forced to place them whether she has
+mated or not.  In case a mate has found her, a small pouch near
+the end of her abdomen is filled with a fluid that touches each
+egg in passing and renders it fertile.  The eggs differ with species
+and are placed according to family  characteristics.  They may be
+pure white, pearl-coloured, grey, greenish, or yellow.  There are
+round, flat, and oblong eggs.  These are placed differently in
+freedom and captivity.  A moth in a natural location glues her eggs,
+often one at a time, on the under or upper side of leaves.  Sometimes
+she dots several in a row, or again makes a number of rows, like a
+little beaded mat.  One authority I have consulted states that
+"The eggs are always laid by the female in a state of freedom upon
+the food-plant which is most congenial to the larvae."  This has not
+'always' been the case in my experience.  I have found eggs on
+stone walls, boards, fences, outbuildings, and on the bark of dead
+trees and stumps as well as living, even on the ground.  This also,
+has been the case with the women who wrote "Caterpillars and their
+Moths", the most invaluable work on the subject ever compiled.
+
+A captive moth feels and resents her limitations.  I cannot force
+one to mate even in a large box.  I must free her in the conservatory,
+in a room, or put her on an outside window br door screen.  Under
+these conditions one will place her eggs more nearly as in freedom;
+but this makes them difficult to find and preserve.  Placed in a
+box and forced by nature to deposit her eggs, as a rule, she will
+remain in one spot and heap them up until she is forced to move to
+make room for more.  One big female Regalis of the last chapter
+of this book placed them a thimbleful at a time; but the little
+caterpillars came rolling out in all directions when due.  In my
+experience, they  finish in four or five nights, although I have
+read of moths having lived and placed eggs for ten, some species
+being said to have deposited over a thousand.  Seven days is
+usually the limit of life for these big night moths with me;
+they merely grow inactive and sluggish until the very last, when
+almost invariably they are seized with a muscular attack, in which
+they beat themselves to rags and fringes, as if resisting the
+overcoming lethargy.  It is because of this that I have been forced
+to resort to the gasoline bottle a few times when I found it impossible
+to paint from the living moth; but I do not put one to sleep unless
+I am compelled.
+
+I never have been able to induce a female to mate after confinement
+had driven her to begin depositing her eggs, not even under the
+most favourable conditions I could offer, although others record
+that they have been so fortunate.  Repeatedly I have experimented
+with males and females of different species, but with no success.
+I have not seem a polygamous moth; but have read of experiences
+with them.
+
+Sometimes the eggs have a smooth surface, again they may be
+ridged or like hammered brass or silver.  The shells are very
+thin and break easily.  At one side a place can be detected where
+the fertilizing fluid enters.  The coming caterpillar begins to
+develop at once and emerges in from six to thirty days, with the
+exception of a few eggs placed in the fall that produce during the
+following spring.  The length of the egg period differs with
+species and somewhat with the same moths, according to suitable or
+unfavourable placing, and climatic conditions.  Do not accept the
+experience of any one if you have eggs you very much desire to
+be productive of the caterpillars of rare moths; after six days
+take a peep every day if you would be on the safe side.  With many
+species the shells are transparent, and for the last few days
+before emergence the growth of the little caterpillars can be
+watched through them.
+
+When matured they break or eat a hole in their shells and emerge,
+seeming much too large for the space they occupied.  Family
+characteristics show at once.  Many of them immediately turn and
+eat their shells as if starving; others are more deliberate.  Some
+grace around for a time as if exercising and then return and eat
+their shells; others walk briskly away and do not dine on
+shell for the first meal.  Usually all of them rest close
+twenty-four hours before beginning on leaves.  Once they commence
+feeding in favourable conditions they eat enormously and grow so
+rapidly they soon become too large for their skins to hold them
+another instant; so they pause and stop eating for a day or two
+while new skin forms.  Then the old is discarded and eaten for a
+first meal, with the exception of the face covering.  At the same
+time the outer skin is cast the intestinal lining is thrown off,
+and practically a new caterpillar, often bearing different markings,
+begins to feed again.
+
+These moults occur from four to six times in the development of the
+caterpillar; at each it emerges larger, brighter, often with
+other changes of colour, and eats more voraciously as it grows.
+With me, in handling caterpillars about which I am anxious,
+their moulting time is critical.  I lost many until I learned to
+clean their boxes thoroughly the instant they stopped eating and
+leave them alone until they exhibited hunger signs again.  They
+eat greedily of the leaves preferred by each species, doing best
+when the foliage is washed and drops of water left for them to
+drink as they would find dew and rain out of doors.  Professor
+Thomson, of the chair of Natural History of the University of
+Aberdeen, makes this statement in his "Biology of the Seasons",
+"Another feature in the life of caterpillars is their enormous
+appetite.  Some of them seem never to stop eating, and a species
+of Polyphemus is said to eat eighty-six thousand times its own
+weight in a day."  I notice Doctor Thomson does not say that he
+knows this, but uses the convenient phrase, "it is said."  This
+is an utter impossibility.  The skin of no living creature will
+contain eighty-six thousand times its own weight in a day.  I
+have raised enough caterpillars to know that if one ate three
+times its own weight in a day it would have performed a
+skin-stretching feat.  Long after writing this, but before the
+manuscript left my hands, I found that the origin of this statement
+lies in a table compiled by Trouvelot, in which he estimates that
+a Polyphemus caterpillar ten days old weighs one half grain, or
+ten times its original weight; at twenty days three grains, or
+sixty times its first weight; and so on until at fifty-six days
+it weighs two hundred and seven grains, or four thousand one hundred
+and forty times its first weight.  To this he adds one half ounce
+of water and concludes: "So the food taken by a single silkworm in
+fifty-six days equals in weight eighty-six thousand times the
+primitive weight of the worm."  This is a far cry from eating
+eighty-six thousand times its own weight in a day and upholds in
+part my contention in the first chapter, that people attempting to
+write upon these subjects "are not always rightly informed."
+
+When the feeding period is finished in freedom, the caterpillar,
+if hairless, must be ready to evolve from its interior, the
+principal part of the winter quarters characteristic of its species
+while changing to the moth form, and in the case of non-feeders,
+sustenance for the lifetime of the moth also.  Similar to the moth,
+the caterpillar is made up of three parts, head, thorax, and abdomen,
+with the organs and appendages of each.  Immediately  after moulting
+the head appears very large, and seems much too heavy for the size
+of the body.  At the end of a feeding period and just previous to
+another moult the body has grown until the head is almost lost from
+sight, and it now seems small and insignificant; so that the appearance
+of a caterpillar depends on whether you examine it before or after
+moulting.
+
+The head is made up of rings or segments, the same as the body, but
+they are so closely set that it seems to be a flat, round, or
+pointed formation with discernible rings on the face before casting
+time.  The eyes are of so simple form that they are supposed only
+to distinguish light from darkness.  The complicated mouth is at
+the lower part of the head.  It carries a heavy pair of cutters
+with which the caterpillar bites off large pieces of leaf, a first
+pair of grinders with which it macerates the food, and a second
+pair that join in forming the under lip.  There is also the tube that
+connects with the silk glands and ends in the spinneret.  Through
+this tube a fluid is forced that by movements of the head the
+caterpillar attaches where it will and draws into fine threads that
+at once harden in silk.  This organism is sufficiently developed
+for use in a newly emerged caterpillar, for it can spin threads by
+which to drop from leaf to leaf or to guide it back to a starting
+point.
+
+The thorax is covered by the first three rings behind the head,
+and on it are six legs, two on each segment.  The remainder of the
+caterpillar is abdominal and carries small pro-legs with which to
+help it cling to twigs and leaves, and the heavy anal props that
+support the vent.  By using these and several of the pro-legs
+immediately before them, the caterpillar can cling and erect the
+front part of the body so that it can strike from side to side
+when disturbed.  In the case of caterpillars that have a horn, as
+Celeus, or sets of them as Regalis, in this attitude they really
+appear quite formidable, and often I have seen them drive away
+small birds, while many  people flee shrieking.
+
+There are little tubes that carry air to the trachea, as
+caterpillars have no lungs and can live with a very small amount
+of air.
+
+The skin may be rough, granulated, or soft and fine as silk, and
+in almost every instance of exquisite colour: bluish green,
+greenish blue, wonderful yellows and from pale to deep wine red,
+many species having oblique touches of contrasting colours on the
+abdominal rings.  Others are marked with small projections of
+bright colours from which tufts of hair or bristles may grow.  In
+some, as Io, these bristles are charged with an irritating acid
+that will sting for an hour after coming in contact with the skin,
+but does no permanent injury.  On a few there are what seem to be
+small pockets of acid that can be ejected with a jerk, and on some
+a sort of filament that is supposed to distil a disagreeable odour.
+As the caterpillar only uses these when disturbed, it is safe to
+presume that they  are placed for defence, but as in the case of
+moths I doubt their efficacy.
+
+Some lepidopterists have thought the sex of a moth could be
+regulated by the amount of food given the caterpillar; but with
+my numerous other doubts I include this.  It is all of a piece
+with any attempt at sex regulation.  I regard it as morally certain
+that sex goes back to the ovary and that the egg produced yields a
+male or female caterpillar in the beginning.  I am becoming convinced
+that caterpillars recognize sex in each other, basing the theory
+on the facts that in half a dozen instances I have found cocoons,
+spun only a few inches apart.  One pair brought to me as interwoven.
+Two of these are shown in the following chapter.  In all cases a male
+and female emerged within a few minutes of each other and mated as
+soon as possible.  If a single pair of these cocoons ever had produced
+two of a kind, it would give rise to doubts.  When all of them proved
+to be male and female that paired, it seems to me to furnish
+conclusive evidence that the caterpillars knew what they were
+doing, and spun in the same place for the purpose of appearing
+together.
+
+At maturity, usually near five weeks, the full-fed caterpillar
+rests a day, empties the intestines, and races around searching for
+a suitable place to locate winter quarters.  With burrowing
+caterpillars that winter in pupa cases, soft earth or rotting wood
+is found and entered by working their way with the heads and
+closing it with the hind parts.  At the desired depth they push in
+all directions with such force that a hollow larger, but shaped as
+a hen's egg, is worked out; usually this is six or more inches below
+the surface.  So compactly is the earth forced back, that fall rains,
+winter's alternate freezing and thawing, always a mellowing process,
+and spring downpours do not break up the big ball, often larger than
+a quart bowl, that surrounds the case of the pupa.  It has been
+thought by some and recorded, that this ball is held in place by
+spinning or an acid ejected by the caterpillar.  I never have
+heard of any one else who has had my luck in lifting these earth
+balls intact, opening, and photographing them and their contents.
+I have examined them repeatedly and carefully.  I can find not the
+slightest trace of spinning or adhesion other than by force.
+
+With one of these balls lifted and divided, we decided what
+happened underground by detaining a caterpillar on the surface and
+forcing it to transform before us, for this change is not optional.
+When the time comes the pupa must evolve.  So the caterpillar lies
+on the earth, gradually growing shorter, the skin appearing dry
+and the horns drooping.  There never is a trace of spinning or acid
+ejected in the sand buckets.  When the change is completed there
+begins a violent twisting and squirming.  The caterpillar skin opens
+in a straight line just behind the head on the back, and by working
+with the pointed abdomen the pupa case emerges.  The cast skin
+rapidly darkens, and as I never have found a trace of it in an
+opened earth ball in the spring, I suppose it disintegrates
+rapidly, or what is more possible, is eaten by small borers that
+swarm through the top six inches of the earth's crust.
+
+The pupa is thickly coated with a sticky substance that seems to
+serve the double purpose of facilitating its exit from the
+caterpillar skin and to dry over it in a glossy waterproof
+coating.  At first the pupa is brownish green and flattened, but as
+it dries it rapidly darkens in colour and assumes the shape of a
+perfect specimen.  Concerning this stage of the evolution of a moth
+the doctors disagree.
+
+The emergence I have watched repeatedly, studied photographically,
+and recorded in the tabulated records from which I wrote the
+following life histories.  At time to appear I believe the pupa
+bores its way with the sharp point of the abdomen; at least I
+have seen Celeus, and Carolina, Regalis and Imperialis coming
+through the surface, abdomen tip first.  Once free, they press
+with the feet against the wing shields, burst them away and leave
+the case at the thorax.  Each moth I ever have seen emerge has been
+wet and the empty  case damp inside.  I have poured three large
+drops of pinkish liquid the consistency of thin cream from the abdominal
+rings of a Regalis case.  Undoubtedly this liquid is ejected by
+the moth to enable it to break loose from and leave the case with
+its delicate down intact.  The furry scales of its covering are so
+loosely set that any violent struggle with dry down would disfigure
+the moth.
+
+Among Cecropia and its Attacine cousins, also Luna, Polyphemus, and
+all other spinners the process is practically the same, save that
+it is much more elaborate; most of all with Cecropia, that spins
+the largest cocoon I ever have seen, and it varies its work more
+than any of the others.  Lengthwise of a slender twig it spins a
+long, slim cocoon; on a board or wall, roomier and wider at the
+bottom, and inside hollow trees, and under bridges, big baggy
+quarters of exquisite reddish tan colours that do not fade as do
+those exposed to the weather.  The typical cocoon of the species
+is that spun on a fence or outbuilding, not the slender work on
+the alders or the elaborate quarters of the bridge.  On a board
+the process is to cover the space required with a fine spinning
+that glues firmly to the wood.  Then the worker takes a firm grip
+with the anal props and lateral feet and begins drawing out long
+threads that start at the top, reach down one side, across the
+bottom and back to the top again, where each thread is cut and
+another begun.  As long as the caterpillar can be seen through
+its work, it remains in the same position and throws the head
+back and around to carry the threads.  I never thought of
+counting these movements while watching a working spinner, but
+some one who has, estimates that Polyphemus, that spins a cocoon
+not one fourth the size of Cecropia, moves the head a quarter
+of a million times in guiding the silk thread.  When a thin webbing
+is spun and securely  attached all around the edges it is pushed
+out in the middle and gummed all over the inside with a liquid glue
+that oozes through, coalesces and hardens in a waterproof covering.
+Then a big nest of crinkly silk threads averaging from three to
+four inches in length are spun, running from the top down one side,
+up the other, and the cut ends drawn closely together.  One writer
+states that this silk has no commercial value; while Packard thinks
+it has.  I attach greater weight to his opinion.  Next comes the
+inner case.  For this the caterpillar loosens its hold and completely
+surrounds itself with a small case of compact work.  This in turn is
+saturated with the glue and forms in a thick, tough case, rough on
+the outside, the top not so solidly spun as the other walls;
+inside dark brown and worn so smooth it seems as if oiled, from the
+turning of the caterpillar.  In this little chamber close the
+length and circumference of an average sized woman's two top joints
+of the first finger, the caterpillar transforms to the pupa stage,
+crowding its cast skin in a wad at the bottom.
+
+At time for emergence the moth bursts the pupa case, which is
+extremely thin and papery compared with the cases of burrowing
+species.  We know by the wet moth that liquid is ejected, although
+we cannot see the wet spot on the top of the inner case of Cecropia
+as we can with Polyphemus, that does not spin the loose outer case
+and silk nest.  From here on the moths emerge according to species.
+Some work with their mouths and fore feet.  Some have rough
+projections on the top of the head, and others little sawlike
+arrangements at the bases of the wings.  In whatever manner they
+free themselves, all of them are wet when they leave their quarters.
+Sometimes the gathered silk ends comb sufficient down from an
+emerging Cecropia to leave a terra cotta rim around the opening
+from which it came; but I never saw one lose enough at this time
+to disfigure it.  On very rare occasions a deformed moth appears.
+I had a Cecropia with one wing no larger than my thumb nail, and
+it never developed.  This is caused by the moth sustaining an injury
+to the wing in emergence.  If the membrane is slightly punctured
+the liquid forced into the wing for its development escapes and
+there is no enlargement.
+
+Also, in rare instances, a moth is unable to escape at all and is
+lost if it is not assisted; but this is precarious business and
+should not be attempted unless you are positive the moth will die
+if you do not interfere.  The struggle it takes to emerge is a part
+of the life process of the moth and quickens its circulation and
+develops its strength for the affairs of life afterward.  If the
+feet have a steady pull to drag forth the body, they will be
+strong enough to bear its weight while the wings dry and develop.
+
+All lepidopterists mention the wet condition of the moths when they
+emerge.  Some explain that an acid is ejected to soften the pupa
+case so that the moth can cut its way  out; others go a step
+farther and state that the acid is from the mouth.  I am extremely
+curious about this.  I want to know just what this acid is and
+where it comes from.  I know of no part of the thorax provided with
+a receptacle for the amount of liquid used to flood a case, dampen
+a moth, and leave several drops in the shell.
+
+As soon as a moth can find a suitable place to cling after it is
+out, it hangs by the feet and dries the wings and down.  Long
+before it is dry if you try to move a moth or cause disturbance,
+it will eject several copious jets of a spray from the abdomen
+that appears, smells and tastes precisely like the liquid found in
+the abandoned case.  If protected from the lightest touch it will
+do the same.  It appeals to me that this liquid is abdominal,
+partly thrown off to assist the moth in emergence; something
+very like that bath of birth which accompanies and facilitates
+human entrance into the world.  It helps the struggling moth in
+separating from the case, wets the down so that it will pass the
+small opening, reduces the large abdomen so that it will escape the
+exit, and softens the case and silk where the moth is working.
+With either male or female the increase in size is so rapid that
+neither could be returned to their cases five minutes after they
+have left them.
+
+It is generally supposed that the spray thrown by a developing
+moth is for the purpose of attracting others of its kind.  I have
+my doubts.  With moths that have been sheltered and not even
+touched by a breath of wind, this spray is thrown very frequently
+before the moth is entirely dry, long before it is able to fly
+and before the ovipositor is thrust out.  According to my sense of
+smell there is very little odour to the spray and what there is
+would be dissipated hours before night and time for the moths to
+fly  and seek mates.  I do not think that the spray thrown so soon
+after escape from cocoon or case is to attract the sexes, any farther
+than that much of it in one place on something that it would saturate
+might leave a general 'mothy' odour.  Some lepidopterists think this
+spray a means of defence; if this is true I fail to see why it should
+be thrown when there is nothing disturbing the moth.
+
+Many of the spinning moths use leaves for their outer foundation.
+Some appear as if snugly rolled in a leaf and hanging from a twig,
+but examination will prove that the stem is silk covered to hold
+the case when the leaf loosens.  This is the rule with all
+Promethea cocoons I ever have seen.  Polyphemus selects a cluster
+of leaves very frequently thorn, and weaves its cocoon against
+three, drawing them together and spinning a support the length of
+the stems, so that when the leaf is ready to fall the cocoon is
+safely anchored.  When the winter winds have beaten the edges from
+the leaves, the cocoon appears as if it were brown, having three
+ribs with veins running from them, and of triangular shape.
+Angulifera spins against the leaves but provides no support and so
+drops to the ground.  Luna spins a comparatively thin white case,
+among the leaves under the shelter of logs and stumps.  Io spins so
+slightly in confinement that the pupa case and cast skin show
+through.  I never have found a pupa out of doors, but this is a
+ground caterpillar.
+
+Sometimes the caterpillar has been stung and bad an egg placed in
+its skin by a parasite, before pupation.  In such case the pupa
+is destroyed by the developing fly.  Throughout one winter I was
+puzzled by the light weight of what appeared to be a good Polyphemus
+cocoon, and at time for emergence amazed by the tearing and
+scratching inside the cocoon, until what I think was an Ophion
+fly appeared.  It was honey yellow, had antennae long as its
+extremely long body, the abdomen of which was curved and the
+segments set together so as to appear notched.  The wings were
+transparent and the insect it seems is especially designed to
+attack Polyphemus caterpillars and help check a progress that
+otherwise might become devastating.
+
+Among the moths that do not feed, the year of their evolution is
+divided into about seven days for the life of the moth, from
+fifteen to thirty for the eggs, from five to six weeks for the
+caterpillar and the remainder of the time in the pupa stage.  The
+rule differs with feeding moths only in that after mating and egg
+placing they take food and live several months, often until quite
+heavy frosts have fallen.
+
+One can admire to fullest extent the complicated organism, wondrous
+colouring, and miraculous life processes in the evolution of a
+moth, but that is all.  Their faces express nothing; their
+attitudes tell no story.  There is the marvellous instinct through
+which the males locate the opposite sex of their species; but one
+cannot see instinct in the face of any creature; it must develop
+in acts.  There is no part of their lives that makes such pictures
+of mother-love as birds and animals afford.  The male finds a mate
+and disappears.  The female places her eggs and goes out before her
+caterpillars break their shells.  The caterpillar transforms to the
+moth without its consent, the matter in one upbuilding the other.
+The entire process is utterly devoid of sentiment, attachment or
+volition on the part of the creatures involved.  They work out a
+law as inevitable as that which swings suns, moons, and planets
+in their courses.  They  are the most fragile and beautiful result
+of natural law with which I am acquainted.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III The Robin Moth: Cecropia
+
+
+When only a little child, wandering alone among the fruits and flowers
+of our country garden, on a dead peach limb beside the fence I found
+it--my  first Cecropia.  I was the friend of every bird, flower, and
+butterfly.  I carried crumbs to the warblers in the sweetbrier; was
+lifted for surreptitious peeps at the hummingbird nesting in the
+honeysuckle; sat within a few feet of the robin in the catalpa;
+bugged the currant bushes for the phoebe that had built for years
+under the roof of the corn bin; and fed young blackbirds in the
+hemlock with worms gathered from the cabbages.  I knew how to
+insinuate myself into the private life of each bird that homed
+on our farm, and they were many, for we valiantly battled for their
+protection with every kind of intruder.  There were wrens in the
+knot holes, chippies in the fences, thrushes in the brush heaps,
+bluebirds in the hollow apple trees, cardinals in the bushes,
+tanagers in the saplings, fly-catchers in the trees, larks in the
+wheat, bobolinks in the clover, killdeers beside the creeks,
+swallows in the chimneys, and martins under the barn eaves.  My
+love encompassed all feathered and furred creatures.
+
+Every day visits were paid flowers I cared for most.  I had been
+taught not to break the garden blooms, and if a very few of the
+wild ones were taken, I gathered them carefully, and explained to
+the plants that I wanted them for my mother because she was so ill
+she could not come to them any more, and only a few touching her
+lips or lying on her pillow helped her to rest, and made vivid the
+fields and woods when the pain was severe.
+
+My love for the butterflies took on the form of adoration.  There
+was not a delicate, gaudy, winged creature of day that did not
+make so strong an appeal to my heart as to be almost painful.  It
+seemed to me that the most exquisite thoughts of God for our
+pleasure were materialized in their beauty.  My soul always craved
+colour, and more brilliancy could be found on one butterfly wing
+than on many flower faces.  I liked to slip along the bloom-bordered
+walks of that garden and stand spell-bound, watching a black velvet
+butterfly, which trailed wings painted in white, red, and green, as
+it clambered over a clump of sweet-williams, and indeed, the flowers
+appeared plain compared with it!  Butterflies have changed their
+habits since then.  They fly so high!  They are all among the
+treetops now.  They used to flit around the cinnamon pinks, larkspur,
+ragged-robins and tiger lilies, within easy reach of little fingers,
+every day.  I called them 'flying flowers,' and it was a pretty
+conceit, for they really were more delicate in texture and brighter
+in colouring than the garden blooms.
+
+Having been taught that God created the heavens, earth and all
+things therein, I understood it to mean a literal creation of each
+separate thing and creature, as when my father cut down a tree and
+hewed it into a beam.  I would spend hours sitting so immovably
+among the flowers of our garden that the butterflies would mistake
+me for a plant and alight on my head and hands, while I strove to
+conceive the greatness of a Being who could devise and colour all
+those different butterfly wings.  I would try to decide whether
+He created the birds, flowers, or butterflies first; ultimately
+coming to the conclusion that He put His most exquisite material
+into the butterflies, and then did the best He could with what
+remained, on the birds and flowers.
+
+In my home there was a cellar window on the south, covered with
+wire screening, that was my individual property.  Father placed a
+box beneath it so that I could reach the sill easily, and there
+were very few butterflies or insects common to eastern North
+America a specimen of which had not spent some days on that screen,
+feasted on leaves and flowers, drunk from saucers of sweetened
+water, been admired and studied in minutest detail, and then set
+free to enjoy life as before.  With Whitman, "I never was
+possessed with a mania for killing things."  I had no idea of what
+families they were, and I supplied my own names.  The Monarch
+was the Brown Velvet; the Viceroy  was his Cousin; the Argynnis
+was the Silver Spotted; and the Papilio Ajax was the Ribbon
+butterfly, in my  category.  There was some thought of naming Ajax,
+Dolly Varden; but on close inspection it seemed most to resemble
+the gayly striped ribbons my sisters wore.
+
+I was far afield as to names, but in later years with only a glance
+at any  specimen I could say, "Oh, yes! I always have known that.
+It has buff-coloured legs, clubbed antennae with buff tips, wings
+of purplish brown velvet with escalloped margins, a deep band
+of buff lightly traced with black bordering them, and a pronounced
+point close the apex of the front pair.  When it came to books, all
+they had to teach me were the names.  I had captured and studied
+butterflies, big, little, and with every conceivable variety of
+marking, until it was seldom one was found whose least peculiarity
+was not familiar to me as my own face; but what could this be?
+
+It clung to the rough bark, slowly opening and closing large wings
+of grey velvet down, margined with bands made of shades of grey,
+tan, and black; banded with a broad stripe of red terra cotta
+colour with an inside margin of white, widest on the back pair.
+Both pairs of wings were decorated with half-moons of white,
+outlined in black and strongly flushed with terra cotta; the
+front pair near the outer margin had oval markings of blue-black,
+shaded with grey, outlined with half circles of white, and
+secondary circles of black.  When the wings were raised I could
+see a face of terra cotta, with small eyes, a broad band of white
+across the forehead, and an abdomen of terra cotta banded with
+snowy white above, and spotted with white beneath.  Its legs were
+hairy, and the antennae antlered like small branching ferns.
+Of course I thought it was a butterfly, and for a time was too
+filled with wonder to move.  Then creeping close, the next time
+the wings were raised above its body, with the nerveless touch
+of a robust child I captured it.
+
+I was ten miles from home, but I had spent all my life until the
+last year on that farm, and I knew and loved every foot of it.  To
+leave it for a city home and the confinement of school almost had
+broken my heart, but it really was time for me to be having
+some formal education.  It had been the greatest possible treat to
+be allowed to return to the country for a week, but now my one
+idea was to go home with my treasure.  None of my people had seen
+a sight like that.  If they had, they would have told me.
+
+Borrowing a two-gallon stone jar from the tenant's wife, I searched
+the garden for flowers sufficiently rare for lining.  Nothing so
+pleased me as some gorgeous deep red peony  blooms.  Never having
+been allowed to break the flowers when that was my mother's home,
+I did not think of doing it because she was not there to know.
+I knelt and gathered all the fallen petals that were fresh, and
+then spreading my apron on the ground, jarred the plant, not harder
+than a light wind might, and all that fell in this manner it seemed
+right to take.  The selection was very pleasing, for the yellow
+glaze of the jar, the rich red of the petals, and the grey
+velvet of my prize made a picture over which I stood trembling in
+delight.  The moth was promptly christened the Half-luna, because
+my father had taught me that luna was the moon, and the half moons
+on the wings were its most prominent markings.
+
+The tenant's wife wanted me to put it in a pasteboard box, but I
+stubbornly insisted on having the jar, why, I do not know, but I
+suppose it was because my father's word was gospel to me, and he
+had said that the best place to keep my specimens was the cellar
+window, and I must have thought the jar the nearest equivalent to
+the cellar.  The Half-luna did not mind in the least, but went on
+lazily opening and closing its wings, yet making no attempt to fly.
+If I had known what it was, or anything of its condition, I would
+have understood that it had emerged from the cocoon that morning,
+and never had flown, but was establishing circulation preparatory
+to taking wing.  Being only a small, very ignorant girl, the
+greatest thing I knew for sure was what I loved.
+
+Tying my sunbonnet over the top of the jar, I stationed myself on
+the horse block at the front gate.  Every passing team was hailed
+with lifted hand, just as I had seen my father do, and in as
+perfect an imitation of his voice as a scared little girl making
+her first venture alone in the big world could muster, I asked,
+"Which way, Friend?"
+
+For several long, hot hours people went to every point of the
+compass, but at last a bony young farmer, with a fat wife, and a
+fatter baby, in a big wagon, were going to my city, and they said
+I might ride.  With quaking heart I handed up my jar, and climbed
+in, covering all those ten miles in the June sunshine, on a board
+laid across e wagon bed, tightly  clasping the two-gallon jar in my
+aching arms.  The farmer's wife was quite concerned about me.  She
+asked if I had butter, and I said, "Yes, the kind that flies."
+
+I slipped the bonnet enough to let them peep.  She did not seem to
+think much of it, but the farmer laughed until his tanned face was
+red as an Indian's.  His wife insisted on me putting down the jar,
+and offered to set her foot on it so that it would not 'jounce'
+much, but I did not propose to risk it 'jouncing' at all, and
+clung to it persistently.  Then she offered to tie her apron over
+the top of the jar if I would put my bonnet on my  head, but I was
+afraid to attempt the exchange for fear my  butterfly would try
+to escape, and I might crush it, a thing I almost never had allowed
+to happen.
+
+The farmer's wife stuck her elbow into his ribs, and said, "How's
+that for the queerest spec'men ye ever see?"  The farmer
+answered, "I never saw nothin' like it before."  Then she said,
+"Aw pshaw!  I didn't mean in the jar!"  Then they both laughed.
+I thought they were amused at me, but I had no intention of
+risking an injury to my Half-luna, for there had been one black
+day on which I had such a terrible experience that it entailed a
+lifetime of caution.
+
+I had captured what I afterward learned was an Asterias, that
+seemed slightly different from any previous specimen, and a
+yellow swallow-tail, my first Papilio Turnus.  The yellow one was
+the largest, most beautiful butterfly I ever had seen.  I was
+carrying them, one between each thumb and forefinger, and running
+with all possible speed to reach the screen before my touch could
+soil the down on their exquisite wings.  I stumbled, and fell, so
+suddenly, there was no time to release them.  The black one sailed
+away with a ragged wing, and the yellow was crushed into a shapeless
+mass in my hand.  I was accustomed to falling off fences, from trees,
+and into the creek, and because my  mother was an invalid I had
+learned to doctor my own bruises and uncomplainingly go my  way.
+My reputation was that of a very brave little girl;  but when I
+opened my hand and saw that broken butterfly, and my down-painted
+fingers, I was never more afraid in my life.  I screamed aloud in
+panic, and ran for my mother with all my  might.  Heartbroken, I could
+not control my voice to explain as I threw myself on her couch, and
+before I knew what they  were doing, I was surrounded by sisters
+and the cook with hot water, bandages and camphor.
+
+My mother clasped me in her arms, and rocked me on her breast.
+"There, there, my poor child," she said, "I know it hurts dreadfully!"
+And to the cook she commanded, "Pour on camphor quickly!  She is
+half killed, or she never would come to me like this."  I found
+my voice.  "Camphor won't do any  good," I wailed.  "It was the most
+beautiful butterfly, and I've broken it all to pieces.  It must
+have taken God hours studying how to make it different from all
+the others, and I know He never will forgive me!"  I began sobbing
+worse than ever.  The cook on her knees before me sat on her
+heels suddenly.  "Great Heavens!  She's screechin' about
+breakin' a butterfly, and not her poor fut, at all!"  Then I
+looked down and discovered that I had stubbed my toe in falling,
+and had left a bloody trail behind me.  "Of course I am!"  I
+sobbed indignantly.  "Couldn't I wash off a little blood in the
+creek, and tie up my toe with a dock leaf and some grass?  I've
+killed the most beautiful butterfly, and I know I won't be
+forgiven!"
+
+I opened my tightly clenched hand and showed it to prove my
+words.  The sight was so terrible to me that I jerked my foot from
+the cook, and thrust my hand into the water, screaming, "Wash it!
+Wash it!  Wash the velvet from my hand!  Oh! make it white
+again!"  Before the cook bathed and bandaged my foot, she
+washed and dried my hand; and my mother whispered, "God knows
+you never meant to do it, and He is sorry as mother is."  So my
+mother and the cook comforted me.  The remainder scattered suddenly.
+It was years before I knew why, and I was a Shakespearean student
+before I caught the point to their frequently calling me 'Little Lady
+Macbeth!'  After such an experience, it was not probable that I
+would risk crushing a butterfly to tie a bonnet on my head.  It
+probably would be down my back half the time anyway.  It usually
+was.  As we neared the city I heard the farmer's wife tell him
+that he must take me to my home.  He said he would not do any
+such a thing, but she said he must.  She explained that she knew
+me, and it would not be decent to put me down where they were
+going, and leave me to walk home and carry that heavy  jar.  So
+the farmer took me to our gate.  I thanked him as politely as I
+knew how, and kissed his wife and the fat baby in payment for
+their kindness, for I was very grateful.  I was so tired I
+scarcely could set down the jar and straighten my cramped arms
+when I had the opportunity.  I had expected my family to be
+delighted over my  treasure, but they  exhibited an astonishing
+indifference, and were far more concerned over the state of my
+blistered face.  I would not hear of putting my Half-luna on the
+basement screen as they suggested, but enthroned it in state on
+the best lace curtains at a parlour window, covered the sill with
+leaves and flowers, and went to bed happy.  The following morning
+my sisters said a curtain was ruined, and when they removed it to
+attempt restoration, the general consensus of opinion seemed to be
+that something was a nuisance, I could not tell whether it was I,
+or the Half-luna.  On coming to the parlour a little later, ladened
+with leaves and flowers, my treasure was gone.  The cook was sure
+it had flown from the door over some one's head, and she said very
+tersely that it was a burning shame, and if such carelessness as
+that ever occurred again she would quit her job.  Such is the
+confidence of a child that I accepted my loss as an inevitable accident,
+and tried to be brave to comfort her, although my heart was almost
+broken. Of course they freed my moth.  They never would have dared
+but that the little mother's couch stood all day empty now, and her
+chair unused beside it.  My  disappointment was so deep and
+far-reaching it made me ill then they scolded me, and said I had half
+killed myself carrying that heavy jar in the hot sunshine, although
+the pain from which I suffered was neither in my arms nor sunburned face.
+
+So I lost my first Cecropia, and from that day until a woman
+grown and much of this material secured, in all my field work
+among the birds, flowers, and animals, I never had seen another.
+They had taunted me in museums, and been my envy in private
+collections, but find one, I could not.  When in my field work
+among the birds, so many moths of other families almost had thrust
+themselves upon me that I began a collection of reproductions of
+them, I found little difficulty in securing almost anything else.
+I could picture Sphinx Moths in any position I chose, and Lunas
+seemed eager to pose for me.  A friend carried to me a beautiful
+tan-coloured Polyphemus with transparent moons like isinglass
+set in its wings of softest velvet down, and as for butterflies,
+it was not necessary  to go afield for them; they came to me.
+I could pick a Papilio Ajax, that some of my friends were years
+in securing, from the pinks in my  garden.  A pair of Antiopas spent
+a night, and waited to be pictured in the morning, among the leaves
+of my passion vine.  Painted Beauties swayed along my flowered walks,
+and in September a Viceroy reigned in state on every chrysanthemum,
+and a Monarch was enthroned on every sunbeam.  No luck was too good
+for me, no butterfly or moth too rare, except forever and always
+the coveted Cecropia, and by this time I had learned to my disgust
+that it was one of the commonest of all.
+
+Then one summer, late in June, a small boy, having an earnest,
+eager little face, came to me tugging a large box.  He said he had
+something for me.  He said "they  called it a butterfly, but he
+was sure it never was."  He was eminently correct.  He had a
+splendid big Cecropia.  I was delighted.  Of course to have found
+one myself would have filled my cup to overflowing, but to secure
+a perfect, living specimen was good enough.  For the first time my
+childish loss seemed in a measure compensated.  Then, I only could
+study a moth to my  satisfaction and set it free; now, I could make
+reproductions so perfect that every antler of its antennae could
+be counted with the naked eye, and copy its colours accurately,
+before giving back its liberty.
+
+I asked him whether he wanted money or a picture of it, and as I
+expected, he said 'money,' so he was paid.  An hour later he came
+back and said he wanted the picture.  On being questioned as to his
+change of heart, he said "mamma told him to say he wanted the
+picture, and she would give him the money."  My sympathy was with
+her.  I wanted the studies I intended to make of that Cecropia
+myself, and I wanted them very badly.
+
+I opened the box to examine the moth, and found it so numb with the
+cold over night, and so worn and helpless, that it could not cling
+to a leaf or twig.  I tried repeatedly, and fearing that it had
+been subjected to rough treatment, and soon would be lifeless, for
+these moths live only a short time, I hastily set up a camera
+focusing on a branch.  Then I tried posing my  specimen.  Until
+the third time it fell, but the fourth it clung, and crept down a
+twig, settling at last in a position that far, surpassed any
+posing that I could do.  I was very  pleased, and yet it made a
+complication.  It had gone so far that it might be off the plate
+and from focus.  It seemed so stupid and helpless that I decided
+to risk a peep at the glass, and hastily  removing the
+plate and changing the shutter, a slight but most essential
+alteration was made, everything replaced, and the bulb caught up.
+There was only a breath of sound as I turned, and then I stood
+horrified, for my Cecropia was sailing over a large elm tree in a
+corner of the orchard, and for a block my gaze followed it skyward,
+flying like a bird before it vanished in the distance, so quickly
+had it recovered in fresh air and sunshine.
+
+I have undertaken to describe some very difficult things, but I
+would not attempt to portray my feelings, and three days later
+there was no change.  It was in the height of my season of field
+work, and I had several extremely interesting series of bird
+studies on hand, and many  miscellaneous subjects.  In those days
+some pictures were secured that I then thought, and yet feel, will
+live, but nothing mattered to me.  There was a standing joke among
+my  friends that I never would be satisfied with my field work
+until I had made a study  of a 'Ha-ha bird,'  but I doubt if even
+that specimen would have lifted the gloom of those days.  Everything
+was a drag, and frequently I would think over it all in detail,
+and roundly bless myself for taking a prize so rare, to me
+at least, into the open.
+
+The third day stands lurid in my memory.  It was the hottest,
+most difficult day of all my years of experience afield.  The
+temperature ranged from 104  to 108 in the village, and in
+quarries open to the east, flat fields, and steaming swamps it
+certainly could have been no cooler.  With set cameras I was
+working for a shot at a hawk that was feeding on all the young
+birds and rabbits in the vicinity of its nest.  I also wanted a
+number of studies to fill a commission that was pressing me.
+Subjects for several pictures had been found, and exposures made
+on them when the weather was so hot that the rubber slide of a plate
+holder would curl like a horseshoe if not laid on a case, and held
+flat by a camera while I worked.  Perspiration dried, and the
+landscape took on a sombre black velvet hue, with a liberal
+sprinkling of gold stars.  I sank into a stupor going home,
+and an old farmer aroused me, and disentangled my horse from a
+thicket of wild briers into which it had strayed.  He said most
+emphatically that if I did not know enough to remain indoors
+weather like that, my friends should appoint me a 'guardeen.'
+
+I reached the village more worn in body and spirit than I ever had
+been.  I felt that I could not endure another degree of heat on the
+back of my head, and I was much discouraged concerning my work.
+Why not drop it all, and go where there were cool forests and
+breezes sighing?  Perhaps my studies were not half so good as I
+thought!  Perhaps people would not care for them!  For that matter,
+perhaps the editors and publishers never would give the public an
+opportunity to see my  work at all!
+
+I dragged a heavy load up the steps and swung it to the veranda,
+and there stood almost paralysed.  On the top step, where I could
+not reach the Cabin door without seeing it, newly emerged, and
+slowly exercising a pair of big wings, with every gaudy marking
+fresh with new life, was the finest Cecropia I ever had seen
+anywhere.  Recovering myself with a start, I had it under my net
+that had waited twenty years to cover it!  Inside the door I dropped
+the net, and the moth crept on my fingers.  What luck!  What extra
+golden luck!  I almost felt that God had been sorry for me, and sent
+it there to encourage me to keep on picturing the beauties and
+wonders of His creations for people who could not go afield to see
+for themselves, and to teach those who could to protect helpless,
+harmless things for their use and beauty.
+
+I walked down the hall, and vaguely scanned the solid rows of
+books and specimens lining the library walls.  I scarcely
+realized the thought that was in my mind, but what I was looking
+for was not there.  The dining-room then, with panelled walls and
+curtains of tapestry?  It was not there!  Straight to the white
+and gold music room I went.  Then a realizing sense came to me.
+It was BRUSSELS LACE for which I was searching!  On the most
+delicate, snowiest place possible, on the finest curtain there, I
+placed my Cecropia, and then stepped back and gazed at it with a
+sort of "Touch it over my dead body" sentiment in my heart.
+An effort was required to arouse myself, to realize that I was not
+dreaming.  To search the fields and woods for twenty  years, and
+then find the specimen I had sought awaiting me at my own door!
+Well might it have been a dream, but that the Cecropia, clinging
+to the meshes of the lace, slowly opening and closing its wings
+to strengthen them for flight, could be nothing but a delightful
+reality.
+
+A few days later, in the valley of the Wood Robin, while searching
+for its nest I found a large cocoon.  It was above my head, but
+afterward I secured it by means of a ladder, and carried it home.
+Shortly there emerged a yet larger Cecropia, and luck seemed with
+me.  I could find them everywhere through June, the time of their
+emergence, later their eggs, and the tiny caterpillars that
+hatched from them.  During the summer I found these caterpillars,
+in different stages of growth, until fall, when after their last
+moult and casting of skin, they reached the final period of
+feeding; some were over four inches in length, a beautiful shade of
+greenish blue, with red and yellow warty projections--tubercles,
+according to scientific works.
+
+It is easy to find the cocoons these caterpillars spin, because
+they are the largest woven by any moth, and placed in such a variety
+of accessible spots.  They can be found in orchards, high on branches,
+and on water sprouts at the base of trees.  Frequently they are spun
+on swamp willows, box-elder, maple, or wild cherry.  Mr. Black once
+found for me the largest cocoon I ever have seen; a pale tan colour
+with silvery lights, woven against the inside of a hollow log.
+Perhaps the most beautiful of all, a dull red, was found under the
+flooring of an old bridge crossing a stream in the heart of the swamp,
+by a girl not unknown to fiction, who brought it to me.  In a deserted
+orchard close the Wabash, Raymond once found a pair of empty
+cocoons at the foot of a big apple tree, fastened to the same
+twigs, and within two inches of each other.
+
+But the most wonderful thing of all occurred when Wallace Hardison,
+a faithful friend to my work, sawed a board from the roof of his
+chicken house and carried to me twin Cecropia cocoons, spun so
+closely together they were touching, and slightly interwoven.
+By the closest examination I could discover slight difference
+between them.  The one on the right was a trifle fuller in the body,
+wider at the top, a shade lighter in colour, and the inner case
+seemed heavier.
+
+All winter those cocoons occupied the place of state in my collection.
+Every few days I tried them to see if they gave the solid thump
+indicating healthy pupae, and listened to learn if they were moving.
+By May they were under constant surveillance.  On the fourteenth I
+was called from home a few hours to attend the funeral of a friend.
+I think nothing short of a funeral would have taken me, for the moth
+from a single cocoon had emerged on the eleventh.  I hurried home
+near noon, only to find that I was late, for one was out, and the
+top of the other cocoon heaving with the movements of the second.
+
+The moth that had escaped was a male.  It clung to the side of the
+board, wings limp, its abdomen damp.  The opening from which it
+came was so covered with terra cotta coloured down that I thought
+at first it must have disfigured itself; but full development
+proved it could spare that much and yet appear all right.
+
+In the fall I had driven a nail through one corner of the board,
+and tacked it against the south side of the Cabin, where I made
+reproductions of the cocoons.  The nail had been left, and now it
+suggested the same place.  A light stroke on the head of the nail,
+covered with cloth to prevent jarring, fastened the board on a log.
+Never in all my life did I hurry as on that day, and I called my
+entire family into service.  The Deacon stood at one elbow, Molly-Cotton
+at the other, and the gardener in the rear.  There was not a second
+to be lost, and no time for an unnecessary movement; for in the heat
+and bright sunshine those moths would emerge and develop with amazing
+rapidity.
+
+Molly-Cotton held an umbrella over them to prevent this as much as
+possible; the Deacon handed plate holders, and Brenner ran errands.
+Working as fast as I could make my fingers fly in setting up the camera,
+and getting a focus, the second moth's head was out, its front feet
+struggling to pull up the body; and its antennae beginning to lift,
+when I was ready for the first snap at half-past eleven.
+
+By the time I inserted the slide, turned the plate holder and
+removed another slide, the first moth to appear had climbed up
+the board a few steps, and the second was halfway  out.  Its
+antennae were nearly horizontal now, and from its position I
+decided that the wings as they lay in the pupa case were folded
+neither to the back nor to the front, but pressed against the body
+in a lengthwise crumpled mass, the heavy front rib, or costa, on
+top.
+
+Again I changed plates with all speed.  By the time I was ready
+for the third snap the male had reached the top of the board, its
+wings opened for the first time, and began a queer trembling
+motion.  The second one had emerged and was running into the first,
+so I held my  finger in the line of its advance, and when it
+climbed on I lowered it to the edge to the board beside the
+cocoons.  It immediately clung to the wood.  The big pursy
+abdomen and smaller antennae, that now turned forward in position,
+proved this a female.  The exposure was made not ten seconds after
+she cleared the case, and with her back to the lens, so the position
+and condition of the wings and antennae on emergence can be seen
+clearly.
+
+Quickly as possible I changed the plates again; the time that
+elapsed could not have been over half a minute.  The male was trying
+to creep up the wall, and the increase in the length and expansion
+of the female's wings could be seen.  The colours on both were
+exquisite, but they  grew a trifle less brilliant as the moths
+became dry.
+
+Again I turned to the business of plate changing.  The heat was
+intense, and perspiration was streaming from my  face.  I called
+to Molly-Cotton to shield the moths while I made the change.
+"Drat the moths!" cried the Deacon.  "Shade your mother!"  Being
+an obedient girl, she shifted the umbrella, and by the time I was
+ready for business, the male was on the logs and travelling up the
+side of the Cabin.  The female was climbing toward the logs also,
+so that a side view showed her wings already beginning to lift
+above her back.
+
+I had only five snapshot plates in my holders, so I was compelled
+to stop.  It was as well, for surely the record was complete, and
+I was almost prostrate with excitement and heat.  Several days
+later I opened each of the cocoons and made interior studies.  The
+one on the right was split down the left side and turned back to
+show the bed of spun silk of exquisite colour that covers the inner
+case.  Some say this silk has no commercial value, as it is cut
+in lengths reaching from the top around the inner case and back to
+the top again; others think it can be used.  The one on the left
+was opened down the front of the outer case, the silk parted and
+the heavy inner case cut from top to bottom to show the smooth
+interior wall, the thin pupa case burst by the exit of the moth,
+and the cast caterpillar skin crowded at the bottom.
+
+The pair mated that same night, and the female began laying eggs
+by noon the following day.  She dotted them in lines over the
+inside of her box, and on leaves placed in it, and at times piled
+them in a heap instead of placing them as do these moths in
+freedom.  Having taken a picture of a full-grown caterpillar of this
+moth brought to me by Mr. Andrew Idlewine, I now had a complete
+Cecropia history; eggs, full-grown caterpillars, twin cocoons, and
+the story of the emergence of the moths that wintered in them.  I
+do not suppose Mr. Hardison thought he was doing anything unusual
+when he brought me those cocoons, yet by bringing them, he made
+it possible for me to secure this series of twin Cecropia moths,
+male and female, a thing never before recorded by lepidopterist
+or photographer so far as I can learn.
+
+The Cecropia is a moth whose acquaintance nature-loving city
+people can cultivate.  In December of 1906, on a tree, maple I
+think, near No. 2230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, I found
+four cocoons of this moth, and on the next tree, save one, another.
+Then I began watching, and in the coming days I counted them by
+the hundred through the city.  Several bushels of these cocoons
+could have been clipped in Indianapolis alone, and there is no
+reason why any other city that has maple, elm, catalpa, and
+other shade trees would not have as many; so that any one who
+would like can find them easily.
+
+Cecropia cocoons bewilder a beginner by their difference in shape.
+You cannot determine the sex of the moth by the size of the
+cocoon.  In the case of the twins, the cocoon of the female was
+the larger; but I have known male and female alike to emerge from
+large or small.  You are fairly sure of selecting a pair if you
+depend upon weight.  The females are heavier than the males, because
+they emerge with quantities of eggs ready to deposit as soon as they
+have mated. If any one wants to winter a pair of moths, they
+are reasonably sure of doing so by selecting the heaviest
+and lightest cocoons they can find.
+
+In the selection of cocoons, hold them to the ear, and with a
+quick motion reverse them end for end.  If there is a dull, solid
+thump, the moth is alive, and will emerge all right.  If this thump
+is lacking, and there is a rattle like a small seed shaking in a
+dry pod, it means that the caterpillar has gone into the cocoon
+with one of the tiny parasites that infest these worms, clinging
+to it, and the pupa has been eaten by the parasite.
+
+In fall and late summer are the best times to find cocoons, as
+birds tear open many of them in winter; and when weatherbeaten
+they fade, and do not show the exquisite shadings of silk of those
+newly spun.  When fresh, the colours range from almost white
+through lightest tans and browns to a genuine red, and there is a
+silvery effect that is lovely on some of the large, baggy ones,
+hidden under bridges.  Out of doors the moths emerge in middle May
+or June, but they are earlier in the heat of a house.  They are
+the largest of any species, and exquisitely coloured, the shades
+being strongest on the upper side of the wings.  They differ greatly
+in size, most males having an average wing sweep of five inches,
+and a female that emerged in my conservatory from a cocoon that
+I wintered with particular care had a spread of seven inches,
+the widest of which I have heard; six and three quarters is a
+large female.  The moth, on appearing, seems all head and abdomen,
+the wings hanging limp and wet from the shoulders.  It at once
+creeps around until a place where it can hang with the wings
+down is found, and soon there begins a sort of pumping motion of
+the body.  I imagine this is to start circulation, to exercise
+parts, and force blood into the wings.  They begin to expand, to
+dry, to take on colour with amazing rapidity, and as soon as they
+are full size and crisp, the moth commences raising and lowering
+them slowly, as in flight.  If a male, he emerges near ten in the
+forenoon, and flies at dusk in search of a mate.
+
+As the females are very  heavy with eggs, they usually remain
+where they are.  After mating they begin almost at once to
+deposit their eggs, and do not take flight until they have
+finished.  The eggs are round, having a flat top that becomes slightly
+depressed as they dry.  They are of pearl colour, with a touch of
+brown, changing to greyish as the tiny  caterpillars develop.  Their
+outline can be traced through the shell on which they make their
+first meal when they emerge.  Female Cecropas average about three
+hundred and fifty eggs each, that they sometimes place singly, and
+again string in rows, or in captivity pile in heaps.  In freedom
+they deposit the eggs mostly on leaves, sometimes the under, sometimes
+the upper, sides or dot them on bark, boards or walls.  The percentage
+of loss of eggs and the young is large, for they  are nowhere numerous
+enough to become a pest, as they  certainly would if three hundred
+caterpillars survived to each female moth.  The young feed on
+apple, willow, maple, box-elder, or wild cherry leaves; and grow
+through a series of feeding periods and moults, during which they
+rest for a few days, cast the skin and intestinal lining and then
+feed for another period.
+
+After the females have finished depositing their eggs, they cling
+to branches, vines or walls a few days, fly aimlessly at night
+and then pass out without ever having taken food.
+
+Cecropia has several 'Cousins,'  Promethea, Angulifera, Gloveri,
+and Cynthia, that vary slightly in marking and more in colour.  All
+are smaller than Cecropia.  The male of Promethea is the darkest moth
+of the Limberlost.  The male of Angulifera is a brownish grey, the
+female reddish, with warm tan colours on her wing borders.  She is
+very beautiful.  The markings on the wings of both are not half-moon
+shaped, as Cecropia and Gloveri, but are oblong, and largest at the
+point next the apex of the wing.
+
+Gloveri could not be told from Cecropiain half-tone reproduction by
+any save a scientist, so similar are the markings, but in colour
+they are vastly  different, and more beautiful.  The only living
+Gloveri I ever secured was almost done with life, and she was so
+badly battered I could not think of making a picture of her.  The
+wings are a lovely red wine colour, with warm tan borders, and the
+crescents are white, with a line of tan and then of black.  The
+abdomen is white striped with wine and black.
+
+Cynthia has pale olive green shadings on both male and female.
+These are imported moths brought here about 1861 in the hope that
+they  would prove valuable in silk culture.  They occur mostly
+where the ailanthus grows.
+
+My heart goes out to Cecropia because it is such a noble,
+birdlike, big fellow, and since it has decided to be rare with me
+no longer, all that is necessary is to pick it up, either in
+caterpillar, cocoon, or moth, at any season of the year, in almost
+any location.  The Cecropia moth resembles the robin among birds;
+not alone because he is grey with red markings, but also he haunts
+the same localities.  The robin is the bird of the eaves, the back
+door, the yard and orchard.  Cecropia is the moth.  My doorstep is
+not the only one they grace; my friends have found them in like
+places.  Cecropia cocoons are attached to fences, chicken-coops,
+barns, houses, and all through the orchards of old country  places,
+so that their emergence at bloom time adds to May and June one more
+beauty, and frequently I speak of them as the Robin Moth.
+
+In connexion with Cecropia there came to me the most delightful
+experience of my life.  One perfect night during the middle of
+May, all the world white with tree bloom, touched to radiance with
+brilliant moonlight; intoxicating with countless blending perfumes,
+I placed a female Cecropia on the screen of my sleeping-room door
+and retired.  The lot on which the Cabin stands is sloping, so that,
+although the front foundations are low, my door is at least five feet
+above the ground, and opens on a circular porch, from which steps
+lead down between two apple trees, at that time sheeted in bloom.
+Past midnight I was awakened by soft touches on the screen, faint
+pullings at the wire.  I went to the door and found the porch,
+orchard, and night-sky alive with Cecropias holding high carnival.
+I had not supposed there were so many in all this world.  From
+every direction they came floating like birds down the moonbeams.
+I carefully removed the female from the door to a window close
+beside, and stepped on the porch.  No doubt I was permeated with
+the odour of the moth.  As I advanced to the top step, that lay
+even with the middle branches of the apple trees, the exquisite big
+creatures came swarming around me.  I could feel them on my hair,
+my shoulders, and see them settling on my gown and outstretched
+hands.
+
+Far as I could penetrate the night-sky more were coming.  They
+settled on the bloom-laden branches, on the porch pillars, on me
+indiscriminately.  I stepped inside the door with one on each hand
+and five clinging to my gown.  This experience, I am sure, suggested
+Mrs. Comstock's moth hunting in the Limberlost.  Then I went back
+to the veranda and revelled with the moths until dawn drove them
+to shelter.  One magnificent specimen, birdlike above all the others,
+I followed across the orchard and yard to a grape arbour, where I
+picked him from the under side of a leaf after he had settled for
+the coming day.  Repeatedly I counted close to a hundred, and then
+they would so confuse me by flight I could not be sure I was not
+numbering the same one twice.  With eight males, some of them fine
+large moths, one superb, from which to choose, my female mated with
+an insistent, frowsy little scrub lacking two feet and having torn
+and ragged wings.  I needed no surer proof that she had very dim
+vision.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV  The Yellow Emperor:  Eacles Imperialis
+
+
+Several years ago, Mr. A. Eisen, a German, of Coldwater, Michigan,
+who devotes his leisure to collecting moths, gave me as pinned
+specimens a pair of Eacles Imperialis, and their full life history.
+Any intimate friend of mine can testify that yellow is my favourite
+colour, with shades of lavender running into purple, second choice.
+When I found a yellow moth, liberally decorated with lavender, the
+combination was irresistible.  Mr. Eisen said the mounted specimens
+were faded; but the living moths were beautiful beyond description.
+Naturally I coveted life.
+
+I was very particular to secure the history of the caterpillars
+and their favourite foods.  I learned from Mr. Eisen that they
+were all of the same shape and habit, but some of them might be
+green, with cream-coloured heads and feet, and black face lines,
+the body covered sparsely with long hairs; or they might be brown,
+with markings of darker brown and black with white hairs; but they
+would be at least three inches long when full grown, and would have
+a queer habit of rearing and drawing leaves to their mouths when feeding.
+I was told I would find them in August, on leaves of spruce, pine,
+cherry, birch, alder, sycamore, elm, or maple; that they pupated in
+the ground; and the moths were common, especially around lights in city
+parks, and at street crossings.
+
+Coming from a drive one rare June evening, I found Mr. William
+Pettis, a shooter of oil wells, whom I frequently met while at my
+work, sitting on the veranda in an animated business discussion
+with the Deacon.
+
+"I brought you a pair of big moths that I found this morning on
+some bushes beside the road," said Mr. Pettis.  "I went to give
+Mr. Porter a peep to see if he thought you'd want them, and they
+both got away.  He was quicker than I, and caught the larger one,
+but mine sailed over the top of that tree."  He indicated an elm
+not far away.
+
+"Did you know them?"  I asked the Deacon.
+
+"No," he answered.  "You have none of the kind.  They are big as
+birds and a beautiful yellow."
+
+"Yellow!"  No doubt I was unduly emphatic.  "Yellow!  Didn't you
+know better than to open a box with moths in it outdoors at night?"
+
+"It was my fault," interposed Mr. Pettis.  "He told me not to
+open the box, but I had shown them a dozen times to-day and they
+never moved.  I didn't think about night being their time to fly.
+I am very sorry."
+
+So was I.  Sorry enough to have cried, but I tried my best to
+conceal it.  Anyway, it might be Io, and I had that.  On going
+inside to examine the moth, I found a large female Eacles
+Imperialis, with not a scale of down misplaced.  Even by gas light
+I could see that the yellow of the living moth was a warm canary
+colour, and the lavender of the mounted specimen closer heliotrope
+on the living, for there were pinkish tints that had faded from the
+pinned moth.
+
+She was heavy with eggs, and made no attempt to fly, so I closed
+the box and left her until the lights were out, and then removed the
+lid.  Every opening was tightly screened, and as she had mated, I did
+not think she would fly.  I hoped in the freedom of the Cabin she
+would not break her wings, and ruin herself for a study.
+
+There was much comfort in the thought that I could secure her
+likeness; her eggs would be fertile, and I could raise a brood
+the coming season, in which would be both male and female.  When
+life was over I could add her to my specimen case, for these are
+of the moths that do not eat, and live only a few days after
+depositing their eggs.  So I went out and explained to Mr. Pettis
+what efforts I had made to secure this yellow moth, comforted him
+for allowing the male to escape by telling him I could raise all I
+wanted from the eggs of the female, showed him my entire collection,
+and sent him from the Cabin such a friend to my work, that it was he
+who brought me an oil-coated lark a few days later.
+
+On rising early the next morning, I found my moth had deposited
+some eggs on the dining-room floor, before the conservatory doors,
+more on the heavy tapestry that covered them, and she was clinging
+to a velvet curtain at a library window, liberally dotting it with
+eggs, almost as yellow as her body.  I turned a tumbler over those
+on the floor, pinned folds in the curtains, and as soon as the light
+was good, set up a camera and focused on a suitable location.
+
+She climbed on my finger when it was held before her, and was carried,
+with no effort to fly, to the place I had selected, though Molly-Cotton
+walked close with a spread net, ready for the slightest impulse toward
+movement.  But female moths seldom fly until they have finished egg
+depositing, and this one was transferred with no trouble to the spot
+on which I had focused.  On the back wall of the Cabin, among some
+wild roses, she was placed on a log, and immediately raised her wings,
+and started for the shade of the vines.  The picture made of her as
+she walked is beautiful.  After I had secured several studies she was
+returned to the library curtain, where she resumed egg placing.
+These were not counted, but there, were at least three hundred at a
+rough guess.
+
+I had thought her lovely in gas light, but day brought forth marvels
+and wonders.  When a child, I used to gather cowslips in a bed of
+lush swale, beside a little creek at the foot of a big hill on our farm.
+At the summit was an old orchard, and in a brush-heap a brown thrush
+nested.  From a red winter pearmain the singer poured out his own heart
+in song, and then reproduced the love ecstasy of every other bird of
+the orchard.  That moth's wings were so exactly the warm though
+delicate yellow of the flowers I loved, that as I looked at it I could
+feel my bare feet sinking in the damp ooze, smell the fragrance of the
+buttercups, and hear again the ripple of the water and the mating
+exultation of the brown thrush.
+
+In the name--Eacles Imperialis--there is no meaning or appropriateness
+to "Eacles"; "Imperialis"--of course, translates imperial--which seems
+most fitting, for the moth is close the size of Cecropia, and of truly
+royal beauty.  We called it the Yellow Emperor.  Her Imperial Golden
+Majesty had a wing sweep of six and a quarter inches.  From the
+shoulders spreading in an irregular patch over front and back wings,
+most on the front, were markings of heliotrope, quite dark in colour:
+Near the costa of the front wings were two almost circular dots of
+slightly paler heliotrope, the one nearest the edge about half the size
+of the other.  On the back wings, halfway from each edge, and half an
+inch from the marking at the base, was one round spot of the same colour.
+Beginning at the apex of the front pair, and running to half an inch
+from the lower edge, was a band of escalloped heliotrope.  On the
+back pair this band began half an inch from the edge and ran straight
+across, so that at the outer curve of the wing it was an inch higher.
+The front wing surface and the space above this marking on the back
+were liberally sprinkled with little oblong touches of heliotrope;
+but from the curved line to the bases of the back pair, the colouring
+was pure canary yellow.
+
+The top of the head was covered with long, silken hairs of heliotrope,
+then a band of yellow; the upper abdomen was strongly shaded with
+heliotrope almost to the extreme tip.  The lower sides of the wings
+were yellow at the base, the spots showing through, but not the
+bands, and only the faintest touches of the mottling. The thorax
+and abdomen were yellow, and the legs heliotrope.  The antennae
+were heliotrope, fine, threadlike, and closely pressed to the head.
+The eyes were smaller than those of Cecropia, and very close together.
+
+Compared with Cecropia these moths were very easy to paint.  Their
+markings were elaborate, but they could be followed accurately,
+and the ground work of colour was warm cowslip yellow. The only
+difficulty was to make the almost threadlike antennae show,
+and to blend the faint touches of heliotrope on the upper wings
+with the yellow.
+
+The eggs on the floor and curtains were guarded with care.  They
+were dotted around promiscuously, and at first were clear and of
+amber colour, but as the little caterpillars grew in them, they
+showed a red line three fourths of the way around the rim, and
+became slightly depressed in the middle.  The young emerged in
+thirteen days.  They were nearly half an inch long, and were
+yellow with black lines.  They began the task of eating until
+they reached the pupa state, by turning on their shells and
+devouring all of them to the glue by which they were fastened.
+
+They were given their choice of oak, alder, sumac, elm, cherry,
+and hickory.  The majority of them seemed to prefer the hickory.
+They moulted on the fifth day for the first time, and changed to
+a brown colour.  Every five or six days they repeated the process,
+growing larger and of stronger colour with each moult, and developing
+a covering of long white hairs.  Part of these moulted four times,
+others five.
+
+At past six weeks of age they were exactly as Mr. Eisen had described
+them to me.  Those I kept in confinement pupated on a bed of baked
+gravel, in a tin bucket.  It is imperative to bake any earth or sand
+used for them to kill pests invisible to the eye, that might bore into
+the pupa cases and destroy the moths.
+
+I watched the transformation with intense interest.  After the
+caterpillars had finished eating they travelled in search of a
+place to burrow for a day or two.  Then they gave up, and lay
+quietly  on the sand.  The colour darkened hourly, the feet and
+claspers seemed to draw inside, and one morning on going to look
+there were some greenish brown pupae.  They shone as if freshly
+varnished, as indeed they were, for the substance provided to
+facilitate the emergence of the pupae from the caterpillar skins
+dries in a coating, that helps to harden the cases and protect them.
+These pupae had burst the skins at the thorax, and escaped by
+working the abdomen until they lay an inch or so from the skins.
+
+What a "cast off garment" those skins were!  Only the frailest
+outside covering, complete in all parts, and rapidly turning to
+a dirty brown.  The pupae were laid away in a large box having a
+glass lid.  It was filled with baked sand, covered with sphagnum
+moss, slightly dampened occasionally, and placed where it was
+cool, but never at actual freezing point.  The following spring
+after the delight of seeing them emerge, they were released, for
+I secured a male to complete my collection a few days later, and
+only grew the caterpillars to prove it possible.
+
+There was a carnival in the village, and, for three nights the
+streets were illuminated brightly from end to end, to the height
+of Ferris wheels and diving towers.  The lights must have shone
+against the sky for miles around, for they  drew from the Limberlost,
+from the Canoper, from Rainbow Bottom, and the Valley of the Wood Robin,
+their winged creatures of night.
+
+I know Emperors appear in these places in my  locality, for the
+caterpillars feed on leaves found there, and enter the ground to
+pupate; so of course the moth of June begins its life in the same
+location.  Mr. Pettis found the mated pair he brought to me, on a
+bush at the edge of a swamp.  They also emerge in cities under any
+tree on which their caterpillars feed.  Once late in May, in the
+corner of a lichen-covered, old snake fence beside the Wabash on
+the Shimp farm, I made a series of studies of the home life of a pair
+of ground sparrows.  They had chosen for a location a slight
+depression covered with a rank growth of meadow grass.  Overhead
+wild plum and thorn in full bloom lay white-sheeted against the
+blue sky; red bud spread its purple haze, and at a curve, the
+breast of the river gleamed white as ever woman's; while underfoot
+the grass was obscured with masses of wild flowers.
+
+An unusually fine cluster of white violets attracted me as I
+worked around the birds, so on packing at the close of the day I
+lifted the plant to carry home for my wild flower bed.  Below a
+few inches of rotting leaves and black mould I found a lively
+pupa of the Yellow Emperor.
+
+So these moths emerge and deposit their eggs in the swamps,
+forests, beside the river and wherever the trees on which they
+feed grow.  When the serious business of life is over, attracted by
+strong lights, they go with other pleasure seeking company, and
+grace society by their royal presence.
+
+I could have had half a dozen fine Imperialis moths during the
+three nights of the carnival, and fluttering above buildings many
+more could be seen that did not descend to our reach.  Raymond had
+such a busy time capturing moths he missed most of the joys of
+the carnival, but I truly think he liked the chase better.  One he
+brought me, a female, was so especially large that I took her to
+the Cabin to be measured, and found her to be six and three quarter
+inches, and of the lightest yellow of any specimen I have seen.
+Her wings were quite ragged.  I imagined she had finished laying
+her eggs, and was nearing the end of life, hence she was not so
+brilliant as a newly  emerged specimen.  The moth proved this
+theory correct by soon going out naturally.
+
+Choice could be made in all that plethora, and a male and female of
+most perfect colouring and markings were selected, for my studies of
+a pair.  One male was mounted and a very large female on account of
+her size.  That completed my Imperialis records from eggs to
+caterpillars, pupae and moths.
+
+The necessity for a book on this subject; made simple to the
+understanding, and attractive to the eye of the masses, never was
+so deeply impressed upon me as in an experience with Imperialis.
+Molly-Cotton was attending a house-party, and her host had chartered
+a pavilion at a city park for a summer night dance.  At the close of
+one of the numbers; over the heads of the laughing crowd, there swept
+toward the light a large yellow moth.
+
+With one dexterous sweep the host caught it, and while the dancers
+crowded around him with exclamations of wonder and delight, he
+presented it to Molly-Cotton and asked, "Do you know what it is?"
+
+She laughingly answered, "Yes.  But you don't!"
+
+"Guilty!" he responded.  "Name it."
+
+For one fleeting instant Molly-Cotton measured the company.  There
+was no one present who was not the graduate of a commissioned high
+school.  There were girls who were students at The Castle, Smith,
+Vassar, and Bryn Mawr.  The host was a Cornell junior, and there
+were men from Harvard and Yale.
+
+"It is an Eacles Imperialis Io Polyphemus Cecropia Regalis,"  she
+said.  Then in breathless suspense she waited.
+
+"Shades of Homer!"  cried the host.  "Where did you learn it?"
+
+"They  are flying all through the Cabin at home," she replied.
+"There was a tumbler turned over their eggs on the dining-room floor,
+and you dared not sit on the right side of the library window seat
+because of them when I left."
+
+"What do you want with their eggs?" asked a girl.
+
+"Want to hatch their caterpillars, and raise them until they transform
+into these moths,"  answered poor Molly-Cotton, who had been taught
+to fear so few living things that at the age of four she had carried
+a garter snake into the house for a playmate.
+
+"Caterpillars!"  The chorus arose to a shriek.  "Don't they sting you?
+Don't they bite you?"
+
+"No, they  don't!" replied Molly-Cotton.  "They don't bite anything
+except leaves; they are fine big fellows; their colouring is exquisite;
+and they evolve these beautiful moths.  I invite all of you to visit
+us, and see for yourselves how intensely interesting they are."
+
+There was a murmur of polite thanks from the girls, but one man
+measured Molly-Cotton from the top curl of her head to the tip of
+her slippers, and answered, "I accept the invitation.  When may
+I come?"  He came, and left as great a moth enthusiast as any of
+us.  This incident will be recognized as furnishing the basis on
+which to build the ballroom scene in "A Girl of the Limberlost",
+in which Philip and Edith quarrel over the capture of a yellow
+Emperor.  But what of these students from the great representative
+colleges of the United States, to whom a jumbled string made from
+the names, of half a dozen moths answered for one of the commonest
+of all?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V  The Lady Bird: Deilephila Lineata
+
+
+In that same country garden where my first Cecropia was found,
+Deilephila Lineata was one of my earliest recollections.  This moth
+flew among the flowers of especial sweetness all day long, just as
+did the hummingbirds; and I was taught that it was a bird also--the
+Lady Bird.  The little tan and grey thing hovering in air before the
+flowers was almost as large as the humming-birds, sipping honey as
+they did, swift in flight as they; and both my  parents thought
+it a bird.
+
+They did not know the humming-birds were feasting on small insects
+attracted by the sweets, quite as often as on honey, for they never
+had examined closely.  They had been taught, as I was, that this
+other constant visitor to the flowers was a bird.  When a child,
+a humming-bird nested in a honeysuckle climbing over my mother's
+bedroom window.  My father lifted me, with his handkerchief bound
+across my nose, on the supposition that the bird was so delicate
+it would desert its nest and eggs if they were breathed upon, to
+see the tiny cup of lichens, with a brown finish so fine it resembled
+the lining of a chestnut burr, and two tiny  eggs.  I well remember
+he told me that I now had seen the nest and eggs of the smallest
+feathered creature except the Lady Bird, and he never had found
+its cradle himself.
+
+Every summer I discovered nests by the dozen, and for several
+years a systematic search was made for the home of a Lady Bird.
+One of the unfailing methods of finding locations was to climb a
+large Bartlett pear tree that stood beside the garden fence, and
+from an overhanging bough watch where birds flew with bugs and
+worms they collected.  Lady Birds were spied upon, but when they
+left our garden they arose high in air, and went straight from
+sight toward every direction.  So locating their nests as those
+of other birds were found, seemed impossible.
+
+Then I tried going close the sweetest flowers, those oftenest
+visited, the petunias, yellow day lilies, and trumpet creepers,
+and sitting so immovably I was not noticeable while I made a study
+of the Lady Birds.  My first discovery was that they had no tail.
+One poised near enough to make sure of that, and I hurried to my
+father with the startling news.  He said it was nothing remarkable;
+birds frequently lost their tails.  He explained how a bird in close
+quarters has power to relax its muscles, and let its tail go in
+order to save its body, when under the paw of a cat, or caught in a
+trap.
+
+That was satisfactory, but I thought it must have been a spry cat
+to get even a paw on the Lady  Bird, for frequently humming-birds
+could be seen perching, but never one of these.  I watched the tail
+question sharply, and soon learned the cats had been after every
+Lady Bird that visited our garden, or any of our neighbours, for not
+one of them had a tail.  When this information was carried my father,
+he became serious, but finally he said perhaps the tail was very short;
+those of humming-birds or wrens were, and apparently some water birds
+had no tail, or at least a very short one.
+
+That seemed plausible, but still I watched this small and most
+interesting bird of all; this bird that no one ever had seen taking
+a bath, or perching, and whose nest never had been found by a person
+so familiar with all outdoors as my  father.  Then came a second
+discovery: it could curl its beak in a little coil when leaving a flower.
+A few days later I saw distinctly that it had four wings but I could
+discover no feet.  I became a rank doubter, and when these convincing
+proofs were carried to my father, he also grew dubious.
+
+"I always have thought and been taught that it was a bird,"  he said,
+"but you see so clearly and report so accurately, you almost convince
+me it is some large insect possibly of the moth family."
+
+When I carried this opinion to my mother and told her, no doubt
+pompously, that 'very possibly' I had discovered that the Lady
+Bird was not a bird at all, she hailed it as high treason, and
+said, "Of course it is a bird!"  That forced me to action.  The
+desperate course of capturing one was resolved upon.  If only I
+could, surely its feet, legs, and wings would tell if it were a
+bird.  By the hour I slipped among those bloom-bordered walks
+between the beds of flaming sweet-williams, buttercups, phlox,
+tiger and day lilies, Job's tears, hollyhocks, petunias, poppies,
+mignonette, and every dear old-fashioned flower that grows, and
+followed around the flower-edged beds of lettuce, radishes,
+and small vegetables, relentlessly trailing Lady Birds.
+
+Pass after pass I made at them, but they  always dived and escaped
+me.  At last, when I almost had given up the chase, one went nearly
+from sight in a trumpet creeper.  With a sweep the flower was
+closed behind it, and I ran into the house crying that at last I
+had caught a Lady  Bird.  Holding carefully, the trumpet was cut
+open with a pin, and although the moth must have been slightly
+pinched, and lacking in down when released, I clung to it until
+my mother and every doubting member of my family was convinced that
+this was no bird at all, for it lacked beak, tail, and feathers,
+while it had six legs and four wings.  Father was delighted that
+I had learned something new, all by  myself; but I really think
+it slightly provoked my  mother when thereafter I always refused
+to call it a bird.  This certainly was reprehensible.  She should
+have known all the time that it was a moth.
+
+The other day a club woman of Chicago who never in her life has
+considered money, who always has had unlimited opportunities for
+culture both in America and Europe, who speaks half a dozen languages,
+and has the care of but one child, came in her auto mobile to
+investigate the Limberlost.  Almost her first demand was to see
+pictures.  One bird study I handed her was of a brooding king rail,
+over a foot tall, with a three-foot wing sweep, and a long curved
+bill.  She cried, "Oh! see the dear little hummingbird!"
+
+If a woman of unlimited opportunity, in this day of the world,
+does not know a rail from a humming-bird, what could you expect of
+my little mother, who spoke only two languages, reared twelve lusty
+children, and never saw an ocean.
+
+So by degrees the Lady Bird of the garden resolved itself into
+Deilephila Lineata.  Deile--evening; phila--lover; lineata--lined;
+the Lined Evening Lover.  Why 'evening' is difficult to understand,
+for all my life this moth occurs more frequently with me in the fore
+and early afternoon than in the evening.  So I agree with those
+entomologists who call it the 'white-lined morning-sphinx.'
+It is lovely in modest garb, delicately lined, but exceedingly
+rich in colour.  It has the long slender wings of the Sphingid
+moths, and in grace and tirelessness of flight resembles Celeus,
+the swallow of the moth family.
+
+Its head is very small, and its thorax large.  The eyes are big,
+and appear bigger because set in so tiny a head.  Under its
+tongue, which is a full inch long, is a small white spot that
+divides, spreads across each eye, and runs over the back until even
+with the bases of the front wings.  The top of the head and shoulders
+are olive brown, decorated with one long white line dividing it in
+the middle, and a shorter on each side.  The abdomen is a pale brown,
+has a straight line running down the middle of the back, made up of
+small broken squares of very dark brown, touched with a tiny mark
+of white.  Down each side of this small line extends a larger one,
+wider at the top and tapering, and this is composed of squares of
+blackish brown alternating with white, the brown being twice the
+size of the white.  The sides of the abdomen are flushed with
+beautiful rosy  pink, and beneath it is tan colour.
+
+The wings are works of art.  The front are a rich olive brown, marked
+the long way in the middle by a wide band of buff, shading to lighter
+buff at the base.  They are edged from the costa to where they meet
+the back wings, with a line of almost equal width of darker buff,
+the lower edge touched with white.  Beginning at the base, and running
+an equal distance apart from the costa to this line, are fine markings
+of white, even and clear as if laid on with a ruler.
+
+The surprise comes in the back wings, that show almost entirely
+when the moth is poised before a flower.  These have a small
+triangle of the rich dark brown, and a band of the same at the
+lower edge, with a finish of olive, and a fine line of white as a
+marginal decoration.  Crossing each back wing is a broad band of
+lovely pink of deeper shade than the colour on the sides.  This
+pink, combined with the olive, dark browns, and white lining,
+makes the colour scheme of peculiar richness.
+
+Its antennae are long, clubbed, and touched with white at the tips.
+The legs and body are tan colour.  The undersides of the wings are
+the same as the upper, but the markings of brown and buffish pink
+show through in lighter colour, while the white lining resembles
+rows of tan ridges beneath.  Its body is covered with silky hairs,
+longest on the shoulders, and at the base of the wings.
+
+The eggs of the moth are laid on apple, plum, or woodbine leaves,
+or on grape, currant, gooseberry, chickweed or dock.  During May
+and June around old log cabins in the country, with gardens that
+contain many of these vines and bushes, and orchards of bloom
+where the others can be found the Lined Evening Lover deposits her
+eggs.
+
+The caterpillars emerge in about six days.  The tiny ovoid eggs
+are a greenish yellow.  The youngsters are pale green, and have
+small horns.  After a month spent in eating, and skin casting, the
+full-grown caterpillar is over two inches long, and as a rule a
+light green.  There are on each segment black patches, that have a
+touch of orange, and on that a hint of yellow.  The horn increases
+with the growth of the caterpillar, can be moved at will, and seems
+as if it were a vicious 'stinger.'  But there is no sting, or any
+other method of self-defence, unless the habit of raising the head
+and throwing it from side to side could be so considered.  With many
+people, this movement, combined with the sharp horn, is enough, but
+as is true of most caterpillars, they are perfectly harmless.  Some
+moth historians record a mustard yellow caterpillar of this family,
+and I remember having seen some that answer the description; but all
+I ever have known to be Lineata were green.
+
+The pupae are nearly two inches long and are tan coloured.  They
+usually are found in the ground in freedom, or deep under old logs
+among a mass of leaves spun together.  In captivity the caterpillars
+seem to thrive best on a diet of purslane, and they pupate perfectly
+on dry sand in boxes.
+
+These moths have more complete internal development than those of
+night, for they feed and live throughout the summer.  I photographed
+a free one feasting on the sweets of petunias in a flower bed at the
+Cabin, on the seventh of October.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI  Moths of the Moon:  Actias Luna
+
+
+One morning there was a tap at my door, and when I opened it I
+found a tall, slender woman having big, soft brown eyes, and a
+winning smile.  In one hand she held a shoe-box, having many rough
+perforations.  I always have been glad that my eyes softened at
+the touch of pleading on her face, and a smile sprang in answer
+to hers before I saw what she carried.  For confession must be
+made that a perforated box is a passport to my good graces any day.
+
+The most wonderful things come from those that are brought to my
+front door.  Sometimes they contain a belated hummingbird, chilled
+with the first heavy frost of autumn, or a wounded weasel caught
+in a trap set for it near a chicken coop, or a family  of baby
+birds whose parents some vandal has killed.  Again they carry a
+sick or wounded bird that I am expected to doctor; and butterflies,
+moths, insects, and caterpillars of every description.
+
+"I guess I won't stop,"  said the woman in answer to my invitation
+to enter the Cabin.  "I found this creature on my front porch
+early this morning, and I sort of wanted to know what it was, for
+one thing, and I thought you might like to have it, for another."
+
+"Then of course you will come in, and we will see what it is," I
+answered, leading the way into the library.
+
+There I lifted the lid slightly  to take a peep, and then with a
+cry  of joy, opened it wide.  That particular shoe-box had brought
+me an Actias Luna, newly emerged, and as yet unable to fly.  I held
+down my  finger, it climbed on, and was lifted to the light.
+
+"Ain't it the prettiest thing?"  asked the woman, with stars
+sparkling in her dark eyes.  "Did you ever see whiter white?"
+
+Together we studied that moth.  Clinging to my finger, the living
+creature was of such delicate beauty as to impoverish my stock of
+adjectives at the beginning.  Its big, pursy body was covered
+with long, furry scales of the purest white imaginable.  The wings
+were of an exquisite light green colour; the front pair having a
+heavy costa of light purple that reached across the back of the head:
+the back pair ended in long artistic 'trailers,' faintly edged with
+light yellow.  The front wing had an oval transparent mark close the
+costa, attached to it with a purple line, and the back had circles
+of the same.  These decorations were bordered with lines of white,
+black, and red.  At the bases of the wings were long, snowy silken
+hairs; the legs were purple, and the antennae resembled small,
+tan-coloured ferns.  That is the best I can do at description.  A
+living moth must be seen to form a realizing sense of its shape and
+delicacy of colour.  Luna is our only large moth having trailers,
+and these are much longer in proportion to size and of more graceful
+curves than our trailed butterflies.
+
+The moth's wings were fully expanded, and it was beginning to
+exercise, so a camera was set up hastily, and several pictures of
+it secured.  The woman helped me through the entire process, and
+in talking with her, I learned that she was Mrs. McCollum, from
+a village a mile and a half north of ours; that when she reached
+home she would have walked three miles to make the trip; and
+all her neighbours had advised her not to come, but she "had a
+feeling that she would like to."
+
+"Are you sorry?" I asked.
+
+"Am I sorry!" she cried.  "Why I never had a better time in my
+life, and I can teach the children what you have told me.  I'll
+bring you everything I can get my fingers on that you can use,
+and send for you when I find bird nests."
+
+Mrs. McCollum has kept that promise faithfully.  Again and again
+she trudged those three miles, bringing me small specimens of many
+species or to let me know that she had found a nest.
+
+A big oak tree in Mrs. McCollum's yard explained the presence of
+a Luna there, as the caterpillars of this specie greatly prefer
+these leaves.  Because the oak is of such slow growth it is seldom
+planted around residences for ornamental purposes; but is to be
+found most frequently in the forest.  For this reason Luna as a
+rule is a moth of the deep wood, and so is seldom seen close a
+residence, making people believe it quite rare.  As a matter of
+fact, it is as numerous where the trees its caterpillars
+frequent are to be found, as any  other moth in its natural
+location.  Because it is of the forest, the brightest light there
+is to attract it is the glare of the moon as it is reflected on
+the face of a murky pool, or on the breast of the stream rippling
+its way through impassable thickets.  There must be a self-satisfied
+smile on the face of the man in the moon, in whose honour these
+delicate creatures are named, when on fragile wing they hover above
+his mirrored reflection; for of all the beauties of a June night
+in the forest, these moths are most truly his.
+
+In August of the same year, while driving on a corduroy road in
+Michigan, I espied a Luna moth on the trunk of a walnut tree close
+the road.  The cold damp location must account for this late
+emergence; for subsequent events proved that others of the family
+were as slow in appearing.  A storm of protest arose, when I stopped
+the carriage and started to enter the swamp.  The remaining occupants
+put in their time telling blood-curdling experiences with 'massaugers,'
+that infested those marshes; and while I bent grasses and cattails
+to make the best footing as I worked my way  toward the moth, I
+could hear a mixed chorus "brought up thirteen in the dredge at the
+cement factory the other day," "killed nine in a hayfield below
+the cemetery," "saw a buster crossing the road before me, and my
+horse almost plunged into the swamp," "died of a bite from one
+that struck him while fixing a loose board in his front walk."
+
+I am dreadfully afraid of snakes, and when it seemed I could not
+force myself to take another step, and I was clinging to a button
+bush while the water arose above my low shoes, the moth lowered
+its wings flat against the bark.  From the size of the abdomen I
+could see that it was a female heavily weighted with eggs.
+Possibly she had mated the previous night, and if I could secure
+her, Luna life history would be mine.
+
+So I set my  teeth and advanced.  My shoes were spoiled, and my
+skirts bedraggled, but I captured the moth and saw no indication of
+snakes.  Soon after she was placed in a big pasteboard box and
+began dotting eggs in straight lines over the interior.  They
+were white but changed colour as the caterpillars approached time
+to hatch.  The little yellow-green creatures, nearly a quarter of
+an inch long, with a black line across the head, emerged in about
+sixteen days, and fed with most satisfaction on oak, but they
+would take hickory, walnut or willow leaves also.  When the weather
+is cold the young develop slower, and I have had the egg period
+stretched to three weeks at times.  Every few days the young
+caterpillars cast their skins and emerged in brighter colour and
+larger in size.  It is usually supposed they mature in four moults,
+and many of them do, but some cast a fifth skin before transforming.
+When between seven and eight weeks of age, they were three inches
+long, and of strong blue-green colour.  Most of them had tubercles
+of yellow, tipped with blue, and some had red.
+
+They spun a leaf-cover cocoon, much the size and shape of that of
+Polyphemus, but whiter, very thin, with no inner case, and against
+some solid surface whenever possible.  Fearing I might not handle
+them rightly, and lose some when ready  to spin, I put half on our
+walnut tree so they could weave their cocoons according to
+characteristics.
+
+They are fine, large, gaudy caterpillars.  The handsomest one I
+ever saw I found among some gifts offered by Molly-Cotton for the
+celebration of my birthday.  It had finished feeding, soon pupated
+in a sand pail and the following spring a big female emerged that
+attracted several males and they posed on a walnut trunk for beautiful
+studies.
+
+Once under the oak trees of a summer resort, Miss Katherine Howell,
+of Philadelphia, intercepted a Luna caterpillar in the preliminary
+race before pupation and brought it to me.  We offered young oak
+leaves, but they were refused, so it went before the camera.
+Behind the hotel I found an empty hominy  can in which it soon began
+spinning, but it seemed to be difficult to fasten the threads to the
+tin, so a piece of board was cut and firmly wedged inside.  The
+caterpillar clung to this and in the darkness of the can spun the
+largest and handsomest Luna winter quarters of all my experience.
+
+Luna hunters can secure material from which to learn this exquisite
+creature of night, by searching for the moths on the trunks of
+oak, walnut, hickory, birch or willow, during the month of June.
+The moths emerge on the ground, and climb these trees to unfold and
+harden their wings.  The females usually remain where they are,
+and the males are attracted to them.  If undisturbed they do not
+fly until after mating and egg depositing are accomplished.  The
+males take wing as soon as dusk of the first night arrives, after
+their wings are matured.  They usually find the females by ten
+o'clock or midnight, and remain with them until morning.  I have
+found mated pairs as late as ten o'clock in the forenoon.
+
+The moths do not eat, and after the affairs of life are
+accomplished, they remain in the densest shade they can find for
+a few days, and fly at night, ending their life period in from
+three days to a week.  Few of these gaudily painted ones have the
+chance to die naturally, for both birds and squirrels prey upon
+them, tearing away the delicate wings, and feasting on the big
+pulpy bodies.
+
+White eggs on the upper side of leaves of the trees mentioned are a
+sign of Luna caterpillars in deep woods, and full-grown larvae can
+be found on these trees in August.  By breaking off a twig on
+which they are feeding, carrying them carefully, placing them in a
+box where they cannot be preyed upon by flies and parasites, and
+keeping a liberal supply of fresh damp leaves, they will finish
+the feeding days, and weave their cocoons.
+
+Or the cocoons frequently can be found already spun among the
+leaves, by  nutting parties later in the fall.  There is small
+question if Luna pupae be alive, for on touching the cocoons they
+squirm and twist so vigorously that they can be heard plainly.
+There is so little difference in the size of male and female Lunas,
+that I am not sure of telling them apart in the cocoon, as I am
+certain I can Cecropia.
+
+Cocoon gathering in the fall is one of the most delightful
+occupations imaginable.  When flowers are gone; when birds have
+migrated; when brilliant foliage piles knee deep underfoot;
+during those last few days of summer, zest can be added to a ramble
+by a search for cocoons.  Carrying them home with extreme care not
+to jar or dent them, they are placed in the conservatory among
+the flowers.  They hang from cacti spines and over thorns on the
+big century plant and lemon tree.  When sprinkling, the hose is
+turned on them, as they would take the rain outside.  Usually
+they are placed in the coolest spots, where ventilation is good.
+
+There is no harm whatever in taking them _if the work is carefully
+and judiciously done_.  With you they are safe.  Outside they have
+precarious chance for existence, for they are constantly sought by
+hungry squirrels and field mice, while the sharp eyes and sharper
+beaks of jays, and crows, are for ever searching for them.  The only
+danger is in keeping them too warm, and so causing their emergence
+before they can be placed out safely at night, after you have made
+yourself acquainted with Luna history.
+
+If they are kept cool enough that they do not emerge until May
+or June, then you have one of the most exquisite treats nature has
+in store for you, in watching the damp spot spread on the top of
+the cocoon where an acid is ejected that cuts and softens the tough
+fibre, and allows the moth to come pushing through in the full
+glory of its gorgeous birth.  Nowhere in nature can you find such
+delicate and daintily shaded markings or colours so brilliant and
+fresh as on the wings of these creatures of night.
+
+After you have learned the markings and colours, and secured
+pictures if you desire, and they begin to exhibit a restlessness,
+as soon as it is dusk, release them.  They are as well prepared
+for all life has for them as if they had emerged in the woods.
+The chances are that they are surer of life at your hands than
+they would have been if left afield, provided you keep them cool
+enough that they do not emerge too soon.  If you want to
+photograph them, do it when the wings are fully  developed, but
+before they have flown.  They need not be handled; their wings
+are unbroken; their down covering in place to the last scale;
+their colours never so brilliant; their markings the plainest
+they ever will be; their big pursy bodies full of life; and
+they will climb with perfect confidence on any stick, twig, or
+limb held before them.  Reproductions of them are even more
+beautiful than those of birds.  By all means photograph them out
+of doors on a twig or leaf that their caterpillars will eat.  Moths
+strengthen and dry very quickly outside in the warm crisp air of
+May or June, so it is necessary to have some one beside you with
+a spread net covering them, in case they want to fly  before you
+are ready to make an exposure.  In painting this moth the colours
+always should be copied from a living specimen as soon as it is dry.
+No other moth of my acquaintance fades so rapidly.
+
+Repeatedly I am asked which I think the most beautiful of these
+big night moths.  I do not know.  All of them are indescribably
+attractive.  Whether a pale green moth with purple markings is
+lovelier than a light yellow moth with heliotrope decorations;
+or a tan and brown one with pink lines, is a difficult thing to
+determine.  When their descriptions are mastered, and the colour
+combinations understood, I fancy each person will find the one
+bearing most of his favourite colour the loveliest.  It may be
+that on account of its artistically cut and coloured trailers,
+Luna has a touch of grace above any.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII  King of the Hollyhocks:  Protoparce Celeus
+
+
+Protoparce Celeus was the companion of Deilephila Lineata in the
+country garden where I first studied Nature.  Why I was taught that
+Lineata was a bird, and Celeus a moth, it is difficult to understand,
+for they appear very similar when poising before flowers.  They
+visit the same blooms, and vary but little in size.  The distinction
+that must have made the difference was that while Lineata kept
+company with the hummingbirds and fed all day, Celeus came forth at
+dusk, and flew in the evening and at night.  But that did not
+conclusively prove it a moth, for nighthawks and whip-poor-wills did
+the same; yet unquestionably they were birds.
+
+Anyway, I always knew Celeus was a moth, and that every big, green
+caterpillar killed on the tomato vines meant one less of its kind
+among the flowers.  I never saw one of these moths close a tomato
+or potato vine, a jimson weed or ground cherry, but all my life
+I have seen their eggs on these plants, first of a pale green
+closely resembling the under side of the leaves, and if they
+had been laid some time, a yellow colour.  The eggs are not dotted
+along in lines, or closely  placed, but are deposited singly, or
+by twos, at least very  sparsely.
+
+The little caterpillars emerge in about a week, and then comes the
+process of eating until they  grow into the large, green tomato or
+tobacco worms that all of us have seen.  When hatched the
+caterpillars are green, and have grey caudal horns similar to
+Lineata.  After eating for four or five days, they cast their
+skins.  This process is repeated three or four times, when the
+full-grown caterpillars are over four inches long, exactly the
+colour of a green tomato, with pale blue and yellow markings of
+beautiful shades, the horns blue-black; and appearing sharp enough
+to inflict a severe wound.
+
+Like all sphinx caterpillars Celeus is perfectly harmless; but
+this horn, in connexion with the habit the creatures have of
+clinging to the vines with the back feet, raising the head and
+striking from side to side, makes people very sure they can bite
+or sting, or inflict some serious hurt.  So very vigorous are they
+in self-defence when disturbed, that robins and cuckoos are the only
+birds I ever have seen brave enough to pick them until the caterpillars
+loosen their hold and drop to the ground, where they are eaten with
+evident relish.
+
+One cuckoo of my experience that nested in an old orchard, adjoining
+a potato patch, frequently went there caterpillar-hunting, and played
+havoc with one wherever found.  The shy, deep wood habits of the
+cuckoo prevent it from coming close houses and into gardens, but
+robins will take these big caterpillars from tomato vines.  However,
+they go about it rather gingerly, and the work of reducing one to
+non-resistance does not seem to be at all coveted.  Most people
+exhibit symptoms of convulsions at sight of one.  Yet it is a matter
+of education.  I have seen women kiss and fondle cats and dogs, one
+snap from which would result in disfiguration or horrible death,
+and seem not to be able to get enough of them.  But they were quite
+equal to a genuine faint if contact were suggested with a perfectly
+harmless caterpillar, a creature lacking all means of defence, save
+this demonstration of throwing the head.
+
+When full-fed the caterpillars enter the earth to pupate, and on
+the fifteenth of October, 1906, only the day before I began this
+chapter, the Deacon, in digging worms for a fishing trip to the
+river, found a pupa case a yard from the tomato vines, and six
+inches below the surface.  He came to my desk, carrying on a spade
+a ball of damp earth larger than a quart bowl.  With all care we
+broke this as nearly in halves as possible and found in the centre
+a firm, oval hole, the size and shape of a hen's egg, and in the
+opening a fine fresh pupa case.
+
+It was a beautiful red-brown in colour, long and slenderer than
+a number of others in my box of sand, and had a long tongue case
+turned under and fastened to the pupa between the wing shields.
+The sides of the abdomen were pitted; the shape of the head, and
+the eyes showed through the case, the wing shields were plainly
+indicated, and the abdominal shield was in round sections so that
+the pupa could twist from side to sid when touched, proving that
+the developing moth inside was very much alive and in fine condition.
+
+There were no traces of the cast skin.  The caterpillar had been
+so strong and had pushed so hard against the surrounding earth that
+the direction from which it had entered was lost.  The soil was
+packed and crowded firmly for such a distance that this large ball
+was forced together.  Trembling with eagerness I hurriedly set up
+a camera.  This phase of moth life often has been described, but
+I never before heard of any one having been able to reproduce it,
+so my luck was glorious.  A careful study of this ball of earth,
+the opening in which the case lies, and the pupa, with its blunt
+head and elaborate tongue shield, will convince any one that when
+ready to emerge these moths must bore the six inches to the surface
+with the point of the abdomen, and there burst the case, cling to
+the first twig and develop and harden the wings.  The abdominal
+point is sharp, surprisingly strong, and the rings of the segments
+enable it to turn in all directions, while the earth is mellow
+and moist with spring rains.  To force a way head first would be
+impossible on account of the delicate tongue shield, and for the
+moth to emerge underground and dig to the surface without displacing
+a feather of down, either before or after wing expansion, is
+unthinkable.  Yet I always had been in doubt as to precisely how the
+exit of a pupa case moth took place, until I actually saw the earth
+move and the sharp abdominal point appear while working in my garden.
+
+Living pupae can be had in the fall, by turning a few shovels of
+soil close vegetables in any country  garden.  In the mellow
+mould, among cabbages and tomato vines, around old log cabins close
+the Limberlost swamp, they are numerous, and the emerging moths
+haunt the sweet old-fashioned flowers.
+
+The moth named Celeus, after a king of Eleusis, certainly has
+kingly qualities to justify the appellation.  The colouring is
+all grey, black, brown, white and yellow, and the combinations are
+most artistic.  It is a relative of Lineata.  It flies and feeds by
+day, has nearly the same length of life, and is much the same in
+shape.
+
+The head is small and sharp, eyes very much larger than Lineata,
+and tongue nearly four inches in length.  The antennae are not
+clubbed, but long and hairlike.  It has the broad shoulders, the
+long wings, and the same shape of abdomen.  The wings, front and
+back, are so mottled, lined, and touched with grey, black, brown
+and white, as to be almost past definite description.  The back
+wings have the black and white markings more clearly defined.
+The head meets the thorax with a black band.  The back is covered
+with long, grey down, and joins the abdomen, with a band of black
+about a quarter of an inch wide, and then a white one of equal width.
+The abdomen is the gaudiest part of the moth.  In general it is a
+soft grey.  It is crossed by five narrow white lines the length
+of the abdomen, and a narrow black one down the middle.  Along each
+side runs a band of white.  On this are placed four large yellow spots
+each circled by a band of black that joins the black band of the
+spot next to it.  The legs and under side of the abdomen and wings
+are a light grey-tan, with the wing markings showing faintly, and
+the abdomen below is decorated with two small black dots.
+
+My first Celeus, a very large and beautiful one, was brought to
+me by Mr. Wallace Hardison, who has been an interested helper
+with this book.  The moth had a wing sweep of fully five and a
+half inches, and its markings were unusually bright and strong.
+No other Celeus quite so big and beautiful ever has come to my
+notice.  From four and a half to five inches is the average size.
+
+There was something the matter with this moth.  Not a scale of down
+seemed to be missing, but it was torpid and would not fly.
+Possibly it had been stung by some parasite before taking flight
+at all, for it was very fresh.  I just had returned from a trip
+north, and there were some large pieces of birch bark lying on the
+table on which the moth had been placed.  It climbed on one of
+these, and clung there, so I set up the bark, and made a time
+exposure.  It felt so badly it did not even close them when I took
+a brush and spread its wings full width.  Soon after it became
+motionless.  I had begun photographing moths recently; it was
+one of my very  first, and no thought of using it for natural
+history purposes occurred at the time.  I merely  made what I
+considered a beautiful likeness, and this was so appreciated
+whenever shown, that I went further and painted it in water
+colours.
+
+Since moth pictures have accumulated, and moth history has
+engrossed me with its intense interest, I have been very careful
+in making studies to give each one its proper environment when
+placing it before my camera.  Of all the flowers in our garden,
+Celeus prefers the hollyhocks.  At least it comes to them oftenest
+and remains at them longest.  But it moves continually and flies so
+late that a picture of it has been a task.  After years of fruitless
+effort, I made one passable snapshot early in July, while the light
+was sufficiently strong that a printable picture could be had by
+intensifying the plate, and one good time exposure as a Celeus, with
+half-folded wings, clambered over a hollyhock, possibly hunting a
+spot on which to deposit an egg or two.  The hollyhock painting of
+this chapter is from this study.  The flowers were easy but it required
+a second trial to do justice to the complicated markings of the moth.
+
+This evening lover and strong flyer, with its swallow-like sweep of
+wing, comes into the colour schemes of nature with the otter, that
+at rare times thrusts a sleek grey head from the river, with the
+grey-brown cotton-tails that bound across the stubble, and the
+coots that herald dawn in the marshes.  Exactly the shades, and
+almost the markings of its wings can be found on very old rail fences.
+This lint shows lighter colour, and even grey when used in the house
+building of wasps and orioles, but I know places in the country where
+I could carve an almost perfectly shaded Celeus wing from a
+weather-beaten old snake fence rail.
+
+Celeus visits many flowers, almost all of the trumpet-shaped ones,
+in fact, but if I were an artist I scarcely would think it right to
+paint a hollyhock without putting King Celeus somewhere in the picture,
+poised on his throne of air before a perfect bloom as he feasts on
+pollen and honey.  The holly-hock is a kingly flower, with its regally
+lifted heads of bright bloom, and that the king of moths should show
+his preference for it seems eminently fitting, so we of the Cabin
+named him King of the Hollyhocks.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII   Hera of the Corn: Hyperchira Io
+
+
+At the same time he gave me the Eacles Imperialis moths, Mr. Eisen
+presented me with a pair of Hyperchiria Io.  They were nicely mounted
+on the black velvet lining of a large case in my room, but I did not
+care for them in the least.  A picture I would use could not be made
+from dead, dried specimens, and history learned from books is not worth
+knowing, in comparison with going afield and threshing it out for
+yourself in your own way.  Because the Io was yellow, I wanted it--more
+than several specimens I had not found as yet, for yellow, be it
+on the face of a flower, on the breast of a bird, or in the gold of
+sunshine, always warms the depths of my heart.
+
+One night in June, sitting with a party of friends in the library,
+a shadow seemed to sweep across a large window in front.  I glanced
+up, and arose with a cry that must have made those present doubt my
+sanity.  A perfect and beautiful Io was walking leisurely across the
+glass.
+
+"A moth!" I cried.  "I have none like it!  Deacon, get the net!"
+
+I caught a hat from the couch, and ran to the veranda.  The Deacon
+followed with the net.
+
+"I was afraid to wait," I explained.  "Please bring a piece of
+pasteboard, the size of this brim."
+
+I held the hat while the Deacon brought the board.  Then with
+trembling care we slipped it under, and carefully carried the moth
+into the conservatory.  First we turned on the light, and made sure
+that every ventilator was closed; then we released the Io for
+the night.  In the morning we found a female clinging to a shelf,
+dotting it with little top-shaped eggs.  I was delighted, for I
+thought this meant the complete history of a beautiful moth.  So
+exquisite was the living, breathing creature, she put to shame the
+form and colouring of the mounted specimens.  No wonder I had not
+cared for them!
+
+Her fore-wings were a strong purplish brown in general effect, but
+on close examination one found the purplish tinge a commingling of
+every delicate tint of lavender and heliotrope imaginable.  They were
+crossed by escalloped bands of greyish white, and flecked with touches
+of the same, seeming as if they had been placed with a brush.  The
+back wings were a strong yellow.  Each had, for its size, an immense
+black eye-spot, with a blue pupil covering three-fourths of it, crossed
+by a perfect comma of white, the heads toward the front wings and the
+curves bending outward.  Each eye-spot was in a yellow field, strongly
+circled with a sharp black line; then a quarter of an inch band of
+yellow; next a heliotrope circle of equal width; yellow again twice as
+wide; then a faint heliotrope line; and last a very narrow edging of
+white.  Both wings joined the body under a covering of long, silky,
+purple-brown hairs.
+
+She was very busy with egg depositing, and climbed to the twig
+held before her without offering to fly.  The camera was carried to
+the open, set up and focused on a favourable spot, while Molly-Cotton
+walked beside me holding a net over the moth in case she took flight
+in outer air.  The twig was placed where she would be in the deepest
+shade possible while I worked rapidly with the camera.
+
+By this time experience had taught me that these creatures of
+moonlight and darkness dislike the open glare of day, and if placed
+in sunlight will take flight in search of shade more quickly than
+they will move if touched.  So until my Io settled where I wanted
+her with the wings open, she was kept in the shadow.  Only when I
+grasped the bulb and stood ready to snap, was the covering lifted,
+and for the smallest fraction of a second the full light fell on
+her; then darkness again.
+
+In three days it began to be apparent there was something wrong
+with the eggs.  In four it was evident, and by five I was not
+expecting the little caterpillars to emerge, and they did not.
+The moth had not mated and the eggs were not fertile.  Then I saw
+my mistake.  Instead of shutting the female in the conservatory
+at night, I should have tied a soft cotton string firmly around
+her body, and fastened it to some of the vines on the veranda.
+Beyond all doubt, before morning, a male of her kind would have
+been attracted to her.
+
+One learns almost as much by his mistakes as he profits by his
+successes in this world.  Writing of this piece of stupidity,
+at a time in my work with moths when a little thought would
+have taught me better, reminds me of an experience I had with
+a caterpillar, the first one I ever carried home and tried to
+feed.  I had an order to fill for some swamp pictures, and was
+working almost waist deep in a pool in the Limberlost, when on
+a wild grape-vine swinging close to my face, I noticed a big
+caterpillar placidly eating his way around a grape leaf.
+The caterpillar was over four inches long, had no horn, and was
+of a clear red wine colour, that was beautiful in the sunlight.
+I never before had seen a moth caterpillar that was red and I
+decided it must be rare.  As there was a wild grapevine growing
+over the east side of the Cabin, and another on the windmill,
+food of the right kind would be plentiful, so I instantly
+decided to take the caterpillar home.  It was of the specimens
+that I consider have almost 'thrust themselves upon me.'
+
+When the pictures were finished and my camera carried from the
+swamp, I returned with the clippers and cut off vine and
+caterpillar, to carry  with me.  On arrival I placed it in a
+large box with sand on the bottom, and every few hours took out
+the wilted leaves, put in fresh ones, and sprinkled them to insure
+crispness, and to give a touch of moisture to the atmosphere in
+the box, that would make it seem more like the swamp.
+
+My specimen was readily identified as Philampelus Pandorus, of
+which I had no moth, so I took extra care of it in the hope of a
+new picture in the spring.  It had a little flat head that could be
+drawn inside the body like a turtle, and on the sides were oblique
+touches of salmon.  Something that appeared to be a place for a
+horn could be seen, and a yellow tubercle was surrounded by a
+black line.  It ate for three days, and then began racing so
+frantically around the box, I thought confinement must be harmful,
+so I gave it the freedom of the Cabin, warning all my family to
+'look well to their footsteps.'  It stopped travelling after a day
+or two at a screen covering the music-room window, and there I
+found it one morning lying still, a shrivelled, shrunken thing;
+only half the former length, so it was carefully picked up, and
+thrown away!
+
+Of course the caterpillar was in the process of changing into the
+pupa, and if I had known enough to lay it on the sand in my box,
+and wait a few days, without doubt a fine pupa would have emerged
+from that shrunken skin, from which, in the spring, I could have
+secured an exquisite moth, with shades of olive green, flushed
+with pink.  The thought of it makes me want to hide my head.
+It was six years before I found a living moth, or saw another
+caterpillar of that species.
+
+A few days later, while watching with a camera focused on the nest
+of a blackbird in Mrs. Corson's woods east of town, Raymond, who
+was assisting me, crept to my side and asked if it would do any
+harm for him to go specimen hunting.  The long waits with set
+cameras were extremely tedious to the restless spirits of the boy,
+and the birds were quite tame, the light was under a cloud, and
+the woods were so deep that after he had gone a few rods he was
+from sight, and under cover; besides it was great hunting ground,
+so I gladly told him to go.
+
+The place was almost 'virgin,' much of it impassable and fully
+half of it was under water that lay in deep, murky  pools
+throughout summer.  In the heat of late June everything was steaming;
+insect life of all kinds was swarming; not far away I could hear
+sounds of trouble between the crow and hawk tribes; and overhead
+a pair of black vultures, whose young lay in a big stump in the
+interior, were searching for signs of food.  If ever there was a
+likely place for specimens it was here; Raymond was an expert
+at locating them, and fearless to foolhardiness.  He had been gone
+only a short time when I heard a cry, and I knew it must mean
+something, in his opinion, of more importance than blackbirds.
+
+I answered "Coming," and hastily winding the long hose, I started
+in the direction Raymond had taken, calling occasionally to make
+sure I was going the right way.  When I found him, the boy was
+standing beside a stout weed, hat in hand, intently watching
+something.  As I leaned forward I saw that it was a Hyperchiria Io
+that just had emerged from the cocoon, and as yet was resting with
+wings untried.  It differed so widely from my moth of a few days
+before, I knew it must be a male.
+
+This was only three-fourths as large as mine, but infinitely
+surpassed it in beauty.  Its front wings were orange-yellow, flushed
+with red-purple at the base, and had a small irregular brown spot
+near the costa.  Contrary to all precedent, the under side of
+these wings were the most beautiful, and bore the decorations that,
+in all previous experience with moths, had been on the upper surface,
+faintly showing on the under.  For instance, this irregular
+brown marking on the upper side proved to be a good-sized black
+spot with with white dot in the middle on the under; and there was
+a curved line of red-purple from the apex of the wing sloping to
+the lower edge, nearly half an inch from the margin.  The space
+from this line to the base of the wing was covered with red-purple
+down.  The back wings were similar to the female's, only of stronger
+colour, and more distinct markings; the eye-spot and lining appeared
+as if they had been tinted with strong fresh paint, while the edges
+of the wings lying beside the abdomen had the long, silken hairs of
+a pure, beautiful red their entire length:
+
+A few rods away men were ploughing in the adjoining corn field, and
+I remembered that the caterpillar of this moth liked to feed on corn
+blades, and last summer undoubtedly lived in that very  field.  When
+I studied Io history in my moth books, I learned these caterpillars
+ate willow, wild cherry, hickory, plum, oak, sassafras, ash, and poplar.
+The caterpillar was green, more like the spiny butterfly caterpillars
+than any moth one I know.  It had brown and white bands, brown patches,
+and was covered with tufts of stiff upstanding spines that pierced
+like sharp needles.  This was not because the caterpillar tried to
+hurt you, but because the spines were on it, and so arranged that if
+pressed against, an acid secretion sprang from their base.  This
+spread over the flesh the spines touched, stinging for an hour like
+smartweed, or nettles.
+
+When I identified this caterpillar in my books, it came to me that
+I had known and experienced its touch.  But it did not forcibly
+impress me until that instant that I knew it best of all, and that
+it was my childhood enemy of the corn.  Its habit was to feed on
+the young blades, and cling to them with all its might.  If I was
+playing Indian among the rows, or hunting an ear with especially
+long, fine 'silk' for a make-believe doll, or helping the cook
+select ears of Jersey Sweet to boil for dinner, and accidentally
+brushed one of these caterpillars with cheek or hand, I felt its
+burning sting long afterward.  So I disliked those caterpillars.
+
+For I always had played among the corn.  Untold miles I have
+ridden the plough horses across the spring fields, where mellow
+mould rolled black from the shining shares, and the perfumed air
+made me feel so near flying that all I seemed to need was a high
+start to be able to sail with the sentinel blackbird, that perched
+on the big oak, and with one sharp 'T'check!' warned his feeding
+flock, surely and truly, whether a passing man carried a gun or
+a hoe.  Then came the planting, when bare feet loved the cool
+earth, and trotted over other untold miles, while little fingers
+carefully counted out seven grains from the store carried in my
+apron skirt, as I chanted:
+
+"One for the blackbird, one for the crow;
+One for the cutworm and four to grow."
+
+Then father covered them to the right depth, and stamped each hill
+with the flat of the hoe, while we talked of golden corn bread,
+and slices of mush, fried to a crisp brown that cook would make in
+the fall.  We had to plant enough more to feed all the horses, cattle,
+pigs, turkeys, geese, and chickens, during the long winter, even if
+the sun grew uncomfortably warm, and the dinner bell was slow about
+ringing.
+
+Then there were the Indian days in the field, when a fallen eagle
+feather stuck in a braid, and some pokeberry juice on the face,
+transformed me into the Indian Big Foot, and I fled down green
+aisles of the corn before the wrath of the mighty Adam Poe.  At
+times Big Foot grew tired fleeing, and said so in remarkably
+distinct English, and then to keep the game going, my sister Ada,
+who played Adam Poe, had to turn and do the fleeing or be
+tomahawked with a stick.
+
+When the milk was in the ears, they were delicious steamed over
+salted water, or better yet roasted before coals at the front of
+the cooking stove, and eaten with butter and salt, if you have
+missed the flavour of it in that form, really you never have known
+corn!
+
+Next came the cutting days.  These were after all the caterpillars
+had climbed down, and travelled across the fence to spin their
+cocoons among the leaves of the woods; as if some instinct warned
+them that they would be ploughed up too early to emerge, if they
+remained in the field.  The boys bent four hills, lashed the tassels
+together for a foundation, and then with one sweep of their knives,
+they cut a hill at a time, and stacked it in large shocks, that lined
+the field like rows of sentinels, guarding the gold of pumpkin and
+squash lying all around.  While the shocks were drying, the squirrels,
+crows, and quail took possession, and fattened their sides against
+snow time.
+
+Then the gathering days of October--they were the best days of all!
+Like a bloom-outlined vegetable bed, the goldenrod and ironwort,
+in gaudy border, filled the fence corners of the big fields.  A
+misty haze hung in the air, because the Indians were burning the
+prairies to round up game for winter.  The cawing of the crows,
+the chatter of blackbirds, and the piping bob-whites, sounded so
+close and so natural out there, while the crowing cocks of the
+barnyard seemed miles away and slightly  unreal.  Grown up and
+important, I sat on a board laid across the wagon bed, and guided
+the team of matched greys between the rows of shocks, and around
+the 'pie-timber' as my  brother Leander called the pumpkins while
+father and the boys opened the shocks and husked the ears.
+How the squirrels scampered to the woods and to the business of
+storing away the hickory nuts that we could hear rattling down
+every frosty morning!  We hurried with the corn; because as soon
+as the last shock was in, we might take the horses, wagon, and
+our dinner, and go all day to the woods, where we gathered our
+winter store of nuts.  Leander would take a gun along, and shoot
+one of those saucy  squirrels for the little sick mother.
+
+Last came the November night, when the cold had shut us in.  Then
+selected ears that had been dried in the garret were brought down,
+white for 'rivel' and to roll things in to fry, and yellow for
+corn bread and mush.  A tub full of each was shelled, and sacked
+to carry to the mill the following day.  I sat on the floor while
+father and the boys worked, listening to their talk, as I built
+corncob castles so high they toppled from their many stories.
+Sometimes father made cornstock fiddles that would play a real
+tune.  Oh! the pity of it that every little child cannot grow,
+live, learn and love among the corn.  For the caterpillars never
+stopped the fun, even the years when they were most numerous.
+
+The eggs laid by my female never hatched, so I do not know this
+caterpillar in its early stages from experience, but I had enough
+experience with it in my early  stages, that I do not care if I
+never raise one.  No doubt it attains maturity by the same series
+of moults as the others, and its life history is quite similar.
+The full-fed caterpillars spin among the leaves on the ground,
+and with their spines in mind, I would much prefer finding a cocoon,
+and producing a moth from that stage of its evolution.
+
+The following season I had the good fortune to secure a male and
+female Io at the same time and by persistence induced them to pose
+for me on an apple branch.  There was no trouble in securing the
+male as I desired him, with wings folded showing the spots, lining
+and flushing of colour.  But the female was a perverse little body
+and though I tried patiently and repeatedly she would not lower
+her wings full width.  She climbed around with them three-fourths
+spread, producing the most beautiful effect of life, but failing to
+display her striking markings.  This is the one disadvantage in
+photographing moths from life.  You secure lifelike effects but
+sometimes you are forced to sacrifice their wonderful decorations.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX  The Sweetheart and the Bride: Catocala
+            Amatyix--Catocala Neogama
+
+
+There are no moths so common with us as these, for throughout their
+season, at any time one is wanted, it is sure to be found either
+on the sweetbrier clambering over the back wall, among the
+morning-glories on one side, the wistaria and wild grape on the other,
+or in the shade of the wild clematis in front.  On very sunny days,
+they leave the shelter of the vines, and rest on the logs of the
+Cabin close the roof of the verandas.  Clinging there they appear
+like large grey flies, for they are of peculiar shape, and the
+front wings completely cover the back when in repose.  A third or
+a half of the back wings show as they are lifted to balance the
+the moths when walking over vines and uncertain footing.  They are
+quite conspicuous on our Cabin, because it is built of the red cedar
+of Wisconsin; were it of the timber used by our grandfathers, these
+moths with folded wings would be almost indistinguishable from their
+surroundings.
+
+Few moths can boast greater beauty.  The largest specimen of the
+'Sweetheart' that homes with us would measure three and one half
+inches if it would spread its wings full width as do the moths of
+other species.  No moth is more difficult to describe, because of
+the delicate blending of so many intangible shades.  The front wings
+are a pale, brownish grey, with irregular markings of tan, and dark
+splotches outlined with fine deep brown lines.  The edges are fluted
+and escalloped, each raised place being touched with a small spot of
+tan, and above it a narrow escalloped line of brown.  The back wings
+are bright red, crossed by a circular band of brownish black,
+three-fourths of an inch from the base, a secondary wider band of
+the same, and edged with pale yellow.
+
+There is no greater surprise in store for a student of moths than
+to locate a first Catocala Amatrix, and see the softly blended
+grey front wings suddenly lift, and the vivid red of the back
+ones flash out.  The under sides of the front wings are a warm
+creamy tan, crossed by wide bands of dark brown and grey-brown,
+ending in a delicate grey mist at the edges.  The back wings are
+the same tan shade, with red next the abdomen, and crossed by
+brown bands of deeper shade than the fore-wings.  The shoulders
+are covered with long silky  hair like the front wings.  This is so
+delicate that it becomes detached at the slightest touch of vine or
+leaf.  The abdomen is slightly lighter in colour on top, and a
+creamy tan beneath.  The legs are grey, and the feet to the first
+joint tan, crossed by faint lines of brown.
+
+The head is small, with big prominent eyes that see better by day
+than most night moths; for Catocala takes precipitate flight at
+the merest shadow.  The antennae are long, delicate and threadlike,
+and must be broken very easily in the flight of the moth.  It is
+nothing unusual to see them with one antenna shorter than the other,
+half, or entirely gone; and a perfect specimen with both antennae,
+and all the haif on its shoulders, is rare.  They have a long tongue
+that uncoils like Lineata, and Celeus, so they are feeders, but not
+of day, for they never take flight until evening, except when disturbed.
+The male is smaller than the female, his fore-wings deeply flushed
+with darker colour and the back brighter red with more black in the bands.
+
+Neogama, another member of this family, is a degree smaller than Amatrix,
+but of the same shape.  The fore-wings are covered with broken lines
+of different colours, the groundwork grey, with gold flushings, the
+lines and dots of the border very like the Sweetheart's.  The back
+wings are pure gold, almost reddish, with dark brownish black bands,
+and yellow borders.  The top of the abdomen is a grey-gold colour.
+Underneath, the markings are nearly the same as Amatrix, but a gold
+flush suffuses the moth.
+
+There are numbers of these Catocala moths running the colour scheme
+of-yellow, from pale chrome to umber.  Many shade from light pink
+through the reds to a dark blood colour.  Then there is a smaller
+number having brown back wings and with others they are white.
+
+The only way I know to photograph them is to focus on some favourable
+spot, mark the place your plate covers in length and width, and then
+do your best to coax your subjects in range.  If they can be persuaded
+to walk, they  will open their wings to a greater or less degree.  A
+reproduction would do them no sort of justice unless the markings of
+the back wings show.  It is on account of the gorgeous colourings of
+these that scientists call the species 'afterwings.'
+
+One would suppose that with so many specimens of this beautiful
+species living with us and swarming the swamp close by, I would be
+prepared to give their complete life history; but I know less
+concerning them than any other moths common with us, and all the
+scientific works I can buy afford little help.  Professional
+lepidopterists dismiss them with few words.  One would-be authority
+disposes of the species with half a dozen lines.  You can find at
+least a hundred Catocala reproduced from museum specimens and their
+habitat given, in the Holland "Moth Book", but I fail to learn what
+I most desire to know: what these moths feed on; how late they
+live; how their eggs appear; where they are deposited;
+which is their caterpillar; what does it eat; and where and how
+does it pupate.
+
+Packard, in his "Guide to the Study of Insects", offers in
+substance this much help upon the subject: "The genus is
+beautiful, the species numerous, of large size, often three-inch
+expansion, and in repose form a flat roof.  The larva is elongate,
+slender, flattened beneath and spotted with black, attenuated at
+each end, with fleshy filaments on the sides above the legs, while
+the head is flattened and rather forked above.  It feeds on trees
+and rests attached to the trunks.  The pupa is covered with a bluish
+efflorescence, enclosed in a slight cocoon of silk, spun amongst
+leaves or bark."
+
+This will tend to bear out my contention that scientific works are
+not the help they should be to the Nature Lover.  Heaven save me
+from starting to locate Catocala moths, eggs, caterpillars or
+pupae on the strength of this information.  I might find moths by
+accident; nothing on the subject of eggs; neither colour of
+body, characteristics nor food, to help identify caterpillars;
+for the statement, 'it feeds on trees,' cannot be considered
+exactly illuminating when we remember the world full of trees on
+which caterpillars are feeding; and should one search for cocoon
+encased pupae among the leaves and bark of tree-tops or earth?
+
+The most reliable information I have had, concerning these moths
+of which I know least, comes from Professor Rowley.  He is the
+only lepidopterist of four to whom I applied, who could tell me
+any  of the things I am interested in knowing.  He writes in
+substance: "The Bride and Sweetheart are common northern species,
+as are most of the other members of the group.  The Amatrix,
+with its red wings, is called the Sweetheart because amor means
+love, and red is love's own colour.  The caterpillar feeds on
+willow.  The Catocala of the yellow "after-wings" is commonly
+called the Bride, because Neogama, its scientific name, means
+recently wedded.  Its caterpillar feeds on walnut leaves.
+
+"If you will examine the under side of the body of a Catocala moth
+you will find near the junction of the thorax and abdomen on either
+side, large open organs reminding one of the ears of a grasshopper,
+which are on the sides of the first abdominal segment.  Examine
+the bodies of Sphinges and other moths for these same openings.
+They appear to be ears.  Catocala moths feed on juices, and live
+most of the summer season.  Numbers of them have been found sipping
+sap at a tree freshly  cut and you know we take them at night with
+bait.
+
+"New Orleans sugar and cider or sugar and stale beer are the usual
+baits.  This 'concoction'is put on the bodies of trees with a
+brush, between eight and ten o'clock at night.  During good Catocala
+years, great numbers of these moths may be taken as they feed at
+the sweet syrup.  So it is proved that their food is sap, honeydew,
+and other sugary liquids.  Mr. George Dodge assures me that he has
+taken Catocala abbreviatella at milk-weed blooms about eight o'clock
+of early July  evenings.  Other species also feed on flowers."
+
+You will observe that in his remarks about the "open organs on the
+side of the abdominal segment,"  Professor Rowley may have settled
+the 'ear' question.  I am going to keep sharp watch for these organs,
+hereafter.  I am led to wonder if one could close them in some way
+and detect any difference in the moth's sense of hearing after
+having done so.
+
+All of us are enthusiasts about these moths with their modest
+fore-wings and the gaudy brilliance of the wonderful 'after-wings,'
+that are so bright as to give common name to the species.  We are
+studying them constantly and hope soon to learn all we care to know
+of any moths, for our experience with them is quite limited when
+compared with other visitors from the swamp.  But think of
+the poetry of adding to the long list of birds, animals and
+insects that temporarily reside with us, a Sweetheart and a Bride!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X  The Giant Gamin: Telea Polyphemus
+
+
+Time cannot be used to tell of making the acquaintance of this
+moth until how well worth knowing it is has been explained.  That
+it is a big birdlike fellow, with a six inch sweep of wing, is
+indicated by the fact that it is named in honour of the giant
+Polyphemus.  Telea means 'the end,' and as scientists fail to
+explain the appropriateness of this, I am at liberty to indulge
+a theory of my  own.  Nature made this handsome moth last, and
+as it was the end, surpassed herself as a finishing touch on
+creatures that are, no doubt, her frailest and most exquisite
+creation.
+
+Polyphemus is rich in shadings of many subdued colours, that so
+blend and contrast as to give it no superior in the family of
+short-lived lovers of moonlight.  Its front wings are a complicated
+study of many colours, for some of which it would be difficult to
+find a name.  Really, it is the one moth that must be seen and
+studied in minutest detail to gain an idea of its beauty.  The
+nearest I can come to the general groundwork of the wing is a
+rich brown-yellow.  The costa is grey, this colour spreading in
+a widening line from the base of the wing to more than a quarter
+of an inch at the tip, and closely peppered with black.  At the
+base, the wing is covered with silky  yellow-brown hairs.  As if
+to outline the extent of these, comes a line of pinkish white,
+and then one of rich golden brown, shading into the prevailing
+colour.
+
+Close the middle of the length of the wing, and half an inch from
+the costa, is a transparent spot like isinglass, so clear that fine
+print can be read through it.  This spot is outlined with a canary
+yellow band, and that with a narrow, but sharp circle of black.
+Then comes a cloudlike rift of golden brown, drifting from the
+costa across the wing, but, growing fainter until it merges with
+the general colour near the abdomen.  Then half an inch of the
+yellow-brown colour is peppered with black, similar to the costa;
+this grows darker until it terminates in a quarter of an inch wide
+band of almost grey-black crossing the wing.  Next this comes a
+narrower band of pinkish white.  The edge begins with a quarter
+of an inch band of clear yellow-brown, and widens as the wing curves
+until it is half an inch at the point.  It is the lightest colour
+of rotten apple.  The only thing I ever have seen in nature exactly
+similar was the palest shade of 'mother' found in barrels of vinegar.
+A very light liver colour comes close it.  On the extreme tip is a
+velvety oval, half black and half pale pink.
+
+The back wings are the merest trifle stronger in this yellow-brown
+colour, and with the exception of the brown rift are the same in
+marking, only that all colour, similar to the brown, is a shade
+deeper.
+
+The 'piece de resistance' of the back wing, is the eyespot.
+The transparent oval is a little smaller.  The canary band is
+wider, and of stronger colour.  The black band around the lower
+half is yet wider, and of long velvety  hairs.  It extends in an
+oval above the transparent spot fully half an inch, then shades
+through peacock blue, and grey to the hairlike black line
+enclosing the spot.
+
+The under sides of the wings are pure tan, clouded and lined with
+shades of rich brown.  The transparent spots are outlined with
+canary, and show a faint line drawn across the middle the long way.
+
+The face is a tiny brown patch with small eyes, for the size of
+the moth, and large brown antennae, shaped like those of Cecropia.
+The grey band of the costa crosses the top of the head.  The
+shoulders are covered with pinkish, yellow-brown hair.  The top
+and sides of the abdomen are a lighter shade of the same.
+
+The under side of the abdomen is darker brown, and the legs brown
+with very dark brown feet.  These descriptions do the harmonizing
+colours of the moth no sort of justice, but are the best I can offer.
+In some lights it is a rich YELLOW-BROWN, and again a pink flush
+pervades body and wings.
+
+My first experience with a living Polyphemis (I know Telea is shorter,
+but it is not suitable, while a giant among moths it is, so that
+name is best) occurred several years ago.  A man brought me a living
+Polyphemus battered to rags and fringes, antennae broken and three
+feet missing.  He had found a woman trying to beat the clinging
+creature loose from a door screen, with a towel, before the wings
+were hardened for flight, and he rescued the remains.  There was
+nothing to say; some people are not happy unless they are killing
+helpless, harmless creatures; and there was nothing to do.
+
+The moth was useless for a study, while its broken antennae set it
+crazy, and it shook and trembled continually, going out without
+depositing any eggs.  One thing I did get was complete identification,
+and another, to attribute the experience to Mrs. Comstock in "A
+Girl of the Limberlost", when I wished to make her do something
+particularly disagreeable.  In learning a moth I study its eggs,
+caterpillars, and cocoons, so that fall Raymond and I began searching
+for Polyphemus.  I found our first cocoon hanging by a few threads
+of silk, from a willow twig overhanging a stream in the limberlost.
+
+A queer little cocoon it was.  The body was tan colour, and thickly
+covered with a white sprinkling like lime.  A small thorn tree
+close the cabin yielded Raymond two more; but these were darker in
+colour, and each was spun inside three thorn leaves so firmly that
+it appeared triangular in shape.  The winds had blown the cocoons
+against the limbs and worn away the projecting edges of the leaves,
+but the midribs and veins showed plainly.  In all we had half a dozen
+of these cocoons gathered from different parts of the swamp, and we
+found them dangling from a twig of willow or hawthorn, by a small
+piece of spinning.  During the winter these occupied the place of
+state in the conservatory, and were watched every day.  They were
+kept in the coolest spot, but where the sun reached them at times.
+Always in watering the flowers, the hose was turned on them, because
+they would have been in the rain if they  had been left out of doors,
+and conditions should be kept as natural as possible.
+
+Close time for emergence I became very  uneasy, because the
+conservatory was warm; so I moved them to my sleeping room, the
+coolest in the cabin, where a fireplace, two big windows and an
+outside door, always open, provide natural atmospheric conditions,
+and where I would be sure to see them every  day.  I hung the twigs
+over a twine stretched from my dresser to the window-sill.  One
+day in May, when the trees were in full bloom, I was working on a
+tulip bed under an apple tree in the garden, when Molly-Cotton said
+to me, "How did you get that cocoon in your room wet?"
+
+"I did not water any of the cocoons," I answered.  "I have done no
+sprinkling today.  If they  are wet, it has come from the inside."
+
+Molly-Cotton dropped her trowel.  "One of them was damp on the top
+before lunch,"  she cried.  "I just now thought of it.  The moths
+are coming!"  She started on a run and I followed, but stopped
+to wash my hands, so she reached them first, and her shout told
+the news.
+
+"Hurry!" she cried.  "Hurry!  One is out, and another is just
+struggling through!"  Quickly as I could I stood beside her.
+One Polyphemus female, a giant indeed, was clinging to a twig with
+her feet, and from her shoulders depended her wings, wet, and
+wrinkled as they had been cramped in the pupa case.  Even then she
+had expanded in body  until it seemed impossible that she had
+emerged from the opening of the vacant cocoon.  The second one had
+its front feet and head out, and was struggling frantically to
+free its shoulders.  A fresh wet spot on the top of another cocoon,
+where the moth had ejected the acid with which it is provided to
+soften the spinning, was heaving with the pushing head of the
+third.
+
+Molly-Cotton was in sympathy with the imprisoned moths.
+
+"Why don't you get something sharp, and split the cocoons so they
+can get out?" she demanded.  "Just look at them struggle!  They
+will kill themselves!"
+
+Then I explained to her that if we wanted big, perfect moths we
+must not touch them.  That the evolution of species was complete to
+the minutest detail.  The providence that supplied the acid,
+required that the moths make the fight necessary to emerge alone,
+in order to strengthen them so they would be able to walk and
+cling with their feet, while the wings drooped and dried properly.
+That if I cut a case, and took out a moth with no effort on its
+part, it would be too weak to walk, or bear its weight, and so
+would fall to the floor.  Then because of not being in the right
+position, the wings would harden half spread, or have broken
+membranes and never develop fully.  So instead of doing a kindness
+I really would work ruination.
+
+"Oh, I see!" cried the wondering girl, and her eyes were large enough
+to have seen anything, while her brain was racing.  If you want to
+awaken a child and teach it to think, give object lessons such as
+these, in natural history and study  with it, so that every
+miraculous point is grasped when reached.  We left the emerging moths
+long enough to set up a camera outside, and focus on old tree.  Then
+we hurried back, almost praying that the second moth would be a male,
+and dry soon enough that the two could be pictured together, before
+the first one would be strong enough to fly.
+
+The following three hours were spent with them, and every minute
+enjoyed to the fullest.  The first to emerge was dry, and pumping
+her wings to strengthen them for flight; the second was in condition
+to pose, but a disappointment, for it was another female.  The third
+was out, and by its smaller size, brighter markings and broad antennae
+we knew it was a male.  His 'antlers' were much wider than those of
+the first two, and where their markings were pink, his were so vivid
+as to be almost red, and he was very furry.  He had, in fact, almost
+twice as much long hair as the others, so he undoubtedly was a male,
+but he was not sufficiently advanced to pose with the females, and
+I was in doubt as to the wisest course to pursue.
+
+"Hurry him up!" suggested Molly-Cotton.  "Tie a string across
+the window and hang him in the sunshine.  I'll bring a fan, and
+stir the air gently."
+
+This plan seemed feasible, and when the twine was ready, I lifted
+his twig to place it in the new location.  The instant I touched
+his resting-place and lifted its weight from the twine both females
+began ejecting a creamy liquid.  They ruined the frescoing behind
+them, as my first Cecropia soiled the lace curtain when I was smaller
+than Molly-Cotton at that time.  We tacked a paper against the wall
+to prevent further damage.  A point to remember in moth culture, is
+to be ready for this occurrence before they  emerge, if you do not
+want stained frescoing, floors, and hangings.
+
+In the sunshine and fresh air the male began to dry rapidly, and
+no doubt he understood the presence of his kind, for he was much
+more active than the females.  He climbed the twig, walked the
+twine body pendent, and was so energetic that we thought we
+dared not trust him out of doors; but when at every effort to
+walk or fly he only attempted to reach the females, we concluded
+that he would not take wing if at liberty.  By this time he was
+fully developed, and so perfect he would serve for a study.
+
+I polished the lenses, focused anew on the tree, marked the limits
+of exposure, inserted a plate, and had everything ready.  Then I
+brought out the female, Molly-Cotton walking beside me hovering
+her with a net.  The moth climbed from the twig to the tree, and
+clung there, her wings spread flat, at times setting them quivering
+in a fluttering motion, or raising them.  While Molly-Cotton guarded
+her I returned for the male, and found him with wings so hardened
+that could raise them above his back, and lower them full width.
+
+I wanted my study to dignify  the term, so I planned it to show
+the under wings of one moth, the upper of the other.  Then the
+smaller antennae and large abdomen of the female were of interest.
+I also thought it would be best to secure the male with wings
+widespread if possible, because his colour was stronger, his
+markings more pronounced.  So I helped the female on a small branch
+facing the trunk of the tree, and she rested with raised wings as
+I fervently hoped she would.  The male I placed on the trunk, and
+with wide wings he immediately started toward the female, while
+she advanced in his direction.  This showed his large antennae and
+all markings and points especially  note worthy; being good
+composition as well, for it centred interest; but there was one
+objection.  It gave the male the conspicuous place and made him
+appear the larger because of his nearness to the lens and his wing
+spread; while as a matter of fact, the female had almost an inch
+more sweep than he, and was bigger at every  point save the antennae.
+
+The light was full and strong, the lens the best money could buy,
+the plate seven by nine inches.  By this time long practice had
+made me rather expert in using my cameras.  When the advancing
+pair were fully inside my circle of focus, I made the first
+exposure.  Then I told Molly-Cotton to keep them as nearly as
+possible where they were, while I took one breathless peep at the
+ground glass.
+
+Talk about exciting work!  No better focus could be had on them,
+so I shoved in another plate with all speed, and made a second
+exposure, which was no better than the first.  Had there been time,
+I would have made a third to be sure, for plates are no object when
+a study is at all worth while.  As a rule each succeeding effort
+enables you to make some small change for the better, and you must
+figure on always having enough to lose one through a defective
+plate or ill luck in development, and yet end with a picture that
+will serve your purpose.
+
+Then we closed the ventilators and released the moths in the
+conservatory.  The female I placed on a lemon tree in a shady spot,
+and the male at the extreme far side to see how soon he would find her.
+We had supposed it would be dark, but they were well acquainted by
+dusk.  The next morning she was dotting eggs over the plants.
+
+The other cocoons produced mostly female living moths, save one
+that was lost in emergence.  I tried to help when it was too late;
+but cutting open the cocoon afterward proved the moth defective.
+The wings on one side were only about half size, and on the other
+little patches no larger than my thumb nail.  The body was
+shrunken and weakly.
+
+At this time, as I remember, Cecropia eggs were the largest I had
+seen, but these were larger; the same shape and of a white colour
+with a brown band.  The moth dotted them on the under and upper
+sides of leaves, on sashes and flower pots, tubs and buckets.  They
+turned brown as the days passed.  The little caterpillars that
+emerged from them were reddish brown, and a quarter of an inch
+long.
+
+I could not see my  way to release a small army of two or three
+hundred of these among my plants, so when they  emerged I held a
+leaf before fifty, that seemed liveliest, and transferred them to
+a big box.  The remainder I placed with less ceremony, over mulberry,
+elm, maple, wild cherry, grape, rose, apple, and pear, around the
+Cabin, and gave the ones kept in confinement the same diet.
+
+The leaves given them always were dipped in water to keep them
+fresh longer, and furnish moisture for the feeders. They grew by
+a series of moults, like all the others I had raised or seen, and
+were full size in forty-eight days, but travelled a day or two
+before beginning the pupa stage of their existence.  The caterpillars
+were big fellows; the segments deeply cut; the bodies yellow-green,
+with a few sparse scattering hairs, and on the edge of each segment,
+from a triple row of dots arose a tiny, sharp spine.  Each side had
+series of black touches and the head could be drawn inside the thorax.
+They were the largest in circumference of any I had raised, but only
+a little over three inches long.
+
+I arranged both leaves and twigs in the boxes, but they spun
+among the leaves, and not dangling from twigs, as all the cocoons
+I had found outdoors were placed previous to that time.  Since,
+I have found them spun lengthwise of twigs in a brush heap.  The
+cocoons of these I had raised were whiter than those of the free
+caterpillars, and did not have the leaves fastened on the outside,
+but were woven in a nest of leaves, fastened together by threads.
+
+Polyphemus moths are night flyers, and do not feed.  I have tried
+to tell how beautiful they are, with indifferent success, and they
+are common with me.  Since I learned them, find their cocoons
+easiest to discover.  Through the fall and winter, when riding on
+trains, I see them dangling from wayside thorn bushes.  Once, while
+taking a walk with Raymond in late November, he located one on a
+thorn tree in a field beside the road, but he has the eyes of an
+Indian.
+
+These are the moths that city people can cultivate, for in
+Indianapolis, in early  December, I saw fully one half as many
+Polyphemus cocoons on the trees as there were Cecropia, and I could
+have gathered a bushel of them.  They have emerged in perfection
+for me always, with one exception.  Personally, I have found more
+Polyphemus than Cecropia.
+
+These moths are the gamins of their family, and love the streets
+and lights at night.
+
+Under an arc light at Wabash, Indiana, I once picked up as beautiful
+a specimen of Polyphemus as I ever saw, and the following day a
+friend told me that several had been captured the night before in
+the heart of town.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI  The Garden Fly:  Protoparce Carolina
+
+
+Protoparce Carolina is a 'cousin' of Celeus, and so nearly its
+double that the caterpillars and moths must be seen together to be
+differentiated by amateurs; while it is doubtful if skilled scientists
+can always identify the pupa cases with certainty.  Carolina is more
+common in the south, but it is frequent throughout the north.  Its
+caterpillars eat the same food as Celeus, and are the same size.
+They are a dull green, while Celeus is shining, and during the
+succession of moults, they show slight variations in colour.
+
+They pupate in a hole in the ground.  The moths on close
+examination show quite a difference from Celeus.  They are darker
+in colour.  The fore-wings lack the effect of being laid off in
+lines.  The colour is a mottling of almost black, darkest grey,
+lighter grey, brown, and white.  The back wings are crossed by
+wavy bands of brownish grey, black, and tan colour, and the yellow
+markings on the abdomen are larger.
+
+In repose, these moths fold the front wings over the back like
+large flies.  In fact, in the south they are called the 'Tobacco
+Fly'; and we of the north should add the 'Tomato and Potato
+Fly.'  Because I thought such a picture would be of interest, I
+reproduced a pair---the male as he clung to a piece of pasteboard
+in the 'fly' attitude.
+
+Celeus and Carolina caterpillars come the nearest being pests of
+those of any large moths, because they feed on tomato, potato,
+and tobacco, but they also eat jimson weed, ground cherry, and
+several vines that are of no use to average folk.
+
+The Carolina moths come from their pupa cases as featherweights
+step into the sparring.  They feed partially by day, and their
+big eyes surely see more than those of most other moths, that
+seem small and deepset in comparison.  Their legs are long, and
+not so hairy as is the rule.  They have none of the blind, aimless,
+helpless appearance of moths that do not feed.  They exercise
+violently in the pupa cases before they burst the shields, and when
+they emerge their eyes glow and dilate.  They step with firmness
+and assurance, as if they knew where they wanted to go, and how to
+arrive.  They are of direct swift flight, and much experience and
+dexterity are required to take them on wing.
+
+Both my Carolina moths emerged in late afternoon, about four
+o'clock, near the time their kind take flight to hunt for food.
+The light was poor in the Cabin, so I set up my camera and focused
+on a sweetbrier climbing over the back door.
+
+The newly emerged moth was travelling briskly in that first
+exercise it takes, while I arranged my camera; so by the time
+I was ready, it had reached the place to rest quietly  until
+its wings developed.  Carolina climbed on my  finger with all
+assurance, walked briskly from it to the roses, and clung there
+firmly.
+
+The wet wings dropped into position, and the sun dried them
+rapidly.  I fell in love with my  subject.  He stepped around so
+jauntily in comparison with most moths.  The picture he made while
+clinging to the roses during the first exposure was lovely.
+
+His slender, trim legs seemed to have three long joints, and two
+short in the feet.  In his sidewise position toward the lens, the
+abdomen showed silver-white beneath, silvery grey on the sides,
+and large patches of orange surrounded by black, with touches of
+white on top.  His wings were folded together on his back as they
+drooped, showing only the under sides, and on these the markings
+were more clearly defined than on top.  In the sunlight the fore
+pair were a warm tan grey, exquisitely lined and shaded.  They
+were a little more than half covered by the back pair, that folded
+over them.  These were a darker grey, with tan and almost black
+shadings, and crossed by sharply zig-zagging lines of black.  The
+grey legs were banded by lines of white.  The first pair clung to
+the stamens of the rose, the second to the petals, and the third
+stretched out and rested on a leaf.
+
+There were beautiful markings of very dark colour and white on the
+thorax, head, shoulders, and back wings next the body.  The big
+eyes, quite the largest of any moth I remember, reminded me of owl
+eyes in the light.  The antennae, dark, grey-brown on top, and
+white on the under side, turned back and drooped beside the costa,
+no doubt in the position they occupied in the pupa case.
+
+The location was so warm, and the moth dried so rapidly, that by
+the time two good studies were made of him in this position, he
+felt able to step to some leaves, and with no warning whatever,
+reversed his wings to the 'fly'  position, so that only the top
+side of the front pair showed.  The colour was very rich and
+beautiful, but so broken in small patches and lines, as to be
+difficult to describe.  With the reversal of the wings the
+antennae flared a little higher, and the exercise of the sucking
+tube began.  The moth would expose the whole length of the tube in
+a coil, which it would make larger and contract by turns, at times
+drawing it from sight.  When it was uncoiled the farthest, a cleft
+in the face where it fitted could be seen.
+
+The next day my second Carolina case produced a beautiful female.
+The history of her emergence was exactly similar to that of the
+male.  Her head, shoulders, and abdomen seemed nearly twice the
+size of his, while her wings but a trifle, if any larger.
+
+As these moths are feeders, and live for weeks, I presume when the
+female has deposited her eggs, the abdomen contracts, and loses its
+weight so that she does not require the large wings of the females
+that only deposit their eggs and die.  They are very heavy, and
+if forced to flight must have big wings to support them.  I was so
+interested in this that I slightly chloroformed the female, and made
+a study of the pair.  The male was fully alive and alert, but they
+had not mated, and he would not take wing.  He clung in his natural
+position, so that he resembled a big fly, on the smooth side of the
+sheet of corrugated paper on which I placed the female.  His wings
+folded over each other.  The abdomen and the antennae were invisible,
+because they  were laid flat on the costa of each wing.
+
+The female clung to the board, in any position in which she was
+placed.  Her tongue readily uncoiled, showing its extreme length,
+and curled around a pin.  With a camel'shair brush I gently spread
+her wings to show how near they were the size of the male's, and
+how much larger her body was.
+
+Her fore-wings were a trifle lighter in colour than the male's, and
+not so broken with small markings.  The back wings were very
+similar.  Her antennae stood straight out from the head on each
+side, of their own volition and differed from the male's.  It has
+been my observation that in repose these moths fold the antennae
+as shown by  the male.  The position of the female was unnatural.
+In flight, or when feeding, the antennae are raised, and used as
+a guide in finding food flowers.  A moth with broken antennae seems
+dazed and helpless, and in great distress.
+
+I have learned by experience in handling moths, that when I induce
+one to climb upon bark, branch, or flower for a study, they seldom
+place their wings as I want them.  Often it takes long and patient
+coaxing, and they are sensitive to touch.  If I try to force a
+fore-wing with my fingers to secure a wider sweep, so that the
+markings of the back wings show, the moths resent it by closing
+them closer than before, climbing to a different location or often
+taking flight.
+
+But if I use a fine camel's-hair brush, that lacks the pulsation
+of circulation, and gently stroke the wing, and sides of the
+abdomen, the moths seems to like the sensation and grow sleepy or
+hypnotized.  By using the brush I never fail to get wing extension
+that will show markings, and at the same time the feet and body
+are in a natural position.  After all is said there is to say,
+and done there is to do, the final summing up and judgment of any
+work on Natural History  will depend upon whether it is true to
+nature.  It is for this reason I often have waited for days and
+searched over untold miles to find the right location, even the
+exact leaf, twig or branch on which a subject should be placed.
+
+I plead guilty to the use of an anesthetic in this chapter only
+to show the tongue extension of Carolina, because it is the
+extremest with which I am acquainted; and to coaxing wide wing
+sweep with the camel'shair brush; otherwise either the fact that
+my subjects are too close emergence ever to have taken flight,
+or sex attraction alone holds them.
+
+If you do not discover love running through every line of this
+text and see it shining from the face of each study and painting,
+you do not read aright and your eyes need attention.  Again and
+again to the protests of my family, I have made answer--
+
+"To work we love we rise betimes, and go to it with delight."
+
+From the middle of May to the end of June of the year I was most
+occupied with this book, my room was filled with cocoons and pupa
+cases.  The encased moths I had reason to believe were on the point
+of appearing lay on a chair beside my bed or a tray close my
+pillow.  That month I did not average two hours of sleep in a
+night, and had less in the daytime.  I not only  arose 'betimes,'
+but at any time I heard a scratching and tugging moth working to
+enter the world, and when its head was out, I was up and ready
+with note-book and camera.  Day helped the matter but slightly,
+for any moth emerging in the night had to be provided a location,
+and pictured before ten o'clock or it was not safe to take it
+outside.  Then I had literally 'to fly' to develop the plate,
+make my print and secure exact colour reproduction while the moth
+was fresh.
+
+For this is a point to remember in photographing a moth.  A FREE
+LIVING MOTH NEVER RAISES ITS WINGS HIGHER THAN A STRAIGHT LINE FROM
+THE BASES CROSSING THE TOP OF THE THORAX.  It requires expert and
+adept coaxing to get them horizontal with their bases.  If you do,
+you show all markings required; and preserve natural values, quite
+the most important things to be considered.
+
+I made a discovery with Carolina.  Moths having digestive organs
+and that are feeders are susceptible to anaesthetics in a far
+higher degree than those that do not feed.  Many scientific
+workers confess to having poured full strength chloroform
+directly on nonfeeders, mounted them as pinned specimens
+and later found them living; so that sensitive lepidopterists
+have abandoned its use for the cyanide or gasoline jar.  I intended
+to give only a whiff of chloroform to this moth, just enough that
+she would allow her tongue to remain uncoiled until I could snap
+its fullest extent, but I could not revive her.  The same amount
+would have had no effect whatever on a non-feeder.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII  Bloody-nose of Sunshine Hill:  Hemaris Thysbe
+
+
+John Brown lives a mile north of our village, in the little hamlet
+of Ceylon.  Like his illustrious predecessor of the same name he is
+willing to do something for other people.  Mr. Brown owns a large
+farm, that for a long distance borders the Wabash River where it is
+at its best, and always the cameras and I have the freedom of his
+premises.
+
+On the east side of the village, about half its length, swings a
+big gate, that opens into a long country lane.  It leads between
+fields of wheat and corn to a stretch of woods pasture, lying on a
+hillside, that ends at the river.  This covers many acres, most of
+the trees have been cut; the land rises gradually to a crest, that
+is crowned by a straggling old snake fence, velvety black in
+places, grey  with lint in others, and liberally decorated its
+entire length with lichens, in every shade of grey and green.
+Its corners are filled with wild flowers, ferns, gooseberries,
+raspberries, black and red haw, papaw, wild grapevines, and trees
+of all varieties.  Across the fence a sumac covered embankment
+falls precipitately to the Wabash, where it sweeps around a great
+curve at Horseshoe Bend.  The bed is stone and gravel, the water
+flows shallow and pure in the sunlight, and mallows and willows
+fringe the banks.
+
+Beside this stretch of river most of one summer was spent, because
+there were two broods of cardinals, whose acquaintance I was
+cultivating, raised in those sumacs.  The place was very secluded,
+as the water was not deep enough for fishing or swimming.  On days
+when the cardinals were contrary, or to do the birds justice, when
+they had experiences with an owl the previous night, or with a
+hawk in the morning, and were restless or unduly excited, much
+grist for my camera could be found on the river banks.
+
+These were the most beautiful anywhere in my locality.  The hum of
+busy life was incessant.  From the top twig of the giant sycamore
+in Rainbow Bottom, the father of the cardinal flock hourly
+challenged all creation to contest his right to one particular
+sumac.  The cardinals were the attraction there; across the fence
+where the hill sloped the length of the pasture to the lane, lures
+were many and imperative.  Despite a few large trees, compelling
+right to life by their majesty, that hillside was open pasture,
+where the sunshine streamed all day long.  Wild roses clambered
+over stumps of fallen monarchs, and scrub oak sheltered resting
+sheep.  As it swept to the crest, the hillside was thickly dotted
+with mullein, its pale yellow-green leaves spreading over the grass,
+and its spiral of canary-coloured bloom stiffly  upstanding.  There
+were thistles, the big, rank, richly growing, kind, that browsing
+cattle and sheep circled widely.
+
+Very beautiful were these frosted thistles, with their large,
+widespreading base leaves, each spine needle-tipped, their uplifted
+heads of delicate purple bloom, and their floating globes of silken
+down, with a seed in their hearts.  No wonder artists have painted
+them, decorators conventionalized them; even potters could not pass
+by their artistic merit, for I remembered that in a china closet at
+home there were Belleck cups moulded in the shape of a thistle head.
+
+Experience had taught me how the appreciate this plant.  There
+was a chewink in the Stanley  woods, that brought off a brood of four,
+under the safe shelter of a rank thistle leaf, in the midst of
+trampling herds of cattle driven wild by flies.  There was a ground
+sparrow near the Hale sand pit, covered by a base leaf of another
+thistle, and beneath a third on Bob's lease, I had made a study of
+an exquisite nest.  Protection from the rank leaves was not all the
+birds sought of these plants, for goldfinches were darting around
+inviting all creation to "See me?" as they  gathered the silken
+down for nest lining.  Over the sweetly perfumed purple heads, the
+humming-birds held high carnival on Sunshine Hillside all the day.
+The honey and bumble bees fled at the birds' approach, but what
+were these others, numerous everywhere, that clung to the blooms,
+greedily thrusting their red noses between the petals, and giving
+place to nothing else?
+
+For days as I passed among them, I thought them huge bees.  The
+bright colouring of their golden olive-green, and red-wine striped
+bodies had attracted me in passing.  Then one of them approached a
+thistle head opposite me in such a way its antennae and the long
+tongue it thrust into the bloom could be seen.  That proved it was
+not a bee, and punishment did not await any one who touched it.
+
+There were so many that with one sweep of the net two were captured.
+They were examined to my satisfaction and astonishment.  They were
+moths!  Truly  moths, feeding in the brilliant sunshine all the day;
+bearing a degree of light and heat I never had known any other moth
+to endure.  Talk about exquisite creatures!  These little day moths,
+not much larger than the largest bumble bees, had some of their
+gaudiest competitors of moonlight and darkness outdone.
+
+The head was small and pointed, with big eyes, a long tongue,
+clubbed antennae, and a blood-red nose.  The thorax above was
+covered with long, silky, olive-green hair; the top of the abdomen
+had half an inch band of warm tan colour, then a quarter of an inch
+band of velvety red wine, then a band nearer the olive of the
+shoulders.  The males had claspers covered with small red-wine
+feathers tan tipped.  The thorax was cream-coloured below and the
+under side of the abdomen red wine crossed with cream-coloured
+lines at each segment.
+
+The front wings had the usual long, silky hairs.  They were of
+olive-green shading into red, at the base, the costa was red, and
+an escalloped band of red bordered them.  The intervening space was
+transparent like thinnest isinglass, and crossed with fine red
+veins.  The back wings were the same, only the hairs at the base
+were lighter red, and the band at the edge deeper in colour.
+
+The head of the male seemed sharper, the shoulders stronger olive,
+the wings more pointed at the apex, where the female's were a
+little rounded.  The top of the abdomen had the middle band of such
+strong red that it threw the same colour over the bands above and
+below it; giving to the whole moth a strong red appearance when
+on wing.  They, were so fascinating the birds were forgotten, and
+the hillside hunted for them until a pair were secured to carry
+home for identification, before the whistle of the cardinal from
+Rainbow Bottom rang so sharply that I remembered this was the day
+I had hoped to secure his likeness; and here I was allowing a
+little red-nosed moth so to thrust itself upon my attention, that
+my cameras were not even set up and focused on the sumac.
+
+This tiny sunshine moth, Hemaris Thysbe, was easy of identification,
+and its whole life history before me on the hillside.  I was too busy
+with the birds to raise many caterpillars, so reference to several
+books taught me that they all agreed on the main points of Hemaris
+history.
+
+Hemaris means 'bloody nose.'  'Bloody nose' on account of the
+red first noticed on the face, though some writers called them
+'Clear wings,'  because of the transparent spaces on the wings.
+Certainly 'clear wings' is a most appropriate and poetic name for
+this moth.  Fastidious people will undoubtedly prefer it for
+common usage.  For myself, I always think of the delicate, gaudy
+little creature, greedily  thrusting its blood-red nose into the
+purple thistle blooms; so to my thought it returns as 'bloody
+nose.'
+
+The pairs mate early after emerging, and lay about two hundred
+small eggs to the female, from which the caterpillars soon hatch,
+and begin their succession of moults.  One writer gave black haw
+and snowball as their favourite foods, and the length of the
+caterpillar when full grown nearly two inches.  They are either
+a light brown with yellow markings, or green with yellow; all of
+them have white granules on the body, and a blue-black horn with
+a yellow base.  They spin among the leaves on the ground, and the
+pupa, while small, is shaped like Regalis, except that it has a
+sharper point at each end, and more prominent wing shields.  It
+has no raised tongue case, although it belongs to the family of
+'long tongues.'
+
+On learning all I could acquire by experience with these moths,
+and what the books had to teach, I became their warm admirer.  One
+sunny morning climbing the hill on the way to the cardinals, with
+fresh plates in my cameras, and high hopes in my heart, I passed
+an unsually large fine thistle, with half a dozen Thysbe moths
+fluttering over it as if nearly crazed with fragrance, or honey
+they were sipping.
+
+"Come here!  Come here!  Come here!" intoned the cardinal, from
+the sycamore of Rainbow Bottom.
+
+"Just you wait a second, old fellow!"  I heard myself answering.
+Scarcely realizing what I was doing, the tripod was set up, the
+best camera taken out, and focused on that thistle head.  The
+moths paid no attention to bees, butterflies, or humming-birds
+visiting the thistle, but this was too formidable, and by the
+time the choicest heads were in focus, all the little red fellows
+had darted to another plant.  If the camera was moved there, they
+would change again, so I sat in the shade of a clump of papaws to
+wait and see if they would not grow accustomed to it.
+
+They kept me longer than I had expected, and the chances are I
+would have answered the cardinal's call, and gone to the river,
+had it not been for the interest found in watching a beautiful grey
+squirrel that homed in an ivy-covered stump in the pasture.  He
+seemed to have much business on the fence at the hilltop, and raced
+back and forth to it repeatedly.  He carried something, I could not
+always tell what, but at times it was green haws.  Once he came
+with no food, and at such a headlong run that he almost turned
+somersaults as he scampered up the tree.
+
+For a long time he was quiet, then he cautiously peeped out.
+After a while he ventured to the ground, raced to a dead stump,
+and sitting on it, barked and scolded with all his might.  Then he
+darted home again.  When he had repeated this performance several
+times, the idea became apparent.  There was some danger to be
+defied in Rainbow Bottom, but not a sound must be made from his home.
+The bark of a dog hurried me to the fence in time to see some hunters
+passing in the bottom, but I thanked mercy they  were on the
+opposite side of the river and it was not probable they would
+wade, so my birds would not be disturbed.  When the squirrel felt
+that he must bark and chatter, or burst with tense emotions, he
+discreetly left his mate and nest.  I did some serious thinking on
+the 'instinct'  question.  He might choose a hollow log for his
+home by instinct, or eat certain foods because hunger urged him,
+but could instinct teach him not to make a sound where his young
+family lay?  Without a doubt, for this same reason, the cardinal
+sang from every tree and bush around Horseshoe Bend, save the
+sumac where his mate hovered their young.
+
+The matter presented itself in this way.  The squirrel has feet,
+and he runs with them.  He has teeth, and he eats with them.  He
+has lungs, and he breathes with them.  Every organ of his interior
+has its purpose, and is used to fulfil it.  His big, prominent eyes
+come from long residence in dark hollows.  His bushy tail helps
+him in long jumps from tree to tree.  Every part of his anatomy is
+created, designed and used to serve some purpose, save only his
+brain, the most complex and complicated part of him.  Its only use
+and purpose is to form one small 'tidbit' for the palate of the
+epicure!  Like Sir Francis, who preached a sermon to the birds,
+I found me delivering myself of a lecture to the squirrels, birds,
+and moths of Sunshine Hill.  The final summing up was, that the
+squirrel used his feet, teeth, eyes and tail; that could be seen
+easily, and by his actions it could be seen just as clearly  that
+he used his brain also.
+
+There was not a Thysbe in front of the lens, so picking up a long
+cudgel I always carry  afield, and going quietly to surrounding
+thistles, I jarred them lightly  with it, and began rounding up the
+Hemaris family in the direction of the camera.  The trick was a
+complete success.  Soon I had an exposure on two.  After they had
+faced the camera once, and experienced no injury, like the birds,
+they accepted it as part of the landscape.  The work was so
+fascinating, and the pictures on the ground glass so worth while,
+that before I realized what I was doing, half a dozen large plates
+were gone, and for this reason, work with the cardinals that day
+ended at noon.  This is why I feel that at times in bird work the
+moths literally 'thrust themselves' upon me.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII  The Modest Moth:  Triptogon Modesta
+
+
+Of course this moth was named Modesta because of modest colouring.
+It reminds me of a dove, being one of my prime favourites.  On wing
+it is suggestive of Polyphemus, but its colours are lighter and softer.
+Great beauty that Polyphemus is, Modesta equals it.
+
+Modesta belongs to the genus Triptogon, species Modesta--hence the
+common name, the Modest moth.  I am told that in the east this moth
+is of stronger colouring than in the central and western states.  I
+do not know about the centre and west, but I do know that only as
+far east as Indiana, Modesta is of more delicate colouring than it
+is described by scientists of New York and Pennsylvania; and,
+of course, as in almost every case, the female is not so strongly
+coloured as the male.
+
+I can class the Modest moth and its caterpillar among those I know,
+but my acquaintance with it is more limited than with almost any other.
+My first introduction came when I found a caterpillar of striking
+appearance on water sprouts growing around a poplar stump in a
+stretch of trees beside the Wabash.  I carried it home with a
+supply of the leaves for diet, but as a matter of luck, it had
+finished eating, and was ready to pupate.  I write of this as good
+luck, because the poplar tree is almost extinct in my location.  I
+know of only one in the fields, those beside the river, and a few
+used for ornamental shade trees.  They are so scarce I would have
+had trouble to provide the caterpillar with natural food; so I
+was glad that it was ready to pupate when found.
+
+Any one can identify this caterpillar easily, as it is most
+peculiar.  There is a purplish pink cast on the head and mouth of
+the full-grown caterpillar, and purplish red around the props.  The
+body is a very light blue-green, faintly tinged with white, and
+yellow in places.  On the sides are white obliques, or white,
+shaded with pink, and at the base of these, a small oval marking.
+There is a small short horn on the head.  But the distinguishing
+mark is a mass of little white granules, scattered all over the
+caterpillar.  It is so peppered with these, that failure to
+identify it is impossible.
+
+These caterpillars pupate in the ground.  I knew that, but this
+was before I had learned that the caterpillar worked out a hole in
+the ground, and the pupa case only touched the earth upon which it
+lay.  So when my Modesta caterpillar ceased crawling, lay quietly,
+turned dark, shrank one half in length, and finally
+burst the dead skin, and emerged in a shining dark brown pupa case
+two inches long, I got in my  work.  I did well.  A spade full of
+garden soil was thoroughly sifted, baked in the oven to kill
+parasites and insects, cooled, and put in a box, and the pupa case
+buried in it.  Every time it rained, I opened the box, and moistened
+the earth.  Two months after time for emergence, I dug out the pupa
+case to find it white with mould.  I had no idea what the trouble
+was, for I had done much work over that case, and the whole winter
+tended it solicitously.  It was one of my  earliest attempts, and
+I never have found another caterpillar, or any  eggs, though I
+often search the poplars for them.
+
+However, something better happened.  I say better, because I think
+if they will make honest confession, all people who have gathered
+eggs and raised caterpillars from them in confinement, by feeding
+cut leaves, will admit that the pupa cases they get, and the moths
+they produce are only about half size.  The big fine cases and
+cocoons are the ones you find made by caterpillars in freedom, or
+by those that have passed at least the fourth or fifth moult out
+of doors.  So it was a better thing for my illustration, and for
+my painting, when in June of this year, Raymond, in crossing town
+from a ball game, found a large, perfect Modesta female.  He
+secured her in his hat, and hurried to me.  Raymond's hat has had
+many wonderful things in it besides his head, and his pockets are
+always lumpy with boxes.
+
+Although perfect, she had mated, deposited her eggs, and was
+declining.  All she wanted was to be left alone, and she would sit
+with wings widespread wherever placed.  I was in the orchard,
+treating myself to some rare big musky red raspberries that are my
+especial property, when Raymond came with her.  He set her on a
+shoot before me, and guarded her while I arranged a camera.  She
+was the most complacent subject I ever handled outdoors, and did
+not make even an attempt to fly.  Raymond was supposed to be
+watching while I worked, but our confidence in her was so great,
+that I paid all my attention to polishing my lenses, and getting
+good light, while Raymond gathered berries with one hand, and
+promiscuously waved the net over the bushes with the other.
+
+During the first exposure, Modesta was allowed to place and poise
+herself as seemed natural.  For a second, I used the brush on her
+gently, and coaxed her wings into spreading a little wider than was
+natural.  These positions gave every evidence of being pleasing
+and yet I was not satisfied.  There was something else in the back
+of my head that kept obtruding itself as I walked to the Cabin,
+with the beautiful moth clinging to my fingers.  I did not feel
+quite happy about her, so she was placed in a large box, lined
+with corrugated paper, to wait a while until the mist in my brain
+cleared, and my nebulous disturbance evolved an idea.  It came
+slowly.  I had a caterpillar long ago, and had investigated the
+history of this moth.  I asked Raymond where he found her and he
+said, "Coming from the game."  Now I questioned him about the kind
+of a tree, and he promptly  answered, "On one of those poplars
+behind the schoolhouse."
+
+That was the clue.  Instantly I recognized it.  A poplar limb was
+what I wanted.  Its fine, glossy leaf, flattened stem, and smooth
+upright twigs made a setting, appropriate, above all others, for
+the Modest moth.
+
+I explained the situation to the Deacon, and he had Brenner drive
+with him to the Hirschy farm, and help secure a limb from one of
+the very few Lombardy poplars of this region.  They drove very
+fast, and I had to trouble to induce Modesta to clamber over a
+poplar twig, and settle.  Then by gently stroking, an unusual
+wing sweep was secured, because there is a wonderful purple-pink
+and a peculiar blue on the back wings.
+
+It has been my experience that the longer a moth of these big
+short-lived subjects remains out of doors, the paler its colours
+become, and most of them fade rapidly when mounted, if not kept in
+the dark.  So my Modesta may have been slightly  faded, but she
+could have been several shades paler and yet appeared most
+beautiful to me.
+
+Her head, shoulders, and abdomen were a lovely dove grey; that
+soft tan grey, with a warm shade, almost suggestive of pink.  I
+suppose the reason I thought of this was because at the time two
+pairs of doves, one on a heap of driftwood overhanging the river,
+and the other in an apple tree in the Aspy  orchard a few rods
+away, were giving me much trouble, and I had dove grey on my
+mind.
+
+This same dove grey coloured the basic third of the fore-wings.
+Then they were crossed with a band only a little less in width,
+of rich cinnamon brown.  There was a narrow wavy line of lighter
+brown, and the remaining third of the wing was paler, but with
+darker shadings.  These four distinct colour divisions were
+exquisitely blended, and on the darkest band, near the costa,
+was a tiny white half moon.  The under sides of the fore-wings
+were a delicate brownish grey, with heavy flushings of a purplish
+pink, a most beautiful colour.
+
+The back wings were dove colour near the abdomen, more of a mouse
+colour around the edges, and beginning strongly at the base, and
+spreading in lighter shade over the wing, was the same purplish
+pink of the front under-wing, only much stronger.  Near the
+abdomen, a little below half the length, and adjoining the grey;
+each wing had a mark difficult to describe in shape, and of rich
+blue colour.
+
+The antennae stood up stoutly, and were of dove grey on one side,
+and white on the other.  The thorax, legs, and under side of the
+abdomen were more of the mouse grey in colour.  Over the whole
+moth in strong light, there was an almost intangible flushing of
+palest purplish pink.  It may have shaded through the fore-wing
+from beneath, and over the back wing from above.  At any  rate,
+it was there, and so lovely and delicate was the whole colour
+scheme, it made me feel that I would give much to see a newly
+emerged male of this species.  In my  childhood my mother called
+this colour aniline red.
+
+I once asked a Chicago importer if he believed that Oriental rug
+weavers sometimes use these big night moths as colour guides in
+their weaving.  He said he had heard this, and gave me the freedom
+of his rarest rugs.  Of course the designs woven into these rugs
+have a history, and a meaning for those who understand.  There were
+three, almost priceless, one of which I am quite sure copied its
+greys, terra cotta, and black shades from Cecropia.
+
+There was another, a rug of pure silk, that never could have
+touched a floor, or been trusted outside a case, had it been my
+property, that beyond all question took its exquisite combinations
+of browns and tans with pink lines, and peacock blue designs
+from Polyphemus.  A third could have been copied from no moth save
+Modesta, for it was dove grey, mouse grey, and cinnamon brown,
+with the purplish pink of the back wings, and exactly the blue of
+their decorations.  Had this rug been woven of silk, as the brown
+one, that moment would have taught me why people sometimes steal
+when they cannot afford to buy.  Examination of the stock of any
+importer of high grade rugs will convince one who knows moths, that
+many of our commonest or their near relatives native to the Orient
+are really used as models for colour combinations in rug weaving.
+The Herat frequently has moths in its border.
+
+The Modest moth has a wing sweep in large females of from five and
+one-half to six inches.  In my territory they are very rare,
+only a few caterpillars and one moth have fallen to me.  This can
+be accounted for by the fact that the favourite food tree of the
+caterpillar is so scarce, for some reason having become almost
+extinct, except in a few cases where they are used for shade.
+
+The eggs are a greyish green, and have the pearly appearance of
+almost all moth eggs.  On account of white granules, the caterpillar
+cannot fail to be identified.  The moths in their beautiful soft
+colouring are well worth search and study.  They are as exquisitely
+shaded as any, and of a richness difficult to describe.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV  The Pride of the Lilacs:  Attacus Promethea
+
+
+So far as the arrangement ofthe subjects of this book in family
+groupings is concerned, any chapter might come first or last.  It
+is frankly announced as the book of the Nature Lover, and as such
+is put together in the form that appears to me easiest to comprehend
+and most satisfying to examine.  I decided that it would be sufficient
+to explain the whole situation to the satisfaction of any one, if I
+began the book with a detailed history of moth, egg, caterpillar,
+and cocoon and then gave complete portrayal of each stage in the
+evolution of one cocoon and one pupa case moth.  I began  with
+Cecropia, the commonest of all and one of the most beautiful
+for the spinners, and ended with Regalis, of earth--and the rarest.
+
+The luck I had in securing Regalis in such complete form seems to
+me the greatest that ever happened to any, worker in this field,
+and it reads more like a fairy tale than sober every-day fact,
+copiously illustrated with studies from life.  At its finish
+I said, "Now I am done.  This book is completed."  Soon afterward,
+Raymond walked in with a bunch of lilac twigs in his hand from
+which depended three rolled leaves securely bound to their twigs
+by silk spinning.
+
+"I don't remember that we ever found any  like these,"  he said.
+'Would you be interested in them?'
+
+Would I?  Instantly I knew this book was not finished.  As I held
+the firm, heavy, leaf-rolled cocoons in my hand, I could see the
+last chapter sliding over from fourteen to fifteen to make place
+for Promethea, the loveliest of the Attacine group, a cousin of
+Cecropia.  Often I had seen the pictured cocoon, in its neat little,
+tight little leaf-covered shelter, and the mounted moths of
+scientific collections and museums; I knew their beautiful forms
+and remembered the reddish tinge flushing the almost black coat
+of the male and the red wine and clay-coloured female with her
+elaborate marks, spots, and lines.  Right there the book stopped
+at leaf-fall early in November to await the outcome of those three
+cocoons.  If they would yield a pair in the spring, and if that
+pair would emerge close enough together to mate and produce fertile
+eggs, then by fall of the coming year I would have a complete
+life history.  That was a long wait, thickly punctuated with 'ifs.'
+
+Then the twig was carried to my room and stood in a vase of
+intricate workmanship and rare colouring.
+
+Every few days I examined those cocoons and tested them by
+weight.  I was sure they were perfect.  That spring I had been
+working all day and often at night, so I welcomed an opportunity
+to spend a few days at a lake where I would meet many friends;
+boating and fishing were fine, while the surrounding country was
+one uninterrupted panorama of exquisite land and water pictures.
+I packed and started so hastily I forgot my  precious cocoons.
+Two weeks later on my return, before I entered the Cabin, I walked
+round it to see if my flowers had been properly watered and
+tended.  It was not later than three in the afternoon but I saw at
+least a dozen wonderful big moths, dusky and luring, fluttering
+eagerly over the wild roses covering a south window of the Deacon's
+room adjoining mine on the west.  Instantly I knew what that meant.
+I hurried to the room and found a female Promothea at the top of
+the screen covering a window that the caretaker had slightly lowered.
+I caught up a net and ran to bring a step-ladder.  The back
+foundation is several feet high and that threw the tops of the
+windows  close under the eaves.  I mounted to the last step and
+balancing made a sweep to capture a moth.  They could see me and
+scattered in all directions.  I waited until they  were beginning
+to return, when from the thicket of leaves emerged a deep rose-flushed
+little moth that sailed away, with every black one in pursuit.
+I almost fell from the ladder. I went inside, only to learn that
+what I feared was true.  The wind had loosened the screen in my
+absence, and the moth had passed through a crack, so narrow it
+ seemed impossible for it to escape.
+
+Only those interested as I was, and who have had similar experience,
+know how to sympathize.  I had thought a crowbar would be required
+to open one of those screens!  With sinking heart I hurried to my
+room.  Joy!  There was yet hope!  The escaped moth was the only one
+that had emerged.  The first thing was to fasten the screen, the next
+to live with the remaining cocoons.
+
+The following morning another, female appeared, and a little later
+a male.
+
+The cocoons were long, slender, closely leaf-wrapped and hung from
+stout spinning longer than the average leaf stem.  The outside leaf
+covering easily could be peeled away as the spinning did not seem
+to adhere except at the edges.  There was a thin waterproof coating
+as with Cecropia, then a little loose spinning that showed most at
+top and bottom, the leaf wrapping being so closely drawn that it
+was plastered against the body of the heavy inner case around the
+middle until it adhered.  The inner case was smooth and dark inside
+and the broken pupa case nearly black.
+
+The male and female differed more widely in colour and markings
+than any moths with which I had worked.  At a glance, the male
+reminded me of a monster Mourning Cloak butterfly.  The front wings
+from the base extending over half the surface were a dark brownish
+black, outlined with a narrow escalloped line of clay colour of
+light shade.  The black colour from here lightened as it neared
+the margin.  At the apex it changed to a reddish brown tinge that
+surrounded the typical eye-spot of all the Attacus group for almost
+three-fourths of its circumference.  The bottom of the eye was
+blackish blue, shading abruptly to pale blue at the top.  The
+straggle M of white was in its place at the extreme tip, on the
+usual rose madder field.  From there a broad clay-coloured band
+edged the wing and joined the dark colour in escallops.
+Through the middle of it in an irregular wavy line was traced an
+almost hair-fine marking of strong brown.  The back wings were
+darker than the darkest part of the fore-wings and this colour
+covered them to the margin, lightening very slightly.  A
+clay-coloured band bordered the edge, touched with irregular
+splashes of dark brown, a little below them a slightly heavier
+line than that on the fore-wing, which seemed to follow the outline
+of the decorations.
+
+Underneath, the wings were exquisitely marked, flushed, and shaded
+almost past description in delicate and nearly intangible reddish
+browns, rose madder on grey, pink-tinged brown and clay colour.
+On the fore-wings the field from base to first line was reddish brown
+with a faint tinge of tan beside the costa.  From this to the
+clay-coloured border my descriptive powers fail.  You could see
+almost any shade for which you looked.  There were greyish places
+flushed with scales of red and white so closely set that the
+result was frosty pink.  Then the background would change to brown
+with the same over-decoration.  The bottom of the eye-spot was dark
+only about one-fourth the way, the remaining three-fourths, tan
+colour outlined at the top with pale blue and black in fine lines.
+The white M showed through on a reddish background, as did the
+brown line of the clay border.  The back wings widespread were
+even lovelier.  Beginning about the eighth of an inch from the top
+was a whitish line tracing a marking that when taken as a whole on
+both outspread wings, on some, slightly resembled a sugar maple
+leaf, and on others, the perfect profile of a face.  There was a
+small oblong figure of pinkish white where the eye would fall, and
+the field of each space was brownish red velvet.  From this to the
+clay-coloured band with its paler brown markings and lines, the
+pink and white scales sprinkled the brown ground; most of the pink,
+around the marking, more of the white, in the middle of the space;
+so few of either, that it appeared to be brown where the clay border
+joined.
+
+The antennae were shaped as all of the Attacus group, but larger in
+proportion to size, for my biggest Promethea measured only four
+and a quarter from tip to tip, and for his inches carried larger
+antlers than any Cecropia I ever saw of this measurement, those of
+the male being very much larger than the female.  In colour they
+were similar to the darkest part of the wings, as were the back of
+the head, thorax and abdomen.  The hair on the back of the thorax
+was very long.  The face wore a pink flush over brown, the eyes
+bright brown, the under thorax covered with long pinkish brown
+hairs, and the legs the same.  A white stripe ran down each side
+of the abdomen, touched with a dot of brownish red wine colour on
+the rings.  The under part was pinkish wine crossed with a narrow
+white line at each segment.  The claspers were prominent and sharp.
+The finishing touch of the exquisite creation lay in the fact that
+in motion, in strong light the red wine shadings of the under side
+cast an intangible, elusive, rosy flush over the dark back of the
+moth that was the mast delicate and loveliest colour effect I ever
+have seen on marking of flower, bird, or animal.
+
+For the first time in all my experience with moths the female was
+less than the male.
+
+Even the eggs of this mated pair carried a pinkish white shade and
+were stained with brown.  They were ovoid in shape and dotted
+the screen door in rows.  The tiny caterpillars were out eleven
+days later and proved to be of the kind that march independently
+from their shells without stopping to feed on them.  Of every
+food offered, the youngsters seemed to prefer lilac leaves; I
+remembered that they had passed the winter wrapped in these,
+dangling from their twigs, and that the under wings of the male and
+much of the female bore a flushing of colour that was lilac, for
+what else is red wine veiled with white?  So I promptly christened
+them, 'The Pride of the Lilacs.'  They  were said to eat ash, apple
+pear, willow, plum, cherry, poplar and many other leaves, but mine
+liked lilac, and there was a supply in reach of the door, so they
+undoubtedly  were lilac caterpillars, for they had nothing else to
+eat.
+
+The little fellows were pronouncedly yellow.  The black head with
+a grey stripe joined the thorax with a yellow band.  The body was
+yellow with black rings, the anal parts black, the legs pale
+greyish yellow.  They made their first moult on the tenth day and
+when ready to eat again they were stronger yellow than before,
+with many touches of black.  They moulted four times, each
+producing slight changes until the third, when the body took on a
+greenish tinge, delicate and frosty in appearance.  The heads were
+yellow with touches of black, and the anal shield even stronger
+yellow, with black.  At the last moult there came a touch of red on
+the thorax, and of deep blue on the latter part of the body.
+
+In spinning they gummed over the upper surface of a leaf and,
+covering it with silk, drew it together so that nothing could be
+seen of the work inside.  They began spinning some on the
+forty-second, some on the forty-third day, when about three inches
+in length and plump to bursting.  I think at a puncture in the skin
+they would have spurted like a fountain.  They began spinning at
+night and were from sight before I went to them the following
+morning.  So I hunted a box and packed them away with utmost care.
+
+I selected a box in which some mounted moths had been sent me by a
+friend in Louisiana, and when I went to examine my cocoons toward
+spring, to my horror I found the contents of the box chopped to
+pieces and totally  destroyed.  Pestiferous little 'clothes' moths
+must have infested the box, for there were none elsewhere in the
+Cabin.  For a while this appeared to be too bad luck; but when
+luck turns squarely against you, that is the time to test the
+essence and quality of the word 'friend.'  So I sat me down and
+wrote to my friend, Professor Rowley, of Missouri, and told him
+I wanted Promethea for the completion of this book; that I had
+an opportunity to make studies of them and my plate was light-struck,
+and house-moths had eaten my cocoons.  Could he do anything?
+To be sure he could.  I am very certain he sent me two dozen
+'perfectly good' cocoons.
+
+From the abundance of males that have come to seek females of this
+species at the Cabin, ample proof seems furnished that they are a
+very common Limberlost product; but I never have found, even when
+searching for them, or had brought to me a cocoon of this variety,
+save the three on one little branch found by Raymond, when he did
+not know what they were.  Because of the length of spinning which
+these caterpillars use to attach their cocoons, they dangle freely
+in the wind, and this gives them especial freedom from attack.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV  The King of the Poets:  Citheronia Regalis
+
+
+To the impetuosity  of youth I owe my first acquaintance with the
+rarest moth of the Limberlost; "not common anywhere," say
+scientific authorities.  Molly-Cotton and I were driving to
+Portland-town, ten miles south of our home.  As customary, I was
+watching fields, woods, fence corners and roadside in search of
+subjects; for many beautiful cocoons and caterpillars, much to be
+desired, have been located while driving over the country on
+business or pleasure.
+
+With the magnificent independence of the young, Molly-Cotton would
+have scouted the idea that she was searching for moths also, but I
+smiled inwardly as I noticed her check the horse several times and
+scan a wayside bush, or stretch of snake fence.  We were approaching
+the limits of town, and had found nothing; a slow rain was falling,
+and the shimmer on bushes and fences made it difficult to see
+objects plainly.  Several times I had asked her to stop the horse,
+or drive close the fields when I was sure of a moth or caterpillar,
+though it was very late, being close the end of August; but we
+found only a dry leaf, or some combination that had deceived me.
+
+Just on the outskirts of Portland, beside a grassy ditch and at
+the edge of a cornfield, grew a cluster of wild tiger lilies.
+The water in the ditch had kept them in flower long past their
+bloomtime.  On one of the stems there seemed to be a movement.
+
+"Wait a minute!" I cried, and Molly-Cotton checked the horse,
+but did not stop, while I leaned forward and scanned the lilies
+carefully.  What I thought I saw move appeared to be a dry lily
+bloom of an orange-red colour, that had fallen and lodged on the
+grasses against a stalk.
+
+"It's only a dead lily," I said; "drive on."
+
+"Is there a moth that colour?" asked Molly-Cotton.
+
+"Yes," I replied.  "There is an orange-brown species, but it is
+rare.  I never have seen a living one."
+
+So we passed the lilies.  A very peculiar thing is that when one
+grows intensely interested in a subject, and works over it, a
+sort of instinct, an extra sense as it were, is acquired.  Three
+rods away, I became certain I had seen something move, so strongly
+the conviction swept over me that we had passed a moth.  Still, it
+was raining, and the ditch was wet and deep.
+
+"I am sorry we did not stop," I said, half to myself, "I can't help
+feeling that was a moth."
+
+There is where youth, in all its impetuosity, helped me.  If the
+girl had asked, "Shall I go back?" in all probability I would
+have answered, "No, I must have been mistaken.  Drive on!"
+
+Instead, Molly-Cotton, who had straightened herself, and touched up
+her horse for a brisk entrance into town, said, "Well, we will just
+settle that 'feeling' right here!"
+
+At a trot, she deftly cut a curve in the broad road and drove
+back.  She drew close the edge of the ditch as we approached the
+lilies.  As the horse stopped, what I had taken for a fallen lily
+bloom, suddenly opened to over five inches of gorgeous red-brown,
+canary-spotted wing sweep, and then closed again.
+
+"It is a moth!" we gasped, with one breath.
+
+Molly-Cotton cramped the wheel on my side of the carriage and
+started to step down.  Then she dropped back to the seat.
+
+"I am afraid," she said.  "I don't want you to wade that
+ditch in the rain, but you never have had a red one, and if
+I bungle and let it escape, I never will forgive myself."
+
+She swung the horse to the other side, and I climbed down.
+Gathering my skirts, I crossed the ditch as best I could, and
+reached the lily bed, but I was trembling until my knees wavered.
+I stepped between the lilies and the cornfield, leaned over
+breathlessly, and waited in the pelting rain, until the moth again
+raised its wings above its back.  Then with a sweep learned in
+childhood, I had it.
+
+While crossing the ditch, I noticed there were numbers of heavy
+yellow paper bags lying where people had thrown them when emptied
+of bananas and biscuits, on leaving town.  They  were too wet to be
+safe, but to carry  the moth in my fingers would spoil it for a
+study, so I caught up and drained a big bag; carefully set my
+treasure inside, and handed it to Molly-Cotton.  If you consider
+the word 'treasure'  too strong to fit the case, offer me your biggest
+diamond, ruby, or emerald, in recompense for the privilege of
+striking this chapter, with its accompanying illustration, from my
+book, and learn what the answer will be.
+
+When I entered the carriage and dried my face and hands, we
+peeped, marvelled, and exclaimed in wonder, for this was the
+most gorgeous moth of our collections.  We hastened to Portland,
+where we secured a large box at a store.  In order that it might
+not be dark and set the moth beating in flight, we copiously
+punctured it with as large holes as we dared, and bound the lid
+securely.  On the way home we searched the lilies and roadside for
+a mile, but could find no trace of another moth.  Indeed, it seemed
+a miracle that we had found this one late in August, for the time
+of their emergence is supposed to be from middle May to the end of
+June.  Professor Rowley assures me that in rare instances a moth
+will emerge from a case or cocoon two seasons old, and finding this
+one, and the Luna, prove it is well for nature students to be
+watchful from May  until October.  Because these things happened to
+me in person, I made bold to introduce the capture of a late
+moth into the experience of Edith Carr in the last chapter of
+"A Girl of the Limberlost."  I am pointing out some of these
+occurrences as I come to them, in order that you may see how
+closely I keep to life and truth, even in books exploited as
+fiction.  There may be such incidents that are pure imagination
+incorporated; but as I write I can recall no instance similar to
+this, in any book of mine, that is not personal experience, or
+that did not happen to other people within my knowledge, or was
+not told me by some one whose word I consider unquestionable;
+allowing very little material indeed, on the last provision.
+
+There is one other possibility to account for the moth at this
+time.  Beyond all question the gorgeous creature is of tropical
+origin.  It has made its way north from South or Central America.
+It occurs more frequently in Florida and Georgia than with us, and
+there it is known to have been double brooded; so standing on the
+records of professional lepidopterists, that gives rise to grounds
+for the possibility that in some of our long, almost tropical
+Indiana summers, Regalis may be double brooded with us.  At any
+rate, many people saw the living moth in my possession on this date.
+In fact, I am prepared to furnish abundant proof of every statement
+contained in this chapter; while at the same time admitting that
+it reads like the veriest fairy tale 'ever thought or wondered.'
+
+The storm had passed and the light was fine, so we posed the moth
+before the camera several times.  It was nervous business, for he
+was becoming restless, and every instant I expected him to fly,
+but of course we kept him guarded.
+
+There was no hope of a female that late date, so the next step was
+to copy his colours and markings as exactly as possible.  He was
+the gaudiest moth of my experience, and his name seemed to suit
+rarely well.  Citheroma--a Greek poet, and Regalis--regal.  He was
+truly royal and enough to inspire poetry in a man of any nation.
+His face-was orange-brown, of so bright a shade that any one at a
+glance would have called it red.  His eyes were small for his size,
+and his antennae long, fine, and pressed against the face so
+closely it had to be carefully scrutinized to see them.  A band of
+bright canary-yellow arched above them, his thorax was covered
+above with long silky, orange-brown hairs, and striped lengthwise
+with the same yellow.  His abdomen was the longest and slenderest
+I had seen, elegantly curved like a vase, and reaching a quarter
+of an inch beyond the back wings, which is unusual.  It was thickly
+covered with long hair, and faintly lined at the segments with yellow.
+The claspers were very  sharp, prominent brown hooks.  His sides
+were dotted with alternating red and orangebrown spots, and his
+thorax beneath, yellow.  The under side of the abdomen was yellow,
+strongly shaded with orange-brown.  His legs and feet were the
+same.
+
+His fore-wings were a silvery lead colour, each vein covered with
+a stripe of orange-brown three times its width.  The costa began in
+lead colour, and at half its extent shaded into orange-brown.  Each
+front wing had six yellow spots, and a seventh faintly showing.
+Half an inch from the apex of the wings, and against the costa, lay
+the first and second spots, oblong in shape, and wide enough to
+cover the space between veins.  The third was a tiny  dot next the
+second.  The hint of one crossed the next vein, and the other three
+formed a triangle; one lay at the costa about three-quarters of an
+inch from the base, the second at the same distance from the base
+at the back edge of the wing, and the third formed the apex, and
+fell in the middle, on the fifth space between veins, counting
+from either edge.  These were almost perfectly round.  The back
+wings were very hairy, of a deep orange-brown at the base, shading
+to lighter tones of the same colour at the edge, and faintly
+clouded in two patches with yellow.
+
+Underneath the fore-wings were yellow at the base, and lead colour
+the remainder of their length.  The veins had the orange-red
+outlining, and the two large yellow dots at the costa showed
+through as well as the small one beside them.  Then came another
+little yellow dot of the same size, that did not show on the upper
+side, and then four larger round spots between each vein.  Two of
+them showed in the triangle on the upper side full size, and the
+two between could be seen in the merest speck, if looked for very
+closely.
+
+The back wings underneath were yellow three-fourths of their
+length, then next the abdomen began a quarter of an inch wide band
+of orange-brown, that crossed the wing to the third vein from the
+outer edge, and there shaded into lead colour, and covered the space
+to the margin.  The remainder of the wing below this band was a
+lighter shade of yellow than above it.  From tip to tip he measured
+five and a half inches, and from head to point of abdomen a little
+over two.
+
+While I was talking Regalis, and delighted over finding so late in
+the season the only one I lacked to complete my studies of every
+important species, Arthur Fensler brought me a large Regalis
+caterpillar, full fed, and in the last stages of the two days of
+exercise that every caterpillar seems to take before going into
+the pupa state.  It was late in the evening, so I put the big
+fellow in a covered bucket of soft earth from the garden,
+planning to take his picture the coming day.  Before morning
+he had burrowed into the earth from sight, and was pupating,
+so there was great risk in disturbing him.  I was afraid there
+were insects in the earth that would harm him, as care had not
+been taken to bake it, as should have been done.
+
+A day later Willis Glendenning brought me another Regalis
+caterpillar.  I made two pictures of it, although transformation to
+the pupa stage was so far advanced that it was only  half length,
+and had a shrivelled appearance like the one I once threw away.
+I was disgusted with the picture at the time, but now I feel
+that it is very important in the history of transformation from
+caterpillar to pupa, and I am glad to have it.
+
+Two days later, Andrew Idlewine, a friend to my work, came to the
+Deacon with a box.  He said that he thought maybe I would like to
+take a picture of the fellow inside, and if I did, he wanted a copy;
+and he wished he knew what the name of it was.  He had found it
+on a butternut tree, and used great care in taking it lest it
+'horn' him.  He was horrified when the Deacon picked it up, and
+demonstrated how harmless it was.  This is difficult to believe,
+but it was a third Regalis and came into my possession at night
+again.  My only consolation was that it was feeding, and would
+not pupate until I could make a picture.  This one was six inches
+from tip to tip, the largest caterpillar I ever saw; a beautiful
+blue-green colour, with legs of tan marked with black, each segment
+having four small sharp horns on top, and on the sides an oblique
+dash of pale blue.  The head bore ten horns.  Four of these were
+large, an inch in length, coloured tan at the base, black at the
+tip.  The foremost pair of this formidable array turned front over
+the face, all the others back, and the outside six of the ten were
+not quite the length of the largest ones.
+
+The first caterpillar had measured five inches, and the next one
+three, but it was transforming.  Whether the others were males
+and this a female, or whether it was only that it had grown under
+favourable conditions, I could not tell.  It was differently
+marked on the sides, and in every way larger, and brighter than
+the others, and had not finished feeding.  Knowing that it was
+called the 'horned hickory devil' at times, hickory and walnut
+leaves were placed in its box, and it evinced a decided preference
+for the hickory.  As long as it ate and seemed a trifle larger it
+was fed.  The day it walked over fresh leaves and began the
+preliminary  travel, it was placed on some hickory sprouts around
+an old stump, and exposures made on it, or rather on the places it
+had been, for it was extremely restless and difficult to handle.
+Two plates were spoiled for me by my subject walking out of focus
+as I snapped, but twice it was caught broadside in good position.
+
+While I was working with this caterpillar, there came one of my
+clearest cases of things that 'thrust themselves upon me.'  I
+would have preferred to concentrate all my attention on the
+caterpillar, for it was worth while; but in the midst of my work
+a katydid deliberately walked down the stump, and stopped squarely
+before the lens to wash her face and make her toilet.  She was on
+the side of the stump, and so clearly outlined by the lens that
+I could see her long wavering antennae on the ground glass, and
+of course she took two plates before she resumed her travels.
+I long had wanted a katydid for an illustration.  I got that one
+merely by using what was before me.  All I did was to swing the
+lens about six inches, and shift the focus slightly, to secure
+two good exposures of her in fine positions.  My caterpillar
+almost escaped while I worked, for it had put in the time
+climbing to the ground, and was a yard away hurrying across
+the grass at a lively pace.
+
+Two days later it stopped travelling, and pupated on the top of
+the now hardened earth in the bucket that contained the other
+two.  It was the largest of the pupae when it emerged, a big
+shining greenish brown thing flattened and seeming as if it had
+been varnished.  On the thin pupa case the wing shields and
+outlines of the head and different parts of the body could be seen.
+Then a pan of sand was baked, and a box with a glass cover was filled.
+I laid the pupa on top of the sand, and then dug up the first one,
+as I was afraid of the earth in which it lay.  The case was sound,
+and in fine condition.  All of these pupae lived and seemed perfect.
+Narrow antennae and abdominal formation marked the big one a female,
+while broader antlers and the clearly  outlined 'claspers'  proved
+the smaller ones males.  A little sphagnum moss, that was dampened
+slightly every few days, was kept around them. The one that entered
+the ground had pushed the earth from it on all, sides at a depth of
+three inches, and hollowed an oval space the size of a medium hen
+egg, in which the pupa lay, but there was no trace of its cast skin.
+Those that pupated on the ground had left their skins at the thorax,
+and lay two inches from them.  The horns came off with the skin, and
+the lining of the segments and the covering of the feet showed.  At
+first the cast skins were green, but they soon turned a dirty grey,
+and the horns blackened.
+
+So from having no personal experience at all with our rarest moth,
+inside a few days of latter August and early September, weeks after
+hope had been abandoned for the season, I found myself with several
+as fine studies of the male as I could make, one of an immense
+caterpillar at maturity, one half-transformed to the moth, and three
+fine pupa cases.  Besides, I had every reason to hope that in the
+spring I could secure eggs and a likeness of a female to complete my
+illustration.  Call this luck, fairy  magic, what you will, I admit
+it sounds too good to be true; but it is.
+
+All winter these three fine Regalis pupa cases were watched
+solicitously, as well as my twin Cecropias, some Polyphemus, and
+several ground cocoons so spun on limbs and among debris that it
+was not easy to decide whether they were Polyphemus or Luna.
+When spring came, and the Cecropias emerged at the same time, I
+took heart, for I admit I was praying for a pair of Regalis moths
+from those pupa cases in order that a female, a history of their
+emergence, and their eggs, might be added to the completion of this
+chapter.  In the beginning it was my  plan to use the caterpillars,
+and give the entire history of one spinning, and one burrowing moth.
+My Cecropia records were complete; I could add the twin series for
+good measure for the cocoon moth; now if only a pair would come
+from these pupa cases, I would have what I wanted to compile the
+history of a ground moth.
+
+Until the emergence of the Cecropias, my cocoons and pupa cases
+were kept on my dresser.  Now I moved the box to a chair beside my
+bed.  That was a lucky thought, for the first moth appeared at
+midnight, from Mr. Idlewine's case.  She pushed the wing shields
+away with her feet, and passed through the opening.  She was three
+and one-half inches LONG, with a big pursy abdomen, and wings the
+size of my thumbnail.  I was anxious for a picture of her all damp
+and undeveloped, beside the broken pupa case; but I was so fearful
+of spoiling my series I dared not touch, or try to reproduce her.
+The head and wings only seemed damp, but the abdomen was quite wet,
+and the case contained a quantity of liquid, undoubtedly ejected
+for the purpose of facilitating exit.  When you next examine a pupa,
+study the closeness with which the case fits antennae, eyes, feet,
+wings, head, thorax, and abdominal rings and you will see that it
+would be impossible for the moth to separate from the case and
+leave it with down intact, if it were dry.
+
+Immediately the moth began racing around energetically, and
+flapping those tiny wings until the sound awakened the Deacon in
+the adjoining room.  After a few minutes of exercise, it seemed in
+danger of injuring the other cases, so it was transferred to the
+dresser, where it climbed to the lid of a trinket case, and
+clinging with the feet, the wings hanging, development began.
+There was no noticeable change in the head and shoulders, save that
+the down grew fluffier as it dried.  The abdomen seemed to draw up,
+and became more compact.  No one can comprehend the story of the
+wings unless they have seen them develop.
+
+At twelve o'clock and five minutes, they measured two-thirds of an
+inch from the base of the costa to the tip.  At twelve fifteen they
+were an inch and a quarter.  At half-past twelve they were two
+inches.  At twelve forty-five they were two and a half; and at
+one o'clock they were three inches.  At complete expansion this
+moth measured six and a half inches strong (sic!), and this full
+sweep was developed in one hour and ten minutes.  To see those
+large brilliantly-coloured wings droop, widen, and develop their
+markings, seemed little short of a miracle.
+
+The history  of the following days is painful.  I not only wanted
+a series of this moth as I wanted nothing else concerning the book,
+but with the riches of three fine pupa cases of it on hand, I had
+promised Professor Rowley eggs from which to obtain its history
+for himself.  I had taxed Mr. Rowley's time and patience as an
+expert lepidopterist, to read my text, and examine my illustration;
+and I hoped in a small way to repay his kindness by sending him a
+box of fertile Regalis eggs.
+
+The other pupa cases were healthful and lively, but the moths would
+not emerge.  I coaxed them in the warmth of closed palms--I even
+laid them on dampened moss in the sun in the hope of softening the
+cases, and driving the moths out with the heat, but to no avail.
+They would not come forth.
+
+I had made my studies of the big moth, when she was fully
+developed; but to my despair, she was depositing worthless eggs
+over the inside of my screen door.
+
+Four days later, the egg-laying period over, the female, stupid and
+almost gone, a fine male emerged, and the following day another.
+I placed some of the sand from the bottom of the box on a
+brush tray, and put these two cases on it, and set a focused camera
+in readiness, so that I got a side view of a moth just as it
+emerged, and one facing front when about ready to cling for wing
+expansion.  The history of their appearance, was similar to that
+of the female, only they were smaller, and of much brighter.
+colour.  The next morning I wrote Professor Rowley of my regrets
+at being unable to send the eggs as I had hoped.
+
+At noon I came home from half a day in the fields, to find Raymond
+sitting on the Cabin steps with a big box.  That box contained a
+perfect pair of mated Regalis moths.  This was positively the last
+appearance of the fairies.
+
+Raymond had seen these moths clinging to the under side of a rail
+while riding.  He at once dismounted, coaxed them on a twig, and
+covering them with his hat, he weighted the brim with stones.  Then
+he rode to the nearest farm-house for a box, and brought the pair
+safely to me.  Several beautiful studies of them were made, into
+one of which I also introduced my last moth to emerge, in order
+to show the males in two different positions.
+
+The date was June tenth.  The next day the female began egg
+placing.  A large box was lined with corrugated paper, so that she
+could find easy footing, and after she had deposited many eggs on
+this, fearing some element in it might not be healthful for them, I
+substituted hickory leaves.
+
+Then the happy time began.  Soon there were heaps of pearly pale
+yellow eggs piled in pyramids on the leaves, and I made a study  of
+them.  Then I gently lifted a leaf, carried it outdoors and, in
+full light, reproduced the female in the position in which she
+deposited her eggs, even in the act of placing them.  Of course,
+Molly-Cotton stood beside with a net in one hand to guard, and an
+umbrella in the other to shade the moth, except at the instant of
+exposure; but she made no movement indicative of flight.
+
+I made every study of interest of which I could think.  Then I
+packed and mailed Professor Rowley about two hundred fine fertile
+eggs, with all scientific data.  I only kept about one dozen, as
+I could think of nothing more to record of this moth except the
+fact that I had raised its caterpillar.  As I explained in the
+first chapter, from information found in a work on moths supposed
+to be scientific and accurate, I depended on these caterpillars to
+emerge in sixteen days.  The season was unusually rainy and
+unfavourable for field work, and I had a large contract on hand
+for outdoor stuff.  I was so extremely busy, I was glad to box the
+eggs, and put them out of mind until the twenty-seventh.  By the
+merest chance I handled the box on the twentyfourth, and found
+six caterpillars starved to death, two more feeble, and four that
+seemed lively.  One of these was bitten by some insect that clung
+to a leaf placed in their box for food, in spite of the fact that
+all leaves were carefully washed.  One died from causes unknown.
+One stuck in pupation, and moulded in its skin.  Three went through
+the succession of moults and feeding periods in fine shape, and the
+first week in September transformed into shiny pupa cases, not one
+of which was nearly as large as that of the caterpillar brought to
+me by Mr. Idlewine.  I fed these caterpillars on black walnut leaves,
+as they ate them in preference to hickory.
+
+I am slightly troubled about this moth.  In Packard's "Guide to the
+Study of Moths", he writes: "Citheronia Regalis expands five to six
+inches, and its fore-wings are olive coloured, spotted with
+yellow and veined with broad red lines, while the hind wings are
+orange-red, spotted with olive, green, and yellow."
+
+He describes two other species.  Citheronia Mexicana, a tropical
+moth that has drifted as far north as Mexico.  It is quite similar
+to Regalis, "having more orange and less red,"  but it is not
+recorded as having been found within a thousand miles of my
+locality.  A third small species, Citheronia sepulcralis, expands
+only a little over three inches, is purple-brown with yellow
+spots; and is a rare Atlantic Coast species having been found once
+in Massachusetts, oftener in Georgia, never west of Pennsylvania.
+
+This eliminates them as possible Limberlost species.  Professor
+Rowley raised this moth from the eggs I sent him.
+
+The trouble is this: Packard describes the fore-wings as 'olive,'
+the hind as 'olive, and green.'  Holland makes no reference to
+colour, but on plate X, figure three, page eighty-seven, he
+reproduces Regalis with fore-wings of olive-green, the remainder
+of the colour as I describe and paint, only lighter.  In all the
+Regalis moths I have handled, raised, studied minutely, painted,
+and photographed, there never has been tinge or shade of GREEN.
+Not the slightest trace of it!  Each moth, male and female, has
+had a basic colour of pure lead or steel grey.  White tinged with
+the proper proportions of black and blue gives the only colour
+that will exactly match it.  I have visited my specimen case
+since writing the preceding.  I find there the bodies of four
+Regalis moths, saved after their decline.  One is four years old,
+one three, the others two, all have been exposed to daylight for
+that length of time.  The yellows are slightly faded, the reds
+very much degraded, the greys a half lighter than when fresh; but
+showing to-day a pure, clear grey.
+
+What troubles me is whether Regalis of the Limberlost is grey,
+where others are green; or whether I am colour blind or these
+men.  Referring to other writers, I am growing 'leery'  of the
+word 'Authority'; half of what was written fifty years ago along
+almost any line you can mention, to-day stands disproved; all of
+us are merely seekers after the truth: so referring to other writers,
+I find the women of Massachusetts; who wrote "Caterpillars and Their
+Moths", and who in all probability have raised more different
+caterpillars for the purpose of securing life history than any
+other workers of our country, possibly of any, state that the
+front wings of Regalis have "stripes of lead colour between the
+veins of the wings,"  and "three or four lead-coloured stripes"
+on the back wings.  The remainder of my description and colouring
+also agrees with theirs.  If these men worked from museum or
+private collections, there is a possibility that chemicals used
+to kill, preserve, and protect the specimens from pests may have
+degraded the colours, and changed the grey to green.  But to
+accept this as the explanation of the variance upsets all their
+colour values, so it must not be considered.  This proves that
+there must be a Regalis that at times has olive-green stripes where
+mine are grey; but I never have seen one.
+
+I think people need not fear planting trees on their premises that
+will be favourites with caterpillars, in the hope of luring
+exquisite te moths to become common with them.  I have put out eggs,
+and released caterpillars near the Cabin, literally by the thousand,
+and never have been able to see the results by a single defoliated
+branch.  Wrens, warblers, flycatchers, every small bird of the trees
+are exploring bark and scanning upper and under leaf surfaces for
+eggs and tiny caterpillars, and if they escape these, dozens of
+larger birds are waiting for the half-grown caterpillars, for in
+almost all instances these lack enough of the hairy coat of moss
+butterfly larvae to form any protection.  Every season I watch my
+walnut trees to free them from the abominable 'tent' caterpillars;
+with the single exception of Halesidota Caryae, I never have had
+enough caterpillars of any species attack my foliage to be
+noticeable; and these in only one instance.  If you care for
+moths you need not fear to encourage them; the birds will keep
+them within proper limits.  If only one person enjoys this book
+one-tenth as much as I have loved the work of making it, then I am
+fully repaid.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Moths of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton-Porter
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Moths of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton-Porter
+(#9 in our series by Gene Stratton-Porter)
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
+copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: Moths of the Limberlost
+
+Author: Gene Stratton-Porter
+
+Release Date: January, 2004  [EBook #4907]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on March 24, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST ***
+
+
+
+
+This etext was produced by Geoffrey Cowling gcowling@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
+
+
+MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST
+
+A book about Limberlost Cabin
+
+by
+
+Gene Stratton-Porter
+
+
+
+To
+Neltje Degraff Doubleday
+
+
+
+"All diamonded with panes of quaint device, 
+Innumerable of stains, and splendid dyes,
+As are the Tiger Moth's deep damask wings."
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I      Moths of the Limberlost   
+
+CHAPTER II     Moths, eggs, caterpillars, winter quarters 
+
+CHAPTER III    The Robin Moth
+
+CHAPTER IV     The Yellow Emperor 
+
+CHAPTER V      The Lady Bird
+
+CHAPTER VI     Moths of the moon
+
+CHAPTER VII    King of the hollyhocks 
+
+CHAPTER VIII   Hera of the corn
+
+CHAPTER IX     The Sweetheart and the Bride 
+
+CHAPTER X      The Giant Gamin
+
+CHAPTER XI     The Garden Fly
+
+CHAPTER XII    Bloody-Nose of Sunshine Hill
+
+CHAPTER XIII   The Modest Moth
+
+CHAPTER XIV    The Pride of the Lilacs
+
+CHAPTER XV     The King of the Poets
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I  Moths of the Limberlost 
+
+
+To me the Limberlost is a word with which to conjure; a spot 
+wherein to revel.  The swamp lies in north-eastern Indiana, 
+nearly one hundred miles south of the Michigan line and ten 
+west of the Ohio.  In its day it covered a large area.  When 
+I arrived; there were miles of unbroken forest, lakes provided 
+with boats for navigation, streams of running water, the roads 
+around the edges corduroy, made by felling and sinking large trees 
+in the muck.  Then the Winter Swamp had all the lacy  exquisite 
+beauty  of such locations when snow and frost draped, while from 
+May until October it was practically tropical jungle.  From it I 
+have sent to scientists flowers and vines not then classified
+and illustrated in our botanies.
+
+It was a piece of forethought to work unceasingly  at that time,
+for soon commerce attacked the swamp and began its usual process of
+devastation.  Canadian lumbermen came seeking tall straight
+timber for ship masts and tough heavy trees for beams.  Grand
+Rapids followed and stripped the forest of hard wood for fine
+furniture, and through my experience with the lumber men "Freckles"'  
+story  was written.  Afterward hoop and stave men and local mills 
+took the best of the soft wood.  Then a ditch, in reality a canal, 
+was dredged across the north end through, my best territory, and 
+that carried the water to the Wabash River until oil men could 
+enter the swamp.  From that time the wealth they drew to the 
+surface constantly materialized in macadamized roads, cosy homes, 
+and big farms of unsurpassed richness, suitable for growing onions, 
+celery, sugar beets, corn and potatoes, as repeatedly has been 
+explained in everything I have written of the place.  Now, the 
+Limberlost exists only in ragged spots and patches, but so rich 
+was it in the beginning that there is yet a wealth of work for 
+a lifetime remaining to me in these, and river thickets.  I ask 
+no better hunting grounds for birds, moths, and flowers.  The 
+fine roads are a convenience, and settled farms a protection, 
+to be taken into consideration, when bewailing its dismantling.
+
+It is quite true that "One man's meat is another's poison."  
+When poor Limber, lost and starving in the fastnesses of the 
+swamp, gave to it a name, afterward to be on the lips of millions;  
+to him it was deadly  poison.  To me it has been of unspeakable
+interest, unceasing work of joyous nature, and meat in full measure, 
+with occasional sweetbreads by  way  of a treat.
+
+Primarily, I went to the swamp to study and reproduce the birds.
+I never thought they could have a rival in my  heart.  But these
+fragile night wanderers, these moonflowers of June's darkness,
+literally "thrust themselves upon me."  When my cameras were
+placed before the home of a pair of birds, the bushes parted to
+admit light, and clinging to them I found a creature, often having
+the bird's sweep of wing, of colour pale green with decorations
+of lavender and yellow or running the gamut from palest tans 
+darkest browns, with markings, of pink or dozens of other
+irresistible combinations of colour, the feathered folk found a
+competitor that often outdistanced them in my affections, for
+I am captivated easily by colour, and beauty  of form.
+
+At first, these moths made studies of exquisite beauty, I merely  
+stopped a few seconds to reproduce them, before proceeding 
+with my work.  Soon I found myself filling the waiting time, 
+when birds were slow in coming before the cameras, when clouds 
+obscured the light too much for fast exposures, or on grey days, 
+by searching for moths.  Then in collecting abandoned nests, 
+cocoons were found on limbs, inside stumps, among leaves when 
+gathering nuts, or queer shining pupae-cases came to light as 
+I lifted wild flowers in the fall.  All these were carried to my  
+little conservatory, placed in as natural conditions as possible, 
+and studies were made from the moths that emerged the following 
+spring.  I am not sure but that "Moths of Limberlost Cabin" 
+would be the most appropriate title for this book.
+
+Sometimes, before I had finished with them, they paired, mated,
+and dotted everything with fertile eggs, from which tiny
+caterpillars soon would emerge.  It became a matter of intense
+interest to provide their natural foods and raise them.  That
+started me to watching for caterpillars and eggs out of doors, 
+and friends of my work began carrying them to me.  Repeatedly, 
+I have gone through the entire life process, from mating newly  
+emerged moths, the egg period, caterpillar life, with its 
+complicated moults and changes, the spinning of the cocoons, 
+the miraculous winter sleep, to the spring appearance;  and with 
+my cameras recorded each stage of development.  Then on platinum 
+paper, printed so lightly from these negatives as to give only  
+an exact reproduction of forms, and with water colour medium
+copied each mark, line and colour gradation in most cases from 
+the living moth at its prime.  Never was the study of birds so
+interesting. 
+
+The illustration of every moth book I ever have seen, that
+attempted coloured reproduction, proved by the shrivelled bodies
+and unnatural position of the wings, that it had been painted from 
+objects mounted from weeks to years in private collections or
+museums.  A lifeless moth fades rapidly under the most favourable
+conditions.  A moth at eight days of age, in the last stages of
+decline, is from four to six distinct shades lighter in colour
+than at six hours from the cocoon, when it is dry, and ready
+for flight.  As soon as circulation stops, and the life juices 
+evaporate from the wings and body, the colour grows many shades paler.  
+If exposed to light, moths soon fade almost beyond recognition.
+
+I make no claim to being an entomologist;  I quite agree with the
+"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table*", that "the subject is too vast 
+for any single human intelligence to grasp."  If my life depended 
+upon it I could not give the scientific name of every least organ 
+and nerve of a moth, and as for wrestling with the thousands of 
+tiny species of day and night or even attempting all the 
+ramifications of--say the alluringly beautiful Catocalae family--
+life is too short, unless devoted to this purpose alone.  But if 
+I frankly confess my limitations, and offer the book to my 
+nature-loving friends merely as an introduction to the most
+exquisite creation of the swamp; and the outside history, as it
+were, of the evolution of these creatures from moth to moth again,
+surely no one can feel defrauded.  Since the publication of 
+"A Girl of the Limberlost"**, I have received hundreds of letters 
+asking me to write of my experiences with the lepidoptera of the 
+swamp.  This book professes to be nothing more.
+
+<<*Dec 1996 [aofbtxxx.xxx]751  Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, Oliver 
+Wendell Holmes>>
+
+<<**April 1994 [limbr10x.xxx] 125  A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene 
+Stratton-Porter>>     
+
+Because so many  enemies prey  upon the large night moths in all 
+stages, they  are nowhere sufficiently numerous to be pests, or 
+common enough to be given local names, as have the birds.  I have 
+been compelled to use their scientific names to assist in 
+identification, and at times I have had to resort to technical terms, 
+because there were no other.  Frequently I have written of them under 
+the names by which I knew them in childhood, or that we of Limberlost 
+Cabin have bestowed upon them.
+
+There is a wide gulf between a Naturalist and a Nature Lover.  A
+Naturalist devotes his life to delving into stiff scientific
+problems concerning everything in nature from her greatest to her
+most minute forms.  A Nature Lover works at any occupation and
+finds recreation in being out of doors and appreciating the common
+things of life as they appeal to his senses.
+
+The Naturalist always begins at the beginning and traces family,
+sub-family, genus and species.  He deals in Latin and Greek terms
+of resounding and disheartening combinations.  At his hands anatomy  
+and markings become lost in a scientific jargon of patagia, jugum, 
+discocellulars, phagocytes, and so on to the end of the volume.  
+For one who would be a Naturalist, a rare specimen indeed, there are
+many  volumes on the market.  The list of pioneer lepidopterists
+begins authoritatively with Linnaeus and since his time you can
+make your selection from the works of Druce, Grote, Strecker,
+Boisduval, Robinson, Smith, Butler, Fernald, Beutenmuller, Hicks,
+Rothschild, Hampson, Stretch, Lyman, or any of a dozen others.
+Possessing such an imposing array of names there should be no
+necessity to add to them.  These men have impaled moths and
+dissected, magnified and located brain, heart and nerves.  After
+finishing the interior they have given to the most minute exterior
+organ from two to three inches of Latin name.  From them we learn
+that it requires a coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, tarsus, ungues,
+pulvillus, and anterior, medial and posterior spurs to provide a
+leg for a moth.  I dislike to weaken my argument that more work
+along these lines is not required, by recording that after all
+this, no one seems to have located the ears definitely.  Some
+believe hearing lies in the antennae.  Hicks has made an especial
+study of a fluid filled cavity closed by a membrane that he thinks 
+he has demonstrated to be the seat of hearing.  Leydig, Gerstaecker, 
+and others believe this same organ to be olfactory.  Perhaps, after 
+all, there is room for only one more doctor of science who will 
+permanently settle this and a few other vexing questions for us.
+
+But what of the millons of Nature Lovers, who each year snatch only
+a brief time afield, for rest and recreation?  What of the masses
+of men and women whose daily  application to the work of life makes
+vacation study a burden, or whose business has so broken the habit
+of study that concentration is distasteful if not impossible?  
+These people number in the ratio of a million to one Naturalist.  
+They would be delighted to learn the simplest name possible for 
+the creatures they or their friends find afield, and the markings, 
+habits, and characteristics by which they can be identified.  
+They do not care in the least for species and minute detail 
+concerning anatomy, couched in resounding Latin and Greek terms 
+they cannot possibly remember.
+
+I never have seen or heard of any person who on being shown any
+one of ten of our most beautiful moths, did not consider and
+promptly pronounce it the most exquisite creation he ever had seen, 
+and evince a lively interest in its history.  But when he found it 
+necessary to purchase a text-book, devoid of all human interest 
+or literary possibility, and wade through pages of scientific 
+dissertation, all the time having the feeling that perhaps through 
+his lack of experience his identification was not aright, he usually  
+preferred to remain in ignorance.  It is in the belief that all 
+Nature Lovers, afield for entertainment or instruction, will be 
+thankful for a simplification of any method now existing for 
+becoming acquainted with moths, that this book is written 
+and illustrated.
+
+In gathering the material used I think it is quite true that I have
+lost as many good subjects as I have secured, in my efforts to
+follow the teachings of scientific writers.  My complaint against
+them is that they neglect essential detail and are not always
+rightly informed.  They confuse one with a flood of scientific
+terms describing minute anatomical parts and fail to explain the
+simple yet absolutely essential points over which an amateur has
+trouble, wheat often only a few words would suffice.
+
+For example, any one of half a dozen writers tells us that when
+a caterpillar finishes eating and is ready to go into winter
+quarters it crawls rapidly around for a time, empties the 
+intestines, and transformation takes place.  Why do not some
+of them explain further that a caterpillar of, say, six inches in
+length will shrink to THREE, its skin become loosened, the horns
+drop limp, and the,creature appear dead and disintegrating?
+Because no one mentioned these things, I concluded that the first
+caterpillar I found in this state was lost to me and threw it away.
+A few words would have saved the complete history of a beautiful
+moth, to secure which no second opportunity was presented for five
+years.
+
+Several works I consulted united in the simple statement that
+certain caterpillars pupate in the ground.
+
+In Packard's "Guide", you will find this--"Lepidopterous pupae should
+be...kept moist in mould until the image appears."  I followed this 
+direction, even taking the precaution to bake the earth used, 
+because I was very anxious about some rare moths.
+When they failed to emerge in season I dug them out, only to find
+that those not moulded had been held fast by  the damp, packed
+earth, and all were ruined.  I learned by investigation that 
+pupation takes place in a hole worked out by the caterpillar, so 
+earth must touch these cases only as they lie upon it.  The one 
+word 'hole' would have saved all those moths for me.
+
+One writer stated that the tongue cases of some pupae turn over 
+and fasten on the back between the wing shields, and others were
+strangely silent on the subject.  So for ten months I kept some
+cases lying on their backs with the feet up and photographed
+them in that position.  I had to discover for myself that
+caterpillars that pupate in the ground change to the moth form with
+the feet and legs folded around the under side of the thorax, the
+wings wrap over them, and the tongue case bends UNDER and is
+fastened between the wings.
+
+For years I could find nothing on the subject of how a moth from a
+burrowing caterpillar made its appearance.  In two recent works I
+find the statement that the pupa cases come to the surface before
+the moths leave them, but how the operation is performed is not
+described or explained.  Pupa cases from earth consist of two
+principal parts: the blunt head and thorax covering, and the
+ringed abdominal sections.  With many feeders there is a long, 
+fragile tongue shield.  The head is rounded and immovable of its 
+own volition.  The abdominal part is in rings that can be turned 
+and twisted; on the tip are two tiny, needlesharp points, and on 
+each of three rings of the abdominal shield there are in many  
+cases a pair of tiny hooks, very slight projections, yet enough 
+to be of use.  Some lepidopterists think the pupa works head first 
+to the surface, pushing with the abdomen.  To me this seems impossible.  
+The more one forced the blunt head against the earth the closer 
+it would pack, and the delicate tongue shield surely would break.  
+There is no projection on the head that would loosen or lift 
+the earth.
+
+One prominent lepidopterist I know, believes the moth emerges
+underground, and works its way to the surface as it fights to
+escape a cocoon.  I consider this an utter impossibility.
+Remember the earth-encrusted cicada cases you have seen clinging 
+to the trunks of trees, after the insect has reached the surface 
+and abandoned them.  Think what would happen to the delicate moth
+head, wings, and downy covering!  I am willing to wager all I
+possess, that no lepidopterist, or any amateur, ever found a 
+freshly emerged moth from an underground case with the faintest 
+trace of soil on its head or feet, or a particle of down missing;  
+as there unquestionably must be, if it forced its way to freedom 
+through the damp spring earth with its mouth and feet.
+
+The point was settled for me when, while working in my garden, 
+one came through the surface within a few inches of my fingers,
+working with the tip of the abdomen.  It turned, twisted, dug 
+away the dirt, fastened the abdominal tip, pulled up the head, 
+and then bored with the tip again.  Later I saw several others 
+emerge in the same way, and then made some experiments that 
+forever convinced me that this is the only manner in which ground 
+pupae possibly  could emerge.
+
+One writer I had reason to suppose standard authority stated that
+caterpillars from Citheronia Regalis eggs emerged in sixteen days.
+So I boxed some eggs deposited on the eleventh, labelled them due
+to produce caterpillars on the twenty-seventh and put away the box
+to be attended on that date.  Having occasion to move it on the
+twentyfourth, I peeped in and found half my caterpillars out and
+starved, proving that they had been hatched at least thirty-six 
+hours or longer; half the others so feeble they soon became 
+inactive, and the remainder survived and pupated.  But if the time 
+specified had been allowed to elapse, every  caterpillar would 
+have starved.
+
+One of the books I read preparatory to doing this work asserts
+concerning spinners: "Most caterpillars make some sort of cocoon
+or shelter, which may be of pure silk neatly wound, or of silk
+mixed with hair and all manner of external things--such as pieces 
+of leaf, bark, moss, and lichen, and even grains of earth."
+
+I have had caterpillars spin by the hundred, in boxes containing
+most of these things, have gathered outdoor cocoons by the peck,
+and microscopically examined dozens of them, and with the
+exception of leaf, twig, bark, or some other foundation against
+which it was spun, I never have seen a cocoon with shred, filament,
+or particle of anything used in its composition that was not drawn
+from the spinning tube or internal organism of the caterpillar,
+with the possible exception of a few hairs from the tubercles.  I
+have been told by other workers that they have had captive caterpillars 
+use earth and excrement in their cocoons.
+
+This same work, in an article on protective colouration, lays
+emphasis on the statement that among pupa cases artificially
+fastened to different objects out of doors, "the elimination was
+ninety-two per cent on fences where pupae were conspicuous, as
+against fifty-two per cent among nettles, where they were inconspicuous."
+This statement is elaborated and commented upon as making a strong 
+point for colourative protection through inconspicuousness.
+
+Personally, I think the nettles did the work, regardless of colour.
+I have learned to much experience afield that a patch of nettles or
+thistles afford splendid protection to any form of life that can
+survive them.  I have seen insects and nesting birds find a safety
+in their shelter, unknown to their kind that home elsewhere.  The
+test is not fair enough to be worth consideration.  If these same
+pupae had been as conspicuously  placed as on the fence, on any
+EDIBLE GROWTH, in the same location as the fence, and then left to
+the mercy of playing children, grazing stock, field mice, snakes,
+bats, birds, insects and parasites, the story of what happened to 
+them would have been different.  I doubt very seriously if it 
+would have proved the point those lepidopterists started out to 
+make in these conditions, which are the only fair ones under which 
+such an experiment could be made.
+
+Many people mentioned in connexion with the specimens they brought 
+me have been more than kind in helping to collect the material 
+this volume contains; but its publication scarcely would have been 
+possible to me had it not been for the enthusiasm of one girl who 
+prefers not to be mentioned and the work of a seventeen-year-old 
+boy, Raymond Miller.  He has been my sole helper in many difficult 
+days of field work among the birds, and for the moths his interest 
+reached such a pitch that he spent many hours afield in search of 
+eggs, caterpillars, cocoons, and moths, when my work confined me 
+to the cabin.  He has carried to me many of my rarest cocoons, 
+and found in their native haunts several moths needed to complete 
+the book.  It is to be hoped that these wonderful days afield have 
+brought their own compensation, for kindness such as his I never 
+can reward adequately.  The book proves my indebtedness to the 
+Deacon and to Molly-Cotton.  I also owe thanks to Bob Burdette Black, 
+the oldest and warmest friend of my bird work, for many fine moths 
+and cocoons, and to Professor R. R. Rowley for the laborious task 
+of scientifically criticizing this book and with unparalleled 
+kindness lending a helping hand where an amateur stumbled.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II  MOTHS, EGGS, CATERPILLARS, WINTER QUARTERS
+
+
+If you are too fastidious to read this chapter, it will be your
+permanent loss, for it contains the life history, the evolution of
+one of the most amazingly complicated and delicately beautiful
+creatures in existence.  There are moths that come into the world,
+accomplish the functions that perpetuate their kind, and go out,
+without having taken any nourishment.  There are others that feed
+and live for a season.  Some fly in the morning, others in the glare 
+of noon, more in the evening, and the most important class of big, 
+exquisitely lovely  ones only at night.  This explains why so many  
+people never have seen them, and it is a great pity, for the nocturnal, 
+non-feeding moths are birdlike in size, flower-like in rare and 
+complicated colouring, and of downy, silent wing.
+
+The moths that fly by day and feed are of the Sphinginae group,
+Celeus and Carolina, or Choerocampinae, which includes the 
+exquisite Deilephila Lineata, and its cousins; also Sphingidae,
+which cover the clear-winged Hemaris diffinis and Thysbe.  Among
+those that fly at night only and take no food are the members of
+what is called the Attacine group, comprising our largest and
+commonest moth, Cecropia; also its near relative Gloveri, smaller
+than Cecropia and oflovely rosy wine-colour; Angulifera, the male 
+greyish brown, the female yellowish red; Promethea, the male
+resembling a monster Mourning Cloak butterfly and the female
+bearing exquisite red-wine flushings; Cynthia, beautiful in shades 
+of olive green, sprinkled with black, crossed by bands of pinkish 
+lilac and bearing crescents partly yellow, the remainder transparent.  
+There are also the deep yellow Io, pale blue-green Luna, and 
+Polyphemus, brown with pink bands of the Saturniidae; and light 
+yellow, red-brown and grey Regalis, and lavender and yellow 
+Imperialis of the Ceratocampidae, and their relatives.  Modest 
+and lovely Modesta belongs with the Smerinthinae group; and there 
+are others, feeders and non-feeders, forming a list too long to
+irncorporate, for I have not mentioned the Catocalae family, the
+fore-wings of which resemble those of several members of the
+Sphinginae, in colour, and when they take flight, the back ones 
+flash out colours that run the gamut from palest to deepest reds, 
+yellows, and browns, crossed by wide circling bands of black; with 
+these, occasionally the black so predominates that it appears as 
+if the wing were black and the bands of other colour.  All of them 
+are so exquisitely beautiful that neither the most exacting 
+descriptions, nor photographs from life, nor water colours faithfully  
+copied from living subjects can do them justice.  They must be seen
+alive, newly emerged, down intact, colours at their most brilliant 
+shadings, to be appreciated fully.  With the exception of feeding 
+or refraining from eating, the life processes of all these are 
+very similar.
+
+Moths are divided into three parts, the head, thorax, and abdomen,
+with the different organs of each.  The head carries the source of
+sight, scent, and the mouth parts, if the moth feeds, while the
+location of the ears is not yet settled definitely.  Some
+scientists place hearing in the antennae, others in a little organ
+on each side the base of the abdomen.  Packard writes: "The eyes
+are large and globose and vary in the distance apart in different
+families":  but fails to tell what I want to know most: the range 
+and sharpness of their vision.  Another writer states that the eyes 
+are so incomplete in development that a moth only can distinguish 
+light from darkness and cannot discern your approach at over five feet.
+
+This accords with my experience with Cecropia, Polyphemus,
+Regalis, and Imperialis.  Luna either can see better, hear acutely,
+or is naturally of more active habit.  It is difficult to capture
+by hand in daytime; and Promethea acts as if its vision were even
+clearer.  This may be the case, as it flies earlier in the day
+than any of the others named, being almost impossible to take by
+hand unless it is bound to a given spot by sex attraction.
+Unquestionably the day fliers that feed--the Sphinginae and
+Choerocampinae groups--have fairly good vision, as also the little
+"Clear-wings" tribe, for they fly straight to the nectar-giving 
+flowers and fruits they like best to feed upon, and it is extra 
+good luck if you capture one by hand or even with a net.  It must 
+be remembered that all of them see and go to a bright light at 
+night from long distances.
+
+Holland writes: "The eyes of moths are often greatly developed,"  
+but makes no definite statements as to their range of vision, until 
+he reaches the Catocalae family, of which he records:  "The hind 
+wings are, however, most brilliantly coloured.  In some species 
+they are banded with pink, in others with crimson; still others have
+markings of yellow, orange, or snowy white on a background of jet
+black.  These colours are distinctive of the species to a greater
+or less extent.  They are only displayed at night.  The conclusion 
+is irresistibly forced upon us that the eyes of these creatures are 
+capable of discriminating these colours in the darkness.  We cannot 
+do it.  No human eye in the blackness of the night can distinguish 
+red from orange or crimson from yellow.  The human eye is the greatest 
+of all anatomical marvels, and the most wonderful piece of animal 
+mechanism in the world, but not all of power is lodged within it.  
+There are other allied mechanisms which have the power of responding 
+to certain forms of radiant energy to a degiee which it does not possess."
+
+This conclusion is not "irresistibly forced" upon me.  I do believe, 
+know in fact, that all day-flying, feeding moths have keener sight 
+and longer range of vision than non-feeders; but I do not believe 
+the differing branches of the Catocalae group, or moths of any family, 
+locate each other "in the blackness of night," by  seeing markings 
+distinctly.  I can think of no proof that moths, butterflies or any  
+insects recognize or appreciate colour.  Male moths mate with females 
+of their kind distinctly different from them in colour, and male 
+butterflies pair with albinos of their species, when these differ 
+widely from the usual colouring.
+
+A few moths are also provided with small simple eyes called ocelli;  
+these are placed on top of the head and are so covered with down
+they cannot be distinguished save by experts.  Mueller believes
+that these are for the perception of objects close to a moth while
+the compound eyes see farther, but he does not prove it.
+
+If the moth does not feed, the mouth parts are scarcely developed.
+If a feeder, it has a long tongue that can be coiled in a cleft in
+the face between the palpi, which Packard thinks were originally
+the feelers.  This tongue is formed of two grooved parts so
+fastened together as to make a tube through which it takes flower
+and fruit nectar and the juices of decaying animal matter.
+
+What are thought by some to be small organs of touch lie on either
+side the face, but the exact use of these is yet under discussion,
+It is wofully difficult to learn some of these things.
+
+In my experience the antennae, are the most sensitive, and
+therefore the most important organs of the head--to me.  In the
+Attacine group these stand out like delicately cut tiny fern
+fronds or feathers, always being broader and more prominent on the
+male.  Other families are very similar and again they differ
+widely.  You will find moths having pointed hair-like antennae;
+others heaviest at the tip in club shape, or they may be of even
+proportion but flat, or round, or a feathered shaft so fine as to
+be unnoticed as it lies pressed against the face.  Some writers say
+the antennae are the seat of scent, touch, and hearing.  I had not
+thought nature so impoverished in evolving her forms as to overwork
+one delicate little organ for three distinct purposes.  The
+antennae are situated close where the nose is, in almost every
+form of life, and I would prefer to believe that they are the
+organs of scent and feeling.  I know a moth suffers most over any  
+injury to them; but one takes flight no quicker or more precipitately  
+at a touch on the antennae than on the head, wing, leg, or abdomen.
+
+We are safe in laying down a law that antennae are homologous organs
+and used for identical purposes on all forms of life carrying them.  
+The short antennae of grasshoppers appear to be organs of scent.  
+The long hair-fine ones of katydids and crickets may be also, but 
+repeatedly I have seen these used to explore the way ahead over leaves 
+and limbs, the insect feeling its path and stepping where a touch 
+assures it there is safe footing.  Katydids, crickets, and 
+grasshoppers all have antennae, and all of these have ears definitely  
+located; hence their feelers are not for auricular purposes.  
+According to my logic those of the moth cannot be either.  I am quite 
+sure that primarily they serve the purpose of a nose, as they  
+are too short in most cases to be of much use as `feelers,' although 
+that is undoubtedly their secondary  office.  If this be true, it 
+explains the larger organs ofthe male.  The female emerges from 
+winter quarters so weighted with carrying from two to six hundred 
+eggs, that she usually remains and develops where she is.  This
+throws the business of finding her location on the male.  He is
+compelled to take wing and hunt until he discovers her; hence his
+need of more acute sense of scent and touch.  The organ that is
+used most is the one that develops in the evolution of any form
+of life.
+
+I can well believe that the antennae are most important to a moth,
+for a broken one means a spoiled study for me.  It starts the
+moth tremulously shivering, aimlessly beating, crazy, in fact,
+and there is no hope of it posing for a picture.  Doctor Clemens
+records that Cecropia could neither, walk nor fly, but wheeled in
+a senseless, manner when deprived of its antennae.  This makes
+me sure that they are the seat of highest sensibility, for I
+have known in one or two cases of chloroformed moths reviving and
+without struggle or apparent discomfort, depositing eggs in a
+circle around them, while impaled to a setting board with a pin
+thrust through the thorax where it of necessity must have passed
+through or very close the nervous cord and heart.
+
+The moth is covered completely with silken down like tiny scales,
+coloured and marked according to species, and so lightly attached
+that it adheres to the cocoon on emergence and clings to the
+fingers at the lightest touch.  From the examination of specimens 
+I have taken that had disfigured themselves, it appears that a moth 
+rubbed bare of down would seem as if covered with thinly cut, highly  
+polished horn, fastened together in divisions.  This is called 
+`chitine' by scientists.
+
+The thorax bears four wings, and six legs, each having five joints
+and ending in tiny claws.  The wings are many-veined membranous
+sacs, covered with scales that are coloured according to species
+and arranged to form characteristic family markings.  They are a
+framework usually of twelve hollow tubes or veins that are so
+connected with the respiratory organs as to be pneumatic.  These
+tubes support double membranes covered above and below with down.
+At the bases of the wings lie their nerves.  The fore-wings each 
+have a heavy rib running from the base and gradually decreasing 
+to the tip.  This is called the costa.  Its purpose is to bear 
+the brunt of air-pressure in flight.  On account of being compelled 
+to fly so much more than the females, the back wings of the males 
+of many species have developed a secondary rib that fits under 
+and supports the front, also causing both to work together with 
+the same impulse to flight.  A stiff bunch of bristles serves the 
+same purpose in most females, while some have a lobe extending 
+from the fore-wing.  As long as the costa remains unbroken to 
+preserve balance, a moth that has become entangled in bushes 
+or suffered rough treatment from birds can fly  with badly  
+damaged wing surfaces.
+
+In some species, notably the Attacine group and all non-feeding,
+night-flying moths, the legs are short, closely covered with long
+down of the most delicate colours of the moth, and sometimes
+decorated with different shades.  Luna has beautiful lavender legs,
+Imperialis yellow, and Regalis red-brown.  The day-flying, feeding
+group have longer, slenderer legs, covered with shorter down, and
+carry more elaborate markings.  This provision is to enable them
+to cling firmly to flower or twig while feeding, to help them to
+lift the body higher, and walk dextrously in searching for food.
+It is also noticeable that these moths have, for their size,
+comparatively much longer, slenderer wings than the non-feeders,
+and they can turn them back and fold them together in the fly
+position, thus enabling them to force their way into nectar-bearing
+flowers of trumpet shape.
+
+The abdomen is velvet soft to the touch, and divided into rings
+called segments, these being so joined that this member can be
+turned and twisted at will.  In all cases the last ring contains
+the sex organs.  The large abdomen of the female carries several
+hundred embryo eggs, and that of the male the seminal fluid.
+
+Much has been written of moths being able to produce odours that
+attract the sexes, and that are so objectionable as to protect
+them from birds, mice, and bats.  Some believe there are scent
+glands in a few species under the wing scales.  I have critically
+examined scores of wings as to colour markings, but never
+noticed or smelled these.  On some, tufts of bristlelike hairs can
+be thrust out, that give a discernible odour; but that this
+carries any distance or is a large factor in attracting the sexes
+I do not believe so firmly, after years of practical experience, as
+I did in the days when I had most of my moth history from books.
+I have seen this theory confounded so often in practice.
+
+In June of 1911, close six o'clock in the evening, I sat on the
+front veranda of the Cabin, in company with my family, and
+watched three moths sail past us and around the corner, before 
+I remembered that on the screen of the music-room window to the 
+east there was a solitary female Promethea moth, that day emerged 
+from a cocoon sent me by Professor Rowley.  I hurried to the room 
+and found five male moths fluttering before the screen or clinging 
+to the wild grape and sweet brier vines covering it.  I opened the 
+adjoining window and picked up three of the handsomest with my 
+fingers, placing them inside the screen.  Then I returned to 
+the veranda.
+
+Moths kept coming.  We began studying the conditions.  The
+female had emerged in the diningroom on the west side of the
+cabin.  On account of the intense heat of the afternoon sun, that
+side of the building had been tightly closed all day.  At four
+o'clock the moth was placed on the east window, because it was
+sheltered with vines.  How soon the first male found her, I do not
+know.  There was quite a stiff evening breeze blowing from the
+west, so that any odour from her would have been carried on east.
+We sat there and watched and counted six more moths, every one of
+which came down wind from the west, flying high, above the
+treetops in fact, and from the direction of a little tree-filled
+plot called Studabaker's woods.  Some of them we could distinguish 
+almost a block away coming straight toward the Cabin, and sailing 
+around the eastern corner with the precision of hounds on a hot trail.
+How they knew, the Almighty  knows; I do not pretend to; but
+that there was odour distilled by that one female, practically
+imperceptible to us (she merely smelled like a moth), yet of such
+strength as to penetrate screen, vines, and roses and reach her
+kind a block away, against considerable breeze, I never shall
+believe.
+
+The fact is, that moths smell like other moths of the same species,
+and within a reasonable radius they undoubtedly  attract each
+other.  In the same manner birds carry a birdlike odour, and
+snakes, frogs, fish, bees, and all animals have a scent peculiar 
+to themselves.  No dog mistakes the odour of a cat for that of
+another dog.  A cow does not follow the scent of horses to find
+other cattle.  No moth hunts a dragon-fly, a butterfly, or in my
+experience, even a moth of another species in its search for a
+mate.  How male moths work the miracles I have seen them accomplish
+in locating females, I cannot explain.  As the result of acts we
+see them perform, we credit some forms of life with much keener
+scent than others, and many with having the power more highly  
+developed than people.  The only standard by which we can determine 
+the effect that the odour of one insect, bird, or animal has upon 
+another is by the effect it has upon us.  That a male moth can 
+smell a female a block away, against the wind, when I can detect 
+only a faint musky odour within a foot of her, I do not credit.
+
+Primarily the business of moths is to meet, mate, and deposit
+eggs that will produce more moths.  This is all of life with those
+that do not take food.  That they add the completing touch and
+most beautiful form of life to a few exquisite May and June nights
+is their extra good fortune, not any part of the affair of living.
+With moths that feed and live after reproduction, mating and egg
+placing comes first.  In all cases the rule is much, the same.  The
+moths emerge, dry their wings, and reach full development the
+first day.  In freedom, the females being weighted with eggs seldom
+attempt to fly.  They remain where they are, thrust out the egg
+placer from the last ring of the abdomen and wait.  By ten o'clock 
+the males, in such numbers as to amaze a watcher, find them
+and remain until almost morning.  Broad antennae, slenderer
+abdomen, and the claspers used in holding the female in mating,
+smaller wings and more brilliant markings are the signs by which
+the male can be told in most cases.  In several of the Attacine
+group, notably Promethea, the male and female differ widely in
+markings and colour.  Among the other non-feeders the difference 
+is slight.  The male Regalis has the longest, most gracefully  
+curved abdomen and the most prominent claspers of any moth I ever
+examined; but the antennae are so delicate and closely pressed
+against the face most of the time as to be concealed until
+especially  examined.  I have noticed that among the moths bearing
+large, outstanding antennae, the claspers are less prominent than
+with those having small, inconspicuous head parts.  A fine pair of
+antennae, carried forward as by a big, fully developed Cecropia,
+are as ornamental to the moth as splendidly branching antlers are
+to the head of a deer.
+
+The female now begins egg placing.  This requires time, as one of
+these big night moths deposits from three hundred and fifty to
+over six hundred eggs.  These lie in embryonic state in the abdomen
+of the female.  At her maturity they ripen rapidly.  When they  
+are ready to deposit, she is forced to place them whether she has 
+mated or not.  In case a mate has found her, a small pouch near 
+the end of her abdomen is filled with a fluid that touches each 
+egg in passing and renders it fertile.  The eggs differ with species 
+and are placed according to family  characteristics.  They may be 
+pure white, pearl-coloured, grey, greenish, or yellow.  There are 
+round, flat, and oblong eggs.  These are placed differently in 
+freedom and captivity.  A moth in a natural location glues her eggs, 
+often one at a time, on the under or upper side of leaves.  Sometimes 
+she dots several in a row, or again makes a number of rows, like a
+little beaded mat.  One authority I have consulted states that
+"The eggs are always laid by the female in a state of freedom upon
+the food-plant which is most congenial to the larvae."  This has not
+'always' been the case in my experience.  I have found eggs on
+stone walls, boards, fences, outbuildings, and on the bark of dead
+trees and stumps as well as living, even on the ground.  This also,
+has been the case with the women who wrote "Caterpillars and their
+Moths", the most invaluable work on the subject ever compiled.
+
+A captive moth feels and resents her limitations.  I cannot force
+one to mate even in a large box.  I must free her in the conservatory, 
+in a room, or put her on an outside window br door screen.  Under 
+these conditions one will place her eggs more nearly as in freedom;  
+but this makes them difficult to find and preserve.  Placed in a 
+box and forced by nature to deposit her eggs, as a rule, she will 
+remain in one spot and heap them up until she is forced to move to 
+make room for more.  One big female Regalis of the last chapter 
+of this book placed them a thimbleful at a time; but the little 
+caterpillars came rolling out in all directions when due.  In my  
+experience, they  finish in four or five nights, although I have 
+read of moths having lived and placed eggs for ten, some species 
+being said to have deposited over a thousand.  Seven days is 
+usually the limit of life for these big night moths with me;  
+they merely grow inactive and sluggish until the very last, when 
+almost invariably they are seized with a muscular attack, in which 
+they beat themselves to rags and fringes, as if resisting the 
+overcoming lethargy.  It is because of this that I have been forced 
+to resort to the gasoline bottle a few times when I found it impossible 
+to paint from the living moth; but I do not put one to sleep unless 
+I am compelled.
+
+I never have been able to induce a female to mate after confinement
+had driven her to begin depositing her eggs, not even under the
+most favourable conditions I could offer, although others record
+that they have been so fortunate.  Repeatedly I have experimented
+with males and females of different species, but with no success.
+I have not seem a polygamous moth; but have read of experiences
+with them.
+
+Sometimes the eggs have a smooth surface, again they may be
+ridged or like hammered brass or silver.  The shells are very
+thin and break easily.  At one side a place can be detected where
+the fertilizing fluid enters.  The coming caterpillar begins to
+develop at once and emerges in from six to thirty days, with the
+exception of a few eggs placed in the fall that produce during the
+following spring.  The length of the egg period differs with
+species and somewhat with the same moths, according to suitable or
+unfavourable placing, and climatic conditions.  Do not accept the
+experience of any one if you have eggs you very much desire to
+be productive of the caterpillars of rare moths; after six days 
+take a peep every day if you would be on the safe side.  With many  
+species the shells are transparent, and for the last few days 
+before emergence the growth of the little caterpillars can be 
+watched through them.
+
+When matured they break or eat a hole in their shells and emerge,
+seeming much too large for the space they occupied.  Family
+characteristics show at once.  Many of them immediately turn and
+eat their shells as if starving; others are more deliberate.  Some
+grace around for a time as if exercising and then return and eat
+their shells; others walk briskly away and do not dine on
+shell for the first meal.  Usually all of them rest close
+twenty-four hours before beginning on leaves.  Once they commence
+feeding in favourable conditions they eat enormously and grow so
+rapidly they soon become too large for their skins to hold them
+another instant; so they pause and stop eating for a day or two
+while new skin forms.  Then the old is discarded and eaten for a 
+first meal, with the exception of the face covering.  At the same 
+time the outer skin is cast the intestinal lining is thrown off, 
+and practically a new caterpillar, often bearing different markings,
+begins to feed again.
+
+These moults occur from four to six times in the development of the
+caterpillar; at each it emerges larger, brighter, often with
+other changes of colour, and eats more voraciously as it grows.
+With me, in handling caterpillars about which I am anxious,
+their moulting time is critical.  I lost many until I learned to
+clean their boxes thoroughly the instant they stopped eating and
+leave them alone until they exhibited hunger signs again.  They
+eat greedily of the leaves preferred by each species, doing best
+when the foliage is washed and drops of water left for them to
+drink as they would find dew and rain out of doors.  Professor
+Thomson, of the chair of Natural History of the University of
+Aberdeen, makes this statement in his "Biology of the Seasons",
+"Another feature in the life of caterpillars is their enormous
+appetite.  Some of them seem never to stop eating, and a species 
+of Polyphemus is said to eat eighty-six thousand times its own 
+weight in a day."  I notice Doctor Thomson does not say that he 
+knows this, but uses the convenient phrase, "it is said."  This 
+is an utter impossibility.  The skin of no living creature will 
+contain eighty-six thousand times its own weight in a day.  I 
+have raised enough caterpillars to know that if one ate three 
+times its own weight in a day it would have performed a skin-
+stretching feat.  Long after writing this, but before the 
+manuscript left my hands, I found that the origin of this statement 
+lies in a table compiled by Trouvelot, in which he estimates that 
+a Polyphemus caterpillar ten days old weighs one half grain, or 
+ten times its original weight; at twenty days three grains, or 
+sixty times its first weight; and so on until at fifty-six days 
+it weighs two hundred and seven grains, or four thousand one hundred 
+and forty times its first weight.  To this he adds one half ounce 
+of water and concludes: "So the food taken by a single silkworm in
+fifty-six days equals in weight eighty-six thousand times the
+primitive weight of the worm."  This is a far cry from eating
+eighty-six thousand times its own weight in a day and upholds in
+part my contention in the first chapter, that people attempting to
+write upon these subjects "are not always rightly informed."
+
+When the feeding period is finished in freedom, the caterpillar, 
+if hairless, must be ready to evolve from its interior, the
+principal part of the winter quarters characteristic of its species
+while changing to the moth form, and in the case of non-feeders, 
+sustenance for the lifetime of the moth also.  Similar to the moth, 
+the caterpillar is made up of three parts, head, thorax, and abdomen, 
+with the organs and appendages of each.  Immediately  after moulting 
+the head appears very large, and seems much too heavy for the size 
+of the body.  At the end of a feeding period and just previous to 
+another moult the body has grown until the head is almost lost from 
+sight, and it now seems small and insignificant; so that the appearance 
+of a caterpillar depends on whether you examine it before or after
+moulting.
+
+The head is made up of rings or segments, the same as the body, but
+they are so closely set that it seems to be a flat, round, or
+pointed formation with discernible rings on the face before casting
+time.  The eyes are of so simple form that they are supposed only
+to distinguish light from darkness.  The complicated mouth is at
+the lower part of the head.  It carries a heavy pair of cutters
+with which the caterpillar bites off large pieces of leaf, a first
+pair of grinders with which it macerates the food, and a second
+pair that join in forming the under lip.  There is also the tube that
+connects with the silk glands and ends in the spinneret.  Through 
+this tube a fluid is forced that by movements of the head the 
+caterpillar attaches where it will and draws into fine threads that 
+at once harden in silk.  This organism is sufficiently developed 
+for use in a newly emerged caterpillar, for it can spin threads by  
+which to drop from leaf to leaf or to guide it back to a starting 
+point.
+
+The thorax is covered by the first three rings behind the head,
+and on it are six legs, two on each segment.  The remainder of the
+caterpillar is abdominal and carries small pro-legs with which to
+help it cling to twigs and leaves, and the heavy anal props that
+support the vent.  By using these and several of the pro-legs
+immediately before them, the caterpillar can cling and erect the
+front part of the body so that it can strike from side to side
+when disturbed.  In the case of caterpillars that have a horn, as
+Celeus, or sets of them as Regalis, in this attitude they really
+appear quite formidable, and often I have seen them drive away
+small birds, while many  people flee shrieking.
+
+There are little tubes that carry air to the trachea, as
+caterpillars have no lungs and can live with a very small amount
+of air.
+
+The skin may be rough, granulated, or soft and fine as silk, and
+in almost every instance of exquisite colour: bluish green,
+greenish blue, wonderful yellows and from pale to deep wine red,
+many species having oblique touches of contrasting colours on the
+abdominal rings.  Others are marked with small projections of
+bright colours from which tufts of hair or bristles may grow.  In
+some, as Io, these bristles are charged with an irritating acid
+that will sting for an hour after coming in contact with the skin,
+but does no permanent injury.  On a few there are what seem to be 
+small pockets of acid that can be ejected with a jerk, and on some 
+a sort of filament that is supposed to distil a disagreeable odour.  
+As the caterpillar only uses these when disturbed, it is safe to 
+presume that they  are placed for defence, but as in the case of 
+moths I doubt their efficacy.
+
+Some lepidopterists have thought the sex of a moth could be
+regulated by the amount of food given the caterpillar; but with
+my numerous other doubts I include this.  It is all of a piece
+with any attempt at sex regulation.  I regard it as morally certain 
+that sex goes back to the ovary and that the egg produced yields a 
+male or female caterpillar in the beginning.  I am becoming convinced 
+that caterpillars recognize sex in each other, basing the theory  
+on the facts that in half a dozen instances I have found cocoons, 
+spun only a few inches apart.  One pair brought to me as interwoven.  
+Two of these are shown in the following chapter.  In all cases a male 
+and female emerged within a few minutes of each other and mated as 
+soon as possible.  If a single pair of these cocoons ever had produced 
+two of a kind, it would give rise to doubts.  When all of them proved
+to be male and female that paired, it seems to me to furnish
+conclusive evidence that the caterpillars knew what they were
+doing, and spun in the same place for the purpose of appearing
+together.
+
+At maturity, usually near five weeks, the full-fed caterpillar
+rests a day, empties the intestines, and races around searching for
+a suitable place to locate winter quarters.  With burrowing
+caterpillars that winter in pupa cases, soft earth or rotting wood
+is found and entered by working their way with the heads and
+closing it with the hind parts.  At the desired depth they push in
+all directions with such force that a hollow larger, but shaped as
+a hen's egg, is worked out; usually this is six or more inches below 
+the surface.  So compactly is the earth forced back, that fall rains, 
+winter's alternate freezing and thawing, always a mellowing process, 
+and spring downpours do not break up the big ball, often larger than 
+a quart bowl, that surrounds the case of the pupa.  It has been
+thought by some and recorded, that this ball is held in place by
+spinning or an acid ejected by the caterpillar.  I never have
+heard of any one else who has had my luck in lifting these earth
+balls intact, opening, and photographing them and their contents.
+I have examined them repeatedly and carefully.  I can find not the
+slightest trace of spinning or adhesion other than by force.
+
+With one of these balls lifted and divided, we decided what
+happened underground by detaining a caterpillar on the surface and
+forcing it to transform before us, for this change is not optional.
+When the time comes the pupa must evolve.  So the caterpillar lies
+on the earth, gradually growing shorter, the skin appearing dry
+and the horns drooping.  There never is a trace of spinning or acid
+ejected in the sand buckets.  When the change is completed there
+begins a violent twisting and squirming.  The caterpillar skin opens 
+in a straight line just behind the head on the back, and by working
+with the pointed abdomen the pupa case emerges.  The cast skin
+rapidly darkens, and as I never have found a trace of it in an
+opened earth ball in the spring, I suppose it disintegrates
+rapidly, or what is more possible, is eaten by small borers that
+swarm through the top six inches of the earth's crust.
+
+The pupa is thickly coated with a sticky substance that seems to
+serve the double purpose of facilitating its exit from the
+caterpillar skin and to dry over it in a glossy waterproof
+coating.  At first the pupa is brownish green and flattened, but as
+it dries it rapidly darkens in colour and assumes the shape of a
+perfect specimen.  Concerning this stage of the evolution of a moth
+the doctors disagree.
+
+The emergence I have watched repeatedly, studied photographically,
+and recorded in the tabulated records from which I wrote the
+following life histories.  At time to appear I believe the pupa
+bores its way with the sharp point of the abdomen; at least I
+have seen Celeus, and Carolina, Regalis and Imperialis coming
+through the surface, abdomen tip first.  Once free, they press 
+with the feet against the wing shields, burst them away and leave 
+the case at the thorax.  Each moth I ever have seen emerge has been 
+wet and the empty  case damp inside.  I have poured three large 
+drops of pinkish liquid the consistency of thin cream from the abdominal
+rings of a Regalis case.  Undoubtedly this liquid is ejected by
+the moth to enable it to break loose from and leave the case with
+its delicate down intact.  The furry scales of its covering are so
+loosely set that any violent struggle with dry down would disfigure 
+the moth.
+
+Among Cecropia and its Attacine cousins, also Luna, Polyphemus, and
+all other spinners the process is practically the same, save that
+it is much more elaborate; most of all with Cecropia, that spins
+the largest cocoon I ever have seen, and it varies its work more
+than any of the others.  Lengthwise of a slender twig it spins a
+long, slim cocoon; on a board or wall, roomier and wider at the
+bottom, and inside hollow trees, and under bridges, big baggy
+quarters of exquisite reddish tan colours that do not fade as do
+those exposed to the weather.  The typical cocoon of the species 
+is that spun on a fence or outbuilding, not the slender work on 
+the alders or the elaborate quarters of the bridge.  On a board 
+the process is to cover the space required with a fine spinning 
+that glues firmly to the wood.  Then the worker takes a firm grip 
+with the anal props and lateral feet and begins drawing out long 
+threads that start at the top, reach down one side, across the 
+bottom and back to the top again, where each thread is cut and 
+another begun.  As long as the caterpillar can be seen through 
+its work, it remains in the same position and throws the head 
+back and around to carry the threads.  I never thought of 
+counting these movements while watching a working spinner, but 
+some one who has, estimates that Polyphemus, that spins a cocoon 
+not one fourth the size of Cecropia, moves the head a quarter 
+of a million times in guiding the silk thread.  When a thin webbing 
+is spun and securely  attached all around the edges it is pushed 
+out in the middle and gummed all over the inside with a liquid glue 
+that oozes through, coalesces and hardens in a waterproof covering.  
+Then a big nest of crinkly silk threads averaging from three to 
+four inches in length are spun, running from the top down one side, 
+up the other, and the cut ends drawn closely together.  One writer 
+states that this silk has no commercial value; while Packard thinks 
+it has.  I attach greater weight to his opinion.  Next comes the 
+inner case.  For this the caterpillar loosens its hold and completely  
+surrounds itself with a small case of compact work.  This in turn is
+saturated with the glue and forms in a thick, tough case, rough on
+the outside, the top not so solidly spun as the other walls;
+inside dark brown and worn so smooth it seems as if oiled, from the
+turning of the caterpillar.  In this little chamber close the
+length and circumference of an average sized woman's two top joints
+of the first finger, the caterpillar transforms to the pupa stage,
+crowding its cast skin in a wad at the bottom.
+
+At time for emergence the moth bursts the pupa case, which is
+extremely thin and papery compared with the cases of burrowing
+species.  We know by the wet moth that liquid is ejected, although
+we cannot see the wet spot on the top of the inner case of Cecropia
+as we can with Polyphemus, that does not spin the loose outer case
+and silk nest.  From here on the moths emerge according to species.
+Some work with their mouths and fore feet.  Some have rough 
+projections on the top of the head, and others little sawlike 
+arrangements at the bases of the wings.  In whatever manner they  
+free themselves, all of them are wet when they leave their quarters.  
+Sometimes the gathered silk ends comb sufficient down from an 
+emerging Cecropia to leave a terra cotta rim around the opening 
+from which it came; but I never saw one lose enough at this time 
+to disfigure it.  On very rare occasions a deformed moth appears.  
+I had a Cecropia with one wing no larger than my thumb nail, and 
+it never developed.  This is caused by the moth sustaining an injury  
+to the wing in emergence.  If the membrane is slightly punctured 
+the liquid forced into the wing for its development escapes and 
+there is no enlargement.
+
+Also, in rare instances, a moth is unable to escape at all and is
+lost if it is not assisted; but this is precarious business and
+should not be attempted unless you are positive the moth will die
+if you do not interfere.  The struggle it takes to emerge is a part
+of the life process of the moth and quickens its circulation and
+develops its strength for the affairs of life afterward.  If the
+feet have a steady pull to drag forth the body, they will be 
+strong enough to bear its weight while the wings dry and develop.
+
+All lepidopterists mention the wet condition of the moths when they
+emerge.  Some explain that an acid is ejected to soften the pupa
+case so that the moth can cut its way  out; others go a step
+farther and state that the acid is from the mouth.  I am extremely
+curious about this.  I want to know just what this acid is and
+where it comes from.  I know of no part of the thorax provided with
+a receptacle for the amount of liquid used to flood a case, dampen
+a moth, and leave several drops in the shell.
+
+As soon as a moth can find a suitable place to cling after it is
+out, it hangs by the feet and dries the wings and down.  Long
+before it is dry if you try to move a moth or cause disturbance,
+it will eject several copious jets of a spray from the abdomen
+that appears, smells and tastes precisely like the liquid found in
+the abandoned case.  If protected from the lightest touch it will
+do the same.  It appeals to me that this liquid is abdominal,
+partly thrown off to assist the moth in emergence; something
+very like that bath of birth which accompanies and facilitates
+human entrance into the world.  It helps the struggling moth in
+separating from the case, wets the down so that it will pass the
+small opening, reduces the large abdomen so that it will escape the
+exit, and softens the case and silk where the moth is working.
+With either male or female the increase in size is so rapid that
+neither could be returned to their cases five minutes after they
+have left them.
+
+It is generally supposed that the spray thrown by a developing
+moth is for the purpose of attracting others of its kind.  I have
+my doubts.  With moths that have been sheltered and not even
+touched by a breath of wind, this spray is thrown very frequently  
+before the moth is entirely dry, long before it is able to fly  
+and before the ovipositor is thrust out.  According to my sense of 
+smell there is very little odour to the spray and what there is 
+would be dissipated hours before night and time for the moths to 
+fly  and seek mates.  I do not think that the spray thrown so soon 
+after escape from cocoon or case is to attract the sexes, any farther 
+than that much of it in one place on something that it would saturate 
+might leave a general `mothy' odour.  Some lepidopterists think this 
+spray a means of defence; if this is true I fail to see why it should 
+be thrown when there is nothing disturbing the moth.
+
+Many of the spinning moths use leaves for their outer foundation.
+Some appear as if snugly rolled in a leaf and hanging from a twig,
+but examination will prove that the stem is silk covered to hold
+the case when the leaf loosens.  This is the rule with all 
+Promethea cocoons I ever have seen.  Polyphemus selects a cluster 
+of leaves very frequently thorn, and weaves its cocoon against
+three, drawing them together and spinning a support the length of
+the stems, so that when the leaf is ready to fall the cocoon is
+safely anchored.  When the winter winds have beaten the edges from
+the leaves, the cocoon appears as if it were brown, having three
+ribs with veins running from them, and of triangular shape.
+Angulifera spins against the leaves but provides no support and so
+drops to the ground.  Luna spins a comparatively thin white case,
+among the leaves under the shelter of logs and stumps.  Io spins so
+slightly in confinement that the pupa case and cast skin show
+through.  I never have found a pupa out of doors, but this is a
+ground caterpillar.
+
+Sometimes the caterpillar has been stung and bad an egg placed in
+its skin by a parasite, before pupation.  In such case the pupa
+is destroyed by the developing fly.  Throughout one winter I was
+puzzled by the light weight of what appeared to be a good Polyphemus 
+cocoon, and at time for emergence amazed by the tearing and 
+scratching inside the cocoon, until what I think was an Ophion
+fly appeared.  It was honey yellow, had antennae long as its
+extremely long body, the abdomen of which was curved and the
+segments set together so as to appear notched.  The wings were
+transparent and the insect it seems is especially designed to
+attack Polyphemus caterpillars and help check a progress that
+otherwise might become devastating.
+
+Among the moths that do not feed, the year of their evolution is
+divided into about seven days for the life of the moth, from
+fifteen to thirty for the eggs, from five to six weeks for the
+caterpillar and the remainder of the time in the pupa stage.  The
+rule differs with feeding moths only in that after mating and egg
+placing they take food and live several months, often until quite
+heavy frosts have fallen.
+
+One can admire to fullest extent the complicated organism, wondrous
+colouring, and miraculous life processes in the evolution of a
+moth, but that is all.  Their faces express nothing; their
+attitudes tell no story.  There is the marvellous instinct through
+which the males locate the opposite sex of their species; but one
+cannot see instinct in the face of any creature; it must develop
+in acts.  There is no part of their lives that makes such pictures
+of mother-love as birds and animals afford.  The male finds a mate 
+and disappears.  The female places her eggs and goes out before her 
+caterpillars break their shells.  The caterpillar transforms to the 
+moth without its consent, the matter in one upbuilding the other.  
+The entire process is utterly devoid of sentiment, attachment or 
+volition on the part of the creatures involved.  They work out a 
+law as inevitable as that which swings suns, moons, and planets 
+in their courses.  They  are the most fragile and beautiful result 
+of natural law with which I am acquainted.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III The Robin Moth: Cecropia 
+
+
+When only a little child, wandering alone among the fruits and flowers 
+of our country garden, on a dead peach limb beside the fence I found 
+it--my  first Cecropia.  I was the friend of every bird, flower, and 
+butterfly.  I carried crumbs to the warblers in the sweetbrier; was 
+lifted for surreptitious peeps at the hummingbird nesting in the 
+honeysuckle; sat within a few feet of the robin in the catalpa;  
+bugged the currant bushes for the phoebe that had built for years 
+under the roof of the corn bin; and fed young blackbirds in the 
+hemlock with worms gathered from the cabbages.  I knew how to 
+insinuate myself into the private life of each bird that homed 
+on our farm, and they were many, for we valiantly battled for their 
+protection with every kind of intruder.  There were wrens in the 
+knot holes, chippies in the fences, thrushes in the brush heaps, 
+bluebirds in the hollow apple trees, cardinals in the bushes,
+tanagers in the saplings, fly-catchers in the trees, larks in the
+wheat, bobolinks in the clover, killdeers beside the creeks,
+swallows in the chimneys, and martins under the barn eaves.  My
+love encompassed all feathered and furred creatures.
+
+Every day visits were paid flowers I cared for most.  I had been
+taught not to break the garden blooms, and if a very few of the
+wild ones were taken, I gathered them carefully, and explained to
+the plants that I wanted them for my mother because she was so ill
+she could not come to them any more, and only a few touching her
+lips or lying on her pillow helped her to rest, and made vivid the
+fields and woods when the pain was severe.
+
+My love for the butterflies took on the form of adoration.  There
+was not a delicate, gaudy, winged creature of day that did not
+make so strong an appeal to my heart as to be almost painful.  It
+seemed to me that the most exquisite thoughts of God for our
+pleasure were materialized in their beauty.  My soul always craved
+colour, and more brilliancy could be found on one butterfly wing
+than on many flower faces.  I liked to slip along the bloom-bordered 
+walks of that garden and stand spell-bound, watching a black velvet 
+butterfly, which trailed wings painted in white, red, and green, as 
+it clambered over a clump of sweet-williams, and indeed, the flowers 
+appeared plain compared with it!  Butterflies have changed their 
+habits since then.  They fly so high!  They are all among the 
+treetops now.  They used to flit around the cinnamon pinks, larkspur, 
+ragged-robins and tiger lilies, within easy reach of little fingers, 
+every day.  I called them `flying flowers,' and it was a pretty  
+conceit, for they really were more delicate in texture and brighter 
+in colouring than the garden blooms.
+
+Having been taught that God created the heavens, earth and all
+things therein, I understood it to mean a literal creation of each
+separate thing and creature, as when my father cut down a tree and
+hewed it into a beam.  I would spend hours sitting so immovably
+among the flowers of our garden that the butterflies would mistake
+me for a plant and alight on my head and hands, while I strove to
+conceive the greatness of a Being who could devise and colour all
+those different butterfly wings.  I would try to decide whether
+He created the birds, flowers, or butterflies first; ultimately  
+coming to the conclusion that He put His most exquisite material 
+into the butterflies, and then did the best He could with what 
+remained, on the birds and flowers.
+
+In my home there was a cellar window on the south, covered with
+wire screening, that was my individual property.  Father placed a
+box beneath it so that I could reach the sill easily, and there
+were very few butterflies or insects common to eastern North
+America a specimen of which had not spent some days on that screen,
+feasted on leaves and flowers, drunk from saucers of sweetened
+water, been admired and studied in minutest detail, and then set
+free to enjoy life as before.  With Whitman, "I never was
+possessed with a mania for killing things."  I had no idea of what
+families they were, and I supplied my own names.  The Monarch
+was the Brown Velvet; the Viceroy  was his Cousin; the Argynnis
+was the Silver Spotted; and the Papilio Ajax was the Ribbon
+butterfly, in my  category.  There was some thought of naming Ajax,
+Dolly Varden; but on close inspection it seemed most to resemble 
+the gayly striped ribbons my sisters wore.
+
+I was far afield as to names, but in later years with only a glance 
+at any  specimen I could say, "Oh, yes! I always have known that.  
+It has buff-coloured legs, clubbed antennae with buff tips, wings 
+of purplish brown velvet with escalloped margins, a deep band
+of buff lightly traced with black bordering them, and a pronounced
+point close the apex of the front pair.  When it came to books, all
+they had to teach me were the names.  I had captured and studied
+butterflies, big, little, and with every conceivable variety of
+marking, until it was seldom one was found whose least peculiarity
+was not familiar to me as my own face; but what could this be?
+
+It clung to the rough bark, slowly opening and closing large wings
+of grey velvet down, margined with bands made of shades of grey,
+tan, and black; banded with a broad stripe of red terra cotta
+colour with an inside margin of white, widest on the back pair.
+Both pairs of wings were decorated with half-moons of white,
+outlined in black and strongly flushed with terra cotta; the
+front pair near the outer margin had oval markings of blue-black,
+shaded with grey, outlined with half circles of white, and
+secondary circles of black.  When the wings were raised I could 
+see a face of terra cotta, with small eyes, a broad band of white 
+across the forehead, and an abdomen of terra cotta banded with 
+snowy white above, and spotted with white beneath.  Its legs were 
+hairy, and the antennae antlered like small branching ferns.  
+Of course I thought it was a butterfly, and for a time was too 
+filled with wonder to move.  Then creeping close, the next time 
+the wings were raised above its body, with the nerveless touch 
+of a robust child I captured it.
+
+I was ten miles from home, but I had spent all my life until the
+last year on that farm, and I knew and loved every foot of it.  To
+leave it for a city home and the confinement of school almost had
+broken my heart, but it really was time for me to be having
+some formal education.  It had been the greatest possible treat to
+be allowed to return to the country for a week, but now my one
+idea was to go home with my treasure.  None of my people had seen
+a sight like that.  If they had, they would have told me.
+
+Borrowing a two-gallon stone jar from the tenant's wife, I searched
+the garden for flowers sufficiently rare for lining.  Nothing so
+pleased me as some gorgeous deep red peony  blooms.  Never having 
+been allowed to break the flowers when that was my mother's home, 
+I did not think of doing it because she was not there to know.  
+I knelt and gathered all the fallen petals that were fresh, and 
+then spreading my apron on the ground, jarred the plant, not harder 
+than a light wind might, and all that fell in this manner it seemed 
+right to take.  The selection was very pleasing, for the yellow 
+glaze of the jar, the rich red of the petals, and the grey  
+velvet of my prize made a picture over which I stood trembling in 
+delight.  The moth was promptly christened the Half-luna, because 
+my father had taught me that luna was the moon, and the half moons 
+on the wings were its most prominent markings.
+
+The tenant's wife wanted me to put it in a pasteboard box, but I
+stubbornly insisted on having the jar, why, I do not know, but I
+suppose it was because my father's word was gospel to me, and he
+had said that the best place to keep my specimens was the cellar
+window, and I must have thought the jar the nearest equivalent to
+the cellar.  The Half-luna did not mind in the least, but went on
+lazily opening and closing its wings, yet making no attempt to fly.  
+If I had known what it was, or anything of its condition, I would 
+have understood that it had emerged from the cocoon that morning, 
+and never had flown, but was establishing circulation preparatory  
+to taking wing.  Being only a small, very ignorant girl, the
+greatest thing I knew for sure was what I loved.
+
+Tying my sunbonnet over the top of the jar, I stationed myself on
+the horse block at the front gate.  Every passing team was hailed
+with lifted hand, just as I had seen my father do, and in as
+perfect an imitation of his voice as a scared little girl making
+her first venture alone in the big world could muster, I asked,
+"Which way, Friend?"
+
+For several long, hot hours people went to every point of the
+compass, but at last a bony young farmer, with a fat wife, and a
+fatter baby, in a big wagon, were going to my city, and they said
+I might ride.  With quaking heart I handed up my jar, and climbed
+in, covering all those ten miles in the June sunshine, on a board
+laid across e wagon bed, tightly  clasping the two-gallon jar in my
+aching arms.  The farmer's wife was quite concerned about me.  She
+asked if I had butter, and I said, "Yes, the kind that flies."
+
+I slipped the bonnet enough to let them peep.  She did not seem to
+think much of it, but the farmer laughed until his tanned face was
+red as an Indian's.  His wife insisted on me putting down the jar,
+and offered to set her foot on it so that it would not `jounce'
+much, but I did not propose to risk it 'jouncing' at all, and
+clung to it persistently.  Then she offered to tie her apron over
+the top of the jar if I would put my bonnet on my  head, but I was
+afraid to attempt the exchange for fear my  butterfly would try
+to escape, and I might crush it, a thing I almost never had allowed
+to happen.
+
+The farmer's wife stuck her elbow into his ribs, and said, "How's
+that for the queerest spec'men ye ever see?"  The farmer
+answered, "I never saw nothin' like it before."  Then she said,
+"Aw pshaw!  I didn't mean in the jar!"  Then they both laughed.
+I thought they were amused at me, but I had no intention of
+risking an injury to my Half-luna, for there had been one black
+day on which I had such a terrible experience that it entailed a
+lifetime of caution.
+
+I had captured what I afterward learned was an Asterias, that
+seemed slightly different from any previous specimen, and a
+yellow swallow-tail, my first Papilio Turnus.  The yellow one was 
+the largest, most beautiful butterfly I ever had seen.  I was 
+carrying them, one between each thumb and forefinger, and running 
+with all possible speed to reach the screen before my touch could 
+soil the down on their exquisite wings.  I stumbled, and fell, so 
+suddenly, there was no time to release them.  The black one sailed 
+away with a ragged wing, and the yellow was crushed into a shapeless 
+mass in my hand.  I was accustomed to falling off fences, from trees, 
+and into the creek, and because my  mother was an invalid I had 
+learned to doctor my own bruises and uncomplainingly go my  way.  
+My reputation was that of a very brave little girl;  but when I
+opened my hand and saw that broken butterfly, and my down-painted
+fingers, I was never more afraid in my life.  I screamed aloud in
+panic, and ran for my mother with all my  might.  Heartbroken, I could 
+not control my voice to explain as I threw myself on her couch, and
+before I knew what they  were doing, I was surrounded by sisters
+and the cook with hot water, bandages and camphor.
+
+My mother clasped me in her arms, and rocked me on her breast.
+"There, there, my poor child," she said, "I know it hurts dreadfully!'  
+And to the cook she commanded, "Pour on camphor quickly!  She is 
+half killed, or she never would come to me like this."  I found 
+my voice.  "Camphor won't do any  good," I wailed.  "It was the most
+beautiful butterfly, and I've broken it all to pieces.  It must
+have taken God hours studying how to make it different from all 
+the others, and I know He never will forgive me!'  I began sobbing
+worse than ever.  The cook on her knees before me sat on her 
+heels suddenly.  "Great Heavens!  She's screechin' about
+breakin' a butterfly, and not her poor fut, at all!"  Then I
+looked down and discovered that I had stubbed my toe in falling,
+and had left a bloody trail behind me.  "Of course I am! "  I
+sobbed indignantly.  "Couldn't I wash off a little blood in the
+creek, and tie up my toe with a dock leaf and some grass?  I've
+killed the most beautiful butterfly, and I know I won't be
+forgiven!"
+
+I opened my tightly  clenched hand and showed it to prove my
+words.  The sight was so terrible to me that I jerked my foot from
+the cook, and thrust my hand into the water, screaming, "Wash it!
+Wash it!  Wash the velvet from my hand!  Oh! make it white
+again!"  Before the cook bathed and bandaged my foot, she
+washed and dried my hand; and my mother whispered, "God knows
+you never meant to do it, and He is sorry as mother is."  So my
+mother and the cook comforted me.  The remainder scattered suddenly.  
+It was years before I knew why, and I was a Shakespearean student 
+before I caught the point to their frequently calling me `Little Lady
+Macbeth!'  After such an experience, it was not probable that I
+would risk crushing a butterfly to tie a bonnet on my head.  It
+probably would be down my back half the time anyway.  It usually
+was.  As we neared the city I heard the farmer's wife tell him
+that he must take me to my home.  He said he would not do any
+such a thing, but she said he must.  She explained that she knew
+me, and it would not be decent to put me down where they were
+going, and leave me to walk home and carry that heavy  jar.  So
+the farmer took me to our gate.  I thanked him as politely as I
+knew how, and kissed his wife and the fat baby in payment for
+their kindness, for I was very grateful.  I was so tired I
+scarcely could set down the jar and straighten my cramped arms 
+when I had the opportunity.  I had expected my family to be 
+delighted over my  treasure, but they  exhibited an astonishing 
+indifference, and were far more concerned over the state of my  
+blistered face.  I would not hear of putting my Half-luna on the 
+basement screen as they suggested, but enthroned it in state on 
+the best lace curtains at a parlour window, covered the sill with 
+leaves and flowers, and went to bed happy.  The following morning 
+my sisters said a curtain was ruined, and when they removed it to 
+attempt restoration, the general consensus of opinion seemed to be 
+that something was a nuisance, I could not tell whether it was I, 
+or the Half-luna.  On coming to the parlour a little later, ladened 
+with leaves and flowers, my treasure was gone.  The cook was sure 
+it had flown from the door over some one's head, and she said very  
+tersely that it was a burning shame, and if such carelessness as 
+that ever occurred again she would quit her job.  Such is the 
+confidence of a child that I accepted my loss as an inevitable accident, 
+and tried to be brave to comfort her, although my heart was almost 
+broken. Of course they freed my moth.  They never would have dared 
+but that the little mother's couch stood all day empty now, and her 
+chair unused beside it.  My  disappointment was so deep and far-
+reaching it made me ill then they scolded me, and said I had half 
+killed myself carrying that heavy jar in the hot sunshine, although 
+the pain from which I suffered was neither in my arms nor sunburned face.
+
+So I lost my first Cecropia, and from that day until a woman
+grown and much of this material secured, in all my field work
+among the birds, flowers, and animals, I never had seen another.
+They had taunted me in museums, and been my envy in private
+collections, but find one, I could not.  When in my field work 
+among the birds, so many moths of other families almost had thrust 
+themselves upon me that I began a collection of reproductions of 
+them, I found little difficulty in securing almost anything else.  
+I could picture Sphinx Moths in any position I chose, and Lunas 
+seemed eager to pose for me.  A friend carried to me a beautiful 
+tan-coloured Polyphemus with transparent moons like isinglass 
+set in its wings of softest velvet down, and as for butterflies, 
+it was not necessary  to go afield for them; they came to me.  
+I could pick a Papilio Aj ax, that some of my friends were years 
+in securing, from the pinks in my  garden.  A pair of Antiopas spent 
+a night, and waited to be pictured in the morning, among the leaves 
+of my passion vine.  Painted Beauties swayed along my flowered walks, 
+and in September a Viceroy reigned in state on every chrysanthemum, 
+and a Monarch was enthroned on every sunbeam.  No luck was too good 
+for me, no butterfly or moth too rare, except forever and always 
+the coveted Cecropia, and by this time I had learned to my disgust 
+that it was one of the commonest of all.
+
+Then one summer, late in June, a small boy, having an earnest,
+eager little face, came to me tugging a large box.  He said he had
+something for me.  He said "they  called it a butterfly, but he
+was sure it never was."  He was eminently correct.  He had a
+splendid big Cecropia.  I was delighted.  Of course to have found
+one myself would have filled my cup to overflowing, but to secure
+a perfect, living specimen was good enough.  For the first time my
+childish loss seemed in a measure compensated.  Then, I only could
+study a moth to my  satisfaction and set it free; now, I could make
+reproductions so perfect that every antler of its antennae could
+be counted with the naked eye, and copy its colours accurately,
+before giving back its liberty.
+
+I asked him whether he wanted money or a picture of it, and as I
+expected, he said `money,' so he was paid.  An hour later he came
+back and said he wanted the picture.  On being questioned as to his
+change of heart, he said "mamma told him to say he wanted the
+picture, and she would give him the money."  My sympathy was with
+her.  I wanted the studies I intended to make of that Cecropia
+myself, and I wanted them very badly.
+
+I opened the box to examine the moth, and found it so numb with the
+cold over night, and so worn and helpless, that it could not cling
+to a leaf or twig.  I tried repeatedly, and fearing that it had
+been subjected to rough treatment, and soon would be lifeless, for
+these moths live only a short time, I hastily set up a camera
+focusing on a branch.  Then I tried posing my  specimen.  Until
+the third time it fell, but the fourth it clung, and crept down a
+twig, settling at last in a position that far, surpassed any  
+posing that I could do.  I was very  pleased, and yet it made a 
+complication.  It had gone so far that it might be off the plate 
+and from focus.  It seemed so stupid and helpless that I decided 
+to risk a peep at the glass, and hastily  removing the
+plate and changing the shutter, a slight but most essential
+alteration was made, everything replaced, and the bulb caught up.
+There was only a breath of sound as I turned, and then I stood
+horrified, for my Cecropia was sailing over a large elm tree in a
+corner of the orchard, and for a block my gaze followed it skyward, 
+flying like a bird before it vanished in the distance, so quickly  
+had it recovered in fresh air and sunshine.
+
+I have undertaken to describe some very difficult things, but I
+would not attempt to portray my feelings, and three days later
+there was no change.  It was in the height of my season of field
+work, and I had several extremely interesting series of bird
+studies on hand, and many  miscellaneous subjects.  In those days
+some pictures were secured that I then thought, and yet feel, will
+live, but nothing mattered to me.  There was a standing joke among
+my  friends that I never would be satisfied with my field work
+until I had made a study  of a 'Ha-ha bird,'  but I doubt if even
+that specimen would have lifted the gloom of those days.  Everything 
+was a drag, and frequently I would think over it all in detail, 
+and roundly bless myself for taking a prize so rare, to me
+at least, into the open.
+
+The third day stands lurid in my memory.  It was the hottest,
+most difficult day of all my years of experience afield.  The
+temperature ranged from 104  to 108 in the village, and in
+quarries open to the east, flat fields, and steaming swamps it
+certainly could have been no cooler.  With set cameras I was
+working for a shot at a hawk that was feeding on all the young
+birds and rabbits in the vicinity of its nest.  I also wanted a
+number of studies to fill a commission that was pressing me.
+Subjects for several pictures had been found, and exposures made 
+on them when the weather was so hot that the rubber slide of a plate
+holder would curl like a horseshoe if not laid on a case, and held
+flat by a camera while I worked.  Perspiration dried, and the
+landscape took on a sombre black velvet hue, with a liberal 
+sprinkling of gold stars.  I sank into a stupor going home, 
+and an old farmer aroused me, and disentangled my horse from a 
+thicket of wild briers into which it had strayed.  He said most 
+emphatically that if I did not know enough to remain indoors 
+weather like that, my friends should appoint me a `guardeen.'
+
+I reached the village more worn in body and spirit than I ever had
+been.  I felt that I could not endure another degree of heat on the
+back of my head, and I was much discouraged concerning my work.
+Why not drop it all, and go where there were cool forests and
+breezes sighing?  Perhaps my studies were not half so good as I
+thought!  Perhaps people would not care for them!  For that matter,
+perhaps the editors and publishers never would give the public an
+opportunity to see my  work at all!
+
+I dragged a heavy load up the steps and swung it to the veranda,
+and there stood almost paralysed.  On the top step, where I could
+not reach the Cabin door without seeing it, newly emerged, and
+slowly exercising a pair of big wings, with every gaudy marking
+fresh with new life, was the finest Cecropia I ever had seen
+anywhere.  Recovering myself with a start, I had it under my net
+that had waited twenty years to cover it!  Inside the door I dropped 
+the net, and the moth crept on my fingers.  What luck!  What extra 
+golden luck!  I almost felt that God had been sorry for me, and sent 
+it there to encourage me to keep on picturing the beauties and 
+wonders of His creations for people who could not go afield to see 
+for themselves, and to teach those who could to protect helpless, 
+harmless things for their use and beauty.
+
+I walked down the hall, and vaguely scanned the solid rows of
+books and specimens lining the library walls.  I scarcely
+realized the thought that was in my mind, but what I was looking
+for was not there.  The dining-room then, with panelled walls and
+curtains of tapestry?  It was not there!  Straight to the white
+and gold music room I went.  Then a realizing sense came to me.  
+It was BRUSSELS LACE for which I was searching!  On the most
+delicate, snowiest place possible, on the finest curtain there, I
+placed my Cecropia, and then stepped back and gazed at it with a
+sort of "Touch it over my dead body" sentiment in my heart.
+An effort was required to arouse myself, to realize that I was not 
+dreaming.  To search the fields and woods for twenty  years, and 
+then find the specimen I had sought awaiting me at my own door!  
+Well might it have been a dream, but that the Cecropia, clinging 
+to the meshes of the lace, slowly opening and closing its wings 
+to strengthen them for flight, could be nothing but a delightful 
+reality.
+
+A few days later, in the valley of the Wood Robin, while searching
+for its nest I found a large cocoon.  It was above my head, but
+afterward I secured it by means of a ladder, and carried it home.
+Shortly there emerged a yet larger Cecropia, and luck seemed with
+me.  I could find them everywhere through June, the time of their
+emergence, later their eggs, and the tiny caterpillars that
+hatched from them.  During the summer I found these caterpillars,
+in different stages of growth, until fall, when after their last
+moult and casting of skin, they reached the final period of
+feeding; some were over four inches in length, a beautiful shade of
+greenish blue, with red and yellow warty projections--tubercles,
+according to scientific works.
+
+It is easy to find the cocoons these caterpillars spin, because 
+they are the largest woven by any moth, and placed in such a variety  
+of accessible spots.  They can be found in orchards, high on branches, 
+and on water sprouts at the base of trees.  Frequently they are spun 
+on swamp willows, box-elder, maple, or wild cherry.  Mr. Black once 
+found for me the largest cocoon I ever have seen; a pale tan colour 
+with silvery lights, woven against the inside of a hollow log.  
+Perhaps the most beautiful of all, a dull red, was found under the 
+flooring of an old bridge crossing a stream in the heart of the swamp, 
+by a girl not unknown to fiction, who brought it to me.  In a deserted
+orchard close the Wabash, Raymond once found a pair of empty
+cocoons at the foot of a big apple tree, fastened to the same
+twigs, and within two inches of each other.
+
+But the most wonderful thing of all occurred when Wallace Hardison,
+a faithful friend to my work, sawed a board from the roof of his
+chicken house and carried to me twin Cecropia cocoons, spun so
+closely together they were touching, and slightly interwoven.
+By the closest examination I could discover slight difference
+between them.  The one on the right was a trifle fuller in the body, 
+wider at the top, a shade lighter in colour, and the inner case 
+seemed heavier.
+
+All winter those cocoons occupied the place of state in my collection.  
+Every few days I tried them to see if they gave the solid thump 
+indicating healthy pupae, and listened to learn if they were moving.  
+By May they were under constant surveillance.  On the fourteenth I 
+was called from home a few hours to attend the funeral of a friend.  
+I think nothing short of a funeral would have taken me, for the moth 
+from a single cocoon had emerged on the eleventh.  I hurried home 
+near noon, only to find that I was late, for one was out, and the 
+top of the other cocoon heaving with the movements of the second.
+
+The moth that had escaped was a male.  It clung to the side of the
+board, wings limp, its abdomen damp.  The opening from which it
+came was so covered with terra cotta coloured down that I thought
+at first it must have disfigured itself; but full development
+proved it could spare that much and yet appear all right.
+
+In the fall I had driven a nail through one corner of the board,
+and tacked it against the south side of the Cabin, where I made
+reproductions of the cocoons.  The nail had been left, and now it
+suggested the same place.  A light stroke on the head of the nail,
+covered with cloth to prevent jarring, fastened the board on a log.
+Never in all my life did I hurry as on that day, and I called my
+entire family into service.  The Deacon stood at one elbow, Molly-Cotton 
+at the other, and the gardener in the rear.  There was not a second 
+to be lost, and no time for an unnecessary movement; for in the heat 
+and bright sunshine those moths would emerge and develop with amazing 
+rapidity.
+
+Molly-Cotton held an umbrella over them to prevent this as much as
+possible; the Deacon handed plate holders, and Brenner ran errands.  
+Working as fast as I could make my fingers fly in setting up the camera, 
+and getting a focus, the second moth's head was out, its front feet 
+struggling to pull up the body; and its antennae beginning to lift, 
+when I was ready for the first snap at half-past eleven.
+
+By the time I inserted the slide, turned the plate holder and
+removed another slide, the first moth to appear had climbed up
+the board a few steps, and the second was halfway  out.  Its
+antennae were nearly horizontal now, and from its position I
+decided that the wings as they lay in the pupa case were folded
+neither to the back nor to the front, but pressed against the body
+in a lengthwise crumpled mass, the heavy front rib, or costa, on
+top.
+
+Again I changed plates with all speed.  By the time I was ready
+for the third snap the male had reached the top of the board, its
+wings opened for the first time, and began a queer trembling
+motion.  The second one had emerged and was running into the first,
+so I held my  finger in the line of its advance, and when it
+climbed on I lowered it to the edge to the board beside the
+cocoons.  It immediately clung to the wood.  The big pursy
+abdomen and smaller antennae, that now turned forward in position,
+proved this a female.  The exposure was made not ten seconds after
+she cleared the case, and with her back to the lens, so the position 
+and condition of the wings and antennae on emergence can be seen 
+clearly.
+
+Quickly as possible I changed the plates again; the time that
+elapsed could not have been over half a minute.  The male was trying 
+to creep up the wall, and the increase in the length and expansion 
+of the female's wings could be seen.  The colours on both were 
+exquisite, but they  grew a trifle less brilliant as the moths 
+became dry.
+
+Again I turned to the business of plate changing.  The heat was
+intense, and perspiration was streaming from my  face.  I called 
+to Molly-Cotton to shield the moths while I made the change.  
+"Drat the moths!" cried the Deacon.  "Shade your mother!"  Being
+an obedient girl, she shifted the umbrella, and by the time I was
+ready for business, the male was on the logs and travelling up the
+side of the Cabin.  The female was climbing toward the logs also,
+so that a side view showed her wings already beginning to lift
+above her back.
+
+I had only five snapshot plates in my holders, so I was compelled
+to stop.  It was as well, for surely the record was complete, and
+I was almost prostrate with excitement and heat.  Several days
+later I opened each of the cocoons and made interior studies.  The
+one on the right was split down the left side and turned back to
+shpw the bed of spun silk of exquisite colour that covers the inner
+case.  Some say this silk has no commercial value, as it is cut 
+in lengths reaching from the top around the inner case and back to 
+the top again; others think it can be used.  The one on the left 
+was opened down the front of the outer case, the silk parted and 
+the heavy inner case cut from top to bottom to show the smooth 
+interior wall, the thin pupa case burst by the exit of the moth, 
+and the cast caterpillar skin crowded at the bottom.
+
+The pair mated that same night, and the female began laying eggs 
+by noon the following day.  She dotted them in lines over the
+inside of her box, and on leaves placed in it, and at times piled
+them in a heap instead of placing them as do these moths in
+freedom.  Having taken a picture of a full-grown caterpillar of this
+moth brought to me by Mr. Andrew Idlewine, I now had a complete
+Cecropia history; eggs, full-grown caterpillars, twin cocoons, and
+the story of the emergence of the moths that wintered in them.  I
+do not suppose Mr. Hardison thought he was doing anything unusual
+when he brought me those cocoons, yet by bringing them, he made
+it possible for me to secure this series of twin Cecropia moths,
+male and female, a thing never before recorded by lepidopterist 
+or photographer so far as I can learn.
+
+The Cecropia is a moth whose acquaintance nature-loving city
+people can cultivate.  In December of 19o6, on a tree, maple I
+think, near No. 2230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, I found
+four cocoons of this moth, and on the next tree, save one, another.
+Then I began watching, and in the coming days I counted them by
+the hundred through the city.  Several bushels of these cocoons
+could have been clipped in Indianapolis alone, and there is no
+reason why any other city that has maple, elm, catalpa, and
+other shade trees would not have as many; so that any one who
+would like can find them easily.
+
+Cecropia cocoons bewilder a beginner by their difference in shape.
+You cannot determine the sex of the moth by the size of the
+cocoon.  In the case of the twins, the cocoon of the female was 
+the larger; but I have known male and female alike to emerge from 
+large or small.  You are fairly sure of selecting a pair if you 
+depend upon weight.  The females are heavier than the males, because 
+they emerge with quantities of eggs ready to deposit as soon as they  
+have mated. If any one wants to winter a pair of moths, they 
+are reasonably sure of doing so by selecting the heaviest 
+and lightest cocoons they can find.
+
+In the selection of cocoons, hold them to the ear, and with a
+quick motion reverse them end for end.  If there is a dull, solid
+thump, the moth is alive, and will emerge all right.  If this thump
+is lacking, and there is a rattle like a small seed shaking in a
+dry pod, it means that the caterpillar has gone into the cocoon
+with one of the tiny parasites that infest these worms, clinging
+to it, and the pupa has been eaten by the parasite.
+
+In fall and late summer are the best times to find cocoons, as
+birds tear open many of them in winter; and when weatherbeaten
+they fade, and do not show the exquisite shadings of silk of those
+newly spun.  When fresh, the colours range from almost white
+through lightest tans and browns to a genuine red, and there is a
+silvery effect that is lovely on some of the large, baggy ones,
+hidden under bridges.  Out of doors the moths emerge in middle May
+or June, but they are earlier in the heat of a house.  They are
+the largest of any species, and exquisitely coloured, the shades 
+being strongest on the upper side of the wings.  They differ greatly  
+in size, most males having an average wing sweep of five inches, 
+and a female that emerged in my conservatory from a cocoon that 
+I wintered with particular care had a spread of seven inches, 
+the widest of which I have heard; six and three quarters is a 
+large female.  The moth, on appearing, seems all head and abdomen, 
+the wings hanging limp and wet from the shoulders.  It at once 
+creeps around until a place where it can hang with the wings
+down is found, and soon there begins a sort of pumping motion of
+the body.  I imagine this is to start circulation, to exercise
+parts, and force blood into the wings.  They begin to expand, to
+dry, to take on colour with amazing rapidity, and as soon as they
+are full size and crisp, the moth commences raising and lowering
+them slowly, as in flight.  If a male, he emerges near ten in the
+forenoon, and flies at dusk in search of a mate.
+
+As the females are very  heavy with eggs, they usually remain
+where they are.  After mating they begin almost at once to
+deposit their eggs, and do not take flight until they have
+finished.  The eggs are round, having a flat top that becomes slightly  
+depressed as they dry.  They are of pearl colour, with a touch of 
+brown, changing to greyish as the tiny  caterpillars develop.  Their
+outline can be traced through the shell on which they make their 
+first meal when they emerge.  Female Cecropas average about three 
+hundred and fifty eggs each, that they sometimes place singly, and 
+again string in rows, or in captivity pile in heaps.  In freedom 
+they deposit the eggs mostly on leaves, sometimes the under, sometimes 
+the upper, sides or dot them on bark, boards or walls.  The percentage 
+of loss of eggs and the young is large, for they  are nowhere numerous
+enough to become a pest, as they  certainly would if three hundred
+caterpillars survived to each female moth.  The young feed on
+apple, willow, maple, box-elder, or wild cherry leaves; and grow
+through a series of feeding periods and moults, during which they
+rest for a few days, cast the skin and intestinal lining and then
+feed for another period.
+
+After the females have finished depositing their eggs, they cling
+to branches, vines or walls a few days, fly aimlessly at night
+and then pass out without ever having taken food.
+
+Cecropia has several `Cousins,'  Promethea, Angulifera, Gloveri, 
+and Cynthia, that vary slightly in marking and more in colour.  All 
+are smaller than Cecropia.  The male of Promethea is the darkest moth 
+of the Limberlost.  The male of Angulifera is a brownish grey, the 
+female reddish, with warm tan colours on her wing borders.  She is 
+very beautiful.  The markings on the wings of both are not half-moon 
+shaped, as Cecropia and Gloveri, but are oblong, and largest at the 
+point next the apex of the wing.
+
+Gloveri could not be told from Cecropiain half-tone reproduction by
+any save a scientist, so similar are the markings, but in colour
+they are vastly  different, and more beautiful.  The only living
+Gloveri I ever secured was almost done with life, and she was so
+badly battered I could not think of making a picture of her.  The
+wings are a lovely red wine colour, with warm tan borders, and the
+crescents are white, with a line of tan and then of black.  The
+abdomen is white striped with wine and black.
+
+Cynthia has pale olive green shadings on both male and female.
+These are imported moths brought here about 1861 in the hope that 
+they  would prove valuable in silk culture.  They occur mostly  
+where the ailanthus grows.
+
+My heart goes out to Cecropia because it is such a noble,
+birdlike, big fellow, and since it has decided to be rare with me
+no longer, all that is necessary is to pick it up, either in
+caterpillar, cocoon, or moth, at any season of the year, in almost
+any location.  The Cecropia moth resembles the robin among birds;
+not alone because he is grey with red markings, but also he haunts
+the same localities.  The robin is the bird of the eaves, the back
+door, the yard and orchard.  Cecropia is the moth.  My doorstep is
+not the only one they grace; my friends have found them in like 
+places.  Cecropia cocoons are attached to fences, chicken-coops, 
+barns, houses, and all through the orchards of old country  places, 
+so that their emergence at bloom time adds to May and June one more 
+beauty, and frequently I speak of them as the Robin Moth.
+
+In connexion with Cecropia there came to me the most delightful
+experience of my life.  One perfect night during the middle of
+May, all the world white with tree bloom, touched to radiance with 
+brilliant moonlight; intoxicating with countless blending perfumes, 
+I placed a female Cecropia on the screen of my sleeping-room door 
+and retired.  The lot on which the Cabin stands is sloping, so that, 
+although the front foundations are low, my door is at least five feet 
+above the ground, and opens on a circular porch, from which steps
+lead down between two apple trees, at that time sheeted in bloom.
+Past midnight I was awakened by soft touches on the screen, faint
+pullings at the wire.  I went to the door and found the porch,
+orchard, and night-sky alive with Cecropias holding high carnival.
+I had not supposed there were so many in all this world.  From
+every direction they came floating like birds down the moonbeams.
+I carefully removed the female from the door to a window close
+beside, and stepped on the porch.  No doubt I was permeated with
+the odour of the moth.  As I advanced to the top step, that lay
+even with the middle branches of the apple trees, the exquisite big
+creatures came swarming around me.  I could feel them on my hair,
+my shoulders, and see them settling on my gown and outstretched
+hands.
+
+Far as I could penetrate the night-sky more were coming.  They  
+settled on the bloom-laden branches, on the porch pillars, on me 
+indiscriminately.  I stepped inside the door with one on each hand 
+and five clinging to my gown.  This experience, I am sure, suggested 
+Mrs. Comstock's moth hunting in the Limberlost.  Then I went back 
+to the veranda and revelled with the moths until dawn drove them 
+to shelter.  One magnificent specimen, birdlike above all the others, 
+I followed across the orchard and yard to a grape arbour, where I 
+picked him from the under side of a leaf after he had settled for 
+the coming day.  Repeatedly I counted close to a hundred, and then 
+they would so confuse me by flight I could not be sure I was not 
+numbering the same one twice.  With eight males, some of them fine 
+large moths, one superb, from which to choose, my female mated with 
+an insistent, frowsy little scrub lacking two feet and having torn
+and ragged wings.  I needed no surer proof that she had very dim
+vision.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV  The Yellow Emperor:  Eacles Imperialis 
+
+
+Several years ago, Mr. A. Eisen, a German, of Coldwater, Michigan, 
+who devotes his leisure to collecting moths, gave me as pinned 
+specimens a pair of Eacles Imperialis, and their full life history.  
+Any intimate friend of mine can testify that yellow is my favourite 
+colour, with shades of lavender running into purple, second choice.  
+When I found a yellow moth, liberally decorated with lavender, the
+combination was irresistible.  Mr. Eisen said the mounted specimens 
+were faded; but the living moths were beautiful beyond description.  
+Naturally I coveted life.
+
+I was very particular to secure the history of the caterpillars
+and their favourite foods.  I learned from Mr. Eisen that they
+were all of the same shape and habit, but some of them might be
+green, with cream-coloured heads and feet, and black face lines, 
+the body covered sparsely with long hairs; or they might be brown, 
+with markings of darker brown and black with white hairs; but they  
+would be at least three inches long when full grown, and would have 
+a queer habit of rearing and drawing leaves to their mouths when feeding.  
+I was told I would find them in August, on leaves of spruce, pine, 
+cherry, birch, alder, sycamore, elm, or maple; that they pupated in 
+the ground; and the moths were common, especially around lights in city  
+parks, and at street crossings.
+
+Coming from a drive one rare June evening, I found Mr. William
+Pettis, a shooter of oil wells, whom I frequently met while at my
+work, sitting on the veranda in an animated business discussion
+with the Deacon.
+
+"I brought you a pair of big moths that I found this morning on
+some bushes beside the road," said Mr. Pettis.  "I went to give
+Mr. Porter a peep to see if he thought you'd want them, and they
+both got away.  He was quicker than I, and caught the larger one,
+but mine sailed over the top of that tree."  He indicated an elm
+not far away.  
+
+"Did you know them?"  I asked the Deacon.
+
+"No," he answered.  "You have none of the kind.  They are big as
+birds and a beautiful yellow.'
+
+"Yellow!"  No doubt I was unduly emphatic.  "Yellow!  Didn't you
+know better than to open a box with moths in it outdoors at night?"
+
+"It was my fault," interposed Mr. Pettis.  "He told me not to
+open the box, but I had shown them a dozen times to-day and they
+never moved.  I didn't think about night being their time to fly.
+I am very sorry."
+
+So was I.  Sorry enough to have cried, but I tried my best to
+conceal it.  Anyway, it might be Io, and I had that.  On going
+inside to examine the moth, I found a large female Eacles
+Imperialis, with not a scale of down misplaced.  Even by gas light
+I could see that the yellow of the living moth was a warm canary
+colour, and the lavender of the mounted specimen closer heliotrope 
+on the living, for there were pinkish tints that had faded from the 
+pinned moth.
+
+She was heavy with eggs, and made no attempt to fly, so I closed
+the box and left her until the lights were out, and then removed the 
+lid.  Every opening was tightly screened, and as she had mated, I did 
+not think she would fly.  I hoped in the freedom of the Cabin she 
+would not break her wings, and ruin herself for a study.
+
+There was much comfort in the thought that I could secure her
+likeness; her eggs would be fertile, and I could raise a brood
+the coming season, in which would be both male and female.  When
+life was over I could add her to my specimen case, for these are
+of the moths that do not eat, and live only a few days after
+depositing their eggs.  So I went out and explained to Mr. Pettis
+what efforts I had made to secure this yellow moth, comforted him
+for allowing the male to escape by telling him I could raise all I
+wanted from the eggs of the female, showed him my entire collection, 
+and sent him from the Cabin such a friend to my work, that it was he 
+who brought me an oil-coated lark a few days later.
+
+On rising early the next morning, I found my moth had deposited
+some eggs on the dining-room floor, before the conservatory doors,
+more on the heavy tapestry that covered them, and she was clinging 
+to a velvet curtain at a library window, liberally dotting it with 
+eggs, almost as yellow as her body.  I turned a tumbler over those 
+on the floor, pinned folds in the curtains, and as soon as the light 
+was good, set up a camera and focused on a suitable location.
+
+She climbed on my finger when it was held before her, and was carried, 
+with no effort to fly, to the place I had selected, though Molly-Cotton 
+walked close with a spread net, ready for the slightest impulse toward 
+movement.  But female moths seldom fly until they have finished egg 
+depositing, and this one was transferred with no trouble to the spot 
+on which I had focused.  On the back wall of the Cabin, among some
+wild roses, she was placed on a log, and immediately raised her wings, 
+and started for the shade of the vines.  The picture made of her as 
+she walked is beautiful.  After I had secured several studies she was 
+returned to the library curtain, where she resumed egg placing.  
+These were not counted, but there, were at least three hundred at a 
+rough guess.
+
+I had thought her lovely in gas light, but day brought forth marvels 
+and wonders.  When a child, I used to gather cowslips in a bed of 
+lush swale, beside a little creek at the foot of a big hill on our farm.  
+At the summit was an old orchard, and in a brush-heap a brown thrush 
+nested.  From a red winter pearmain the singer poured out his own heart 
+in song, and then reproduced the love ecstasy of every other bird of 
+the orchard.  That moth's wings were so exactly the warm though 
+delicate yellow of the flowers I loved, that as I looked at it I could 
+feel my bare feet sinking in the damp ooze, smell the fragrance of the 
+buttercups, and hear again the ripple of the water and the mating 
+exultation of the brown thrush.
+
+In the name--Eacles Imperialis--there is no meaning or appropriateness 
+to "Eacles"; "Imperialis"--of course, translates imperial--which seems 
+most fitting, for the moth is close the size of Cecropia, and of truly  
+royal beauty.  We called it the Yellow Emperor.  Her Imperial Golden 
+Majesty had a wing sweep of six and a quarter inches.  From the 
+shoulders spreading in an irregular patch over front and back wings, 
+most on the front, were markings of heliotrope, quite dark in colour:  
+Near the costa of the front wings were two almost circular dots of 
+slightly paler heliotrope, the one nearest the edge about half the size 
+of the other.  On the back wings, halfway from each edge, and half an 
+inch from the marking at the base, was one round spot of the same colour.  
+Beginning at the apex of the front pair, and running to half an inch 
+from the lower edge, was a band of escalloped heliotrope.  On the 
+back pair this band began half an inch from the edge and ran straight 
+across, so that at the outer curve of the wing it was an inch higher.  
+The front wing surface and the space above this marking on the back 
+were liberally sprinkled with little oblong touches of heliotrope; 
+but from the curved line to the bases of the back pair, the colouring 
+was pure canary yellow.
+
+The top of the head was covered with long, silken hairs of heliotrope, 
+then a band of yellow; the upper abdomen was strongly shaded with 
+heliotrope almost to the extreme tip.  The lower sides of the wings 
+were yellow at the base, the spots showing through, but not the 
+bands, and only the faintest touches of the mottling. The thorax 
+and abdomen were yellow, and the legs heliotrope.  The antennae 
+were heliotrope, fine, threadlike, and closely pressed to the head.  
+The eyes were smaller than those of Cecropia, and very close together.
+
+Compared with Cecropia these moths were very easy to paint.  Their 
+markings were elaborate, but they could be followed accurately, 
+and the ground work of colour was warm cowslip yellow. The only  
+difficulty was to make the almost threadlike antennae show, 
+and to blend the faint touches of heliotrope on the upper wings 
+with the yellow.
+
+The eggs on the floor and curtains were guarded with care.  They
+were dotted around promiscuously, and at first were clear and of
+amber colour, but as the little caterpillars grew in them, they
+showed a red line three fourths of the way around the rim, and
+became slightly depressed in the middle.  The young emerged in 
+thirteen days.  They were nearly half an inch long, and were 
+yellow with black lines.  They began the task of eating until 
+they reached the pupa state, by turning on their shells and 
+devouring all of them to the glue by which they were fastened.
+
+They were given their choice of oak, alder, sumac, elm, cherry,
+and hickory.  The majority of them seemed to prefer the hickory.  
+They moulted on the fifth day for the first time, and changed to 
+a brown colour.  Every five or six days they repeated the process, 
+growing larger and of stronger colour with each moult, and developing 
+a covering of long white hairs.  Part of these moulted four times, 
+others five.
+
+At past six weeks of age they were exactly as Mr. Eisen had described 
+them to me.  Those I kept in confinement pupated on a bed of baked 
+gravel, in a tin bucket.  It is imperative to bake any earth or sand 
+used for them to kill pests invisible to the eye, that might bore into 
+the pupa cases and destroy the moths.
+
+I watched the transformation with intense interest.  After the
+caterpillars had finished eating they travelled in search of a
+place to burrow for a day or two.  Then they gave up, and lay
+quietly  on the sand.  The colour darkened hourly, the feet and
+claspers seemed to draw inside, and one morning on going to look
+there were some greenish brown pupae.  They shone as if freshly
+varnished, as indeed they were, for the substance provided to
+facilitate the emergence of the pupae from the caterpillar skins
+dries in a coating, that helps to harden the cases and protect them.  
+These pupae had burst the skins at the thorax, and escaped by  
+working the abdomen until they lay an inch or so from the skins.
+
+What a "cast off garment" those skins were!  Only the frailest
+outside covering, complete in all parts, and rapidly turning to 
+a dirty brown.  The pupae were laid away in a large box having a
+glass lid.  It was filled with baked sand, covered with sphagnum
+moss, slightly dampened occasionally, and placed where it was
+cool, but never at actual freezing point.  The following spring
+after the delight of seeing them emerge, they were released, for 
+I secured a male to complete my collection a few days later, and
+only grew the caterpillars to prove it possible.
+
+There was a carnival in the village, and, for three nights the
+streets were illuminated brightly from end to end, to the height
+of Ferris wheels and diving towers.  The lights must have shone
+against the sky for miles around, for they  drew from the Limberlost, 
+from the Canoper, from Rainbow Bottom, and the Valley of the Wood Robin, 
+their winged creatures of night.
+
+I know Emperors appear in these places in my  locality, for the 
+caterpillars feed on leaves found there, and enter the ground to 
+pupate; so of course the moth of June begins its life in the same 
+location.  Mr. Pettis found the mated pair he brought to me, on a 
+bush at the edge of a swamp.  They also emerge in cities under any  
+tree on which their caterpillars feed.  Once late in May, in the 
+corner of a lichen-covered, old snake fence beside the Wabash on 
+the Shimp farm, I made a series of studies of the home life of a pair 
+of ground sparrows.  They had chosen for a location a slight
+depression covered with a rank growth of meadow grass.  Overhead
+wild plum and thorn in full bloom lay white-sheeted against the
+blue sky; red bud spread its purple haze, and at a curve, the
+breast of the river gleamed white as ever woman's; while underfoot 
+the grass was obscured with masses of wild flowers.
+
+An unusually fine cluster of white violets attracted me as I
+worked around the birds, so on packing at the close of the day I
+lifted the plant to carry home for my wild flower bed.  Below a
+few inches of rotting leaves and black mould I found a lively
+pupa of the Yellow Emperor.
+
+So these moths emerge and deposit their eggs in the swamps,
+forests, beside the river and wherever the trees on which they
+feed grow.  When the serious business of life is over, attracted by
+strong lights, they go with other pleasure seeking company, and
+grace society by their royal presence.
+
+I could have had half a dozen fine Imperialis moths during the
+three nights of the carnival, and fluttering above buildings many
+more could be seen that did not descend to our reach.  Raymond had
+such a busy time capturing moths he missed most of the joys of
+the carnival, but I truly think he liked the chase better.  One he
+brought me, a female, was so especially large that I took her to
+the Cabin to be measured, and found her to be six and three quarter
+inches, and of the lightest yellow of any specimen I have seen.
+Her wings were quite ragged.  I imagined she had finished laying
+her eggs, and was nearing the end of life, hence she was not so
+brilliant as a newly  emerged specimen.  The moth proved this
+theory correct by soon going out naturally.
+
+Choice could be made in all that plethora, and a male and female of
+most perfect colouring and markings were selected, for my studies of 
+a pair.  One male was mounted and a very large female on account of 
+her size.  That completed my Imperialis records from eggs to
+caterpillars, pupae and moths.
+
+The necessity for a book on this subject; made simple to the
+understanding, and attractive to the eye of the masses, never was
+so deeply impressed upon me as in an experience with Imperialis.
+Molly-Cotton was attending a house-party, and her host had chartered 
+a pavilion at a city park for a summer night dance.  At the close of 
+one of the numbers; over the heads of the laughing crowd, there swept 
+toward the light a large yellow moth.
+
+With one dexterous sweep the host caught it, and while the dancers
+crowded around him with exclamations of wonder and delight, he
+presented it to Molly-Cotton and asked, "Do you know what it is?"
+
+She laughingly answered, "Yes.  But you don't!"
+
+" Guilty!" he responded.  "Name it."
+
+For one fleeting instant Molly-Cotton measured the company.  There
+was no one present who was not the graduate of a commissioned high
+school.  There were girls who were students at The Castle, Smith,
+Vassar, and Bryn Mawr.  The host was a Cornell junior, and there
+were men from Harvard and Yale.
+
+"It is an Eacles Imperialis Io Polyphemus Cecropia Regalis,"  she
+said.  Then in breathless suspense she waited.
+
+"Shades of Homer!"  cried the host.  "Where did you learn it?"
+
+"They  are flying all through the Cabin at home," she replied.
+"There was a tumbler turned over their eggs on the dining-room floor, 
+and you dared not sit on the right side of the library window seat 
+because of them when I left."
+
+"What do you want with their eggs?" asked a girl.
+
+"Want to hatch their caterpillars, and raise them until they transform 
+into these moths,"  answered poor Molly-Cotton, who had been taught 
+to fear so few living things that at the age of four she had carried 
+a garter snake into the house for a playmate.
+
+"Caterpillars!"  The chorus arose to a shriek.  "Don't they sting you?  
+Don't they bite you?"
+
+"No, they  don't!" replied Molly-Cotton.  "They don't bite anything 
+except leaves; they are fine big fellows; their colouring is exquisite; 
+and they evolve these beautiful moths.  I invite all of you to visit
+us, and see for yourselves how intensely interesting they are."
+
+There was a murmur of polite thanks from the girls, but one man
+measured Molly-Cotton from the top curl of her head to the tip of
+her slippers, and answered, " I accept the invitation.  When may
+I come?"  He came, and left as great a moth enthusiast as any of
+us.  This incident will be recognized as furnishing the basis on
+which to build the ballroom scene in "A Girl of the Limberlost*",
+in which Philip and Edith quarrel over the capture of a yellow
+Emperor.  But what of these students from the great representative
+colleges of the United States, to whom a jumbled string made from
+the names, of half a dozen moths answered for one of the commonest
+of all?
+
+<<*April 1994 [limbr10x.xxx] 125  A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene 
+Stratton-Porter>>
+
+
+CHAPTER V  The Lady Bird: Deilephila Lineata 
+
+
+In that same country garden where my first Cecropia was found, 
+Deilephila Lineata was one of my earliest recollections.  This moth 
+flew among the flowers of especial sweetness all day long, just as 
+did the hummingbirds; and I was taught that it was a bird also--the 
+Lady Bird.  The little tan and grey thing hovering in air before the
+flowers was almost as large as the humming-birds, sipping honey as
+they did, swift in flight as they; and both my  parents thought
+it a bird.
+
+They did not know the humming-birds were feasting on small insects
+attracted by the sweets, quite as often as on honey, for they never 
+had examined closely.  They had been taught, as I was, that this 
+other constant visitor to the flowers was a bird.  When a child, 
+a humming-bird nested in a honeysuckle climbing over my mother's 
+bedroom window.  My father lifted me, with his handkerchief bound 
+across my nose, on the supposition that the bird was so delicate 
+it would desert its nest and eggs if they were breathed upon, to 
+see the tiny cup of lichens, with a brown finish so fine it resembled 
+the lining of a chestnut burr, and two tiny  eggs.  I well remember 
+he told me that I now had seen the nest and eggs of the smallest 
+feathered creature except the Lady Bird, and he never had found 
+its cradle himself.
+
+Every summer I discovered nests by the dozen, and for several
+years a systematic search was made for the home of a Lady Bird.
+One of the unfailing methods of finding locations was to climb a
+large Bartlett pear tree that stood beside the garden fence, and
+from an overhanging bough watch where birds flew with bugs and
+worms they collected.  Lady Birds were spied upon, but when they
+left our garden they arose high in air, and went straight from
+sight toward every direction.  So locating their nests as those 
+of other birds were found, seemed impossible.
+
+Then I tried going close the sweetest flowers, those oftenest
+visited, the petunias, yellow day lilies, and trumpet creepers, 
+and sitting so immovably I was not noticeable while I made a study  
+of the Lady Birds.  My first discovery was that they had no tail.  
+One poised near enough to make sure of that, and I hurried to my  
+father with the startling news.  He said it was nothing remarkable; 
+birds frequently lost their tails.  He explained how a bird in close
+quarters has power to relax its muscles, and let its tail go in
+order to save its body, when under the paw of a cat, or caught in a
+trap.
+
+That was satisfactory, but I thought it must have been a spry cat
+to get even a paw on the Lady  Bird, for frequently humming-birds 
+could be seen perching, but never one of these.  I watched the tail 
+question sharply, and soon learned the cats had been after every  
+Lady Bird that visited our garden, or any of our neighbours, for not 
+one of them had a tail.  When this information was carried my father, 
+he became serious, but finally he said perhaps the tail was very short; 
+those of humming-birds or wrens were, and apparently some water birds 
+had no tail, or at least a very short one.
+
+That seemed plausible, but still I watched this small and most 
+interesting bird of all; this bird that no one ever had seen taking 
+a bath, or perching, and whose nest never had been found by a person 
+so familiar with all outdoors as my  father.  Then came a second 
+discovery: it could curl its beak in a little coil when leaving a flower.  
+A few days later I saw distinctly that it had four wings but I could 
+discover no feet.  I became a rank doubter, and when these convincing
+proofs were carried to my father, he also grew dubious.
+
+"I always have thought and been taught that it was a bird,"  he said, 
+"but you see so clearly and report so accurately, you almost convince 
+me it is some large insect possibly of the moth family."
+
+When I carried this opinion to my mother and told her, no doubt
+pompously, that `very possibly' I had discovered that the Lady
+Bird was not a bird at all, she hailed it as high treason, and
+said, "Of course it is a bird!"  That forced me to action.  The 
+desperate course of capturing one was resolved upon.  If only I 
+could, surely its feet, legs, and wings would tell if it were a
+bird.  By the hour I slipped among those bloom-bordered walks
+between the beds of flaming sweet-williams, buttercups, phlox, 
+tiger and day lilies, Job's tears, hollyhocks, petunias, poppies, 
+mignonette, and every dear old-fashioned flower that grows, and 
+followed around the flower-edged beds of lettuce, radishes, 
+and small vegetables, relentlessly trailing Lady Birds.
+
+Pass after pass I made at them, but they  always dived and escaped
+me.  At last, when I almost had given up the chase, one went nearly
+from sight in a trumpet creeper.  With a sweep the flower was
+closed behind it, and I ran into the house crying that at last I
+had caught a Lady  Bird.  Holding carefully, the trumpet was cut
+open with a pin, and although the moth must have been slightly  
+pinched, and lacking in down when released, I clung to it until 
+my mother and every doubting member of my family was convinced that 
+this was no bird at all, for it lacked beak, tail, and feathers, 
+while it had six legs and four wings.  Father was delighted that 
+I had learned something new, all by  myself; but I really think 
+it slightly provoked my  mother when thereafter I always refused 
+to call it a bird.  This certainly was reprehensible.  She should 
+have known all the time that it was a moth.
+
+The other day a club woman of Chicago who never in her life has 
+considered money, who always has had unlimited opportunities for 
+culture both in America and Europe, who speaks half a dozen languages, 
+and has the care of but one child, came in her auto mobile to 
+investigate the Limberlost.  Almost her first demand was to see 
+pictures.  One bird study I handed her was of a brooding king rail, 
+over a foot tall, with a three-foot wing sweep, and a long curved 
+bill.  She cried, "Oh! see the dear little hummingbird!"
+
+If a woman of unlimited opportunity, in this day of the world,
+does not know a rail from a humming-bird, what could you expect of
+my little mother, who spoke only two languages, reared twelve lusty  
+children, and never saw an ocean.
+
+So by degrees the Lady Bird of the garden resolved itself into
+Deilephila Lineata.  Deile--evening; phila--lover; lineata--lined; 
+the Lined Evening Lover.  Why 'evening' is difficult to understand, 
+for all my life this moth occurs more frequently with me in the fore 
+and early afternoon than in the evening.  So I agree with those 
+entomologists who call it the 'white-lined morning-sphinx.'
+It is lovely in modest garb, delicately lined, but exceedingly
+rich in colour.  It has the long slender wings of the Sphingid
+moths, and in grace and tirelessness of flight resembles Celeus,
+the swallow of the moth family.
+
+Its head is very small, and its thorax large.  The eyes are big,
+and appear bigger because set in so tiny a head.  Under its
+tongue, which is a full inch long, is a small white spot that
+divides, spreads across each eye, and runs over the back until even
+with the bases of the front wings.  The top of the head and shoulders 
+are olive brown, decorated with one long white line dividing it in 
+the middle, and a shorter on each side.  The abdomen is a pale brown, 
+has a straight line running down the middle of the back, made up of 
+small broken squares of very dark brown, touched with a tiny mark 
+of white.  Down each side of this small line extends a larger one, 
+wider at the top and tapering, and this is composed of squares of 
+blackish brown alternating with white, the brown being twice the 
+size of the white.  The sides of the abdomen are flushed with 
+beautiful rosy  pink, and beneath it is tan colour.
+
+The wings are works of art.  The front are a rich olive brown, marked 
+the long way in the middle by a wide band of buff, shading to lighter 
+buff at the base.  They are edged from the costa to where they meet 
+the back wings, with a line of almost equal width of darker buff, 
+the lower edge touched with white.  Beginning at the base, and running 
+an equal distance apart from the costa to this line, are fine markings 
+of white, even and clear as if laid on with a ruler.
+
+The surprise comes in the back wings, that show almost entirely
+when the moth is poised before a flower.  These have a small
+triangle of the rich dark brown, and a band of the same at the
+lower edge, with a finish of olive, and a fine line of white as a
+marginal decoration.  Crossing each back wing is a broad band of
+lovely pink of deeper shade than the colour on the sides.  This
+pink, combined with the olive, dark browns, and white lining,
+makes the colour scheme of peculiar richness.
+
+Its antennae are long, clubbed, and touched with white at the tips.
+The legs and body are tan colour.  The undersides of the wings are
+the same as the upper, but the markings of brown and buffish pink
+show through in lighter colour, while the white lining resembles 
+rows of tan ridges beneath.  Its body is covered with silky hairs, 
+longest on the shoulders, and at the base of the wings.  
+
+The eggs of the moth are laid on apple, plum, or woodbine leaves,
+or on grape, currant, gooseberry, chickweed or dock.  During May
+and June around old log cabins in the country, with gardens that
+contain many of these vines and bushes, and orchards of bloom
+where the others can be foundthe Lined Evening Lover deposits her
+eggs.
+
+The caterpillars emerge in about six days.  The tiny ovoid eggs
+are a greenish yellow.  The youngsters are pale green, and have
+small horns.  After a month spent in eating, and skin casting, the
+full-grown caterpillar is over two inches long, and as a rule a
+light green.  There are on each segment black patches, that have a
+touch of orange, and on that a hint of yellow.  The horn increases
+with the growth of the caterpillar, can be moved at will, and seems
+as if it were a vicious `stinger.'  But there is no sting, or any
+other method of self-defence, unless the habit of raising the head
+and throwing it from side to side could be so considered.  With many  
+people, this movement, combined with the sharp horn, is enough, but 
+as is true of most caterpillars, they are perfectly harmless.  Some 
+moth historians record a mustard yellow caterpillar of this family, 
+and I remember having seen some that answer the description; but all 
+I ever have known to be Lineata were green.
+
+The pupae are nearly two inches long and are tan coloured.  They
+usually are found in the ground in freedom, or deep under old logs
+among a mass of leaves spun together.  In captivity the caterpillars 
+seem to thrive best on a diet of purslane, and they pupate perfectly  
+on dry sand in boxes.
+
+These moths have more complete internal development than those of
+night, for they feed and live throughout the summer.  I photographed 
+a free one feasting on the sweets of petunias in a flower bed at the 
+Cabin, on the seventh of October.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI  Moths of the Moon:  Actias Luna
+
+
+One morning there was a tap at my door, and when I opened it I
+found a tall, slender woman having big, soft brown eyes, and a
+winning smile.  In one hand she held a shoe-box, having many rough
+perforations.  I always have been glad that my eyes softened at
+the touch of pleading on her face, and a smile sprang in answer 
+to hers before I saw what she carried.  For confession must be 
+made that a perforated box is a passport to my good graces any day.
+
+The most wonderful things come from those that are brought to my
+front door.  Sometimes they contain a belated hummingbird, chilled
+with the first heavy frost of autumn, or a wounded weasel caught
+in a trap set for it near a chicken coop, or a family  of baby
+birds whose parents some vandal has killed.  Again they carry a
+sick or wounded bird that I am expected to doctor; and butterflies, 
+moths, insects, and caterpillars of every description.
+
+"I guess I won't stop,"  said the woman in answer to my invitation
+to enter the Cabin.  "I found this creature on my front porch
+early this morning, and I sort of wanted to know what it was, for
+one thing, and I thought you might like to have it, for another."
+
+"Then of course you will come in, and we will see what it is," I
+answered, leading the way into the library.
+
+There I lifted the lid slightly  to take a peep, and then with a
+cry  of joy, opened it wide.  That particular shoe-box had brought 
+me an Actias Luna, newly emerged, and as yet unable to fly.  I held 
+down my  finger, it climbed on, and was lifted to the light.
+
+"Ain't it the prettiest thing?"  asked the woman, with stars
+sparkling in her dark eyes.  "Did you ever see whiter white?"
+
+Together we studied that moth.  Clinging to my finger, the living
+creature was of such delicate beauty as to impoverish my stock of
+adjectives at the beginning.  Its big, pursy body was covered
+with long, furry scales of the purest white imaginable.  The wings
+were of an exquisite light green colour; the front pair having a 
+heavy costa of light purple that reached across the back of the head:  
+the back pair ended in long artistic `trailers,' faintly edged with 
+light yellow.  The front wing had an oval transparent mark close the 
+costa, attached to it with a purple line, and the back had circles 
+of the same.  These decorations were bordered with lines of white, 
+black, and red.  At the bases of the wings were long, snowy silken 
+hairs; the legs were purple, and the antennae resembled small,
+tan-coloured ferns.  That is the best I can do at description.  A
+living moth must be seen to form a realizing sense of its shape and
+delicacy of colour.  Luna is our only large moth having trailers,
+and these are much longer in proportion to size and of more graceful 
+curves than our trailed butterflies.
+
+The moth's wings were fully expanded, and it was beginning to
+exercise, so a camera was set up hastily, and several pictures of
+it secured.  The woman helped me through the entire process, and 
+in talking with her, I learned that she was Mrs. McCollum, from 
+a village a mile and a half north of ours; that when she reached
+home she would have walked three miles to make the trip; and
+all her neighbours had advised her not to come, but she "had a 
+feeling that she would like to."
+
+"Are you sorry?" I asked.
+
+"Am I sorry!" she cried.  "Why I never had a better time in my
+life, and I can teach the children what you have told me.  I'll
+bring you everything I can get my fingers on that you can use, 
+and send for you when I find bird nests.'
+
+Mrs. McCollum has kept that promise faithfully.  Again and again
+she trudged those three miles, bringing me small specimens of many
+species or to let me know that she had found a nest.
+
+A big oak tree in Mrs. McCollum's yard explained the presence of 
+a Luna there, as the caterpillars of this specie greatly prefer
+these leaves.  Because the oak is of such slow growth it is seldom
+planted around residences for ornamental purposes; but is to be
+found most frequently in the forest.  For this reason Luna as a
+rule is a moth of the deep wood, and so is seldom seen close a
+residence, making people believe it quite rare.  As a matter of
+fact, it is as numerous where the trees its caterpillars
+frequent are to be found, as any  other moth in its natural
+location.  Because it is of the forest, the brightest light there 
+is to attract it is the glare of the moon as it is reflected on 
+the face of a murky pool, or on the breast of the stream rippling 
+its way through impassable thickets.  There must be a self-satisfied 
+smile on the face of the man in the moon, in whose honour these 
+delicate creatures are named, when on fragile wing they hover above 
+his mirrored reflection; for of all the beauties of a June night 
+in the forest, these moths are most truly his.
+
+In August of the same year, while driving on a corduroy road in
+Michigan, I espied a Luna moth on the trunk of a walnut tree close
+the road.  The cold damp location must account for this late
+emergence; for subsequent events proved that others of the family
+were as slow in appearing.  A storm of protest arose, when I stopped 
+the carriage and started to enter the swamp.  The remaining occupants 
+put in their time telling blood-curdling experiences with `massaugers,'  
+that infested those marshes; and while I bent grasses and cattails 
+to make the best footing as I worked my way  toward the moth, I 
+could hear a mixed chorus "brought up thirteen in the dredge at the
+cement factory the other day,"  "killed nine in a hayfield below 
+the cemetery,"  "saw a buster crossing the road before me, and my  
+horse almost plunged into the swamp,"  "died of a bite from one 
+that struck him while fixing a loose board in his front walk."
+
+I am dreadfully afraid of snakes, and when it seemed I could not
+force myself to take another step, and I was clinging to a button
+bush while the water arose above my low shoes, the moth lowered
+its wings flat against the bark.  From the size of the abdomen I
+could see that it was a female heavily weighted with eggs.
+Possibly she had mated the previous night, and if I could secure
+her, Luna life history would be mine.
+
+So I set my  teeth and advanced.  My shoes were spoiled, and my
+skirts bedraggled, but I captured the moth and saw no indication of
+snakes.  Soon after she was placed in a big pasteboard box and 
+began dotting eggs in straight lines over the interior.  They
+were white but changed colour as the caterpillars approached time 
+to hatch.  The little yellow-green creatures, nearly a quarter of 
+an inch long, with a black line across the head, emerged in about 
+sixteen days, and fed with most satisfaction on oak, but they
+would take hickory, walnut or willow leaves also.  When the weather
+is cold the young develop slower, and I have had the egg period
+stretched to three weeks at times.  Every few days the young
+caterpillars cast their skins and emerged in brighter colour and
+larger in size.  It is usually supposed they mature in four moults, 
+and many of them do, but some cast a fifth skin before transforming.  
+When between seven and eight weeks of age, they were three inches 
+long, and of strong blue-green colour.  Most of them had tubercles 
+of yellow, tipped with blue, and some had red.
+
+They spun a leaf-cover cocoon, much the size and shape of that of
+Polyphemus, but whiter, very thin, with no inner case, and against
+some solid surface whenever possible.  Fearing I might not handle
+them rightly, and lose some when ready  to spin, I put half on our
+walnut tree so they could weave their cocoons according to
+characteristics.
+
+They are fine, large, gaudy caterpillars.  The handsomest one I
+ever saw I found among some gifts offered by Molly-Cotton for the
+celebration of my birthday.  It had finished feeding, soon pupated
+in a sand pail and the following spring a big female emerged that 
+attracted several males and they posed on a walnut trunk for beautiful 
+studies.
+
+Once under the oak trees of a summer resort, Miss Katherine Howell,
+of Philadelphia, intercepted a Luna caterpillar in the preliminary
+race before pupation and brought it to me.  We offered young oak
+leaves, but they were refused, so it went before the camera.  
+Behind the hotel I found an empty hominy  can in which it soon began 
+spinning, but it seemed to be difficult to fasten the threads to the 
+tin, so a piece of board was cut and firmly wedged inside.  The 
+caterpillar clung to this and in the darkness of the can spun the 
+largest and handsomest Luna winter quarters of all my experience.
+
+Luna hunters can secure material from which to learn this exquisite
+creature of night, by searching for the moths on the trunks of
+oak, walnut, hickory, birch or willow, during the month of June.
+The moths emerge on the ground, and climb these trees to unfold and
+harden their wings.  The females usually remain where they are,
+and the males are attracted to them.  If undisturbed they do not
+fly until after mating and egg depositing are accomplished.  The 
+males take wing as soon as dusk of the first night arrives, after 
+their wings are matured.  They usually find the females by ten 
+o'clock or midnight, and remain with them until morning.  I have 
+found mated pairs as late as ten o'clock in the forenoon.
+
+The moths do not eat, and after the affairs of life are
+accomplished, they remain in the densest shade they can find for
+a few days, and fly at night, ending their life period in from
+three days to a week.  Few of these gaudily painted ones have the
+chance to die naturally, for both birds and squirrels prey upon
+them, tearing away the delicate wings, and feasting on the big
+pulpy bodies.
+
+White eggs on the upper side of leaves of the trees mentioned are a
+sign of Luna caterpillars in deep woods, and full-grown larvae can
+be found on these trees in August.  By breaking off a twig on
+which they are feeding, carrying them carefully, placing them in a
+box where they cannot be preyed upon by flies and parasites, and
+keeping a liberal supply of fresh damp leaves, they will finish
+the feeding days, and weave their cocoons.
+
+Or the cocoons frequently can be found already spun among the
+leaves, by  nutting parties later in the fall.  There is small
+question if Luna pupae be alive, for on touching the cocoons they
+squirm and twist so vigorously that they can be heard plainly.
+There is so little difference in the size of male and female Lunas,
+that I am not sure of telling them apart in the cocoon, as I am
+certain I can Cecropia.
+
+Cocoon gathering in the fall is one of the most delightful
+occupations imaginable.  When flowers are gone; when birds have
+migrated; when brilliant foliage piles knee deep underfoot;
+during those last few days of summer, zest can be added to a ramble
+by a search for cocoons.  Carrying them home with extreme care not
+to jar or dent them, they are placed in the conservatory among
+the flowers.  They hang from cacti spines and over thorns on the
+big century plant and lemon tree.  When sprinkling, the hose is
+turned on them, as they would take the rain outside.  Usually
+they are placed in the coolest spots, where ventilation is good.
+
+There is no harm whatever in taking them _if the work is carefully
+and judiciously done_.  With you they are safe.  Outside they have 
+precarious chance for existence, for they are constantly sought by  
+hungry squirrels and field mice, while the sharp eyes and sharper 
+beaks of jays, and crows, are for ever searching for them.  The only  
+danger is in keeping them too warm, and so causing their emergence 
+before they can be placed out safely at night, after you have made
+yourself acquainted with Luna history.
+
+If they are kept cool enough that they do not emerge until May
+or June, then you have one of the most exquisite treats nature has
+in store for you, in watching the damp spot spread on the top of
+the cocoon where an acid is ejected that cuts and softens the tough
+fibre, and allows the moth to come pushing through in the full
+glory of its gorgeous birth.  Nowhere in nature can you find such
+delicate and daintily shaded markings or colours so brilliant and
+fresh as on the wings of these creatures of night.
+
+After you have learned the markings and colours, and secured
+pictures if you desire, and they begin to exhibit a restlessness,
+as soon as it is dusk, release them.  They are as well prepared
+for all life has for them as if they had emerged in the woods.
+The chances are that they are surer of life at your hands than
+they would have been if left afield, provided you keep them cool
+enough that they do not emerge too soon.  If you want to
+photograph them, do it when the wings are fully  developed, but
+before they have flown.  They need not be handled; their wings
+are unbroken; their down covering in place to the last scale;
+their colours never so brilliant; their markings the plainest
+they ever will be; their big pursy bodies full of life; and
+they will climb with perfect confidence on any stick, twig, or
+limb held before them.  Reproductions of them are even more
+beautiful than those of birds.  By all means photograph them out
+of doors on a twig or leaf that their caterpillars will eat.  Moths
+strengthen and dry very quickly outside in the warm crisp air of
+May or June, so it is necessary to have some one beside you with
+a spread net covering them, in case they want to fly  before you
+are ready to make an exposure.  In painting this moth the colours
+always should be copied from a living specimen as soon as it is dry.  
+No other moth of my acquaintance fades so rapidly.
+
+Repeatedly I am asked which I think the most beautiful of these
+big night moths.  I do not know.  All of them are indescribably  
+attractive.  Whether a pale green moth with purple markings is 
+lovelier than a light yellow moth with heliotrope decorations; 
+or a tan and brown one with pink lines, is a difficult thing to 
+determine.  When their descriptions are mastered, and the colour 
+combinations understood, I fancy each person will find the one 
+bearing most of his favourite colour the loveliest.  It may be 
+that on account of its artistically cut and coloured trailers, 
+Luna has a touch of grace above any.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII  King of the Hollyhocks:  Protoparce Celeus 
+
+
+Protoparce Celeus was the companion of Deilephila Lineata in the 
+country garden where I first studied Nature.  Why I was taught that
+Lineata was a bird, and Celeus a moth, it is difficult to understand, 
+for they appear very similar when poising before flowers.  They  
+visit the same blooms, and vary but little in size.  The distinction 
+that must have made the difference was that while Lineata kept 
+company with the hummingbirds and fed all day, Celeus came forth at 
+dusk, and flew in the evening and at night.  But that did not 
+conclusively prove it a moth, for nighthawks and whip-poor-wills did 
+the same; yet unquestionably they were birds.
+
+Anyway, I always knew Celeus was a moth, and that every big, green
+caterpillar killed on the tomato vines meant one less of its kind
+among the flowers.  I never saw one of these moths close a tomato 
+or potato vine, a jimson weed or ground cherry, but all my life 
+I have seen their eggs on these plants, first of a pale green 
+closely resembling the under side of the leaves, and if they  
+had been laid some time, a yellow colour.  The eggs are not dotted 
+along in lines, or closely  placed, but are deposited singly, or 
+by twos, at least very  sparsely.
+
+The little caterpillars emerge in about a week, and then comes the
+process of eating until they  grow into the large, green tomato or
+tobacco worms that all of us have seen.  When hatched the
+caterpillars are green, and have grey caudal horns similar to
+Lineata.  After eating for four or five days, they cast their
+skins.  This process is repeated three or four times, when the
+full-grown caterpillars are over four inches long, exactly the
+colour of a green tomato, with pale blue and yellow markings of
+beautiful shades, the horns blue-black; and appearing sharp enough
+to inflict a severe wound.
+
+Like all sphinx caterpillars Celeus is perfectly harmless; but
+this horn, in connexion with the habit the creatures have of
+clinging to the vines with the back feet, raising the head and
+striking from side to side, makes people very sure they can bite 
+or sting, or inflict some serious hurt.  So very vigorous are they  
+in self-defence when disturbed, that robins and cuckoos are the only  
+birds I ever have seen brave enough to pick them until the caterpillars 
+loosen their hold and drop to the ground, where they are eaten with
+evident relish.
+
+One cuckoo of my experience that nested in an old orchard, adjoining 
+a potato patch, frequently went there caterpillar-hunting, and played 
+havoc with one wherever found.  The shy, deep wood habits of the 
+cuckoo prevent it from coming close houses and into gardens, but 
+robins will take these big caterpillars from tomato vines.  However, 
+they go about it rather gingerly, and the work of reducing one to 
+non-resistance does not seem to be at all coveted.  Most people 
+exhibit symptoms of convulsions at sight of one.  Yet it is a matter 
+of education.  I have seen women kiss and fondle cats and dogs, one 
+snap from which would result in disfiguration or horrible death, 
+and seem not to be able to get enough of them.  But they were quite 
+equal to a genuine faint if contact were suggested with a perfectly  
+harmless caterpillar, a creature lacking all means of defence, save 
+this demonstration of throwing the head.
+
+When full-fed the caterpillars enter the earth to pupate, and on
+the fifteenth of October, 1906, only the day before I began this
+chapter, the Deacon, in digging worms for a fishing trip to the
+river, found a pupa case a yard from the tomato vines, and six
+inches below the surface.  He came to my desk, carrying on a spade
+a ball of damp earth larger than a quart bowl.  With all care we
+broke this as nearly in halves as possible and found in the centre
+a firm, oval hole, the size and shape of a hen's egg, and in the
+opening a fine fresh pupa case.
+
+It was a beautiful red-brown in colour, long and slenderer than 
+a number of others in my box of sand, and had a long tongue case
+turned under and fastened to the pupa between the wing shields.
+The sides of the abdomen were pitted; the shape of the head, and
+the eyes showed through the case, the wing shields were plainly
+indicated, and the abdominal shield was in round sections so that
+the pupa could twist from side to sid when touched, proving that
+the developing moth inside was very much alive and in fine condition.
+
+There were no traces of the cast skin.  The caterpillar had been 
+so strong and had pushed so hard against the surrounding earth that 
+the direction from which it had entered was lost.  The soil was 
+packed and crowded firmly for such a distance that this large ball 
+was forced together.  Trembling with eagerness I hurriedly set up 
+a camera.  This phase of moth life often has been described, but 
+I never before heard of any one having been able to reproduce it, 
+so my luck was glorious.  A careful study of this ball of earth, 
+the opening in which the case lies, and the pupa, with its blunt
+head and elaborate tongue shield, will convince any one that when 
+ready to emerge these moths must bore the six inches to the surface 
+with the point of the abdomen, and there burst the case, cling to 
+the first twig and develop and harden the wings.  The abdominal 
+point is sharp, surprisingly strong, and the rings of the segments 
+enable it to turn in all directions, while the earth is mellow 
+and moist with spring rains.  To force a way head first would be 
+impossible on account of the delicate tongue shield, and for the 
+moth to emerge underground and dig to the surface without displacing 
+a feather of down, either before or after wing expansion, is 
+unthinkable.  Yet I always had been in doubt as to precisely how the 
+exit of a pupa case moth took place, until I actually saw the earth 
+move and the sharp abdominal point appear while working in my garden.
+
+Living pupae can be had in the fall, by turning a few shovels of
+soil close vegetables in any country  garden.  In the mellow
+mould, among cabbages and tomato vines, around old log cabins close
+the Limberlost swamp, they are numerous, and the emerging moths
+haunt the sweet old-fashioned flowers.
+
+The moth named Celeus, after a king of Eleusis, certainly has
+kingly qualities to justify the appellation.  The colouring is
+all grey, black, brown, white and yellow, and the combinations are
+most artistic.  It is a relative of Lineata.  It flies and feeds by
+day, has nearly the same length of life, and is much the same in
+shape.
+
+The head is small and sharp, eyes very much larger than Lineata,
+and tongue nearly four inches in length.  The antennae are not
+clubbed, but long and hairlike.  It has the broad shoulders, the
+long wings, and the same shape of abdomen.  The wings, front and 
+back, are so mottled, lined, and touched with grey, black, brown 
+and white, as to be almost past definite description.  The back 
+wings have the black and white markings more clearly defined.  
+The head meets the thorax with a black band.  The back is covered 
+with long, grey down, and joins the abdomen, with a band of black 
+about a quarter of an inch wide, and then a white one of equal width.  
+The abdomen is the gaudiest part of the moth.  In general it is a 
+soft grey.  It is crossed by five narrow white lines the length 
+of the abdomen, and a narrow black one down the middle.  Along each 
+side runs a band of white.  On this are placed four large yellow spots
+each circled by a band of black that joins the black band of the
+spot next to it.  The legs and under side of the abdomen and wings
+are a light grey-tan, with the wing markings showing faintly, and
+the abdomen below is decorated with two small black dots.
+
+My first Celeus, a very large and beautiful one, was brought to
+me by Mr. Wallace Hardison, who has been an interested helper
+with this book.  The moth had a wing sweep of fully five and a
+half inches, and its markings were unusually bright and strong.  
+No other Celeus quite so big and beautiful ever has come to my 
+notice.  From four and a half to five inches is the average size.
+
+There was something the matter with this moth.  Not a scale of down
+seemed to be missing, but it was torpid and would not fly.
+Possibly it had been stung by some parasite before taking flight
+at all, for it was very fresh.  I just had returned from a trip
+north, and there were some large pieces of birch bark lying on the
+table on which the moth had been placed.  It climbed on one of
+these, and clung there, so I set up the bark, and made a time
+exposure.  It felt so badly it did not even close them when I took
+a brush and spread its wings full width.  Soon after it became
+motionless.  I had begun photographing moths recently; it was
+one of my very  first, and no thought of using it for natural
+history purposes occurred at the time.  I merely  made what I
+considered a beautiful likeness, and this was so appreciated
+whenever shown, that I went further and painted it in water
+colours.
+
+Since moth pictures have accumulated, and moth history has
+engrossed me with its intense interest, I have been very careful 
+in making studies to give each one its proper environment when 
+placing it before my camera.  Of all the flowers in our garden, 
+Celeus prefers the hollyhocks.  At least it comes to them oftenest 
+and remains at them longest.  But it moves continually and flies so 
+late that a picture of it has been a task.  After years of fruitless 
+effort, I made one passable snapshot early in July, while the light 
+was sufficiently strong that a printable picture could be had by 
+intensifying the plate, and one good time exposure as a Celeus, with 
+half-folded wings, clambered over a hollyhock, possibly hunting a 
+spot on which to deposit an egg or two.  The hollyhock painting of 
+this chapter is from this study.  The flowers were easy but it required 
+a second trial to do justice to the complicated markings of the moth.
+
+This evening lover and strong flyer, with its swallow-like sweep of
+wing, comes into the colour schemes of nature with the otter, that
+at rare times thrusts a sleek grey head from the river, with the
+grey-brown cotton-tails that bound across the stubble, and the
+coots that herald dawn in the marshes.  Exactly the shades, and
+almost the markings ofits wings can be found on very old rail fences.  
+This lint shows lighter colour, and even grey when used in the house
+building of wasps and orioles, but I know places in the country where 
+I could carve an almost perfectly shaded Celeus wing from a weather-
+beaten old snake fence rail. 
+
+Celeus visits many flowers, almost all of the trumpet-shaped ones, 
+in fact, but if I were an artist I scarcely would think it right to 
+paint a hollyhock without putting King Celeus somewhere in the picture, 
+poised on his throne of air before a perfect bloom as he feasts on 
+pollen and honey.  The holly-hock is a kingly flower, with its regally 
+lifted heads of bright bloom, and that the king of moths should show 
+his preference for it seems eminently fitting, so we of the Cabin 
+named him King of the Hollyhocks.  
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII   Hera of the Corn: Hyperchira Io
+
+
+At the same time he gave me the Eacles Imperialis moths, Mr. Eisen 
+presented me with a pair of Hyperchiria Io.  They were nicely mounted 
+on the black velvet lining of a large case in my room, but I did not
+care for them in the least.  A picture I would use could not be made 
+from dead, dried specimens, and history learned from books is not worth
+knowing, in comparison with going afield and threshing it out for 
+yourself in your own way.  Because the Io was yellow, I wanted it--
+more than several specimens I had not found as yet, for yellow, be it 
+on the face of a flower, on the breast of a bird, or in the gold of 
+sunshine, always warms the depths of my heart.
+
+One night in June, sitting with a party of friends in the library,
+a shadow seemed to sweep across a large window in front.  I glanced 
+up, and arose with a cry that must have made those present doubt my  
+sanity.  A perfect and beautiful Io was walking leisurely across the 
+glass.
+
+"A moth!" I cried.  "I have none like it!  Deacon, get the net!"
+
+I caught a hat from the couch, and ran to the veranda.  The Deacon
+followed with the net.
+
+"I was afraid to wait," I explained.  "Please bring a piece of
+pasteboard, the size of this brim.'
+
+I held the hat while the Deacon brought the board.  Then with
+trembling care we slipped it under, and carefully carried the moth
+into the conservatory.  First we turned on the light, and made sure
+that every ventilator was closed; then we released the Io for
+the night.  In the morning we found a female clinging to a shelf,
+dotting it with little top-shaped eggs.  I was delighted, for I
+thought this meant the complete history of a beautiful moth.  So
+exquisite was the living, breathing creature, she put to shame the
+form and colouring of the mounted specimens.  No wonder I had not
+cared for them!
+
+Her fore-wings were a strong purplish brown in general effect, but
+on close examination one found the purplish tinge a commingling of 
+every delicate tint of lavender and heliotrope imaginable.  They were 
+crossed by escalloped bands of greyish white, and flecked with touches 
+of the same, seeming as if they had been placed with a brush.  The 
+back wings were a strong yellow.  Each had, for its size, an immense 
+black eye-spot, with a blue pupil covering three-fourths of it, crossed 
+by a perfect comma of white, the heads toward the front wings and the 
+curves bending outward.  Each eye-spot was in a yellow field, strongly  
+circled with a sharp black line; then a quarter of an inch band of 
+yellow; next a heliotrope circle of equal width; yellow again twice as 
+wide; then a faint heliotrope line; and last a very narrow edging of 
+white.  Both wings joined the body under a covering of long, silky,
+purple-brown hairs.
+
+She was very busy with egg depositing, and climbed to the twig
+held before her without offering to fly.  The camera was carried to
+the open, set up and focused on a favourable spot, while Molly-Cotton
+walked beside me holding a net over the moth in case she took flight 
+in outer air.  The twig was placed where she would be in the deepest 
+shade possible while I worked rapidly with the camera.
+
+By this time experience had taught me that these creatures of
+moonlight and darkness dislike the open glare of day, and if placed
+in sunlight will take flight in search of shade more quickly than
+they will move if touched.  So until my Io settled where I wanted
+her with the wings open, she was kept in the shadow.  Only when I
+grasped the bulb and stood ready to snap, was the covering lifted,
+and for the smallest fraction of a second the full light fell on
+her; then darkness again.
+
+In three days it began to be apparent there was something wrong
+with the eggs.  In four it was evident, and by five I was not
+expecting the little caterpillars to emerge, and they did not.
+The moth had not mated and the eggs were not fertile.  Then I saw
+my mistake.  Instead of shutting the female in the conservatory
+at night, I should have tied a soft cotton string firmly around
+her body, and fastened it to some of the vines on the veranda.
+Beyond all doubt, before morning, a male of her kind would have
+been attracted to her.
+
+One learns almost as much by his mistakes as he profits by his 
+successes in this world.  Writing of this piece of stupidity, 
+at a time in my work with moths when a little thought would 
+have taught me better, reminds me of an experience I had with 
+a caterpillar, the first one I ever carried home and tried to 
+feed.  I had an order to fill for some swamp pictures, and was 
+working almost waist deep in a pool in the Limberlost, when on 
+a wild grape-vine swinging close to my face, I noticed a big 
+caterpillar placidly eating his way around a grape leaf.  
+The caterpillar was over four inches long, had no horn, and was 
+of a clear red wine colour, that was beautiful in the sunlight.  
+I never before had seen a moth caterpillar that was red and I 
+decided it must be rare.  As there was a wild grapevine growing 
+over the east side of the Cabin, and another on the windmill, 
+food of the right kind would be plentiful, so I instantly
+decided to take the caterpillar home.  It was of the specimens 
+that I consider have almost `thrust themselves upon me.'
+
+When the pictures were finished and my camera carried from the
+swamp, I returned with the clippers and cut off vine and
+caterpillar, to carry  with me.  On arrival I placed it in a 
+large box with sand on the bottom, and every few hours took out 
+the wilted leaves, put in fresh ones, and sprinkled them to insure 
+crispness, and to give a touch of moisture to the atmosphere in 
+the box, that would make it seem more like the swamp.
+
+My specimen was readily identified as Philampelus Pandorus, of
+which I had no moth, so I took extra care of it in the hope of a
+new picture in the spring.  It had a little flat head that could be
+drawn inside the body like a turtle, and on the sides were oblique
+touches of salmon.  Something that appeared to be a place for a
+horn could be seen, and a yellow tubercle was surrounded by a
+black line.  It ate for three days, and then began racing so
+frantically around the box, I thought confinement must be harmful,
+so I gave it the freedom of the Cabin, warning all my family to
+`look well to their footsteps.'  It stopped travelling after a day
+or two at a screen covering the music-room window, and there I
+found it one morning lying still, a shrivelled, shrunken thing;
+only half the former length, so it was carefully picked up, and
+thrown away!
+
+Of course the caterpillar was in the process of changing into the 
+pupa, and if I had known enough to lay it on the sand in my box, 
+and wait a few days, without doubt a fine pupa would have emerged 
+from that shrunken skin, from which, in the spring, I could have 
+secured an exquisite moth, with shades of olive green, flushed 
+with pink.  The thought of it makes me want to hide my head.  
+It was six years before I found a living moth, or saw another 
+caterpillar of that species.
+
+A few days later, while watching with a camera focused on the nest
+of a blackbird in Mrs. Corson's woods east of town, Raymond, who
+was assisting me, crept to my side and asked if it would do any
+harm for him to go specimen hunting.  The long waits with set
+cameras were extremely tedious to the restless spirits of the boy,
+and the birds were quite tame, the light was under a cloud, and
+the woods were so deep that after he had gone a few rods he was
+from sight, and under cover; besides it was great hunting ground,
+so I gladly told him to go.
+
+The place was almost `virgin,' much of it impassable and fully  
+half of it was under water that lay in deep, murky  pools 
+throughout summer.  In the heat of late June everything was steaming;
+insect life of all kinds was swarming; not far away I could hear
+sounds of trouble between the crow and hawk tribes; and overhead
+a pair of black vultures, whose young lay in a big stump in the
+interior, were searching for signs of food.  If ever there was a 
+likely place for specimens it was here; Raymond was an expert
+at locating them, and fearless to foolhardiness.  He had been gone 
+only a short time when I heard a cry, and I knew it must mean 
+something, in his opinion, of more importance than blackbirds.
+
+I answered "Coming," and hastily winding the long hose, I started
+in the direction Raymond had taken, calling occasionally to make
+sure I was going the right way.  When I found him, the boy was
+standing beside a stout weed, hat in hand, intently watching
+something.  As I leaned forward I saw that it was a Hyperchiria Io
+that just had emerged from the cocoon, and as yet was resting with
+wings untried.  It differed so widely from my moth of a few days
+before, I knew it must be a male.
+
+This was only three-fourths as large as mine, but infinitely
+surpassed it in beauty.  Its front wings were orange-yellow, flushed
+with red-purple at the base, and had a small irregular brown spot
+near the costa.  Contrary to all precedent, the under side of
+these wings were the most beautiful, and bore the decorations that,
+in all previous experience with moths, had been on the upper surface, 
+faintly showing on the under.  For instance, this irregular 
+brown marking on the upper side proved to be a good-sized black 
+spot with with white dot in the middle on the under; and there was 
+a curved line of red-purple from the apex of the wing sloping to 
+the lower edge, nearly half an inch from the margin.  The space 
+from this line to the base of the wing was covered with red-purple 
+down.  The back wings were similar to the female's, only of stronger 
+colour, and more distinct markings; the eye-spot and lining appeared 
+as if they had been tinted with strong fresh paint, while the edges 
+of the wings lying beside the abdomen had the long, silken hairs of 
+a pure, beautiful red their entire length:
+
+A few rods away men were ploughing in the adjoining corn field, and 
+I remembered that the caterpillar of this moth liked to feed on corn 
+blades, and last summer undoubtedly lived in that very  field.  When 
+I studied Io history in my moth books, I learned these caterpillars 
+ate willow, wild cherry, hickory, plum, oak, sassafras, ash, and poplar.  
+The caterpillar was green, more like the spiny butterfly caterpillars
+than any moth one I know.  It had brown and white bands, brown patches, 
+and was covered with tufts of stiff upstanding spines that pierced 
+like sharp needles.  This was not because the caterpillar tried to 
+hurt you, but because the spines were on it, and so arranged that if 
+pressed against, an acid secretion sprang from their base.  This 
+spread over the flesh the spines touched, stinging for an hour like 
+smartweed, or nettles.
+
+When I identified this caterpillar in my books, it came to me that
+I had known and experienced its touch.  But it did not forcibly
+impress me until that instant that I knew it best of all, and that
+it was my childhood enemy of the corn.  Its habit was to feed on
+the young blades, and cling to them with all its might.  If I was
+playing Indian among the rows, or hunting an ear with especially
+long, fine 'silk' for a make-believe doll, or helping the cook
+select ears of Jersey Sweet to boil for dinner, and accidentally
+brushed one of these caterpillars with cheek or hand, I felt its 
+burning sting long afterward.  So I disliked those caterpillars.
+
+For I always had played among the corn.  Untold miles I have
+ridden the plough horses across the spring fields, where mellow
+mould rolled black from the shining shares, and the perfumed air
+made me feel so near flying that all I seemed to need was a high
+start to be able to sail with the sentinel blackbird, that perched
+on the big oak, and with one sharp 'T'check!' warned his feeding 
+flock, surely and truly, whether a passing man carried a gun or 
+a hoe.  Then came the planting, when bare feet loved the cool 
+earth, and trotted over other untold miles, while little fingers 
+carefully counted out seven grains from the store carried in my  
+apron skirt, as I chanted:
+
+"One for the blackbird, one for the crow;  
+One for the cutworm and four to grow."
+
+Then father covered them to the right depth, and stamped each hill 
+with the flat of the hoe, while we talked of golden corn bread, 
+and slices of mush, fried to a crisp brown that cook would make in 
+the fall.  We had to plant enough more to feed all the horses, cattle, 
+pigs, turkeys, geese, and chickens, during the long winter, even if 
+the sun grew uncomfortably warm, and the dinner bell was slow about 
+ringing.
+
+Then there were the Indian days in the field, when a fallen eagle
+feather stuck in a braid, and some pokeberry juice on the face,
+transformed me into the Indian Big Foot, and I fled down green
+aisles of the corn before the wrath of the mighty Adam Poe.  At
+times Big Foot grew tired fleeing, and said so in remarkably
+distinct English, and then to keep the game going, my sister Ada,
+who played Adam Poe, had to turn and do the fleeing or be
+tomahawked with a stick.
+
+When the milk was in the ears, they were delicious steamed over
+salted water, or better yet roasted before coals at the front of
+qthe cooking stove, and eaten with butter and salt, if you have
+missed the flavour of it in that form, really you never have known
+corn!
+
+Next came the cutting days.  These were after all the caterpillars
+had climbed down, and travelled across the fence to spin their
+cocoons among the leaves of the woods; as if some instinct warned
+them that they would be ploughed up too early to emerge, if they
+remained in the field.  The boys bent four hills, lashed the tassels 
+together for a foundation, and then with one sweep of their knives, 
+they cut a hill at a time, and stacked it in large shocks, that lined 
+the field like rows of sentinels, guarding the gold of pumpkin and 
+squash lying all around.  While the shocks were drying, the squirrels, 
+crows, and quail took possession, and fattened their sides against 
+snow time.
+
+Then the gathering days of October--they were the best days of all!  
+Like a bloom-outlined vegetable bed, the goldenrod and ironwort,
+in gaudy border, filled the fence corners of the big fields.  A
+misty haze hung in the air, because the Indians were burning the
+prairies to round up game for winter.  The cawing of the crows, 
+the chatter of blackbirds, and the piping bob-whites, sounded so 
+close and so natural out there, while the crowing cocks of the 
+barnyard seemed miles away and slightly  unreal.  Grown up and 
+important, I sat on a board laid across the wagon bed, and guided 
+the team of matched greys between the rows of shocks, and around 
+the 'pie-timber' as my  brother Leander called the pumpkins while
+father and the boys opened the shocks and husked the ears.
+How the squirrels scampered to the woods and to the business of
+storing away the hickory nuts that we could hear rattling down
+every frosty morning!  We hurried with the corn; because as soon 
+as the last shock was in, we might take the horses, wagon, and
+our dinner, and go all day to the woods, where we gathered our
+winter store of nuts.  Leander would take a gun along, and shoot
+one of those saucy  squirrels for the little sick mother.
+
+Last came the November night, when the cold had shut us in.  Then
+selected ears that had been dried in the garret were brought down,
+white for `rivel' and to roll things in to fry, and yellow for
+corn bread and mush.  A tub full of each was shelled, and sacked 
+to carry to the mill the following day.  I sat on the floor while
+father and the boys worked, listening to their talk, as I built
+corncob castles so high they toppled from their many stories.
+Sometimes father made cornstock fiddles that would play a real
+tune.  Oh! the pity of it that every little child cannot grow,
+live, learn and love among the corn.  For the caterpillars never
+stopped the fun, even the years when they were most numerous.
+
+The eggs laid by my female never hatched, so I do not know this
+caterpillar in its early stages from experience, but I had enough
+experience with it in my early  stages, that I do not care if I 
+never raise one.  No doubt it attains maturity by the same series 
+of moults as the others, and its life history is quite similar.  
+The full-fed caterpillars spin among the leaves on the ground, 
+and with their spines in mind, I would much prefer finding a cocoon, 
+and producing a moth from that stage of its evolution.
+
+The following season I had the good fortune to secure a male and
+female Io at the same time and by persistence induced them to pose
+for me on an apple branch.  There was no trouble in securing the
+male as I desired him, with wings folded showing the spots, lining
+and flushing of colour.  But the female was a perverse little body
+and though I tried patiently and repeatedly she would not lower
+her wings full width.  She climbed around with them three-fourths 
+spread, producing the most beautiful effect of life, but failing to 
+display her striking markings.  This is the one disadvantage in 
+photographing moths from life.  You secure lifelike effects but 
+sometimes you are forced to sacrifice their wonderful decorations.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX  The Sweetheart and the Bride: Catocala Amatyix--
+            Catocala Neogama 
+
+
+There are no moths so common with us as these, for throughout their 
+season, at any time one is wanted, it is sure to be found either 
+on the sweetbrier clambering over the back wall, among the morning-
+glories on one side, the wistaria and wild grape on the other, or 
+in the shade of the wild clematis in front.  On very sunny days, 
+they leave the shelter of the vines, and rest on the logs of the 
+Cabin close the roof of the verandas.  Clinging there they appear 
+like large grey flies, for they are of peculiar shape, and the 
+front wings completely cover the back when in repose.  A third or 
+a half of the back wings show as they are lifted to balance the 
+the moths when walking over vines and uncertain footing.  They are 
+quite conspicuous on our Cabin, because it is built of the red cedar 
+of Wisconsin; were it of the timber used by our grandfathers, these 
+moths with folded wings would be almost indistinguishable from their 
+surroundings.
+
+Few moths can boast greater beauty.  The largest specimen of the
+'Sweetheart' that homes with us would measure three and one half
+inches if it would spread its wings full width as do the moths of 
+other species.  No moth is more difficult to describe, because of 
+the delicate blending of so many intangible shades.  The front wings 
+are a pale, brownish grey, with irregular markings of tan, and dark 
+splotches outlined with fine deep brown lines.  The edges are fluted 
+and escalloped, each raised place being touched with a small spot of 
+tan, and above it a narrow escalloped line of brown.  The back wings 
+are bright red, crossed by a circular band of brownish black, 
+three-fourths of an inch from the base, a secondary wider band of 
+the same, and edged with pale yellow.
+
+There is no greater surprise in store for a student of moths than
+to locate a first Catocala Amatrix, and see the softly blended
+grey front wings suddenly lift, and the vivid red of the back
+ones flash out.  The under sides of the front wings are a warm
+creamy tan, crossed by wide bands of dark brown and grey-brown,
+ending in a delicate grey mist at the edges.  The back wings are
+the same tan shade, with red next the abdomen, and crossed by
+brown bands of deeper shade than the fore-wings.  The shoulders 
+are covered with long silky  hair like the front wings.  This is so
+delicate that it becomes detached at the slightest touch of vine or
+leaf.  The abdomen is slightly lighter in colour on top, and a
+creamy tan beneath.  The legs are grey, and the feet to the first
+joint tan, crossed by faint lines of brown.
+
+The head is small, with big prominent eyes that see better by day
+than most night moths; for Catocala takes precipitate flight at
+the merest shadow.  The antennae are long, delicate and threadlike, 
+and must be broken very easily in the flight of the moth.  It is 
+nothing unusual to see them with one antenna shorter than the other, 
+half, or entirely gone; and a perfect specimen with both antennae, 
+and all the haif on its shoulders, is rare.  They have a long tongue 
+that uncoils like Lineata, and Celeus, so they are feeders, but not 
+of day, for they never take flight until evening, except when disturbed.  
+The male is smaller than the female, his fore-wings deeply flushed 
+with darker colour and the back brighter red with more black in the bands.
+
+Neogama, another member of this family, is a degree smaller than Amatrix, 
+but of the same shape.  The fore-wings are covered with broken lines 
+of different colours, the groundwork grey, with gold flushings, the 
+lines and dots of the border very like the Sweetheart's.  The back 
+wings are pure gold, almost reddish, with dark brownish black bands, 
+and yellow borders.  The top of the abdomen is a grey-gold colour. 
+Underneath, the markings are nearly the same as Amatrix, but a gold 
+flush suffuses the moth.  
+
+There are numbers of these Catocala moths running the colour scheme
+of-yellow, from pale chrome to umber.  Many shade from light pink
+through the reds to a dark blood colour.  Then there is a smaller
+number having brown back wings and with others they are white.
+
+The only way I know to photograph them is to focus on some favourable 
+spot, mark the place your plate covers in length and width, and then 
+do your best to coax your subjects in range.  If they can be persuaded 
+to walk, they  will open their wings to a greater or less degree.  A 
+reproduction would do them no sort of justice unless the markings of 
+the back wings show.  It is on account of the gorgeous colourings of 
+these that scientists call the species `afterwings.'
+
+One would suppose that with so many specimens of this beautiful
+species living with us and swarming the swamp close by, I would be
+prepared to give their complete life history; but I know less
+concerning them than any other moths common with us, and all the
+scientific works I can buy afford little help.  Professional
+lepidopterists dismiss them with few words.  One would-be authority
+disposes of the species with half a dozen lines.  You can find at
+least a hundred Catocala reproduced from museum specimens and their
+habitat given, in the Holland "Moth Book", but I fail to learn what 
+I most desire to know: what these moths feed on; how late they
+live; how their eggs appear; where they are deposited;
+which is their caterpillar; what does it eat; and where and how
+does it pupate.
+
+Packard, in his "Guide to the Study of Insects", offers in
+substance this much help upon the subject: "The genus is
+beautiful, the species numerous, of large size, often three-inch
+expansion, and in repose form a flat roof.  The larva is elongate, 
+slender, flattened beneath and spotted with black, attenuated at 
+each end, with fleshy filaments on the sides above the legs, while 
+the head is flattened and rather forked above.  It feeds on trees 
+and rests attached to the trunks.  The pupa is covered with a bluish
+efflorescence, enclosed in a slight cocoon of silk, spun amongst
+leaves or bark."
+
+This will tend to bear out my contention that scientific works are
+not the help they should be to the Nature Lover.  Heaven save me
+from starting to locate Catocala moths, eggs, caterpillars or
+pupae on the strength of this information.  I might find moths by
+accident; nothing on the subject of eggs; neither colour of
+body, characteristics nor food, to help identify caterpillars;
+for the statement, 'it feeds on trees,' cannot be considered
+exactly illuminating when we remember the world full of trees on
+which caterpillars are feeding; and should one search for cocoon
+encased pupae among the leaves and bark of tree-tops or earth?
+
+The most reliable information I have had, concerning these moths 
+of which I know least, comes from Professor Rowley.  He is the 
+only lepidopterist of four to whom I applied, who could tell me 
+any  of the things I am interested in knowing.  He writes in 
+substance: "The Bride and Sweetheart are common northern species, 
+as are most of the other members of the group.  The Amatrix,
+with its red wings, is called the Sweetheart because amor means
+love, and red is love's own colour.  The caterpillar feeds on
+willow.  The Catocala of the yellow "after-wings" is commonly
+called the Bride, because Neogama, its scientific name, means
+recently wedded.  Its caterpillar feeds on walnut leaves.
+
+"If you will examine the under side of the body of a Catocala moth
+you will find near the junction of the thorax and abdomen on either
+side, large open organs reminding one of the ears of a grasshopper,
+which are on the sides of the first abdominal segment.  Examine
+the bodies of Sphinges and other moths for these same openings.
+They appear to be ears.  Catocala moths feed on juices, and live
+most of the summer season.  Numbers of them have been found sipping
+sap at a tree freshly  cut and you know we take them at night with
+bait.
+
+"New Orleans sugar and cider or sugar and stale beer are the usual
+baits.  This 'concoction'is put on the bodies of trees with a 
+brush, between eight and ten o'clock at night.  During good Catocala
+years, great numbers of these moths may be taken as they feed at 
+the sweet syrup.  So it is proved that their food is sap, honeydew, 
+and other sugary liquids.  Mr. George Dodge assures me that he has 
+taken Catocala abbreviatella at milk-weed blooms about eight o'clock 
+of early July  evenings.  Other species also feed on flowers."  
+
+You will observe that in his remarks about the "open organs on the 
+side of the abdominal segment,"  Professor Rowley may have settled 
+the 'ear' question.  I am going to keep sharp watch for these organs, 
+hereafter.  I am led to wonder if one could close them in some way  
+and detect any difference in the moth's sense of hearing after
+having done so.
+
+All of us are enthusiasts about these moths with their modest
+fore-wings and the gaudy brilliance of the wonderful 'after-wings,'  
+that are so bright as to give common name to the species.  We are 
+studying them constantly and hope soon to learn all we care to know 
+of any moths, for our experience with them is quite limited when 
+compared with other visitors from the swamp.  But think of
+the poetry of adding to the long list of birds, animals and
+insects that temporarily reside with us, a Sweetheart and a Bride!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X  The Giant Gamin: Telea Polyphemus 
+
+
+Time cannot be used to tell of making the acquaintance of this 
+moth until how well worth knowing it is has been explained.  That 
+it is a big birdlike fellow, with a six inch sweep of wing, is 
+indicated by the fact that it is named in honour of the giant 
+Polyphemus.  Telea means `the end,' and as scientists fail to 
+explain the appropriateness of this, I am at liberty to indulge 
+a theory of my  own.  Nature made this handsome moth last, and 
+as it was the end, surpassed herself as a finishing touch on 
+creatures that are, no doubt, her frailest and most exquisite 
+creation.
+
+Polyphemus is rich in shadings of many subdued colours, that so
+blend and contrast as to give it no superior in the family of
+short-lived lovers of moonlight.  Its front wings are a complicated
+study of many colours, for some of which it would be difficult to
+find a name.  Really, it is the one moth that must be seen and
+studied in minutest detail to gain an idea of its beauty.  The 
+nearest I can come to the general groundwork of the wing is a 
+rich brown-yellow.  The costa is grey, this colour spreading in 
+a widening line from the base of the wing to more than a quarter 
+of an inch at the tip, and closely peppered with black.  At the 
+base, the wing is covered with silky  yellow-brown hairs.  As if 
+to outline the extent of these, comes a line of pinkish white, 
+and then one of rich golden brown, shading into the prevailing 
+colour.
+
+Close the middle of the length of the wing, and half an inch from
+the costa, is a transparent spot like isinglass, so clear that fine
+print can be read through it.  This spot is outlined with a canary
+yellow band, and that with a narrow, but sharp circle of black.
+Then comes a cloudlike rift of golden brown, drifting from the
+costa across the wing, but, growing fainter until it merges with
+the general colour near the abdomen.  Then half an inch of the
+yellow-brown colour is peppered with black, similar to the costa; 
+this grows darker until it terminates in a quarter of an inch wide 
+band of almost grey-black crossing the wing.  Next this comes a 
+narrower band of pinkish white.  The edge begins with a quarter 
+of an inch band of clear yellow-brown, and widens as the wing curves
+until it is half an inch at the point.  It is the lightest colour
+of rotten apple.  The only thing I ever have seen in nature exactly  
+similar was the palest shade of `mother' found in barrels of vinegar.  
+A very light liver colour comes close it.  On the extreme tip is a 
+velvety oval, half black and half pale pink.
+
+The back wings are the merest trifle stronger in this yellow-brown
+colour, and with the exception of the brown rift are the same in
+marking, only that all colour, similar to the brown, is a shade
+deeper.
+
+The `piece de resistance' of the back wing, is the eyespot.
+The transparent oval is a little smaller.  The canary band is
+wider, and of stronger colour.  The black band around the lower
+half is yet wider, and of long velvety  hairs.  It extends in an
+oval above the transparent spot fully half an inch, then shades
+through peacock blue, and grey to the hairlike black line
+enclosing the spot.
+
+The under sides of the wings are pure tan, clouded and lined with
+shades of rich brown.  The transparent spots are outlined with
+canary, and show a faint line drawn across the middle the long way.
+
+The face is a tiny brown patch with small eyes, for the size of
+the moth, and large brown antennae, shaped like those of Cecropia.
+The grey band of the costa crosses the top of the head.  The
+shoulders are covered with pinkish, yellow-brown hair.  The top
+and sides of the abdomen are a lighter shade of the same.
+
+The under side of the abdomen is darker brown, and the legs brown
+with very dark brown feet.  These descriptions do the harmonizing
+colours of the moth no sort of justice, but are the best I can offer.
+In some lights it is a rich YELLOW-BROWN, and again a pink flush
+pervades body and wings.
+
+My first experience with a living Polyphemis (I know Telea is shorter,
+but it is not suitable, while a giant among moths it is, so that
+name is best) occurred several years ago.  A man brought me a living
+Polyphemus battered to rags and fringes, antennae broken and three
+feet missing.  He had found a woman trying ot beat the clinging 
+creature loose from a door screen, with a towel, before the wings 
+were hardened for flight, and he rescued the remains.  There was 
+nothing to say; some people are not happy unless they are killing
+helpless, harmless creatures; and there was nothing to do.
+
+The moth was useless for a study, while its broken antennae set it 
+crazy, and it shook and trembled continually, going out without 
+depositing any eggs.  One thing I did get was complete identification,
+and another, to attribute the experience to Mrs. Comstock in "A
+Girl of the Limberlost"*, when I wished to make her do something
+particularly disagreeable.  In learning a moth I study its eggs,
+caterpillars, and cocoons, so that fall Raymond and I began searching
+for Polyphemus.  I found our first cocoon hanging by a few threads
+of silk, from a willow twig overhanging a stream in the limberlost. 
+
+<<*April 1994 [limbr10x.xxx] 125  A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene 
+Stratton-Porter>>
+
+A queer little cocoon it was.  The body was tan colour, and thickly
+covered with a white sprinkling like lime.  A small thorn tree
+close the cabin yielded Raymond two more; but these were darker in 
+colour, and each was spun inside three thorn leaves so firmly that 
+it appeared triangular in shape.  The winds had blown the cocoons
+agianst the limbs and worn away the projecting edges of the leaves,
+but the midribs and veins showed plainly.  In all we had half a dozen
+of htese cocoons gathered from different parts of the swamp, and we 
+found them dangling from a twig of willow or hawthorn, by a small 
+piece of spinning.  During the winter these occupied the place of 
+state in the conservatory, and were watched every day.  They were 
+kept in the coolest spot, but where the sun reached them at times.  
+Always in watering the flowers, the hose was turned on them, because 
+they would have been in the rain if they  had been left out of doors, 
+and conditions should be kept as natural as possible.  
+
+Close time for emergence I became very  uneasy, because the
+conservatory was warm; so I moved them to my sleeping room, the
+coolest in the cabin, where a fireplace, two big windows and an
+outside door, always open, provide natural atmospheric conditions,
+and where I would be sure to see them every  day.  I hung the twigs
+over a twine stretched from my dresser to the window-sill.  One
+day in May, when the trees were in full bloom, I was working on a
+tulip bed under an apple tree in the garden, when Molly-Cotton said
+to me, "How did you get that cocoon in your room wet?"
+
+"I did not water any of the cocoons," I answered.  "I have done no 
+sprinkling today.  If they  are wet, it has come from the inside."
+
+Molly-Cotton dropped her trowel.  "One of them was damp on the top
+before lunch,"  she cried.  "I just now thought of it.  The moths
+are coming!"  She started on a run and I followed, but stopped
+to wash my hands, so she reached them first, and her shout told
+the news.
+
+"Hurry!" she cried.  "Hurry!  One is out, and another is just
+struggling through!"  Quickly as I could I stood beside her.
+One Polyphemus female, a giant indeed, was clinging to a twig with
+her feet, and from her shoulders depended her wings, wet, and
+wrinkled as they had been cramped in the pupa case.  Even then she
+had expanded in body  until it seemed impossible that she had
+emerged from the opening of the vacant cocoon.  The second one had
+its front feet and head out, and was struggling frantically to
+free its shoulders.  A fresh wet spot on the top of another cocoon,
+where the moth had ejected the acid with which it is provided to
+soften the spinning, was heaving with the pushing head of the
+third.
+Molly-Cotton was in sympathy  with the imprisoned moths.
+
+"Why  don't you get something sharp, and split the cocoons so they
+can get out?"  she demanded.  "Just look at them struggle!  They  
+will kill themselves!"
+
+Then I explained to her that if we wanted big, perfect moths we
+must not touch them.  That the evolution of species was complete to
+the minutest detail.  The providence that supplied the acid,
+required that the moths make the fight necessary to emerge alone,
+in order to strengthen them so they would be able to walk and
+cling with their feet, while the wings drooped and dried properly.
+That if I cut a case, and took out a moth with no effort on its
+part, it would be too weak to walk, or bear its weight, and so
+would fall to the floor.  Then because of not being in the right 
+position, the wings would harden half spread, or have broken 
+membranes and never develop fully.  So instead of doing a kindness 
+I really would work ruination.
+
+"Oh, I see!" cried the wondering girl, and her eyes were large enough 
+to have seen anything, while her brain was racing.  If you want to 
+awaken a child and teach it to think, give object lessons such as 
+these, in natural history and study  with it, so that every  
+miraculous point is grasped when reached.  We left the emerging moths 
+long enough to set up a camera outside, and focus on old tree.  Then 
+we hurried back, almost praying that the second moth would be a male, 
+and dry soon enough that the two could be pictured together, before 
+the first one would be strong enough to fly.
+
+The following three hours were spent with them, and every minute
+enjoyed to the fullest.  The first to emerge was dry, and pumping
+her wings to strengthen them for flight; the second was in condition 
+to pose, but a disappointment, for it was another female.  The third 
+was out, and by its smaller size, brighter markings and broad antennae 
+we knew it was a male.  His `antlers' were much wider than those of 
+the first two, and where their markings were pink, his were so vivid 
+as to be almost red, and he was very furry.  He had, in fact, almost 
+twice as much long hair as the others, so he undoubtedly was a male, 
+but he was not sufficiently advanced to pose with the females, and 
+I was in doubt as to the wisest course to pursue.
+
+"Hurry him up!"  suggested Molly-Cotton.  "Tie a string across
+the window and hang him in the sunshine.  I'll bring a fan, and
+stir the air gently.'
+
+This plan seemed feasible, and when the twine was ready, I lifted 
+his twig to place it in the new location.  The instant I touched 
+his resting-place and lifted its weight from the twine both females 
+began ejecting a creamy liquid.  They ruined the frescoing behind 
+them, as my first Cecropia soiled the lace curtain when I was smaller 
+than Molly-Cotton at that time.  We tacked a paper against the wall 
+to prevent further damage.  A point to remember in moth culture, is 
+to be ready for this occurrence before they  emerge, if you do not 
+want stained frescoing, floors, and hangings.
+
+In the sunshine and fresh air the male began to dry rapidly, and
+no doubt he understood the presence of his kind, for he was much
+more active than the females.  He climbed the twig, walked the
+twine body pendent, and was so energetic that we thought we
+dared not trust him out of doors; but when at every effort to
+walk or fly he only attempted to reach the females, we concluded
+that he would not take wing if at liberty.  By this time he was
+fully developed, and so perfect he would serve for a study.
+
+I polished the lenses, focused anew on the tree, marked the limits
+of exposure, inserted a plate, and had everything ready.  Then I 
+brought out the female, Molly-Cotton walking beside me hovering
+her with a net.  The moth climbed from the twig to the tree, and
+clung there, her wings spread flat, at times setting them quivering
+in a fluttering motion, or raising them.  While Molly-Cotton guarded 
+her I returned for the male, and found him with wings so hardened 
+that could raise them above his back, and lower them full width.
+
+I wanted my study to dignify  the term, so I planned it to show
+the under wings of one moth, the upper of the other.  Then the
+smaller antennae and large abdomen of the female were of interest.
+I also thought it would be best to secure the male with wings
+widespread if possible, because his colour was stronger, his
+markings more pronounced.  So I helped the female on a small branch
+facing the trunk of the tree, and she rested with raised wings as 
+I fervently hoped she would.  The male I placed on the trunk, and
+with wide wings he immediately started toward the female, while
+she advanced in his direction.  This showed his large antennae and
+all markings and points especially  note worthy; being good
+composition as well, for it centred interest; but there was one 
+objection.  It gave the male the conspicuous place and made him 
+appear the larger because of his nearness to the lens and his wing 
+spread; while as a matter of fact, the female had almost an inch 
+more sweep than he, and was bigger at every  point save the antennae.
+
+The light was full and strong, the lens the best money could buy,
+the plate seven by nine inches.  By this time long practice had
+made me rather expert in using my cameras.  When the advancing
+pair were fully inside my circle of focus, I made the first
+exposure.  Then I told Molly-Cotton to keep them as nearly as
+possible where they were, while I took one breathless peep at the
+ground glass.
+
+Talk about exciting work!  No better focus could be had on them,
+so I shoved in another plate with all speed, and made a second
+exposure, which was no better than the first.  Had there been time,
+I would have made a third to be sure, for plates are no object when
+a study is at all worth while.  As a rule each succeeding effort
+enables you to make some small change for the better, and you must
+figure on always having enough to lose one through a defective
+plate or ill luck in development, and yet end with a picture that 
+will serve your purpose.
+
+Then we closed the ventilators and released the moths in the 
+conservatory.  The female I placed on a lemon tree in a shady spot, 
+and the male at the extreme far side to see how soon he would find her.  
+We had supposed it would be dark, but they were well acquainted by 
+dusk.  The next morning she was dotting eggs over the plants.
+
+The other cocoons produced mostly female living moths, save one
+that was lost in emergence.  I tried to help when it was too late;
+but cutting open the cocoon afterward proved the moth defective.
+The wings on one side were only about half size, and on the other
+little patches no larger than my thumb nail.  The body was
+shrunken and weakly.
+
+At this time, as I remember, Cecropia eggs were the largest I had
+seen, but these were larger; the same shape and of a white colour
+with a brown band.  The moth dotted them on the under and upper
+sides of leaves, on sashes and flower pots, tubs and buckets.  They
+turned brown as the days passed.  The little caterpillars that
+emerged from them were reddish brown, and a quarter of an inch
+long.
+
+I could not see my  way to release a small army of two or three
+hundred of these among my plants, so when they  emerged I held a 
+leaf before fifty, that seemed liveliest, and transferred them to 
+a big box.  The remainder I placed with less ceremony, over mulberry, 
+elm, maple, wild cherry, grape, rose, apple, and pear, around the 
+Cabin, and gave the ones kept in confinement the same diet.  
+
+The leaves given them always were dipped in water to keep them 
+fresh longer, and furnish moisture for the feeders. They grew by  
+a series of moults, like all the others I had raised or seen, and 
+were full size in forty-eight days, but travelled a day or two 
+before beginning the pupa stage of their existence.  The caterpillars 
+were big fellows; the segments deeply cut; the bodies yellow-green, 
+with a few sparse scattering hairs, and on the edge of each segment, 
+from a triple row of dots arose a tiny, sharp spine.  Each side had 
+series of black touches and the head could be drawn inside the thorax.  
+They were the largest in circumference of any I had raised, but only  
+a little over three inches long.
+
+I arranged both leaves and twigs in the boxes, but they spun
+among the leaves,and not dangling from twigs, as all the cocoons 
+I had found outdoors were placed previous to that time.  Since, 
+I have found them spun lengthwise of twigs in a brush heap.  The
+cocoons of these I had raised were whiter than those of the free
+caterpillars, and did not have the leaves fastened on the outside,
+but were woven in a nest of leaves, fastened together by threads.
+
+Polyphemus moths are night flyers, and do not feed.  I have tried
+to tell how beautiful they are, with indifferent success, and they
+are common with me.  Since I learned them, find their cocoons
+easiest to discover.  Through the fall and winter, when riding on
+trains, I see them dangling from wayside thorn bushes.  Once, while
+taking a walk with Raymond in late November, he located one on a
+thorn tree in a field beside the road, but he has the eyes of an
+Indian.
+
+These are the moths that city people can cultivate, for in
+Indianapolis, in early  December, I saw fully one half as many
+Polyphemus cocoons on the trees as there were Cecropia, and I could
+have gathered a bushel of them.  They have emerged in perfection
+for me always, with one exception.  Personally, I have found more
+Polyphemus than Cecropia.
+
+These moths are the gamins of their family, and love the streets
+and lights at night.
+
+Under an arc light at Wabash, Indiana, I once picked up as beautiful 
+a specimen of Polyphemus as I ever saw, and the following day a 
+friend told me that several had been captured the night before in 
+the heart of town.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI  The Garden Fly:  Protoparce Carolina 
+
+
+Protoparce Carolina is a 'cousin' of Celeus, and so nearly its 
+double that the caterpillars and moths must be seen together to be 
+differentiated by amateurs; while it is doubtful if skilled scientists 
+can always identify the pupa cases with certainty.  Carolina is more
+common in the south, but it is frequent throughout the north.  Its
+caterpillars eat the same food as Celeus, and are the same size.
+They are a dull green, while Celeus is shining, and during the
+succession of moults, they show slight variations in colour.
+
+They pupate in a hole in the ground.  The moths on close
+examination show quite a difference from Celeus.  They are darker
+in colour.  The fore-wings lack the effect of being laid off in
+lines.  The colour is a mottling of almost black, darkest grey,
+lighter grey, brown, and white.  The back wings are crossed by  
+wavy bands of brownish grey, black, and tan colour, and the yellow 
+markings on the abdomen are larger.
+
+In repose, these moths fold the front wings over the back like
+large flies.  In fact, in the south they are called the `Tobacco
+Fly' ; and we of the north should add the `Tomato and Potato
+Fly.'  Because I thought such a picture would be of interest, I
+reproduced a pair---the male as he clung to a piece of pasteboard
+in the `fly' attitude.
+
+Celeus and Carolina caterpillars come the nearest being pests of
+those of any large moths, because they feed on tomato, potato,
+and tobacco, but they also eat jimson weed, ground cherry, and
+several vines that are of no use to average folk.
+
+The Carolina moths come from their pupa cases as featherweights
+step into the sparring.  They feed partially by day, and their 
+big eyes surely see more than those of most other moths, that 
+seem small and deepset in comparison.  Their legs are long, and 
+not so hairy as is the rule.  They have none of the blind, aimless,
+helpless appearance of moths that do not feed.  They exercise 
+violently in the pupa cases before they burst the shields, and when 
+they emerge their eyes glow and dilate.  They step with firmness 
+and assurance, as if they knew where they wanted to go, and how to 
+arrive.  They are of direct swift flight, and much experience and 
+dexterity are required to take them on wing.
+
+Both my Carolina moths emerged in late afternoon, about four
+o'clock, near the time their kind take flight to hunt for food.
+The light was poor in the Cabin, so I set up my camera and focused
+on a sweetbrier climbing over the back door.
+
+The newly emerged moth was travelling briskly in that first
+exercise it takes, while I arranged my camera; so by the time 
+I was ready, it had reached the place to rest quietly  until 
+its wings developed.  Carolina climbed on my  finger with all 
+assurance, walked briskly from it to the roses, and clung there 
+firmly.
+
+The wet wings dropped into position, and the sun dried them
+rapidly.  I fell in love with my  subject.  He stepped around so
+jauntily in comparison with most moths.  The picture he made while
+clinging to the roses during the first exposure was lovely.
+
+His slender, trim legs seemed to have three long joints, and two
+short in the feet.  In his sidewise position toward the lens, the
+abdomen showed silver-white beneath, silvery grey on the sides, 
+and large patches of orange surrounded by black, with touches of 
+white on top.  His wings were folded together on his back as they  
+drooped, showing only the under sides, and on these the markings 
+were more clearly defined than on top.  In the sunlight the fore 
+pair were a warm tan grey, exquisitely lined and shaded.  They  
+were a little more than half covered by the back pair, that folded 
+over them.  These were a darker grey, with tan and almost black 
+shadings, and crossed by sharply zig-zagging lines of black.  The 
+grey legs were banded by lines of white.  The first pair clung to 
+the stamens of the rose, the second to the petals, and the third 
+stretched out and rested on a leaf.
+
+There were beautiful markings of very dark colour and white on the
+thorax, head, shoulders, and back wings next the body.  The big
+eyes, quite the largest of any moth I remember, reminded me of owl
+eyes in the light.  The antennae, dark, grey-brown on top, and
+white on the under side, turned back and drooped beside the costa,
+no doubt in the position they occupied in the pupa case.
+
+The location was so warm, and the moth dried so rapidly, that by
+the time two good studies were made of him in this position, he 
+felt able to step to some leaves, and with no warning whatever, 
+reversed his wings to the `fly'  position, so that only the top 
+side of the front pair showed.  The colour was very rich and 
+beautiful, but so broken in small patches and lines, as to be 
+difficult to describe.  With the reversal of the wings the
+antennae flared a little higher, and the exercise of the sucking
+tube began.  The moth would expose the whole length of the tube in
+a coil, which it would make larger and contract by turns, at times
+drawing it from sight.  When it was uncoiled the farthest, a cleft
+in the face where it fitted could be seen.
+
+The next day my second Carolina case produced a beautiful female.
+The history of her emergence was exactly similar to that of the
+male.  Her head, shoulders, and abdomen seemed nearly twice the
+size of his, while her wings but a trifle, if any larger.
+
+As these moths are feeders, and live for weeks, I presume when the
+female has deposited her eggs, the abdomen contracts, and loses its
+weight so that she does not require the large wings of the females
+that only deposit their eggs and die.  They are very heavy, and
+if forced to flight must have big wings to support them.  I was so 
+interested in this that I slightly chloroformed the female, and made 
+a study of the pair.  The male was fully alive and alert, but they  
+had not mated, and he would not take wing.  He clung in his natural 
+position, so that he resembled a big fly, on the smooth side of the
+sheet of corrugated paper on which I placed the female.  His wings 
+folded over each other.  The abdomen and the antennae were invisible, 
+because they  were laid flat on the costa of each wing.
+
+The female clung to the board, in any position in which she was
+placed.  Her tongue readily uncoiled, showing its extreme length,
+and curled around a pin.  With a camel'shair brush I gently spread
+her wings to show how near they were the size of the male's, and
+how much larger her body was.
+
+Her fore-wings were a trifle lighter in colour than the male's, and
+not so broken with small markings.  The back wings were very
+similar.  Her antennae stood straight out from the head on each
+side, of their own volition and differed from the male's.  It has
+been my observation that in repose these moths fold the antennae
+as shown by  the male.  The position of the female was unnatural.
+In flight, or when feeding, the antennae are raised, and used as 
+a guide in finding food flowers.  A moth with broken antennae seems 
+dazed and helpless, and in great distress.
+
+I have learned by experience in handling moths, that when I induce
+one to climb upon bark, branch, or flower for a study, they seldom
+place their wings as I want them.  Often it takes long and patient
+coaxing, and they are sensitive to touch.  If I try to force a
+fore-wing with my fingers to secure a wider sweep, so that the
+markings of the back wings show, the moths resent it by closing
+them closer than before, climbing to a different location or often
+taking flight.
+
+But if I use a fine camel's-hair brush, that lacks the pulsation
+of circulation, and gently stroke the wing, and sides of the
+abdomen, the moths seems to like the sensation and grow sleepy or
+hypnotized.  By using the brush I never fail to get wing extension
+that will show markings, and at the same time the feet and body
+are in a natural position.  After all is said there is to say, 
+and done there is to do, the final summing up and judgment of any
+work on Natural History  will depend upon whether it is true to
+nature.  It is for this reason I often have waited for days and
+searched over untold miles to find the right location, even the
+exact leaf, twig or branch on which a subject should be placed.
+
+I plead guilty to the use of an anesthetic in this chapter only
+to show the tongue extension of Carolina, because it is the
+extremest with which I am acquainted; and to coaxing wide wing
+sweep with the camel'shair brush; otherwise either the fact that
+my subjects are too close emergence ever to have taken flight, 
+or sex attraction alone holds them.
+
+If you do not discover love running through every line of this
+text and see it shining from the face of each study and painting,
+you do not read aright and your eyes need attention.  Again and
+again to the protests of my family, I have made answer--
+
+"To work we love we rise betimes, and go to it with delight."
+
+From the middle of May to the end of June of the year I was most
+occupied with this book, my room was filled with cocoons and pupa
+cases.  The encased moths I had reason to believe were on the point
+of appearing lay on a chair beside my bed or a tray close my
+pillow.  That month I did not average two hours of sleep in a
+night, and had less in the daytime.  I not only  arose `betimes,' 
+but at any time I heard a scratching and tugging moth working to
+enter the world, and when its head was out, I was up and ready
+with note-book and camera.  Day helped the matter but slightly,
+for any moth emerging in the night had to be provided a location,
+and pictured before ten o'clock or it was not safe to take it
+outside.  Then I had literally 'to fly' to develop the plate,
+make my print and secure exact colour reproduction while the moth
+was fresh.
+
+For this is a point to remember in photographing a moth.  A FREE
+LIVING MOTH NEVER RAISES ITS WINGS HIGHER THAN A STRAIGHT LINE FROM
+THE BASES CROSSING THE TOP OF THE THORAX.  It requires expert and
+adept coaxing to get them horizontal with their bases.  If you do,
+you show all markings required; and preserve natural values, quite
+the most important things to be considered.
+
+I made a discovery with Carolina.  Moths having digestive organs
+and that are feeders are susceptible to anaesthetics in a far
+higher degree than those that do not feed.  Many scientific
+workers confess to having poured full strength chloroform
+directly on nonfeeders, mounted them as pinned specimens
+and later found them living; so that sensitive lepidopterists
+have abandoned its use for the cyanide or gasoline jar.  I intended
+to give only a whiff of chloroform to this moth, just enough that
+she would allow her tongue to remain uncoiled until I could snap
+its fullest extent, but I could not revive her.  The same amount
+would have had no effect whatever on a non-feeder,
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII  Bloody-nose of Sunshine Hill:  Hemaris Thysbe
+
+
+John Brown lives a mile north of our village, in the little hamlet
+of Ceylon.  Like his illustrious predecessor of the same name he is
+willing to do something for other people.  Mr. Brown owns a large
+farm, that for a long distance borders the Wabash River where it is
+at its best, and always the cameras and I have the freedom of his
+premises.
+
+On the east side of the village, about half its length, swings a
+big gate, that opens into a long country lane.  It leads between
+fields of wheat and corn to a stretch of woods pasture, lying on a
+hillside, that ends at the river.  This covers many acres, most of
+the trees have been cut; the land rises gradually to a crest, that 
+is crowned by a straggling old snake fence, velvety black in
+places, grey  with lint in others, and liberally decorated its
+entire length with lichens, in every shade of grey and green.
+Its corners are filled with wild flowers, ferns, gooseberries,
+raspberries, black and red haw, papaw, wild grapevines, and trees 
+of all varieties.  Across the fence a sumac covered embankment 
+falls precipitately to the Wabash, where it sweeps around a great 
+curve at Horseshoe Bend.  The bed is stone and gravel, the water 
+flows shallow and pure in the sunlight, and mallows and willows 
+fringe the banks.
+
+Beside this stretch of river most of one summer was spent, because
+there were two broods of cardinals, whose acquaintance I was
+cultivating, raised in those sumacs.  The place was very secluded,
+as the water was not deep enough for fishing or swimming.  On days
+when the cardinals were contrary, or to do the birds justice, when
+they had experiences with an owl the previous night, or with a
+hawk in the morning, and were restless or unduly excited, much
+grist for my camera could be found on the river banks.
+
+These were the most beautiful anywhere in my locality.  The hum of
+busy life was incessant.  From the top twig of the giant sycamore
+in Rainbow Bottom, the father of the cardinal flock hourly
+challenged all creation to contest his right to one particular
+sumac.  The cardinals were the attraction there; across the fence 
+where the hill sloped the length of the pasture to the lane, lures 
+were many and imperative.  Despite a few large trees, compelling 
+right to life by their majesty, that hillside was open pasture, 
+where the sunshine streamed all day long.  Wild roses clambered 
+over stumps of fallen monarchs, and scrub oak sheltered resting 
+sheep.  As it swept to the crest, the hillside was thickly dotted 
+with mullein, its pale yellow-green leaves spreading over the grass, 
+and its spiral of canary-coloured bloom stiffly  upstanding.  There
+were thistles, the big, rank, richly growing, kind, that browsing
+cattle and sheep circled widely.
+
+Very beautiful were these frosted thistles, with their large,
+widespreading base leaves, each spine needle-tipped, their uplifted
+heads of delicate purple bloom, and their floating globes of silken
+down, with a seed in their hearts.  No wonder artists have painted
+them, decorators conventionalized them; even potters could not pass 
+by their artistic merit, for I remembered that in a china closet at 
+home there were Belleck cups moulded in the shape of a thistle head.
+
+Experience had taught me how the appreciate this plant.  There
+wasa chewink in the Stanley  woods, that brought off a brood of four, 
+under the safe shelter of a rank thistle leaf, in the midst of 
+trampling herds of cattle driven wild by flies.  There was a ground 
+sparrow near the Hale sand pit, covered by a base leaf of another 
+thistle, and beneath a third on Bob's lease, I had made a study of 
+an exquisite nest.  Protection from the rank leaves was not all the
+birds sought of these plants, for goldfinches were darting around
+inviting all creation to "See me?" as they  gathered the silken
+down for nest lining.  Over the sweetly perfumed purple heads, the
+humming-birds held high carnival on Sunshine Hillside all the day.
+The honey and bumble bees fled at the birds' approach, but what
+were these others, numerous everywhere, that clung to the blooms,
+greedily thrusting their red noses between the petals, and giving
+place to nothing else?
+
+For days as I passed among them, I thought them huge bees.  The
+bright colouring of their golden olive-green, and red-wine striped
+bodies had attracted me in passing.  Then one of them approached a
+thistle head opposite me in such a way its antennae and the long
+tongue it thrust into the bloom could be seen.  That proved it was 
+not a bee, and punishment did not await any one who touched it.
+
+There were so many that with one sweep of the net two were captured.  
+They were examined to my satisfaction and astonishment.  They were 
+moths!  Truly  moths, feeding in the brilliant sunshine all the day; 
+bearing a degree of light and heat I never had known any other moth 
+to endure.  Talk about exquisite creatures!  These little day moths, 
+not much larger than the largest bumble bees, had some of their 
+gaudiest competitors of moonlight and darkness outdone.
+
+The head was small and pointed, with big eyes, a long tongue,
+clubbed antennae, and a blood-red nose.  The thorax above was
+covered with long, silky, olive-green hair; the top of the abdomen
+had half an inch band of warm tan colour, then a quarter of an inch
+band of velvety red wine, then a band nearer the olive of the
+shoulders.  The males had claspers covered with small red-wine
+feathers tan tipped.  The thorax was cream-coloured below and the
+under side of the abdomen red wine crossed with cream-coloured
+lines at each segment.
+
+The front wings had the usual long, silky hairs.  They were of
+olive-green shading into red, at the base, the costa was red, and
+an escalloped band of red bordered them.  The intervening space was
+transparent like thinnest isinglass, and crossed with fine red
+veins.  The back wings were the same, only the hairs at the base
+were lighter red, and the band at the edge deeper in colour.
+
+The head of the male seemed sharper, the shoulders stronger olive,
+the wings more pointed at the apex, where the female's were a
+little rounded.  The top of the abdomen had the middle band of such
+strong red that it threw the same colour over the bands above and
+below it; giving to the whole moth a strong red appearance when
+on wing.  They, were so fascinating the birds were forgotten, and
+the hillside hunted for them until a pair were secured to carry
+home for identification, before the whistle of the cardinal from
+Rainbow Bottom rang so sharply that I remembered this was the day
+I had hoped to secure his likeness; and here I was allowing a
+little red-nosed moth so to thrust itself upon my attention, that
+my cameras were not even set up and focused on the sumac.
+
+This tiny sunshine moth, Hemaris Thysbe, was easy ofidentification, 
+and its whole life history before me on the hillside.  I was too busy  
+with the birds to raise many caterpillars, so reference to several 
+books taught me that they all agreed on the main points of Hemaris 
+history.
+
+Hemaris means `bloody  nose.'  `Bloody nose' on account of the
+red first noticed on the face, though some writers called them 
+'Clear wings,'  because of the transparent spaces on the wings.
+Certainly `clear wings' is a most appropriate and poetic name for
+this moth.  Fastidious people will undoubtedly prefer it for
+common usage.  For myself, I always think of the delicate, gaudy
+little creature, greedily  thrusting its blood-red nose into the
+purple thistle blooms; so to my thought it returns as `bloody
+nose.'
+
+The pairs mate early after emerging, and lay about two hundred
+small eggs to the female, from which the caterpillars soon hatch,
+and begin their succession of moults.  One writer gave black haw
+and snowball as their favourite foods, and the length of the
+caterpillar when full grown nearly two inches.  They are either
+a light brown with yellow markings, or green with yellow; all of
+them have white granules on the body, and a blue-black horn with 
+a yellow base.  They spin among the leaves on the ground, and the 
+pupa, while small, is shaped like Regalis, except that it has a 
+sharper point at each end, and more prominent wing shields.  It 
+has no raised tongue case, although it belongs to the family of 
+`long tongues.'
+
+On learning all I could acquire by experience with these moths,
+and what the books had to teach, I became their warm admirer.  One
+sunny morning climbing the hill on the way to the cardinals, with
+fresh plates in my cameras, and high hopes in my heart, I passed
+an unsuually large fine thistle, with half a dozen Thysbe moths
+fluttering over it as if nearly crazed with fragrance, or honey
+they were sipping.
+
+"Come here!  Come here!  Come here!" intoned the cardinal, from
+the sycamore of Rainbow Bottom.
+
+"Just you wait a second, old fellow!"  I heard myself answering.  
+Scarcely realizing what I was doing, the tripod was set up, the 
+best camera taken out, and focused on that thistle head.  The 
+moths paid no attention to bees, butterflies, or humming-birds 
+visiting the thistle, but this was too formidable, and by the 
+time the choicest heads were in focus, all the little red fellows 
+had darted to another plant.  If the camera was moved there, they  
+would change again, so I sat in the shade of a clump of papaws to 
+wait and see if they would not grow accustomed to it.
+
+They kept me longer than I had expected, and the chances are I
+would have answered the cardinal's call, and gone to the river, 
+had it not been for the interest found in watching a beautiful grey
+squirrel that homed in an ivy-covered stump in the pasture.  He
+seemed to have much business on the fence at the hilltop, and raced
+back and forth to it repeatedly.  He carried something, I could not
+always tell what, but at times it was green haws.  Once he came
+with no food, and at such a headlong run that he almost turned
+somersaults as he scampered up the tree.
+
+For a long time he was quiet, then he cautiously peeped out.
+After a while he ventured to the ground, raced to a dead stump, 
+and sitting on it, barked and scolded with all his might.  Then he
+darted home again.  When he had repeated this performance several
+times, the idea became apparent.  There was some danger to be
+defied in Rainbow Bottom, but not a sound must be made from his home.  
+The bark of a dog hurried me to the fence in time to see some hunters
+passing in the bottom, but I thanked mercy they  were on the
+opposite side of the river and it was not probable they would
+wade, so my birds would not be disturbed.  When the squirrel felt
+that he must bark and chatter, or burst with tense emotions, he
+discreetly left his mate and nest.  I did some serious thinking on
+the `instinct'  question.  He might choose a hollow log for his
+home by instinct, or eat certain foods because hunger urged him,
+but could instinct teach him not to make a sound where his young
+family lay?  Without a doubt, for this same reason, the cardinal
+sang from every tree and bush around Horseshoe Bend, save the
+sumac where his mate hovered their young.
+
+The matter presented itselfin this way.  The squirrel has feet,
+and he runs with them.  He has teeth, and he eats with them.  He
+has lungs, and he breathes with them.  Every organ of his interior
+has its purpose, and is used to fulfil it.  His big, prominent eyes
+come from long residence in dark hollows.  His bushy tail helps
+him in long jumps from tree to tree.  Every part of his anatomy is
+created, designed and used to serve some purpose, save only his
+brain, the most complex and complicated part of him.  Its only use
+and purpose is to form one small 'tidbit ' for the palate of the
+epicure!  Like Sir Francis, who preached a sermon to the birds, 
+I found me delivering myself of a lecture to the squirrels, birds,
+and moths of Sunshine Hill.  The final summing up was, that the
+squirrel used his feet, teeth, eyes and tail; that could be seen
+easily, and by his actions it could be seen just as clearly  that
+he used his brain also.
+
+There was not a Thysbe in front of the lens, so picking up a long
+cudgel I always carry  afield, and going quietly to surrounding
+thistles, I jarred them lightly  with it, and began rounding up the
+Hemaris family in the direction of the camera.  The trick was a
+complete success.  Soon I had an exposure on two.  After they had
+faced the camera once, and experienced no injury, like the birds,
+they accepted it as part of the landscape.  The work was so
+fascinating, and the pictures on the ground glass so worth while,
+that before I realized what I was doing, half a dozen large plates
+were gone, and for this reason, work with the cardinals that day  
+ended at noon.  This is why I feel that at times in bird work the 
+moths literally `thrust themselves' upon me.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII  The Modest Moth:  Triptogon Modesta 
+
+
+Of course this moth was named Modesta because of modest colouring.  
+It reminds me of a dove, being one of my prime favourites.  On wing 
+it is suggestive of Polyphemus, but its colours are lighter and softer.  
+Great beauty that Polyphemus is, Modesta equals it.
+
+Modesta belongs to the genus Triptogon, species Modesta--hence the
+common name, the Modest moth.  I am told that in the east this moth
+is of stronger colouring than in the central and western states.  I
+do not know about the centre and west, but I do know that only as
+far east as Indiana, Modesta is of more delicate colouring than it
+is described by scientists of New York and Pennsylvania; and,
+of course, as in almost every case, the female is not so strongly
+coloured as the male.
+
+I can class the Modest moth and its caterpillar among those I know, 
+but my acquaintance with it is more limited than with almost any other.  
+My first introduction came when I found a caterpillar of striking
+appearance on water sprouts growing around a poplar stump in a
+stretch of trees beside the Wabash.  I carried it home with a
+supply of the leaves for diet, but as a matter of luck, it had
+finished eating, and was ready to pupate.  I write of this as good
+luck, because the poplar tree is almost extinct in my location.  I
+know of only one in the fields, those beside the river, and a few
+used for ornamental shade trees.  They are so scarce I would have
+had trouble to provide the caterpillar with natural food; so I
+was glad that it was ready to pupate when found.
+
+Any one can identify this caterpillar easily, as it is most
+peculiar.  There is a purplish pink cast on the head and mouth of
+the full-grown caterpillar, and purplish red around the props.  The
+body is a very light blue-green, faintly tinged with white, and
+yellow in places.  On the sides are white obliques, or white,
+shaded with pink, and at the base of these, a small oval marking.
+There is a small short horn on the head.  But the distinguishing
+mark is a mass of little white granules, scattered all over the
+caterpillar.  It is so peppered with these, that failure to 
+identify it is impossible.
+
+These caterpillars pupate in the ground.  I knew that, but this
+was before I had learned that the caterpillar worked out a hole in
+the ground, and the pupa case only touched the earth upon which it
+lay.  So when my Modesta caterpillar ceased crawling, lay quietly,
+turned dark, shrank one half in length, and finally
+burst the dead skin, and emerged in a shining dark brown pupa case
+two inches long, I got in my  work.  I did well.  A spade full of 
+garden soil was thoroughly sifted, baked in the oven to kill 
+parasites and insects, cooled, and put in a box, and the pupa case 
+buried in it.  Every time it rained, I opened the box, and moistened 
+the earth.  Two months after time for emergence, I dug out the pupa 
+case to find it white with mould.  I had no idea what the trouble 
+was, for I had done much work over that case, and the whole winter 
+tended it solicitously.  It was one of my  earliest attempts, and 
+I never have found another caterpillar, or any  eggs, though I 
+often search the poplars for them.
+
+However, something better happened.  I say better, because I think
+if they will make honest confession, all people who have gathered 
+eggs and raised caterpillars from them in confinement, by feeding 
+cut leaves, will admit that the pupa cases they get, and the moths 
+they produce are only about half size.  The big fine cases and 
+cocoons are the ones you find made by caterpillars in freedom, or 
+by those that have passed at least the fourth or fifth moult out 
+of doors.  So it was a better thing for my illustration, and for 
+my painting, when in June of this year, Raymond, in crossing town 
+from a ball game, found a large, perfect Modesta female.  He 
+secured her in his hat, and hurried to me.  Raymond's hat has had 
+many wonderful things in it besides his head, and his pockets are 
+always lumpy with boxes.
+
+Although perfect, she had mated, deposited her eggs, and was
+declining.  All she wanted was to be left alone, and she would sit
+with wings widespread wherever placed.  I was in the orchard,
+treating myself to some rare big musky red raspberries that are my
+especial property, when Raymond came with her.  He set her on a
+shoot before me, and guarded her while I arranged a camera.  She
+was the most complacent subject I ever handled outdoors, and did
+not make even an attempt to fly.  Raymond was supposed to be
+watching while I worked, but our confidence in her was so great,
+that I paid all my attention to polishing my lenses, and getting
+good light, while Raymond gathered berries with one hand, and
+promiscuously waved the net over the bushes with the other.
+
+During the first exposure, Modesta was allowed to place and poise
+herself as seemed natural.  For a second, I used the brush on her
+gently, and coaxed her wings into spreading a little wider than was
+natural.  These positions gave every evidence of being pleasing
+and yet I was not satisfied.  There was something else in the back
+of my head that kept obtruding itself as I walked to the Cabin,
+with the beautiful moth clinging to my fingers.  I did not feel
+quite happy about her, so she was placed in a large box, lined
+with corrugated paper, to wait a while until the mist in my brain
+cleared, and my nebulous disturbance evolved an idea.  It came
+slowly.  I had a caterpillar long ago, and had investigated the
+history of this moth.  I asked Raymond where he found her and he
+said, "Coming from the game."  Now I questioned him about the kind
+of a tree, and he promptly  answered, "On one of those poplars
+behind the schoolhouse."
+
+That was the clue.  Instantly I recognized it.  A poplar limb was
+what I wanted.  Its fine, glossy leaf, flattened stem, and smooth
+upright twigs made a setting, appropriate, above all others, for
+the Modest moth.
+
+I explained the situation to the Deacon, and he had Brenner drive
+with him to the Hirschy farm, and help secure a limb from one of
+the very few Lombardy poplars of this region.  They drove very
+fast, and I had to trouble to induce Modesta to clamber over a
+poplar twig, and settle.  Then by gently stroking, an unusual
+wing sweep was secured, because there is a wonderful purple-pink
+and a peculiar blue on the back wings.
+
+It has been my experience that the longer a moth of these big
+short-lived subjects remains out of doors, the paler its colours
+become, and most of them fade rapidly when mounted, if not kept in
+the dark.  So my Modesta may have been slightly  faded, but she
+could have been several shades paler and yet appeared most
+beautiful to me.
+
+Her head, shoulders, and abdomen were a lovely dove grey; that
+soft tan grey, with a warm shade, almost suggestive of pink.  I
+suppose the reason I thought of this was because at the time two
+pairs of doves, one on a heap of driftwood overhanging the river,
+and the other in an apple tree in the Aspy  orchard a few rods
+away, were giving me much trouble, and I had dove grey on my
+mind.  
+
+This same dove grey coloured the basic third of the fore-wings.  
+Then they were crossed with a band only a little less in width, 
+of rich cinnamon brown.  There was a narrow wavy line of lighter 
+brown, and the remaining third of the wing was paler, but with 
+darker shadings.  These four distinct colour divisions were 
+exquisitely blended, and on the darkest band, near the costa, 
+was a tiny white half moon.  The under sides of the fore-wings 
+were a delicate brownish grey, with heavy flushings of a purplish 
+pink, a most beautiful colour.
+
+The back wings were dove colour near the abdomen, more of a mouse
+colour around the edges, and beginning strongly at the base, and
+spreading in lighter shade over the wing, was the same purplish
+pink of the front under-wing, only much stronger.  Near the
+abdomen, a little below half the length, and adjoining the grey;
+each wing had a mark difficult to describe in shape, and of rich
+blue colour.
+
+The antennae stood up stoutly, and were of dove grey on one side,
+and white on the other.  The thorax, legs, and under side of the 
+abdomen were more of the mouse grey in colour.  Over the whole 
+moth in strong light, there was an almost intangible flushing of 
+palest purplish pink.  It may have shaded through the fore-wing 
+from beneath, and over the back wing from above.  At any  rate, 
+it was there, and so lovely and delicate was the whole colour 
+scheme, it made me feel that I would give much to see a newly  
+emerged male of this species.  In my  childhood my mother called 
+this colour aniline red.
+
+I once asked a Chicago importer if he believed that Oriental rug
+weavers sometimes use these big night moths as colour guides in
+their weaving.  He said he had heard this, and gave me the freedom
+of his rarest rugs.  Of course the designs woven into these rugs
+have a history, and a meaning for those who understand.  There were
+three, almost priceless, one of which I am quite sure copied its
+greys, terra cotta, and black shades from Cecropia.
+
+There was another, a rug of pure silk, that never could have
+touched a floor, or been trusted outside a case, had it been my
+property, that beyond all question took its exquisite combinations 
+of browns and tans with pink lines, and peacock blue designs
+from Polyphemus.  A third could have been copied from no moth save
+Modesta, for it was dove grey, mouse grey, and cinnamon brown,
+with the purplish pink of the back wings, and exactly the blue of
+their decorations.  Had this rug been woven of silk, as the brown
+one, that moment would have taught me why people sometimes steal
+when they cannot afford to buy.  Examination of the stock of any
+importer of high grade rugs will convince one who knows moths, that
+many of our commonest or their near relatives native to the Orient
+are really used as models for colour combinations in rug weaving.
+The Herat frequently has moths in its border.
+
+The Modest moth has a wing sweep in large females of from five and
+one-half to six inches.  In my territory they are very rare,
+only a few caterpillars and one moth have fallen to me.  This can
+be accounted for by the fact that the favourite food tree of the
+caterpillar is so scarce, for some reason having become almost
+extinct, except in a few cases where they are used for shade.
+
+The eggs are a greyish green, and have the pearly appearance of
+almost all moth eggs.  On account of white granules, the caterpillar 
+cannot fail to be identified.  The moths in their beautiful soft 
+colouring are well worth search and study.  They are as exquisitely  
+shaded as any, and of a richness difficult to describe.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV  The Pride of the Lilacs:  Attacus Promethea
+
+
+So far as the arrangement ofthe subjects of this book in family
+groupings is concerned, any chapter might come first or last.  It
+is frankly announced as the book of the Nature Lover, and as such
+is put together in the form that appears to me easiest to comprehend 
+and most satisfying to examine.  I decided that it would be sufficient 
+to explain the whole situation to the satisfaction of any one, if I 
+began the book with a detailed history of moth, egg, caterpillar, 
+and cocoon and then gave complete portrayal of each stage in the 
+evolution of one cocoon and one pupa case moth.  I began  with 
+Cecropia, the commonest of all and one of the most beautiful
+for the spinners, and ended with Regalis, of earth--and the rarest.
+
+The luck I had in securing Regalis in such complete form seems to
+me the greatest that ever happened to any, worker in this field, 
+and it reads more like a fairy tale than sober every-day fact, 
+copiously illustrated with studies from life.  At its finish
+I said, "Now I am done.  This book is completed."  Soon afterward,
+Raymond walked in with a bunch of lilac twigs in his hand from
+which depended three rolled leaves securely bound to their twigs
+by silk spinning.
+
+"I don't remember that we ever found any  like these,"  he said.
+`Would you be interested in them?'
+
+Would I?  Instantly I knew this book was not finished.  As I held 
+the firm, heavy, leaf-rolled cocoons in my hand, I could see the 
+last chapter sliding over from fourteen to fifteen to make place 
+for Promethea, the loveliest of the Attacine group, a cousin of 
+Cecropia.  Often I had seen the pictured cocoon, in its neat little, 
+tight little leaf-covered shelter, and the mounted moths of 
+scientific collections and museums; I knew their beautiful forms 
+and remembered the reddish tinge flushing the almost black coat 
+of the male and the red wine and clay-coloured female with her 
+elaborate marks, spots, and lines.  Right there the book stopped 
+at leaf-fall early in November to await the outcome of those three
+cocoons.  If they would yield a pair in the spring, and if that
+pair would emerge close enough together to mate and produce fertile
+eggs, then by fall of the coming year I would have a complete
+life history.  That was a long wait, thickly punctuated with `ifs.'
+
+Then the twig was carried to my room and stood in a vase of
+intricate workmanship and rare colouring.
+
+Every few days I examined those cocoons and tested them by
+weight.  I was sure they were perfect.  That spring I had been
+working all day and often at night, so I welcomed an opportunity
+to spend a few days at a lake where I would meet many friends;
+boating and fishing were fine, while the surrounding country was
+one uninterrupted panorama of exquisite land and water pictures.  
+I packed and started so hastily I forgot my  precious cocoons.  
+Two weeks later on my return, before I entered the Cabin, I walked
+round it to see if my flowers had been properly watered and
+tended.  It was not later than three in the afternoon but I saw at
+least a dozen wonderful big moths, dusky and luring, fluttering
+eagerly over the wild roses covering a south window of the Deacon's 
+room adjoining mine on the west.  Instantly I knew what that meant.  
+I hurried to the room and found a female Promothea at the top of 
+the screen covering a window that the caretaker had slightly lowered.  
+I caught up a net and ran to bring a step-ladder.  The back 
+foundation is several feet high and that threw the tops of the 
+windows  close under the eaves.  I mounted to the last step and 
+balancing made a sweep to capture a moth.  They could see me and 
+scattered in all directions.  I waited until they  were beginning 
+to return, when from the thicket of leaves emerged a deep rose-flushed 
+little moth that sailed away, with every black one in pursuit.  
+I almost fell from the ladder. I went inside, only to learn that 
+what I feared was true.  The wind had loosened the screen in my  
+absence, and the moth had passed through a crack, so narrow it
+ seemed impossible for it to escape.
+
+Only those interested as I was, and who have had similar experience, 
+know how to sympathize.  I had thought a crowbar would be required 
+to open one of those screens!  With sinking heart I hurried to my  
+room.  Joy!  There was yet hope!  The escaped moth was the only one 
+that had emerged.  The first thing was to fasten the screen, the next 
+to live with the remaining cocoons.
+
+The following morning another, female appeared, and a little later
+a male.
+
+The cocoons were long, slender, closely leaf-wrapped and hung from
+stout spinning longer than the average leaf stem.  The outside leaf
+covering easily could be peeled away as the spinning did not seem
+to adhere except at the edges.  There was a thin waterproof coating
+as with Cecropia, then a little loose spinning that showed most at
+top and bottom, the leaf wrapping being so closely drawn that it
+was plastered against the body of the heavy inner case around the
+middle until it adhered.  The inner case was smooth and dark inside
+and the broken pupa case nearly black.
+
+The male and female differed more widely in colour and markings
+than any moths with which I had worked.  At a glance, the male
+reminded me of a monster Mourning Cloak butterfly.  The front wings
+from the base extending over half the surface were a dark brownish
+black, outlined with a narrow escalloped line of clay colour of
+light shade.  The black colour from here lightened as it neared 
+the margin.  At the apex it changed to a reddish brown tinge that
+surrounded the typical eye-spot of all the Attacus group for almost
+three-fourths of its circumference.  The bottom of the eye was
+blackish blue, shading abruptly to pale blue at the top.  The
+straggle M of white was in its place at the extreme tip, on the
+usual rose madder field.  From there a broad clay-coloured band
+edged the wing and joined the dark colour in escallops.
+Through the middle of it in an irregular wavy line was traced an
+almost hair-fine marking of strong brown.  The back wings were
+darker than the darkest part of the fore-wings and this colour
+covered them to the margin, lightening very slightly.  A clay-
+coloured band bordered the edge, touched with irregular
+splashes of dark brown, a little below them a slightly heavier
+line than that on the fore-wing, which seemed to follow the outline
+of the decorations.
+
+Underneath, the wings were exquisitely marked, flushed, and shaded
+almost past description in delicate and nearly intangible reddish
+browns, rose madder on grey, pink-tinged brown and clay colour.
+On the fore-wings the field from base to first line was reddish brown
+with a faint tinge of tan beside the costa.  From this to the
+clay-coloured border my descriptive powers fail.  You could see
+almost any shade for which you looked.  There were greyish places
+flushed with scales of red and white so closely set that the
+result was frosty pink.  Then the background would change to brown
+with the same over-decoration.  The bottom of the eye-spot was dark
+only about one-fourth the way, the remaining three-fourths, tan
+colour outlined at the top with pale blue and black in fine lines.
+The white M showed through on a reddish background, as did the
+brown line of the clay border.  The back wings widespread were
+even lovelier.  Beginning about the eighth of an inch from the top
+was a whitish line tracing a marking that when taken as a whole on
+both outspread wings, on some, slightly resembled a sugar maple
+leaf, and on others, the perfect profile of a face.  There was a
+small oblong figure of pinkish white where the eye would fall, and
+the field of each space was brownish red velvet.  From this to the
+clay-coloured band with its paler brown markings and lines, the
+pink and white scales sprinkled the brown ground; most of the pink, 
+around the marking, more of the white, in the middle of the space; 
+so few of either, that it appeared to be brown where the clay border 
+joined.
+
+The antennae were shaped as all of the Attacus group, but larger in
+proportion to size, for my biggest Promethea measured only four
+and a quarter from tip to tip, and for his inches carried larger
+antlers than any Cecropia I ever saw of this measurement, those of
+the male being very much larger than the female.  In colour they
+were similar to the darkest part of the wings, as were the back of
+the head, thorax and abdomen.  The hair on the back of the thorax
+was very long.  The face wore a pink flush over brown, the eyes
+bright brown, the under thorax covered with long pinkish brown
+hairs, and the legs the same.  A white stripe ran down each side 
+of the abdomen, touched with a dot of brownish red wine colour on 
+the rings.  The under part was pinkish wine crossed with a narrow 
+white line at each segment.  The claspers were prominent and sharp.  
+The finishing touch of the exquisite creatign lay in the fact that 
+in motion, in strong light the red wine shadings of the under side 
+cast an intangible, elusive, rosy flush over the dark back of the 
+moth that was the mast delicate and loveliest colour effect I ever 
+have seen on marking of flower, bird, or animal.
+
+For the first time in all my experience with moths the female was
+less than the male.
+
+Even the eggs of this mated pair carried a pinkish white shade and
+were stained with brown.  They were ovoid in shape and dotted
+the screen door in rows.  The tiny caterpillars were out eleven
+days later and proved to be of the kind that march independently
+from their shells without stopping to feed on them.  Of every
+food offered, the youngsters seemed to prefer lilac leaves; I
+remembered that they had passed the winter wrapped in these,
+dangling from their twigs, and that the under wings of the male and
+much of the female bore a flushing of colour that was lilac, for
+what else is red wine veiled with white?  So I promptly christened 
+them, `The Pride of the Lilacs.'  They  were said to eat ash, apple 
+pear, willow, plum, cherry, poplar and many other leaves, but mine 
+liked lilac, and there was a supply in reach of the door, so they  
+undoubtedly  were lilac caterpillars, for they had nothing else to
+eat.
+
+The little fellows were pronouncedly yellow.  The black head with
+a grey stripe joined the thorax with a yellow band.  The body was
+yellow with black rings, the anal parts black, the legs pale
+greyish yellow.  They made their first moult on the tenth day and
+when ready to eat again they were stronger yellow than before,
+with many touches of black.  They moulted four times, each
+producing slight changes until the third, when the body took on a
+greenish tinge, delicate and frosty in appearance.  The heads were
+yellow with touches of black, and the anal shield even stronger
+yellow, with black.  At the last moult there came a touch of red on
+the thorax, and of deep blue on the latter part of the body.
+
+In spinning they gummed over the upper surface of a leaf and,
+covering it with silk, drew it together so that nothing could be
+seen of the work inside.  They began spinning some on the
+forty-second, some on the forty-third day, when about three inches
+in length and plump to bursting.  I think at a puncture in the skin
+they would have spurted like a fountain.  They began spinning at 
+night and were from sight before I went to them the following 
+morning.  So I hunted a box and packed them away with utmost care.
+
+I selected a box in which some mounted moths had been sent me by a
+friend in Louisiana, and when I went to examine my cocoons toward
+spring, to my horror I found the contents of the box chopped to
+pieces and totally  destroyed.  Pestiferous little 'clothes' moths
+must have infested the box, for there were none elsewhere in the
+Cabin.  For a while this appeared to be too bad luck; but when
+luck turns squarely against you, that is the time to test the
+essence and quality of the word `friend.'  So I sat me down and
+wrote to my friend, Professor Rowley, of Missouri, and told him 
+I wanted Promethea for the completion of this book; that I had 
+an opportunity to make studies of them and my plate was light-struck, 
+and house-moths had eaten my cocoons.  Could he do anything?  
+To be sure he could.  I am very certain he sent me two dozen 
+`perfectly good' cocoons.
+
+From the abundance of males that have come to seek females of this
+species at the Cabin, ample proof seems furnished that they are a 
+very common Limberlost product; but I never have found, even when 
+searching for them, or had brought to me a cocoon of this variety, 
+save the three on one little branch found by Raymond, when he did 
+not know what they were.  Because of the length of spinning which 
+these caterpillars use to attach their cocoons, they dangle freely  
+in the wind, and this gives them especial freedom from attack.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV  The King of the Poets:  Citheronia Regalis
+
+
+To the impetuosity  of youth I owe my first acquaintance with the
+rarest moth of the Limberlost; "not common anywhere," say
+scientific authorities.  Molly-Cotton and I were driving to
+Portland-town, ten miles south of our home.  As customary, I was
+watching fields, woods, fence corners and roadside in search of
+subjects; for many beautiful cocoons and caterpillars, much to be
+desired, have been located while driving over the country on
+business or pleasure.
+
+With the magnificent independence of the young, Molly-Cotton would
+have scouted the idea that she was searching for moths also, but I
+smiled inwardly as I noticed her check the horse several times and
+scan a wayside bush, or stretch of snake fence.  We were approaching 
+the limits of town, and had found nothing; a slow rain was falling, 
+and the shimmer on bushes and fences made it difficult to see 
+objects plainly.  Several times I had asked her to stop the horse, 
+or drive close the fields when I was sure of a moth or caterpillar, 
+though it was very late, being close the end of August; but we 
+found only a dry leaf, or some combination that had deceived me.
+
+Just on the outskirts of Portland, beside a grassy ditch and at
+the edge of a cornfield, grew a cluster of wild tiger lilies.  
+The water in the ditch had kept them in flower long past their
+bloomtime.  On one of the stems there seemed to be a movement.
+
+"Wait a minute!" I cried, and Molly-Cotton checked the horse, 
+but did not stop, while I leaned forward and scanned the lilies
+carefully.  What I thought I saw move appeared to be a dry lily
+bloom of an orange-red colour, that had fallen and lodged on the
+grasses against a stalk.
+
+"It's only a dead lily," I said; "drive on."  
+
+"Is there a moth that colour?" asked Molly-Cotton.
+
+"Yes," I replied.  "There is an orange-brown species, but it is
+rare.  I never have seen a living one."
+
+So we passed the lilies.  A very peculiar thing is that when one
+grows intensely interested in a subject, and works over it, a
+sort of instinct, an extra sense as it were, is acquired.  Three 
+rods away, I became certain I had seen something move, so strongly  
+the conviction swept over me that we had passed a moth.  Still, it 
+was raining, and the ditch was wet and deep.
+
+"I am sorry we did not stop," I said, half to myself, "I can't help 
+feeling that was a moth."
+
+There is where youth, in all its impetuosity, helped me.  If the
+girl had asked, "Shall I go back?" in all probability I would
+have answered, "No, I must have been mistaken.  Drive on!"
+
+Instead, Molly-Cotton, who had straightened herself, and touched up
+her horse for a brisk entrance into town, said, "Well, we will just
+settle that 'feeling' right here!"
+
+At a trot, she deftly cut a curve in the broad road and drove
+back.  She drew close the edge of the ditch as we approached the
+lilies.  As the horse stopped, what I had taken for a fallen lily
+bloom, suddenly opened to over five inches of gorgeous red-brown,
+canary-spotted wing sweep, and then closed again.
+
+"It is a moth!" we gasped, with one breath.
+
+Molly-Cotton cramped the wheel on my side of the carriage and
+started to step down.  Then she dropped back to the seat.
+
+"I am afraid," she said.  "I don't want you to wade that
+ditch in the rain, but you never have had a red one, and if 
+I bungle and let it escape, I never will forgive myself."
+
+She swung the horse to the other side, and I climbed down.
+Gathering my skirts, I crossed the ditch as best I could, and
+reached the lily bed, but I was trembling until my knees wavered.
+I stepped between the lilies and the cornfield, leaned over
+breathlessly, and waited in the pelting rain, until the moth again
+raised its wings above its back.  Then with a sweep learned in
+childhood, I had it.
+
+While crossing the ditch, I noticed there were numbers of heavy
+yellow paper bags lying where people had thrown them when emptied
+of bananas and biscuits, on leaving town.  They  were too wet to be
+safe, but to carry  the moth in my fingers would spoil it for a
+study, so I caught up and drained a big bag; carefully set my
+treasure inside, and handed it to Molly-Cotton.  If you consider
+the word `treasure'  too strong to fit the case, offer me your biggest
+diamond, ruby, or emerald, in recompense for the privilege of
+striking this chapter, with its accompanying illustration, from my
+book, and learn what the answer will be.
+
+When I entered the carriage and dried my face and hands, we
+peeped, marvelled, and exclaimed in wonder, for this was the
+most gorgeous moth of our collections.  We hastened to Portland,
+where we secured a large box at a store.  In order that it might
+not be dark and set the moth beating in flight, we copiously
+punctured it with as large holes as we dared, and bound the lid
+securely.  On the way home we searched the lilies and roadside for
+a mile, but could find no trace of another moth.  Indeed, it seemed
+a miracle that we had found this one late in August, for the time
+of their emergence is supposed to be from middle May to the end of
+June.  Professor Rowley assures me that in rare instances a moth
+will emerge from a case or cocoon two seasons old, and finding this
+one, and the Luna, prove it is well for nature students to be
+watchful from May  until October.  Because these things happened to
+me in person, I made bold to introduce the capture of a late
+moth into the experience of Edith Carr in the last chapter of 
+"A Girl of the Limberlost."  I am pointing out some of these
+occurrences as I come to them, in order that you may see how
+closely I keep to life and truth, even in books exploited as
+fiction.  There may be such incidents that are pure imagination
+incorporated; but as I write I can recall no instance similar to
+this, in any book of mine, that is not personal experience, or
+that did not happen to other people within my knowledge, or was
+not told me by some one whose word I consider unquestionable;
+allowing very little material indeed, on the last provision.
+
+There is one other possibility to account for the moth at this
+time.  Beyond all question the gorgeous creature is of tropical
+origin.  It has made its way north from South or Central America.
+It occurs more frequently in Florida and Georgia than with us, and
+there it is known to have been double brooded; so standing on the
+records of professional lepidopterists, that gives rise to grounds
+for the possibility that in some of our long, almost tropical
+Indiana summers, Regalis may be double brooded with us.  At any
+rate, many people saw the living moth in my possession on this date.  
+In fact, I am prepared to furnish abundant proof of every statement
+contained in this chapter; while at the same time admitting that
+it reads like the veriest fairy tale `ever thought or wondered.'
+
+The storm had passed and the light was fine, so we posed the moth
+before the camera several times.  It was nervous business, for he
+was becoming restless, and every instant I expected him to fly,
+but of course we kept hiM guarded.
+
+There was no hope of a female that late date, so the next step was
+to copy his colours and markings as exactly as possible.  He was
+the gaudiest moth of my experience, and his name seemed to suit
+rarely well.  Citheroma--a Greek poet, and Regalis--regal.  He was
+truly royal and enough to inspire poetry in a man of any nation.
+His face-was orange-brown, of so bright a shade that any one at a
+glance would have called it red.  His eyes were small for his size,
+and his antennae long, fine, and pressed against the face so
+closely it had to be carefully scrutinized to see them.  A band of
+bright canary-yellow arched above them, his thorax was covered
+above with long silky, orange-brown hairs, and striped lengthwise 
+with the same yellow.  His abdomen was the longest and slenderest 
+I had seen, elegantly curved like a vase, and reaching a quarter 
+of an inch beyond the back wings, which is unusual.  It was thickly  
+covered with long hair, and faintly lined at the segments with yellow.
+The claspers were very  sharp, prominent brown hooks.  His sides
+were dotted with alternating red and orangebrown spots, and his
+thorax beneath, yellow.  The under side of the abdomen was yellow,
+strongly shaded with orange-brown.  His legs and feet were the
+same.
+
+His fore-wings were a silvery lead colour, each vein covered with
+a stripe of orange-brown three times its width.  The costa began in
+lead colour, and at half its extent shaded into orange-brown.  Each
+front wing had six yellow spots, and a seventh faintly showing.
+Half an inch from the apex of the wings, and against the costa, lay
+the first and second spots, oblong in shape, and wide enough to
+cover the space between veins.  The third was a tiny  dot next the
+second.  The hint of one crossed the next vein, and the other three
+formed a triangle; one lay at the costa about three-quarters of an 
+inch from the base, the second at the same distance from the base 
+at the back edge of the wing, and the third formed the apex, and 
+fell in the middle, on the fifth space between veins, counting 
+from either edge.  These were almost perfectly round.  The back 
+wings were very hairy, of a deep orange-brown at the base, shading 
+to lighter tones of the same colour at the edge, and faintly  
+clouded in two patches with yellow.
+
+Underneath the fore-wings were yellow at the base, and lead colour
+the remainder of their length.  The veins had the orange-red
+outlining, and the two large yellow dots at the costa showed
+through as well as the small one beside them.  Then came another
+little yellow dot of the same size, that did not show on the upper
+side, and then four larger round spots between each vein.  Two of
+them showed in the triangle on the upper side full size, and the
+two between could be seen in the merest speck, if looked for very
+closely.
+
+The back wings underneath were yellow three-fourths of their
+length, then next the abdomen began a quarter of an inch wide band
+of orange-brown, that crossed the wing to the third vein from the
+outer edge, and there shaded into lead colour, and covered the space 
+to the margin.  The remainder of the wing below this band was a 
+lighter shade of yellow than above it.  From tip to tip he measured 
+five and a half inches, and from head to point of abdomen a little 
+over two.
+
+While I was talking Regalis, and delighted over finding so late in
+the season the only one I lacked to complete my studies of every
+important species, Arthur Fensler brought me a large Regalis
+caterpillar, full fed, and in the last stages of the two days of
+exercise that every caterpillar seems to take before going into
+the pupa state.  It was late in the evening, so I put the big 
+fellow in a covered bucket of soft earth from the garden, 
+planning to take his picture the coming day.  Before morning 
+he had burrowed into the earth from sight, and was pupating, 
+so there was great risk in disturbing him.  I was afraid there 
+were insects in the earth that would harm him, as care had not 
+been taken to bake it, as should have been done.
+
+A day later Willis Glendenning brought me another Regalis
+caterpillar.  I made two pictures of it, although transformation to
+the pupa stage was so far advanced that it was only  half length,
+and had a shrivelled appearance like the one I once threw away.  
+I was disgusted with the picture at the time, but now I feel
+that it is very important in the history of transformation from
+caterpillar to pupa, and I am glad to have it.
+
+Two days later, Andrew Idlewine, a friend to my work, came to the
+Deacon with a box.  He said that he thought maybe I would like to
+take a picture of the fellow inside, and if I did, he wanted a copy; 
+and he wished he knew what the name of it was.  He had found it
+on a butternut tree, and used great care in taking it lest it 
+`horn' him.  He was horrified when the Deacon picked it up, and
+demonstrated how harmless it was.  This is difficult to believe,
+but it was a third Regalis and came into my possession at night
+again.  My only consolation was that it was feeding, and would
+not pupate until I could make a picture.  This one was six inches
+from tip to tip, the largest caterpillar I ever saw; a beautiful
+blue-green colour, with legs of tan marked with black, each segment
+having four small sharp horns on top, and on the sides an oblique
+dash of pale blue.  The head bore ten horns.  Four of these were
+large, an inch in length, coloured tan at the base, black at the
+tip.  The foremost pair of this formidable array turned front over 
+the face, all the others back, and the outside six of the ten were 
+not quite the length of the largest ones.
+
+The first caterpillar had measured five inches, and the next one
+three, but it was transforming.  Whether the others were males
+and this a female, or whether it was only that it had grown under
+favourable conditions, I could not tell.  It was differently
+marked on the sides, and in every way larger, and brighter than
+the others, and had not finished feeding.  Knowing that it was
+called the `horned hickory devil' at times, hickory and walnut
+leaves were placed in its box, and it evinced a decided preference
+for the hickory.  As long as it ate and seemed a trifle larger it
+was fed.  The day it walked over fresh leaves and began the
+preliminary  travel, it was placed on some hickory sprouts around
+an old stump, and exposures made on it, or rather on the places it
+had been, for it was extremely restless and difficult to handle.
+Two plates were spoiled for me by my subject walking out of focus
+as I snapped, but twice it was caught broadside in good position.
+
+While I was working with this caterpillar, there came one of my  
+clearest cases of things that `thrust themselves upon me.'  I 
+would have preferred to concentrate all my attention on the 
+caterpillar, for it was worth while; but in the midst of my work 
+a katydid deliberately walked down the stump, and stopped squarely  
+before the lens to wash her face and make her toilet.  She was on 
+the side of the stump, and so clearly outlined by the lens that 
+I could see her long wavering antennae on the ground glass, and  
+of course she took two plates before she resumed her travels.  
+I long had wanted a katydid for an illustration.  I got that one 
+merely by using what was before me.  All I did was to swing the 
+lens about six inches, and shift the focus slightly, to secure 
+two good exposures of her in fine positions.  My caterpillar 
+almost escaped while I worked, for it had put in the time 
+climbing to the ground, and was a yard away hurrying across 
+the grass at a lively pace.
+
+Two days later it stopped travelling, and pupated on the top of
+the now hardened earth in the bucket that contained the other
+two.  It was the largest of the pupae when it emerged, a big
+shining greenish brown thing flattened and seeming as if it had
+been varnished.  On the thin pupa case the wing shields and 
+outlines of the head and different parts of the body could be seen.  
+Then a pan of sand was baked, and a box with a glass cover was filled.  
+I laid the pupa on top of the sand, and then dug up the first one, 
+as I was afraid of the earth in which it lay.  The case was sound, 
+and in fine condition.  All of these pupae lived and seemed perfect.
+Narrow antennae and abdominal formation marked the big one a female, 
+while broader antlers and the clearly  outlined `claspers'  proved 
+the smaller ones males.  A little sphagnum moss, that was dampened 
+slightly every few days, was kept around them. The one that entered 
+the ground had pushed the earth from it on all, sides at a depth of 
+three inches, and hollowed an oval space the size of a medium hen 
+egg, in which the pupa lay, but there was no trace of its cast skin. 
+Those that pupated on the ground had left their skins at the thorax, 
+and lay two inches from them.  The horns came off with the skin, and 
+the lining of the segments and the covering of the feet showed.  At 
+first the cast skins were green, but they soon turned a dirty grey, 
+and the horns blackened.
+
+So from having no personal experience at all with our rarest moth, 
+inside a few days of latter August and early September, weeks after 
+hope had been abandoned for the season, I found myself with several 
+as fine studies of the male as I could make, one of an immense 
+caterpillar at maturity, one half-transformed to the moth, and three 
+fine pupa cases.  Besides, I had every reason to hope that in the 
+spring I could secure eggs and a likeness of a female to complete my  
+illustration.  Call this luck, fairy  magic, what you will, I admit 
+it sounds too good to be true; but it is.
+
+All winter these three fine Regalis pupa cases were watched
+solicitously, as well as my twin Cecropias, some Polyphemus, and
+several ground cocoons so spun on limbs and among debris that it
+was not easy to decide whether they were Polyphemus or Luna.
+When spring came, and the Cecropias emerged at the same time, I
+took heart, for I admit I was praying for a pair of Regalis moths
+from those pupa cases in order that a female, a history of their
+emergence, and their eggs, might be added to the completion of this
+chapter.  In the beginning it was my  plan to use the caterpillars, 
+and give the entire history of one spinning, and one burrowing moth.  
+My Cecropia records were complete; I could add the twin series for
+good measure for the cocoon moth; now if only a pair would come
+from these pupa cases, I would have what I wanted to compile the
+history of a ground moth.
+
+Until the emergence of the Cecropias, my cocoons and pupa cases
+were kept on my dresser.  Now I moved the box to a chair beside my
+bed.  That was a lucky thought, for the first moth appeared at
+midnight, from Mr. Idlewine's case.  She pushed the wing shields
+away with her feet, and passed through the opening.  She was three
+and one-half inches LONG, with a big pursy abdomen, and wings the
+size of my thumbnail.  I was anxious for a picture of her all damp
+and undeveloped, beside the broken pupa case; but I was so fearful
+of spoiling my series I dared not touch, or try to reproduce her.  
+The head and wings only seemed damp, but the abdomen was quite wet, 
+and the case contained a quantity of liquid, undoubtedly ejected 
+for the purpose of facilitating exit.  When you next examine a pupa, 
+study the closeness with which the case fits antennae, eyes, feet, 
+wings, head, thorax, and abdominal rings and you will see that it 
+would be impossible for the moth to separate from the case and 
+leave it with down intact, if it were dry.
+
+Immediately the moth began racing around energetically, and
+flapping those tiny wings until the sound awakened the Deacon in
+the adjoining room.  After a few minutes of exercise, it seemed in
+danger of injuring the other cases, so it was transferred to the
+dresser, where it climbed to the lid of a trinket case, and
+clinging with the feet, the wings hanging, development began.
+There was no noticeable change in the head and shoulders, save that
+the down grew fluffier as it dried.  The abdomen seemed to draw up,
+and became more compact.  No one can comprehend the story of the
+wings unless they have seen them develop.
+
+At twelve o'clock and five minutes, they measured two-thirds of an
+inch from the base of the costa to the tip.  At twelve fifteen they
+were an inch and a quarter.  At half-past twelve they were two
+inches.  At twelve forty-five they were two and a half; and at
+one o'clock they were three inches.  At complete expansion this
+moth measured six and a half inches strong (sic!), and this full
+sweep was developed in one hour and ten minutes.  To see those
+large brilliantly-coloured wings droop, widen, and develop their
+markings, seemed little short of a miracle.
+
+The history  of the following days is painful.  I not only wanted
+a series of this moth as I wanted nothing else concerning the book,
+but with the riches of three fine pupa cases of it on hand, I had
+promised Professor Rowley eggs from which to obtain its history
+for himself.  I had taxed Mr. Rowley's time and patience as an
+expert lepidopterist, to read my text, and examine my illustration; 
+and I hoped in a small way to repay his kindness by sending him a 
+box of fertile Regalis eggs.
+
+The other pupa cases were healthful and lively, but the moths would
+not emerge.  I coaxed them in the warmth of closed palms--I even
+laid them on dampened moss in the sun in the hope of softening the
+cases, and driving the moths out with the heat, but to no avail.
+They would not come forth.
+
+I had made my studies of the big moth, when she was fully
+developed; but to my despair, she was depositing worthless eggs
+over the inside of my screen door.
+
+Four days later, the egg-laying period over, the female, stupid and 
+almost gone, a fine male emerged, and the following day another.  
+I placed some of the sand from the bottom of the box on a
+brush tray, and put these two cases on it, and set a focused camera
+in readiness, so that I got a side view of a moth just as it
+emerged, and one facing front when about ready to cling for wing
+expansion.  The history of their appearance, was similar to that
+of the female, only they were smaller, and of much brighter.
+colour.  The next morning I wrote Professor Rowley of my regrets
+at being unable to send the eggs as I had hoped.
+
+At noon I came home from half a day in the fields, to find Raymond
+sitting on the Cabin steps with a big box.  That box contained a
+perfect pair of mated Regalis moths.  This was positively the last
+appearance of the fairies.
+
+Raymond had seen these moths clinging to the under side of a rail
+while riding.  He at once dismounted, coaxed them on a twig, and
+covering them with his hat, he weighted the brim with stones.  Then
+he rode to the nearest farm-house for a box, and brought the pair
+safely to me.  Several beautiful studies of them were made, into
+one of which I also introduced my last moth to emerge, in order 
+to show the males in two different positions.
+
+The date was June tenth.  The next day the female began egg
+placing.  A large box was lined with corrugated paper, so that she
+could find easy footing, and after she had deposited many eggs on
+this, fearing some element in it might not be healthful for them, I
+substituted hickory leaves.
+
+Then the happy time began.  Soon there were heaps of pearly pale
+yellow eggs piled in pyramids on the leaves, and I made a study  of
+them.  Then I gently lifted a leaf, carried it outdoors and, in
+full light, reproduced the female in the position in which she
+deposited her eggs, even in the act of placing them.  Of course,
+Molly-Cotton stood beside with a net in one hand to guard, and an
+umbrella in the other to shade the moth, except at the instant of
+exposure; but she made no movement indicative of flight.
+
+I made every study of interest of which I could think.  Then I
+packed and mailed Professor Rowley about two hundred fine fertile
+eggs, with all scientific data.  I only kept about one dozen, as 
+I could think of nothing more to record of this moth except the 
+fact that I had raised its caterpillar.  As I explained in the 
+first chapter, from information found in a work on moths supposed 
+to be scientific and accurate, I depended on these caterpillars to 
+emerge in sixteen days.  The season was unusually rainy and 
+unfavourable for field work, and I had a large contract on hand 
+for outdoor stuff.  I was so extremely busy, I was glad to box the 
+eggs, and put them out of mind until the twenty-seventh.  By the 
+merest chance I handled the box on the twentyfourth, and found 
+six caterpillars starved to death, two more feeble, and four that 
+seemed lively.  One of these was bitten by some insect that clung 
+to a leaf placed in their box for food, in spite of the fact that 
+all leaves were carefully washed.  One died from causes unknown.  
+One stuck in pupation, and moulded in its skin.  Three went through 
+the succession of moults and feeding periods in fine shape, and the 
+first week in September transformed into shiny pupa cases, not one 
+of which was nearly as large as that of the caterpillar brought to 
+me by Mr. Idlewine.  I fed these caterpillars on black walnut leaves, 
+as they ate them in preference to hickory.
+
+I am slightly troubled about this moth.  In Packard's "Guide to the
+Study of Moths", he writes: "Citheronia Regalis expands five to six 
+inches, and its fore-wings are olive coloured, spotted with
+yellow and veined with broad red lines, while the hind wings are
+orange-red, spotted with olive, green, and yellow."
+
+He describes two other species.  Citheronia Mexicana, a tropical
+moth that has drifted as far north as Mexico.  It is quite similar
+to Regalis, "having more orange and less red,"  but it is not
+recorded as having been found within a thousand miles of my
+locality.  A third small species, Citheronia sepulcralis, expands
+only a little over three inches, is purple-brown with yellow
+spots; and is a rare Atlantic Coast species having been found once
+in Massachusetts, oftener in Georgia, never west of Pennsylvania.
+
+This eliminates them as possible Limberlost species.  Professor
+Rowley raised this moth from the eggs I sent him.
+
+The trouble is this: Packard describes the fore-wings as `olive,'
+the hind as `olive, and green.'  Holland makes no reference to
+colour, but on plate X, figure three, page eighty-seven, he
+reproduces Regalis with fore-wings of olive-green, the remainder 
+of the colour as I describe and paint, only lighter.  In all the 
+Regalis moths I have handled, raised, studied minutely, painted, 
+and photographed, there never has been tinge or shade of GREEN.  
+Not the slightest trace of it!  Each moth, male and female, has 
+had a basic colour of pure lead or steel grey.  White tinged with 
+the proper proportions of black and blue gives the only colour 
+that will exactly match it.  I have visited my specimen case 
+since writing the preceding.  I find there the bodies of four 
+Regalis moths, saved after their decline.  One is four years old, 
+one three, the others two, all have been exposed to daylight for
+that length of time.  The yellows are slightly faded, the reds
+very much degraded, the greys a half lighter than when fresh; but
+showing to-day a pure, clear grey.
+
+What troubles me is whether Regalis of the Limberlost is grey,
+where others are green; or whether I am colour blind or these
+men.  Referring to other writers, I am growing `leery'  of the
+word `Authority'; half of what was written fifty years ago along 
+almost any line you can mention, to-day stands disproved; all of 
+us are merely seekers after the truth: so referring to other writers, 
+I find the women of Massachusetts; who wrote "Caterpillars and Their 
+Moths", and who in all probability have raised more different
+caterpillars for the, purpose of securing life history than any
+other workers of our country, possibly of any, state that the
+front wings of Regalis have "stripes of lead colour between the
+veins of the wings,"  and "three or four lead-coloured stripes"  
+on the back wings.  The remainder of my description and colouring
+also agrees with theirs.  If these men worked from museum or
+private collections, there is a possibility that chemicals used 
+to kill, preserve, and protect the specimens from pests may have
+degraded the colours, and changed the grey to green.  But to
+accept this as the explanation of the variance upsets all their
+colour values, so it must not be considered.  This proves that
+there must be a Regalis that at times has olive-green stripes where
+mine are grey; but I never have seen one.
+
+I think people need not fear planting trees on their premises that
+will be favourites with caterpillars, in the hope of luring 
+exquisite te moths to become common with them.  I have put out eggs, 
+and released caterpillars near the Cabin, literally by the thousand, 
+and never have been able to see the results by a single defoliated 
+branch.  Wrens, warblers, flycatchers, every small bird of the trees 
+are exploring bark and scanning upper and under leaf surfaces for 
+eggs and tiny caterpillars, and if they escape these, dozens of 
+larger birds are waiting for the half-grown caterpillars, for in 
+almost all instances these lack enough of the hairy coat of moss 
+butterfly larvae to form any protection.  Every season I watch my  
+walnut trees to free them from the abominable 'tent' caterpillars;
+with the single exception of Halesidota Caryae, I never have had
+enough caterpillars of any species attack my foliage to be
+noticeable; and these in only one instance.  If you care for
+moths you need not fear to encourage them; the birds will keep
+them within proper limits.  If only one person enjoys this book
+one-tenth as much as I have loved the work of making it, then I am
+fully repaid.
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST ***
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