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.
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