"
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.
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