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.
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