Prev | Current Page 183 | Next

Stratton-Porter, Gene, 1863-1924

"Moths of the Limberlost"

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.


Pages:
171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195