School Room Experiences with the Cecropia Moth 



Josephine Bailey 



Our first acquaintance with the cecropia was formed last fall 

 when one of the fifth grade girls brought me an immense cecropia 

 caterpillar. It was taken to school and in a day or two began to 

 spin. It spun on the side of the cage in which we kept it, and here 

 it remained until the next spring, when it emerged, a fine, large 

 moth. 



Then in the spring, while on our nature-study trips, we suc- 

 ceeded in collecting nine other cecropia cocoons. We found them 

 on hedge, box elder, lilac, cherry, and plum trees. Four of them 

 had been parasitized. We noticed a small hole in the cocoons 

 which looked as though they had been poked with a small pointed 

 stick. Some insect had punctured them; laid its eggs; and the 

 larva which hatched from these eggs had fed on the living form 

 inside of the cocoon, then changed into its adult form and flown out 

 into the world. 



One child brought to school a cocoon which had been carefully 

 opened without destroying the case inside; and the children at 

 school were much interested when, upon examining it, they found 

 that the pupa was alive. They enjoyed watching it, for whenever 

 disturbed it moved from side to side, showing the breathing pores 

 and abdominal segments. It is oval in shape ; much shorter than 

 the worm; and is smooth and brown. They also noticed the out- 

 line of the wings and the antennae folded over the body. Besides 

 the pupa case they found, inside the cocoon away down at the 

 lower end, the old, cast off skin of the caterpillar. For after he 

 has finished his cocoon he must shed his skin before changing into a 

 pupa. 



The six perfect cocoons were taken into the school room and 

 placed in insect cages. We moistened them once or twice every 

 week, for if the cocoon is allowed to become dry the moth can not 

 work its way out in the spring. The moth does not eat, but the 

 larva does and the moth lays her eggs after the trees are in leaf. 



In May the first moth emerged, and by the middle of May all had 

 emerged and laid their eggs. One morning, shortly before school 

 opened, we discovered one just as it had pushed its head and one 

 leg through its cocoon. In about three hours it had worked its 

 entire body out. 



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