i6o 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



The Luna Moth. 



BY EDWIN L. JACK, PORTLAND, MAINE. 



The accompanying photograph is of 

 the luna, one of the most beautiful of 



and, if you are fortunate enough to 

 witness the emergence, you will be 

 well repaid for your trouble in caring 

 for the cocoon as you will then see one 

 of the rarest sights that nature has in 

 store for you. 



THE LUNA MOTH. 



our common moths, one with which 

 every nature lover should be acquaint- 

 ed. The predominating color is a 

 beautiful blue green. At the top of the 

 front wings is a band of purple which 

 grows narrower as it extends down the 

 edges. Near the top of each wing is 

 a small, transparent marking edged 

 with purple, black and a faint touch of 

 red. The hind wings end in long, beau- 

 tiful, curved "trailers." The body is 

 snowy white, and the antennae are 

 light tan. It is rarely found about 

 cities, but frequents dark, damp woods. 

 In June it may frequently be found on 

 oak and birch trees, as its caterpillars 

 feed on the leaves of these trees. The 

 cocoons fall with the leaves, and remain 

 on the ground through the winter. The 

 moth emerges on the ground and 

 climbs the trunk of the tree to dry and 

 spread its wings. If one is interested 

 and cares to observe luna's life history, 

 the approaching midsummer offers an 

 opportunity to search for the caterpil- 

 lars. In August these may be found 

 feeding on the leaves of the oak, the 

 birch and the willow. If you are for- 

 tunate and find several take them 

 home, place them in a box and feed 

 them with leaves fresh from the tree 

 on which you found them. Each will 

 soon spin a silken cocoon that should 

 be kept in a cool place through the 

 winter and brought into the warm air 

 in the early spring. Sometime in May 

 or in early June, the moth will emerge 



Virginia Creeper. 



BY CHARLES II. CRANDALL, STAMFORD, 

 CONNECTICUT. 



When I found a mass of woodbine, 

 or Virginia creeper, to-day, and found 

 it fairly alive with honeybees rioting 

 amid the profuse clusters of almost in- 

 finitesimal blossoms, I resolved to vol- 

 unteer as attorney for the bees, as well 

 as for this beautiful vine, and to write 

 you a word in their praise. For years 

 it has been a standing order to my 

 men at "Idylland" to spare the wood- 

 bine wherever found and not confound 

 it with poison ivy, which is under 

 perennial condemnation. Now that I 

 know how much the bees think of my 

 favorite creeper, I am glad that I have 

 tried to protect it. I get the most de- 

 light from the vine as it glows in the 

 autumn under Jack Frost's magic 

 touch, with those deep rich reds that 

 transform our grey stone walls into 

 pyres of flame, or illumine like sunset 

 fires the trees that it chooses to climb. 

 In "Stamford Highlands" I found it : 



"When woodbine leads its flame aloft 



The cedar spires of green, 

 Or clematis, a snowy arm, 



Upon the wall doth lean." 



And in "An October Ride" 



"The woodbine, like a lover, wound 



The blushing oak with rosy arms; 

 The red leaves, fluttering o'er the 

 ground. 

 Like couriers spread the frosts' 

 alarms." 



Let us all join in protecting and en- 

 couraging the Virginia creeper, a thing 

 of beauty and a delight to our friends, 

 the honeybees. 



For it may take a lifetime of the 

 severest labor to find out a new fact. 

 No truth comes to man unless he asks 

 for it. It needs years of patience and 

 devotion to ask a genuinely and radi- 

 cally new question. He is already a 

 master in science who can suggest a 

 new experiment. — David Starr Jordan 

 in "The Stability of Truth." 



