Frail Wanderers of the Night. 



BY EDWIN L. JACK, PORTLAND, MAINE. 



[Photographs by the author and Cordelia 



J. Stanwood.] 



There are few persons that are aware 

 that such wonderful and gorgeous crea- 

 tures exist as the night moths of our 

 early summer months. This lack of fa- 

 miliarity with one of nature's most 

 wonderful creations is largely due to 

 the fact that these large moths are noc- 

 turnal in habit, remaining at rest dur- 

 ing day. 



A warm June night, as the dusk be- 



Their life history is practically identi- 

 cal. 



Starting with the fully matured 

 moth, we find it in the last stage of its 

 life. It has emerged from its cocoon, 

 has mated and has begun to deposit its 

 eggs. These it places upon the leaves 

 of trees on which its caterpillars are to 

 feed. In the course of two or three 

 weeks, these eggs hatch into tiny cater- 

 pillars which at once begin to feed on 

 the leaf. This feeding continues for 

 four or five weeks, during which the 

 growing caterpillar has moulted at 



Photograph by Cordelia J. Stanwood. 



THE LUNA CATERPILLAR. 

 It hardly seem credible that so repulsive looking a creature would evolve anything so beautiful as a 

 luna moth. 



gins to gather, is the ideal time for 

 moths. The bright arc lights of our 

 city streets seem to have a great at- 

 traction for them and it is by this means 

 that a few shut in city dwellers are 

 sometimes given the opportunity of 

 viewing some of the more common spe- 

 cies. 



The two here illustrated are the luna 

 and the cecropia, two of our most com- 

 mon and vet most beautiful moth-. 



least three times. It stops eating, trav- 

 els around for a day or two, and then 

 begins to look for a suitable location in 

 which to place its cocoon. This is 

 usually the limb of a tree on which it 

 has been feeding. Having found a sat- 

 isfactory place, it begins to spin its 

 winter home, the cocoon. 



When the cocoon has been complet- 

 ed, a wonderful transformation takes 

 place. The skin of the caterpillar is 



