MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



holder and removed another sHde, the first moth to 

 appear had chmbed up the board a few steps, and the 

 second was halfway out. Its antennae were nearly hori- 

 zontal now, and from its position I decided that the 

 wings as they lay in the pupa case were folded neither 

 to the back nor to the front, but pressed against the body 

 in a lengthwise crumpled mass, the heavy front rib, or 

 costa, on top. 



Again I changed plates with all speed. By the time I 

 was read^^ for the third snap the male had reached the 

 top of the board, its wings opened for the first time, and 

 began a queer trembling motion. The second one had 

 emerged and was running into the first, so I held my finger 

 in the line of its advance, and when it climbed on I 

 lowered it to the edge of the board beside the cocoons. 

 It immediately clung to the wood. The big pursy 

 abdomen and smaller antennae, that now turned forward 

 in position, proved this a female. The exposure was 

 made not ten seconds after she cleared the case, and with 

 her back to the lens, so the position and condition of 

 the wings and antennae on emergence can be seen clearly. 



Quickly as possible I changed the plates again; the 

 time that elapsed could not have been over half a minute. 

 The male was trying to creep up the wall, and the in- 

 crease in the length and expansion of the female's wings 

 could be seen. The colours on both were exquisite, but 

 they grew a trifle less brilliant as the moths became dry. 



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