MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



species of day and niglit or even attempting all the 

 ramifications of — say the alluringly beautiful Catocalse 

 family — life is too short, unless devoted to this purpose 

 alone. But if I frankly confess my limitations, and 

 offer the book to my nature-loving friends merely as an 

 introduction to the most exquisite creation of the swamp; 

 and the outside history, as it were, of the evolution of 

 these creatures from moth to moth again, surely no one 

 can feel defrauded. Since the publication of "A Girl 

 of the Limberlost, " I have received hundreds of letters 

 asking me to write of my experiences with the lepidop- 

 tera of the swamp. This l^ook professes to be nothing 

 more. 



Because so many enemies prey upon the large night 

 moths in all stages, they are nowhere sufficiently numer- 

 ous to be pests, or common enough to be given local 

 names, as have the birds. I have been compelled to use 

 their scientific names to assist in identification, and at 

 times I have had to resort to technical terms, because 

 there were no other. All these moths were reproduced 

 so far as possible to me, in natural and characteristic 

 environment. x\t times in order to show exquisite 

 markings, by judicious use of a fine brush of long camel's- 

 hair, I have coaxed and manipulated the wings to a 

 wider sweep than is natural to the moth; but the subject 

 was living and under no restraint when this was done. 

 Frequently I have written of them under the names by 



13 



