MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



cut; the bodies yellow-green, with a few sparse scattering 

 hairs, and on the edge of each segment, from a triple row 

 of dots arose a tiny, sharp spine. Each side had series 

 of black touches and the head could be drawn inside the 

 thorax. They were the largest in circumference of any 

 I had raised, but only a little over three inches long. 



I arranged both leaves and twigs in the boxes, but they 

 spun among the leaves, and not dangling from twigs, as 

 all the cocoons I had found outdoors were placed previous 

 to that time. Since, I have found them spun lengthwise 

 of twigs in a brush heap. The cocoons of these I had 

 raised were whiter than those of the free caterpillars, 

 and did not have the leaves fastened on the outside, but 

 were woven in a nest of leaves, fastened together by 

 threads. 



Polyphemus moths are night flyers, and do not feed. 

 I have tried to tell how beautiful they are, with indifferent 

 success, and they are common with me. Since I learned 

 them, I find their cocoons easiest to discover. Through 

 the fall and winter, when riding on trains, I see them 

 dangling from wayside thorn bushes. Once, while taking 

 a walk with Raymond in late November, he located one 

 on a thorn tree in a field beside the road, but he has the 

 eyes of an Indian. 



These are the moths that city people can cultivate, 

 for in Indianapolis, in early December, I saw fully one 

 half as many Polyphemus cocoons on the trees as there 



261 



