MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



moth liked to feed on corn blades, and last summer un- 

 doubtedly lived in that very field. When I studied lo his- 

 tory in my moth books, I learned these caterpillars ate 

 willow, wild cherry, hickory, plum, oak, sassafras, ash, and 

 poplar. The caterpillar was green, more like the spiny 

 butterfly caterpillars than any moth one I know. It 

 had brown and white bands, brown patches, and was 

 covered with tufts of stiff upstanding spines that pierced 

 like sharp needles. This was not because the caterpillar 

 tried to hurt you, but because the spines were on it, and 

 so arranged that if pressed against, an acid secretion 

 sprang from their base. This spread over the flesh the 

 spines touched, stinging for an hour like smartweed, or 

 nettles. 



When I identified this caterpillar in my books, it came 

 to me that I had known and experienced its touch. But 

 it did not forcibly impress me until that instant that I 

 knew it best of all, and that it was my childhood enemy of 

 the corn. Its habit was to feed on the young blades, 

 and cling to them with all its might. If I was playing 

 Indian among the rows, or hunting an ear with especially 

 long, fine "silk" for a make-believe doll, or helping the 

 cook select ears of Jersey Sweet to boil for dinner, and 

 accidentally brushed one of these caterpillars with cheek 

 or hand, I felt its burning sting long afterward. So I 

 disliked those caterpillars. 



For I always had played among the corn. Untold 



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