MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



green, faintly tinged with white, and yellow in places. 

 On the sides are white obliques, or white, shaded with 

 pink, and at the base of these, a small oval marking. 

 There is a small short horn on the head. But the dis- 

 tinguishing mark is a mass of little white granules, scat- 

 tered all over the caterpillar. It is so peppered with 

 these, that failure to identify it is impossible. 



These caterpillars pupate in the ground. I knew that, 

 but this was before I had learned that the caterpillar 

 worked out a hole in the ground, and the pupa case only 

 touched the earth upon which it la3^ So when my 

 Modesta caterpillar ceased crawling, lay quietly, turned 

 dark, shrank one half in length, and finally burst the 

 dead skin, and emerged in a shining dark brown pupa 

 case two inches long, I got in my work. I did well. A 

 spade full of garden soil was thoroughly sifted, baked in 

 the oven to kill parasites and insects, cooled, and put in a 

 box, and the pupa case buried in it. Every time it rained, 

 I opened the box, and moistened the earth. Two months 

 after time for emergence, I dug out the pupa case to find 

 it white with mould. I had no idea wdiat the trouble 

 was, for I had done much work over that case, and the 

 whole winter tended it solicitously. It was one of my 

 earliest attempts, and I never have found another 

 caterpillar, or any eggs, though I often search the poplars 

 for them. 



However, something better happened. I say better, 



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