MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



from South or Central America. It occurs more fre- 

 quently in Florida and Georgia than with us, and there 

 it is known to have been double brooded; so standing on 

 the records of professional lepidopterists. That gives 

 rise to grounds for the possibility that in some of our 

 long, almost tropical Indiana summers, Regalis may be 

 double brooded with us. At any rate — many people saw 

 the living moth in my possession on this date. In fact 

 I am prepared to furnish abundant proof of every state- 

 ment contained in this chapter; while at the same time 

 admitting that it reads like the veriest fairy tale, "ever 

 thought or wondered. " 



The storm had passed and the light was fine, so we 

 posed the moth before the camera several times. It was 

 nervous business for he was becoming restless, and every 

 instant I expected him to fly, but of course we kept him 

 guarded. 



There was no hope of a female that late date, so the 

 next step was to copy his colours and markings as exactly 

 as possible. He was the gaudiest moth of my experience, 

 and his name seemed to suit rarely well. Citheronia — 

 a Greek poet, and Regalis — regal. He was truly royal 

 and enough to inspire poetry in a man of any nation. 

 His face was orange-brown, of so bright a shade that 

 any one at a glance would have called it red. His eyes 

 were small for his size, and his antennae long, fine, and 

 pressed against the face so closely it had to be carefully 



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