ORDER IV. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 155 



visions seen the graves of the dead all open, and spirits as- 

 cending in the shape and winged dress of these nocturnal 

 insects, sporting in the moonlit space, dancing to the never- 

 ceasing fiddle of the merry cricket, stooping down to the 

 dewy earth, with bended heads close by our attentive ears, 

 as if to confess the evil and the misery of a former life, then 

 joyfully shaking off the mist, and darting upward into the 

 purer ether. 



One of the handsomest of these nocturnal faiiy-like in- 

 sects is the Cecropia Motu {Attacus cecrojiia), Fig. 31. It 

 is found all the way from the Canadas down to the Mexi- 

 can Gulf, as well as in all the Western States. We have 

 received specimens from Montreal and from Louisiana, and 

 some very fine ones from Davenport, in Iowa, sent by our 

 esteemed entomological correspondent. Professor D. S. Shel- 

 don, of Iowa College. * 



This beautiful Moth has very large wings, which, when 

 expanded, will measure from five to six inches in breadth, 

 and which are covered with dusky-brown feathered scales, 

 and adorned with a kidney-shaped red spot and a reddish- 

 white band, with a black spot resembling an eye upon the 

 upper or fore wings. It appears in the Southern States as 

 early as the month of May, but in the Northern not until 

 June, when the female deposits her white, kidney-shaped 

 eggs upon the apple, cherry, or wild plum trees, the leaves 

 of which constitute the food of the caterpillars, v/hich are 

 hatched out of the eggs by the warmth of the atmosphere. 



The Caterpillar, Fig. 32, is almost as beautiful as the 

 perfect insect. It measures from three to four inches in 

 length, is of a light-green color, and has coral-red warts, 

 with short black bristles covering its body. It remains 

 upon the trees, feeding on its leaves, till August or Sep- 

 tember, when it descends, and may often be seen creeping 

 on paths and sidewalks, searching for currant or barberry 

 bushes, upon which it likes to build its cocoon. 



