ORDER IV.—MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 150 
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 fairy-like in- 
sects is the Cecropra Morn (Attacus cecropia), 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 entomodlogical 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, which 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 
en paths and sidewalks, searching for currant or barberry 
bushes, upon which it likes to build its cocoon, 
