70 



COCOONS 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



How to keep Cocoons. — Keep the cocoons so that you can 

 see what kind of moths come from them. The best way is to 

 leave them where you found them until spring. If you bring 

 them home, remember that they are used to cold weather and 

 to rain. So put them in a cool place, and wet them once a 

 month. When warm weather comes again, put them .in a box 

 with mosquito netting tacked over the top, and watch for the 

 moths to appear. 



"What comes from Cocoons. — From the large, firm cocoons 

 that 3'ou will be likely to get there will probably come some 



one of four kinds of 

 large moths. If a 

 cocoon is large in the 

 middle, and tapers to 

 each end like a spin- 

 dle, there will come 

 a very large, reddish 

 gray moth, the ce- 

 cropia. 



If the cocoon is 



nearly egg-shaped, the 



moth will probably 



be either a yellowish 



gray one, the polyphemus, or a light green one with a long 



tail on each hind wing, the hma moth. 



If the cocoon is like a long bag, and is covered with a folded 

 leaf, there will probably appear a smaller black or reddish moth, 

 the 2:>romethea. If a naked twig bears something that looks like 

 a single folded leaf, look to see if it is a cocoon. Notice how 

 these cocoons are fastened to the twigs. 



The fuzzy caterpillars that spin webs in the fall and eat the 

 leaves from shade trees make cocoons out of their own hair 

 and a little loosely woven silk. The cocoons are small in size. 



Cecropia Moth and Cocoon 



