THE COCOON HARVEST 



255 



With these another cocoon is commonly found, and it 

 is an interesting study of insect sagacity for those who 

 are unfamiliar with it. In this case the deception 

 quite pronounced, and doubtless 'hundreds of the co- 

 coons have been passed by and noted simply as dan- 

 gling leaves " the last leaf upon the tree in the spring," 

 perhaps. This is the hammock of the Attacus Prometheus. 



Unlike the Cecropia caterpillars, the Prometheus 

 adopts a distinct preconcerted plan in the 

 construction of its cocoon, by which it pro- 

 vides a safe anchorage for the winter. A 

 suitable leaf is first selected, generally upon 

 a wild cherry, sassafras, spicewood, or button- 

 bush ; the stem of the leaf is then completely 

 incased in silk, and carefully secured to the 

 twig for several inches by the same means; 

 after which the leaf is contracted about the 

 caterpillar, and forms the mould for its win- 

 ter hammock. The wind and weather at 

 length loosen the withered leaf, but nothing 

 short of a vigorous pull will dislodge the co- 

 coon, which often suffers the branch to break, 

 or calls the pocket-knife into use before it 

 will* release its hold. 



Among the most pleasant winter memo- 

 ries of my boyhood was the quest for these 

 cocoons. Whether on foot through the 

 woods, or on frozen lake or river, skating 

 around among the flaky ice of the sedgy border swamps 

 and coves among the button -bushes and alders, sub- 

 merged in summer, but now revealing those empty nests 

 of the "conkaree," which so tantalized me a few months 

 before here I filled my pockets with a daily harvest 



