128 . CATERPILLARS AND THEIR MOTHS 



seventy-five or eighty feet without stopping, simply 

 going straight in the direction in which it had started. 

 Then, when it began to burrow. One of Us picked it up 

 and put it into a tin. 



The moths are handsome, very large and very 

 strong, and have tongues fully four inches long. They 

 are dusk-fliers, and frequent honeysuckle, lilies, and 

 other sweet flowers having long tubes. They are all 

 gray, black, and white, except a row of orange spots 

 on each side of the abdomen. Like most sphingid 

 moths, they dart downward when frightened, so a net 

 should be held below the moth to be caught. This 

 habit is to be remembered when transferring the moth 

 from the net to the cage. If the opening of the cage 

 is upj)ermost, the net can be brought down, opened 

 just enough to give the moth room to pass, and it 

 will dart down into the cage. 



These moths are said to be double-brooded, but we 

 have never found eggs or caterpillars earlier than late 

 July, though we have caught the moths early in July. 

 Farther south there are probably two broods each 

 year. They are rather common all over the United 

 States and Canada — in some places very common, in 

 others much less so. 



The pupae are often turned up when potatoes are 

 dug or gardens are " spaded over." 



Robins have been seen carrying off full-grown ce- 

 leiis caterpillars, having first pecked them till they 

 loosened their hold of the tomato-stems and fell to the 

 ground, where they were soon reduced to helplessness 

 by the robins. We have not known or heard of any 

 other bird's attempting to eat them. 



