The Wonderful Ways of Insects and Spiders [ 245 



into it and be drowned. The box-cage should be covered securely 

 with mosquito netting or fine wire screening, and kept where the 

 caterpillars will have some sunlight. 



THE PLEASURES OF COCOON COLLECTING 



In the country you may find the cocoons of some of the 

 large silk moths, such as the polyphemus, cecropia, and luna. (The 

 beautiful luna moth usually spins its cocoon between leaves on 

 the ground.) After the leaves have fallen in autumn, it is quite 

 easy to see the brownish wrappings which hold a pupa as it hangs 

 from twigs of bushes and trees. 



Children enjoy seeing the cecropia's hammock-shaped product 

 because of its popular name, "cradle cocoon." It has two walls 

 of silk. The inner wall is thin and firm; the outer wall the one 

 you look for when you go cocoon hunting is thick and paper-like. 

 Between the two walls there is a mat of loose silk. 



Cocoons in the Home: When you collect a hanging cocoon, cut 

 a piece of the twig to which it is attached. Later on, this twig will 

 make the best possible perch for the moth as it emerges and waits 

 for its wings to harden. 



If you keep cocoons in your house, they must be left in a place 

 that is not well heated. (An attic or cellar is fine for a cocoon.) 

 If the place is warm, the cocoons will hatch out before spring. 

 They should be sprinkled lightly with water about once a week 

 to keep them from getting dried out by indoor air. 



From the first of April or thereabouts, and for the following 

 two months, you can have an exciting time watching for the 

 beautiful winged insects to emerge. Sometimes you are given 

 advance notice of the event when the end of a cocoon grows damp 

 the effect of an acid fluid the insect discharges to dissolve the 

 silk. Thereafter the moth has no trouble pushing its way through 

 the end of the cocoon. 



How TO COLLECT BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



Collecting insects is a wonderful hobby for children. The 

 boy or girl who is absorbed in this pastime derives ever-increasing 

 pleasure from collecting. Often this interest continues into adult 



