288 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:7— Oct;, 1919 



out their box and observing them. Abnost every week they would 

 stop eating for a day, and, crawling to a safe retreat on the side 

 of the box, proceed to make a change of costume. Such struggles 

 as they endured getting rid of those skins! Some of them ate 

 their discarded raiment, but other more fastidious ones left their 

 skins in the bottom of the box. Nearly every time they molted, 

 the new skin was lighter in color, until after six weeks of eating 

 and growing, they were a blue-green color, with big brown horns 

 on their heads. At this time they were six inches long and nearly 

 an inch thick. For some reason, perhaps my ignorance of the 

 right kind of care, all but five died. The survivors were the pride 

 of my existence and the terror of the children of the neighborhood. 

 No child ever quite believed me when I stated that the caterpillars 

 would not bite. During the last week, the appetite of those 

 caterpillars were incredible. They lived but to eat. Then quite 

 suddenly they refused food and became very active. They 

 raced about the box as though in search of something. I had 

 read that this was a sign that they were ready to pupate. So I 

 filled a bucket with soil and put them in it. They continued their 

 racing for a little while, then began to burrow. I was so curious 

 to know what had happened to them after they had disappeared 

 under the soil, that I had dug them up. They did not seem to 

 mind it, however, and soon burrowed again. I did not know that 

 the soil should be kept moist, so all my caterpillars dried up 

 and were useless. I lost a fine chance of raising moths, but it 

 was a lesson not to be forgotten. 



Although I had no success with the earth pupating caterpillars, 

 I had very good luck with the weaving ones. During the same 

 summer, a little boy brought me a queer-looking worm. It was 

 about three inches long, in color light green, with yellow, red and 

 blue tubercles on its back. It was not fully grown and possessed 

 a very healthy appetite. For a dwelling place I lined a straw- 

 berry box with maple leaves and covered it with mosquito netting. 

 This seemed quite adequate and the caterpillar grew to be four 

 inches long. I searched the moth book for a description of such 

 a caterpillar, and found it to be a Cecropia. After its feeding 

 time was over, I watched it closely, for I wanted to know how it 

 spun. It used its mouth to gum the edge of a stick I had put in 

 the box; then it drew out long threads and enveloped itself in a 

 thin network of silk just the shape that the finished cocoon was to 



