THE LEPIDOPTKRA 



285 



the crescent spot and the base of the wing. The caterpillar feeds on the leaves 

 of the Ailanthus tree and has tufts of white hairs on its body. The cocoon 

 is made within a partly rolled leaf as in the case of the Promethea Moth. 



One of the largest insects in this family is known as the Luna Moth (Tropcea 

 luna L.). Its body is densely covered with white hairs giving it a woolly appear- 

 ance, and its wings are pale green, with more or less complete purplish margins, 

 particularly strong along the costa of the fore wing (Fig. 301). In the front 

 wing is a rather oval "eye" spot connected by a purplish band with the costa. 

 The hind wing also has an "eye" spot, more circular in outline, shaded with 

 darker on the side nearest the body, and the wing itself extends backward into a 

 long, narrow tail. The green caterpillars, between two and three inches long when 



FIG 300. Japanese Silkworm Moth (Philosamia cynthia Dru.), about two-thirds natural 



size. (Original.) 



full-grown, feed upon a number of kinds of trees and pupate among leaves on the 

 ground in the fall. The insect is found from Canada southward throughout the 

 United States east of the Rocky Mountains. 



One of the smaller, very common moths of this group is the lo Moth (Auto- 

 meris io Fab.) which spreads between three and four inches (Fig. 302). The two 

 sexes differ in color, the ground color in the male being yellow, while in the fe- 

 male that of the fore wings is purplish-red. The yellow of the male fore wing has 

 irregular spots and a wavy line of brownish: in the female the ground color is 

 broken by irregular shadings and a lighter wavy line. The striking feature of 

 the hind wing in both sexes is a large, circular, bluish "eye" spot with a white 

 dot forward of its center. The bluish shades into black outside, and is surrounded 

 by the yellow ground color. Between the eye spot and the outer margins are a 

 black line and a dull-rose band, and the base and hinder margin are dull rose. 



