236 



NATURE STUDY 



ANIMALS 



The necessary facts with reference to the animals to 

 be studied this month — moths, butterflies, beetles, bees 

 — have already been given in the first chapter. 



In the fall the adult insects and larval forms, whether 

 caterpillars or grubs, going into winter quarters were 



studied. Now these win- 

 ter quarters and the emerg- 

 ing adult form should be 

 given the chief considera- 

 tion. 



The best material for 

 this purpose is the large 

 Cecropia cocoon. This 

 may be cut open after the 

 moth emerges. The out- 

 side covering is plainly 

 impervious to moisture. 

 Within, it is a loose mass 

 of silk, beyond which is 

 another coat like the first. 



Cecropia cocoon. Cocoon cut open. J^side of this there still 



remains the cast-off skin of the caterpillar and pupa, 

 within which took place all the marvellous changes 

 through which a wormlike creature was transformed 

 into one of our most beautiful moths. 



The two sexes of the Cecropias may be easily distin- 

 guished one from the other by the size of the antennae, 

 which, in the case of the male, are very broad and 

 feathery. 



They live at the best not much longer than three weeks, 

 during which time they eat nothing. They mate freely, 

 even in confinement. The large light eggs hatch into 



