MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



Again I turned to the business of plate changing. The 

 heat was intense, and perspiration was streaming from 

 my face. I called to Molly-Cotton to shield the moths 

 while I made the change. "Drat the moths!" cried the 

 Deacon. "Shade your mother!" Being an obedient girl, 

 she shifted the umbrella, and by the time I was ready 

 for business, the male was on the logs and travelling up 

 the side of the Cabin. The female was cHmbing toward 

 the logs also, so that a side view showed her wings already 

 beginning to lift above her back. 



I had only five snapshot plates in my holders, so I was 

 compelled to stop. It was as well, for surely the record 

 was complete, and I was almost prostrate with excitement 

 and heat. Several days later I opened each of the co- 

 coons and made interior studies. The one on the right 

 was split down the left side and turned back to show the 

 bed of spun silk of exquisite colour that covers the inner 

 case. Some say this silk has no commercial value, as 

 it is cut in lengths reaching from the top around the inner 

 case and back to the top again; others think it can be 

 used. The one on the left was opened down the front of 

 the outer case, the silk parted and the heavy inner case 

 cut from top to bottom to show the smooth interior wall, 

 the thin pupa case burst by the exit of the moth, and 

 the cast caterpillar skin crowded at the bottom. 



The pair mated that same night, and the female began 

 laying eggs by noon the following day. She dotted them 



118 



