MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



amor means love, and red is love's own colour. The 

 caterpillar feeds on willow. The Catocala of the yellow 

 'after- wings' is commonly called the Bride, because 

 Neogama, its scientific name, means recently wedded. 

 Its caterpillar feeds on walnut leaves. 



"If you will examine the under side of the body of a 

 Catocala moth you will find near the junction of the 

 thorax and abdomen on either side, large open organs re- 

 minding one of the ears of a grasshopper, which are on 

 the sides of the first abdominal segment. Examine the 

 bodies of Sphinges and other moths for these same open- 

 ings. They appear to be ears. Catocala moths feed 

 on juices, and hve most of the summer season. Numbers 

 of them have been found sipping sap at a tree freshly cut 

 and you know we take them at night with bait. 



"New Orleans sugar and cider or sugar and stale beer 

 are the usual baits. This 'concoction,' is put on the 

 bodies of trees with a brush, between eight and ten o'clock 

 at night. During good Catocala years, great numbers of 

 these moths may be taken as they feed at the sweet 

 syrup. So it is proved that their food is sap, honeydew, 

 and other sugary liquids. Mr. George Dodge assures me 

 that he has taken Catocala abbreviatella at milkweed 

 blooms about eight o'clock of early July evenings. Other 

 species also feed on flowers." 



You will observe that in his remarks about the "open 

 organs on the side of the first abdominal segment," 



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