MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



and I made a study of them. Then I gently lifted a leaf, 

 carried it outdoors, and in full light, reproduced the fe- 

 male in the position in which she deposited her eggs, 

 even in the act of placing them. Of course, Molly- 

 Cotton stood beside with a net in one hand to guard, and 

 an umbrella in the other to shade the moth, except at 

 the instant of exposure; but she made no movement 

 indicative of flight. 



I made every study of interest of which I could think. 

 Then I packed and mailed Professor Rowley about two 

 hundred fine, fertile eggs, with all scientific data. I only 

 kept about one dozen, as I could think of nothing more 

 to record of this moth except the fact that I had raised 

 its caterpillar. As I explained in the first chapter, from 

 information found in a work on moths supposed to be 

 scientific and accurate, I depended on these caterpillars 

 to emerge in sixteen days. The season was unusually 

 rainy and unfavourable for field work, and I had a 

 large contract on hand for outdoor stuff. I was so 

 extremely busy, I was glad to box the eggs, and put them 

 out of mind until the twenty-seventh. By the merest 

 chance I handled the box on the twenty-fourth, and 

 found six caterpillars starved to death, two more feeble, 

 and four that seemed Uvely. One of these was bitten by 

 some insect that clung to a leaf placed in their box for 

 food, in spite of the fact that all leaves were care- 

 fully washed. One died from causes unknown. One 



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