flash out colours that run the gamut from palest to deepest reds,
yellows, and browns, crossed by wide circling bands of black; with
these, occasionally the black so predominates that it appears as
if the wing were black and the bands of other colour. All of them
are so exquisitely beautiful that neither the most exacting
descriptions, nor photographs from life, nor water colours faithfully
copied from living subjects can do them justice. They must be seen
alive, newly emerged, down intact, colours at their most brilliant
shadings, to be appreciated fully. With the exception of feeding
or refraining from eating, the life processes of all these are
very similar.

Moths are divided into three parts, the head, thorax, and abdomen,
with the different organs of each. The head carries the source of
sight, scent, and the mouth parts, if the moth feeds, while the
location of the ears is not yet settled definitely. Some
scientists place hearing in the antennae, others in a little organ
on each side the base of the abdomen. Packard writes: "The eyes
are large and globose and vary in the distance apart in different
families": but fails to tell what I want to know most: the range
and sharpness of their vision. Another writer states that the eyes
are so incomplete in development that a moth only can distinguish
light from darkness and cannot discern your approach at over five feet.

This accords with my experience with Cecropia, Polyphemus,
Regalis, and Imperialis. Luna either can see better, hear acutely,
or is naturally of more active habit. It is difficult to capture
by hand in daytime; and Promethea acts as if its vision were even
clearer. This may be the case, as it flies earlier in the day
than any of the others named, being almost impossible to take by