464 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Dec., '13 



Aesthetic Appreciation in Entomology. 



By HARRY B. WEISS, New Brunswick, N. J. 



Perhaps at the outset it would be well to explain in a gen- 

 eral way just what is meant by aesthetic appreciation. An 

 aesthetic experience, for example, is a consciousness of the 

 beautiful, but never of the unattractive or ugly. It varies more 

 or less with different people and what one person may consider 

 beautiful, another will consider ugly. 



The perception of some insects for instance is associated 

 with feelings of pleasure and attraction, while others give rise 

 to disagreeable and repulsive feelings. Practically everybody 

 experiences the former feelings while viewing members of the 

 Lepidoptera, while only persons having a wider knowledge ot 

 entomology will experience such feelings in connection with 

 the Hemiptera. In other words, most people like to look at a 

 butterfly or moth, but all other insects are classed as more or 

 less repulsive "bugs.'' 



As a rule the majority of people will credit the pleasurable 

 feelings to the diverse colors of the Lepidoptera and, while 

 they contribute somewhat to the total result, the aesthetic value 

 of this order depends mostly on the curved lines and bilateral 

 symmetry of its members. Curved lines are more pleasing 

 and are considered more beautiful than straight or broken 

 lines. It is only with difficulty that broken lines are grasped 

 as a whole, while the direct opposite is true of continuous 

 curves. Gradual or sweeping curves are also more pleasing 

 than abrupt ones, this being apparent when Tropaea luna is 

 viewed along with, say, Papilla turnus. While the delicate 

 green of Tropaea luna is undoubtedly attractive, yet its aesthe- 

 tic value is due to its exquisite curves and symmetry. 



In a general way, a gradual curve upward and to the right 

 is most pleasing, and such curves are common throughout the 

 Lepidoptera. Approaching this in its capacity for stimulating 

 pleasure is a gradual curve downward to the right. Following 

 this are curves upward to the left and downward to the left. 

 Referring to Tropaea luna again, all four of these curves are 

 present in this moth and strikingly outlined. 



