148 



ANIMALS OF LAND AND SEA 



with features taken from the fossils. The great reptiles of the 

 past are all extinct, on the land as well as in the sea. 



Passing now to insects we f^nd in South America the moth 

 with the greatest spread of wing. This is the owl-moth or 

 agrippina, with an expanse of ii inches. The Atlas moth of 





Figs. 407-411. Four young Dragon-flies, and the adult of one of them. 

 For explanations of the figures see p. xxiii. 



southeastern and southern Asia and the adjacent islands has 

 much broader wings w^hich spread 10 inches in the largest I 

 have measured, but probably sometimes more. 



Our largest moth in eastern North America is the common 

 cecropia, reaching 71/2 inches in expanse; the equally common 

 pclyphemus is not much smaller, reaching 61/2 inches. 



The broadest butterfly is Papilio antimaclms of western 

 Africa, from 8 to 9 inches across the wings, but its wings are 



