404 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 



HICKOJIT. LEAVES. 



ornately adorned and diversified in its colors than the others. Its 

 peculiarly delicate modest appearance causes many to rank it as 

 " pre-eminent above all our moths in queenly beauty," and renders 

 the name bestowed upon it by Linnaeus most appropriate and 

 happy, Luna being the Latin designation of the moon, the " queen 

 of the night." 



I have met with this feeding upon the beech as well as the 

 walnut, and at the south it is also found upon the persimmon and 

 the sweet gum. Varieties of the moth occur in which the fringe 

 of the wings is wholly yellow or pale green, but commonly it is 

 more or less of a rich purple or brownish red color along the 

 middle of the hind edge of each wing. Some specimens have the 

 margin of the hind wings sinuated or wavy from the tails to the 

 outer angles. And another variety shows a darker streak more 

 or less distinctly, forward of the hind border and running nearly 

 parallel with it, at least upon the fore wings. 



A Chinese species named Selene by Dr. Leach is almost identical 

 with our Luna moth. So far as appears from a single specimen 

 of this, sent me from Ningpo by Rev. M. S. Culbertson, the two 

 insects can only be distinguished from each other by some of the 

 minor details in the colors of the eye-like spots in the centre of 

 their wings; varieties of the Luna occur which seem to coincide 

 with the Selene in every other point. 



The eye-like spots in these insects are situated upon the apex of the discoidal 

 cell, and the transverse veinlet which bounds the outer end of this cell forms 

 also the centre of the eye-like spot. In Selene this veinlet has only a slight 

 narrow hyaline margin, whilst in Luna its margin is widened into an elliptic 

 glassy spot; the eye thus appearing to be half opened in the latter and closed 

 in the former. This central pupil is bordered on its forward or upper side by 

 a rose-red crescent in both insects, the anterior or convex side of which is 

 margined by an ochre-yellow line in Luna which is wholly wanting in Selene 

 Finally, in both insects this spot is surmounted by a coal-black crescent accom- 

 panied by a white or bluish-white line, which is placed upon the concave margin 

 of the crescent in Selene, but inside of this margin in Luna, so that a black 

 line here borders it upon its hind or concave side. On the opposite or under 

 side of the central pupil in Luna is a broader and paler rose-red crescent than 

 that upon the upper side, sometimes faded to a white color, and this is suc- 

 ceeded by a still broader sulphur-yellow one, whilst in Selene we see only a 

 broad white crescent faintly edged exteriorly with yellowish. And outside of 

 this in Luna is a slender black line prolonged from the horns of the anterior 

 black crescent and forming with it a circular ring surrounding this eye-like spot 



