THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



67 



the result of insect agency. The parallel, 

 however, holds only so far. The manner 

 in which the result is produced, as also the 

 motive of the agent, being widely different 

 in the two cases. 



New facts are b^ing continually added 

 to prove the extent of this influence. There 

 is scarcely a flower in our woodlands or 

 meadows whose attentive study does not 

 teach us something of it. Upon them all 

 these tiny creatures have impressed their 

 stamp. It is now extensively maintained 

 that all that makes flowers attractive to us, 

 their brilliant hues, their fragrant odors, 

 as well as their size and form, are the fruits 

 of the industry of the insect microcosm as 

 slowly brought about through ages of time 

 That celebrated couplet in Gray's Elegy 

 written in a Country Churchyard : 



" Full many a flower is born to blush 

 And waste its sweetness on the desert air," 



was the product of the knowledge of the 

 1 8th century and is no longer true. Showy 

 and fragrant flowers are the consequence 

 of a true psychic force, of an aesthetic fac- 

 ulty identical with that of man, and our 

 admiration of them simply proves that we 

 admire what the insect world admires, and 

 that there is a standard of taste which holds 

 not only for mankind but for all sentient 

 beings. 



(To be continued.) 



THE COTTON WORM. 



HABITS AND CHARACTERS OF THE MOTH 

 OR IMAGO.* 



The moth measures from \\ to li inches 

 from tip to tip of wing when these are ex- 

 panded. Its general color, above, is oliv- 

 aceous, more or less effectually subdued by 

 lilaceous or purple hues, and often having 

 a clay-yellow, or faintly golden cast. The 

 under-side is more gray, with nacreous re- 

 flections. 



The markings that more particularly 

 characterize and distinguish it from all 

 other North American moths are certain 

 undulating vinous or carmine lines across 

 the front wings, a dark oval spot near their 

 disc containing pale scales, which usually 

 form a double pupil (the basal or inner 



one the smallest and whitest), and three 

 white specks dividing the space between this 

 dark spot and the shoulder in about three 

 equal parts. (Fig. 19, a « a.) 



The sexes are not readily distinguish- 

 able, as the relative stoutness of the male 



[Fig. 19.] 



* From Bulletin 3, U. S. Entomological Commission, by 

 C. V. Riley. 



Outline of Alexia : showing characteristic marks and 

 white specks (a a a) — twice natural size (after Riley). 



antennse compared with those of the female 

 is so slight as to be no safe guide. An 

 examination of the tip of the abdomen, 

 especially from the side, will always show 

 the difference, however, the last joint in 

 the male (Fig. 20, a) being the longer and 

 more full, and the pale tufts of hair that 

 belong to the withdrawn genitalia* show- 

 ing within or beyond the squarely docked 

 tip ; while in the female (Fig. 20, b) this 

 joint is shorter, more pointed, and oblique- 

 ly truncate beneath. 



The habits of this moth can only be 

 studied at night, as, like almost all the rest 

 of its family, it is nocturnal. During the 

 day it simply starts up when disturbed, and 

 darts by swift and low flight to some other 

 sheltered spot a few yards, or perhaps rods, 

 away. After sunset, however, it may be 

 seen leisurely hovering about, either bent 

 on the perpetuation of its kind or feeding 

 upon whatever sweets it can get, whether 

 from the cotton or from other sources. It is 

 very strong and swift of wing, and capable, 

 when the necessity arises, of flying long 

 distances. In alighting upon the plant it 



* The male genitalia in this species are remarkable for hav- 

 ing two extensile organs, usually retracted and showing as 

 dense tufts of hair, but capable of extension to thrice the 

 length of the rest of the armature ; also for two attenuated 

 double-jointed spines which lie when at rest in a sheath on 

 one side of the penis with the points extending beyond it, but 

 which in action bend back at right angles therefrom. 



