LEPIDOPTERA. 209 
the contrary, that nature can people every hour; that it was 
her will to console them for their sadness, to grant to the twilight 
and to the night the same winged wanderers, which are at once 
the delight and ornament of the hours of light and of day. 
This is the mission of science, to dissipate the thousands of 

















































Fig. 193.—Death’s-head Hawk-Moth (Acherontia atropos). 
prejudices and dangerous superstitions which mislead ignorant 
people. 
This moth has the front wings of a blackish brown colour, having 
lighter irregular bands varied with brown and grey, above and 
below. On the middle of the front wing there is a well-defined 
white dot. The hind wings have two black bands, the upper 
narrower than the lower one; the rest of the wing is a fine yellow. 
The abdomen has likewise from five to six yellow and as many 
black bands ; in the middle is a long blackish longitudinal band. 
This moth is not very rare, and may be found in autumn. Its 
flight is heavy, and as we have said, the insect never flies till 
13 
