obliterative 'appendages'? For the wings of most lepidoptera, and of all 

 butterflies, are, judged in comparison with other aerial insects, and even the 

 most aerial of birds, out of all proportion to the size of their bodies. A butter- 

 fly with a wing expanse of about seven square inches weighs about a tenth 

 of an ounce, or less; a bee of about the same weight, with highly aerial habits, 

 has a wing expanse of only about a third of an inch; and a much-flying bird, 

 e. g., the Red-tailed Hawk {Buteo horealis), weighing about forty ounces, has 

 only about four hundred square inches of combined wing and tail expanse. 

 In other words, the butterfly has about twenty times the flying-spread of the 

 bee, and at least seven times that of the hawk, in proportion to its weight. 

 Indeed, a butterfly is so greatly ' overwinged ' as to be incapable, in most cases, 

 of steady or swift flight. Its big vans float and flutter like wind-borne leaves, 

 carrying the little body which wields them in a tortuous, uncertain course, and 

 making it bob up and down with every stroke — a puny and unstable fulcrum. 

 To one who recognizes the power and importance of obliterative coloration, 

 it seems by no means unlikely that this monstrous expanse of wing among 

 butterflies (and some moths) is actually in itself an obliterative device — that 

 its chief use is the delusive and effacive extension of the little edible butterfly 

 outward into the environing vegetation and the background scenes. In 

 every case(?), the little body itself has the very acme of obliterative coloration, 

 based on complete counter shading. For the side view, when the wings 

 are perpendicularly folded, it is often daintily picture-patterned; in a top 

 view it is usually the center of dimness in a dim, smoky, blended patch of 

 pale half -shadow tint. Literally the center of dimness — the dimmest and 

 least noticeable part, from which the eye is led outward to the more or less 

 bright markings of the widely extended wings. But these bright markings 

 themselves are, as we have seen, potent parts of the disguise, since they picture 

 the landscape, and lead the beholder to think he sees through and beyond 

 where really there is an opaque surface interposed. 



Here, then, is an amusing contrast between old ideas and new. On the 

 one hand, a butterfly is hailed as the very embodiment and epitome of gay, 



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