AUGUST. 
259 
spot;, see the large moth suspended on the wing in front of 
a blossom ; presently one is seen in another direction ; then 
another, and another; and the small moths begin to swarm, 
and hurry from flower to flower^ seeming to increase with 
the increasing darkness, until the eye fails to follow them, 
but still dimly sees the swift- winged hawk-moth, directed by 
the more acute perception of the ear. They are large and 
thick, though of a graceful shape, and possess considerable 
muscular strength ; I have had them actually within my 
fingers, yet have failed to hold them, as they have forced 
their way out by the mere strength of their wings. On 
almost every one that I caught, there were little soft club- 
shaped filaments, about one-sixth of an inch long, projecting 
from the head, generally from the eyes : do you know what 
they are ? 
Father. — They are parts of the milkweed blossom, 
which adhere to the head of the insect, when eagerly suck- 
ing the nectar, and come away with it. I was much at a 
loss myself when I first observed them, but having seen the 
same substances, in the south, attached to the heads of 
Swallow- tailed Butterflies ( Papilio ) which I had taken in 
the act of sucking an allied species, the Orange Milkweed 
( Asclepias Incarnata ), I had no longer any doubt of their 
origin. They are the little bags of pollen, that I mentioned 
before, which are found within the anthers. 
C. — Among these I have taken another species, some- 
what resembling them, but not nearly so pretty, the Grey 
Hawk-moth ( Sphinx Cinerea ) ; this appears rare. I have 
netted also some very beautiful Noctuce, the Twin Gold- 
spot, ( Plusia Iota ? ) the Gold and Silver, (P. Festucce ? ) 
the Green Gold ( P. Chrysitis ? J, and the Spangled Orange 
C ? J j' the last two exceedingly splendid : the Royal 
Tiger Moth f Arctia Virgo J, a handsome Bomhyx, is become 
common. 
