THE LIFE OF A MOTH 
9i 
While this process is going on the bulbs on the 
shoulders are forming into wings* The change 
commences near the body, and the pulpy mass is 
gradually transformed into beautifully marked, 
velvety wings* The process continues until the pulp 
is but a marginal band on the wings, but this is still 
capable of considerable extension before the thin 
membranes are completed* Then the Promethea 
poses and surveys a new and strange world, while 
the newly-formed wings, four inches across, are 
moved gently and timidly as if to make sure of 
their existence* 
This large and beautiful Moth is the mature 
female development of the great, thick Worm that 
crawled about last summer and nibbled the leaves 
of the Lilac* Then it feasted leisurely, a crawling 
Worm* Now it is beautifully equipped for flight, 
but can no longer eat, and its life mission will be 
fulfilled perhaps within the coming night* This 
Moth can scarcely be regarded as the Worm trans- 
formed, for she excretes in fluid form all the vital, 
internal organs of her larval existence* Before 
lapsing into the inert pupa state she casts off, with 
her outer covering, her legs and all external organs, 
including even her head* There is a deepening of the 
mystery of identity in this casting off of all the parts 
of a previous existence* When the Promethea larva 
decided to retire for the winter, she selected a con- 
