906 
Annual Report of New York 
FLOWERY P Kill ROSE-MOTH. SHALL WE DESTROY IT? 
wing. The red portion is slightly wavy on its hind edge, usually having two 
round notches, the outer one a little outside of the middle and distant from the 
outer side of the wing, tho other more than half way from this to the inner side. 
And commonly upon this red portion faint clouds of a paler color are perceptible, 
but vague and indefinite. Frequently, however, a very faint, grayish band may 
be discerned, extending from tho middle of the inner side obliquely across the 
wing, parallel with and a little forward of the hind edge of the red portion. And 
in some specimens this grayish band is perfectly distinct, and forward of it the 
central portion of the wing between the two principal veins (the intercostal area) 
is of the same grayish color, and in this paler space appears a small round spot, 
and back of it upon the anterior edge of the grayish band a squarish transverse 
spot, of the same rose red color as the ground, their edges indefinite, these spots 
appearing to represent tho two stigmas common to the wings of this family of 
moths. The hind wings are white tinged with yellow. The underside of both 
pairs is pale yellowish with the outer sides pale rose red. 
When an insect of such beauty as is this moth appears in the 
grounds around our dwellings, rivalling in the delicacy and ele¬ 
gance of its colors the finest flowers which we cultivate, remaining 
at rest where it is openly exposed during the day as if to invite us 
to approach and inspect and admire it, the question arises whether 
we shall war upon and destroy it, or allow it to remain undisturbed 
as being an ornament which will interest and delight every one 
who beholds it. If unmolested it will probably continue for some 
years wherever it makes its appearance, until an uncongenial season 
arrives or parasites multiply to destroy and suppress it. But to 
have one of our finest flowers every year mutilated and divested 
of all their beauty by the broods of ugly looking worms which 
these moths produce is scarcely to be endured, even though these 
worms are so similar to the flower-buds on which the)' stand as to 
be unobserved except upon a close inspection. When I first discov¬ 
ered these worms and became aware of the pernicious work in 
which they were engaged, I waged a war of extermination upon 
them — with pincers detaching from the plants every one I could 
find, dropping it to the ground in the hard beaten path and draw¬ 
ing the sole of my boot over it. With my closest scrutiny several 
worms were overlooked, and were searched out and destroyed upon 
the following days. But when I came to know that these worms 
would grow into these elegant moths, they found more favor in 
my sight. I then allowed a number of them to get their growth 
and leave the plants before I began to search for and destroy them. 
It was in my mind to check this moth from becoming greatly mul¬ 
tiplied, but to cherish and preserve it in moderate numbers in the 
