The under part was pinkish wine crossed with a narrow
white line at each segment. The claspers were prominent and sharp.
The finishing touch of the exquisite creatign lay in the fact that
in motion, in strong light the red wine shadings of the under side
cast an intangible, elusive, rosy flush over the dark back of the
moth that was the mast delicate and loveliest colour effect I ever
have seen on marking of flower, bird, or animal.
For the first time in all my experience with moths the female was
less than the male.
Even the eggs of this mated pair carried a pinkish white shade and
were stained with brown. They were ovoid in shape and dotted
the screen door in rows. The tiny caterpillars were out eleven
days later and proved to be of the kind that march independently
from their shells without stopping to feed on them. Of every
food offered, the youngsters seemed to prefer lilac leaves; I
remembered that they had passed the winter wrapped in these,
dangling from their twigs, and that the under wings of the male and
much of the female bore a flushing of colour that was lilac, for
what else is red wine veiled with white? So I promptly christened
them, `The Pride of the Lilacs.
Pages:
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238