You will observe that in his remarks about the “open organs on the side of the abdominal segment,” Professor Rowley may have settled the ‘ear’ question.  I am going to keep sharp watch for these organs, hereafter.  I am led to wonder if one could close them in some way and detect any difference in the moth’s sense of hearing after having done so.

All of us are enthusiasts about these moths with their modest fore-wings and the gaudy brilliance of the wonderful ‘after-wings,’ that are so bright as to give common name to the species.  We are studying them constantly and hope soon to learn all we care to know of any moths, for our experience with them is quite limited when compared with other visitors from the swamp.  But think of the poetry of adding to the long list of birds, animals and insects that temporarily reside with us, a Sweetheart and a Bride!

CHAPTER X The Giant Gamin:  Telea Polyphemus

Time cannot be used to tell of making the acquaintance of this moth until how well worth knowing it is has been explained.  That it is a big birdlike fellow, with a six inch sweep of wing, is indicated by the fact that it is named in honour of the giant Polyphemus.  Telea means `the end,’ and as scientists fail to explain the appropriateness of this, I am at liberty to indulge a theory of my own.  Nature made this handsome moth last, and as it was the end, surpassed herself as a finishing touch on creatures that are, no doubt, her frailest and most exquisite creation.

Polyphemus is rich in shadings of many subdued colours, that so blend and contrast as to give it no superior in the family of short-lived lovers of moonlight.  Its front wings are a complicated study of many colours, for some of which it would be difficult to find a name.  Really, it is the one moth that must be seen and studied in minutest detail to gain an idea of its beauty.  The nearest I can come to the general groundwork of the wing is a rich brown-yellow.  The costa is grey, this colour spreading in a widening line from the base of the wing to more than a quarter of an inch at the tip, and closely peppered with black.  At the base, the wing is covered with silky yellow-brown hairs.  As if to outline the extent of these, comes a line of pinkish white, and then one of rich golden brown, shading into the prevailing colour.

Close the middle of the length of the wing, and half an inch from the costa, is a transparent spot like isinglass, so clear that fine print can be read through it.  This spot is outlined with a canary yellow band, and that with a narrow, but sharp circle of black.  Then comes a cloudlike rift of golden brown, drifting from the costa across the wing, but, growing fainter until it merges with the general colour near the abdomen.  Then half an inch of the yellow-brown colour is peppered with black, similar to the costa; this grows darker