The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-21
MOTHS OF HIGH DEGREE.
Some Butterays That Are Worth a
Small Fortune.
From the Brooklyn Eagle.

rom the brooklyn Eagle.
private view OF the great Ncumoegen
butterfly and moth collection, which It
is hoped to purchase for the new Brook
Ign museum, was given in the Art Buld-
ing last evening. Assembled were the
leading entomologists OF the city. friends
Of the museum and the Brooklyn Insti-
tute, and some women. Mr.. Neumoegen's
fifty thousand specimens were arranged
in glass cases on the walls of the art
gallery. beginning at the left hand corner
and extending clear way around. Jacob
Doll of this city, who has been identified
with the collection for sixteen years both
as curator and collector in Florida, Colo
RADIO, Arizona and other states, was
interested group of listeners.
The Tarest insect in the entire exhibit
tion was modestly dressed little fellow
in case -. To either side We're dozens
of butterflies more brilliantly winged
and gay colored, but entOmologists who
hung about cage 10 gazed affectionateiv
at this one and said IL was worth Sl,O0
for all its everyday, commonplace air.
This was the papilo Neumoegeni, named
atter lts owner ana caught by lucky
chance in the island OF Sumbawa, south
east of Java. No duplicate OF the spe-
cies has ever been found.
"A butterfly worth $1,000" exclaimed a
pretty listener last night to some OF the
scraps Of scientific talk. How in the
world can at be?'
Very easily" answered a young man
standing near. Ordinarily butterfly TQT-
tiles are quite often sold at the auction
sales IN London for 800 apiece. Now,
If that papilio Neumoegeni were placed
ia the hands of a dealer tomorrow he
would write to the Baron de RothschilG;
he would write to the family of the
Prince Of Wales; he would write to q
certain millionaire in France, ana ne
would write to a certain Russian grand
duke related to the present car. When
these persons began bidding on such "a
s,rta tratr aara atFff xrhn at rYfn 10
would fetch. The value of that rarity
may be judged from the fact mat the
Russian grand duke above referred TO
sent three expeditions TO Sumbawa 10
capture II possible a second one like thar
caught by Mr.. Neumoegens collector. lie
failed utterly"
What are those white creatures VITA
occasional spots of black and red?''
Snow butterflies
Are butterflies found in the SNOWY
Yes, as far north as the explorer has
ventured and at attitudes where neither
man or animals could support life.
Wherever a blade Of grass grows, even
though 1t sticks It's blade between the
intersticcs of ice-coVered ricks you Will
find butterflies They have ben caught
25.OO0 feet above sea level in the Hima-
layas."
What do you mean by butterflies MIN
licking each other2"
Il viii give you an Illustration. Here
is the papilio mencius, a day butterfly
caught IN China. Its wings resemble a
large cross, whsle the color Is very DARK.
Now look at this specimen. II is a
moth, remember, not butterfly. Yet
il is so similar to the other than you
might easily not detect the difference.
II is called the epidopaie mennius and
belongs to the Goemetrae. Now how
has II happened that one insect of entire
ly different structure, family, etc, should
come TO be almost Identical In appear
ance with another? Nature repeating
itself? No, it is not that. It is what
Mr.. Darwin calls mimicry. Two separa e
species Of insects, let us say, range the
forest one is eaten by birds; the other
is not. 1t results that only those indi-
Vduals of the species eaten by the birds,
which approximate in color and marx
ings the other unframed species. sur
vive Consequently the law OF the fit
test works to make one species mimic
the other, till at last the birds canno;
found in this very collection Darwin
based his theory of evolutionary mimcry. .
The largest specimen in the collection
rs the gigantic moth, crebus styX, of the
noctuaidae, which measures eleven or
twelve inches from wing-tip to wlng-tip.
The erebus styx lnhabits the Isthmus or
Panama, and, as its name implies, is a
night moth. Its relative, erebus odoro,
is also indigenous to Panama, but,
strange to say, has not also been occasion
ally discovered in this state, ranging as
far north as the Adirondacks This forms
great puzzle to entomologists who feel
constrained to believe that specimens are
now and again brought up here in the
shipments of bananas. In fact there
seems TO be no other explanation which
viii hold water.
In case 263 is the tiniest creature in
the collection. This is the sesia corsica
about three-eighths of an inch across.
one OF the very rare moths is the eudo-
monia brachyura. from Sierra Leone,
Africa. grand type specimen of the
same genus the eudaemonia Jehovah
may be seen in the Meyers collection,
stored in the Bedford Park museum.
Some interesting figures relative to the
cost of a large collection like Mr.. Neu-
moegen's We're given by one Of the ento-
mologists last evening. There are from
5000 to $1,000 insects. Between 500 and
800 of these are type specimens, l. e.
first captured representatives of new
species type is worth s. anywhere.
With The extraordinary values of some
of the rarities from 5000 to $4,000 are
invested in types alone. The mechanical
element must not be forgotten. The in
sects are stored in 400 cases. which, at
s. per case, would mean 5000. The cost
of mounting each specimen is approx
mately cents This is another big item
All in all. there is no exaggeration in
putting the value of the collection at from
$4,000 to $4,000