Great Emperor Moth

The Great Emperor Moth Story is about Alfred Russel Wallace, a scientist who studied evolution and had a 30 yr friendship with Darwin.

Wallace came across the cocoon of a great emperor moth in his travels through the forest. Not wanting to miss the inevitable emergence of the moth, he decided to monitor the cocoon daily. Day after day he would go back to check on the cocoon and, after waiting what seemed an eternity, the moth finally began to emerge from a small opening it made in the cocoon.

Progress was slow, as the moth struggled greatly to emerge from the far too small hole. After some time, its legs poked through the outer coverings, but then the moth seemed to give up on its efforts. Hours passed, and Wallace saw no progress. Worried and thinking the moth had given up, Wallace decided to help the moth out, in its endeavor. Grabbing his knife, he carefully cut the side of the cocoon, allowing the moth to emerge effortlessly. Yet the moth, rather than beautifully fly out of the cocoon, fell to the ground: its wings not developed and body engorged with fluid. Not being able to fly, the moth wallowed on the ground for a few days before it died.

What Wallace failed to realize is that the struggle that the moth goes through when emerging from its cocoon is vital to the development of the moth. By squeezing through the small opening of the cocoon, the moth forces fluid from its body into its wings, allowing the wings to develop into large, functional adult moth wings. Having been denied the struggle the moth was denied its chance to develop properly: a denial that unfortunately came at the expense of its life.