8 BUTTERFLIES OF MAINE. 
tube through which they draw up the nectar from the flowers, 
and which they coil up like a watch spring when not in use. 
The head, as well as the palpi, is densely clothed with hair- 
like scales, and in some species the compound eyes are 
clothed with minute hairs starting out from between the facet, 
in which case they are said to be hairy, otherwise naked. 
The thorax is joined to the head by means of the neck, 
and bears the legs and wings. ‘There are three pairs of legs, 
each of which comprises a basal joint called the coxa, at the 
end of which is a minute piece called the trochanter, followed 
by the longest joint of the leg, which is called the femur, 
followed by the tibia, after which comes the tarsus which is 
composed of five joints gradually decreasing in size to the 
last, which usually has a pair of curved claws. The middle 
and hind tibize usually have a pair of scaly spurs at the end, 
and sometimes are more or less armed with spines ; and the hind 
tibiz sometimes have a second pair of spurs near the middle. 
The fore tibise, in some species, have an appendage on the 
inside called the tibial epiphysis. 
The fore legs of some of the butterflies are so small and 
aborted as to be of no service in walking. The scales aris- 
ing from the upper side of the first segment of the thorax 
form the collar, and there are small scaly pieces over the 
bases of the fore wings called the shoulder lappets or 
pterygodes. 
The wings, of which there are two pairs, are composed of 
membranes supported by a frame work of round, tapering, 
branching, tubular rods which are between the membranes. 
‘These membranes are quite concealed beneath the covering 
of minute variously colored scales which overlap one another, 
like shingles on the roof of a house. This. covering has 
gained for these insects the scientific name of Lepidoptera, 
derived from two Greek words which signify scaly-wings. 
The arrangement of these supporting rods, veins or 
nervures, as they are sometimes called, is of value in the 
classification of the insects. The part of the wings attached 
to the body is called the base; the edge in front, when they 
