HEXAPODA : LEPIDOPTERA OK BUTTERFLIES, ETC. 307 



lepis, a scale, and pteron, a wing. The Lepidoptera have 

 a tongue consisting of two grooved- threads placed side 

 by side, so that the grooved sides come together and 

 form a channel by their junction, and thus the tongue is 

 adapted for sucking purposes; and accordingly these 

 insects drink the dew and feed upon the honey of flowers. 

 When not in use, this tongue is rolled up like a watch- 

 spring beneath the head, and more or less concealed on 

 each side by an organ called a palpus. The legs of the 

 Lepidopters are- six in number, but the forward pair is 

 short, and sometimes rudimentary, or wanting. In the 

 larva state these insects are called caterpillars, and they 

 have from ten to sixteen legs. Most kinds of caterpillars 

 feed upon plants. Some kinds eat the leaves, others the 

 blossoms, others the seeds, others the stems, and others 

 the roots. Some kinds of caterpillars, however, eat fab- 

 rics, furs, feathers, leather, meat, lard, and even wax. In 

 coming to their full growth as larvae they usually change 

 their skin four times. 



The Lepidopters include the Butterflies and the Moths. 

 The former are readily distin- FIQ 392 



guished by their knobbed anten- 

 nae (Fig. 395), and by the fact that 

 they hold their wings erect when 

 they alight. The Moths have va- 

 riously formed, but never knobbed, 

 antennae, and their wings are 

 sloping when they alight. All of 

 the Lepidopters pass through a 

 complete transformation in coming 

 to maturity. Many of the caterpil- Mountain Butterfly, 



i /, i -KIT ,1 bas semidea, Edwards. 



Jars of the Moths spin cocoons; 



many, however, do not ; and none of the caterpillars of 



the Butterflies spin cocoons. 



