MOTHS AND BTTERFLIES. 191 



The four wings of Moths and Butterflies differ from 

 those of other insects, by being covered with a kind of 

 dust, which produces the handsome colors, and which, 

 when touched, sticks to the fingers. Under the mi- 

 croscope, it is seen that this dust has regular forms, 

 and consists "of horny scales, fastened in the wings. 

 From this circumstance, the order of entomology com- 

 prising Moths and Butterflies, is called Lepidoptera, 

 which signifies, in English, scale-winged. 



The head of these insects is provided with two large 

 globular eyes, covered with a horny skin, which under 

 the magnifying glass, looks like a network, consisting 

 of a number of elevated points or convexities, of which 

 each one may, perhaps, be considered a single eye. 

 This horny skin is transparent, and when taken off and 

 looked through, for instance, at one man, there are 

 presented to us a whole army of Lilliputians. But in 

 spite of this multifarious vision, the insect probably 

 sees only that object which is in the direct angle of 

 vision, or which is in a straight line with its point of 

 sight. 



On the upper part of the head, between the eyes, 

 are seen two thread-like filaments, called " feelers," an- 

 tenna?, as in the Saturnialo, Plate VI., figs. 28 and 29, 

 and in the listerias, Plate VI., fig. 31. The use of these 

 organs has not yet been exactly ascertained. Some 

 Naturalists think that these feelers serve to protect 



