The Life-History and Anatomy of Moths 
as the Sphingidce, it is produced well in advance of the thorax, but 
even in such cases it is generally more solidly attached to the ante¬ 
rior part of the thorax and is less mobile than in the butterflies. 
The suctorial apparatus is formed in 
the moths as in the case of the butter¬ 
flies by the peculiar modification of the 
maxillae into semi-cylindrical and inter¬ 
locking tubes forming the proboscis. 
This is enormously produced in some 
groups, enabling the insect to hover upon 
the wing over flowers and rob their cups 
of the honey which they contain. This 
is especially true of the Sphingidce and 
some subfamilies of the Noctuidce. In 
other cases, as in the family of the Satur- 
niidce and Bombycidce , the proboscis is very feebly developed 
or aborted. In fact, we know that some of these creatures are 
without mouths and that they do not partake of nourishment in 
the winged state. They are simply animate, winged reservoirs 
of reproductive energy, and, when the sexual functions have been 
completed, they die. 
The eyes of moths are often greatly 
developed. This is especially true of those 
species which are crepuscular in their hab¬ 
its. The eyes of the heterocera are, as in 
all other insects, compound. They may be 
naked, or may be more or less studded with 
hairs, or lashes, projecting from points lying 
at the juncture of the various facets making 
up the organ. This fact has been utilized to 
some extent in classification. Ocelli, or 
minute simple eyes, subsidiary to the large 
compound eyes, occur in some forms, 
just above the latter, but are generally so 
concealed by the covering of the head as to be only recognizable 
by an expert observer. 
The labial palpi of moths, as of butterflies, consist of three 
joints, but there is far greater diversity in the development of the 
palpi among the moths than among the butterflies. In some 
Fig. 8.—Head of a 
moth viewed from the 
side, a, antenna; e, 
eye; oc, ocellus; m.p., 
maxillary palpus; l.p., 
labial palpus; ^pro¬ 
boscis. 
Fig. 7.—Head of a 
moth viewed from in 
front, a, antenna; c, 
clypous; e, eye; oc, ocel¬ 
lus; p, proboscis. 
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