THE BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



61 



Skippers. The skippers (Epargy'reus tit'yrus, Fig. 41) are, 

 like the butterflies, diurnal insects and are found in fields 

 and along woodsides, where they dart about in a most er- 

 ratic manner. They are closely allied to the butterflies. The 

 butterflies (Fig. 40, and illustration facing page 58) have club- 



SaM« ] ''~ 



tennae, while 

 in the skip- 

 pers the an- 

 tennae, though enlarged at the end, 

 are generally recurved, forming a 

 hook. The skippers have stouter 

 bodies than the butterflies, and 

 most of them hold the wings up- 

 right after the fashion of the but- 

 terflies ; but some hold only the 

 anterior wings in this position. 

 The larvae (Fig. 41) usually live in 

 a folded leaf, or in a nest of leaves, 

 and pass the pupal stage in a thin 

 cocoon of silk spun by the cater- 

 pillars before changing. In this 

 latter respect, too, the skippers differ from the butterflies, 

 since the latter (as shown in Figs. 38, 39) have a naked 

 pupal stage. 



Commercial Silkworm Moths. Allied to both butterflies 

 and skippers is the great group of moths, — stout-bodied 

 insects, the antennae of which are usually feather-like or 

 thread-like (Figs. 42, 43). Moths have the habit of holding 

 the wings horizontally when at rest. They are nocturnal or 



Fig. 41. Metamorphosis of 

 skipper. (Natural size) 



