238 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



the antennae of moths generally tapers from the base to the end. 

 These parts sometimes resemble simple or naked bristles, and 

 sometimes they are plumed on each side of the stalk, like feath- 

 ers. There is often a good deal of difference in the antenna?, ac- 

 cording to the sex ; feathered or pectinated antennae being gener- 

 ally narrower in the females than in the males ; and there are some 

 moths the males of which have feathered antenna?, while those of 

 the other sex are not feathered at all, or are only furnished with 

 very short projections, like teeth, at the sides. Most moths have 

 a sucking-tube, commonly called the tongue, consisting of two 

 hollow and tapering threads, united side by side, and when not in 

 use rolled up in a spiral form ; but in many, this member is very 

 short, and its two threads are not united ; and in some it is en- 

 tirely wanting, or is reduced to a mere point. Two palpi or 

 feelers are found in most moths. They grow from the lower lip, 

 generally curve upwards, and cover the face on each side of the 

 tongue. Some have, besides these, another pair, which adhere to 

 the roots of the tongue. Many moths are said to have no feel- 

 ers ; these parts being in them very small, and invisible to the 

 naked eye. 



The caterpillars of these insects differ more from each other 

 than the moths. In general they are of a cylindrical shape, and 

 are provided with sixteen legs ; there are many, however, which 

 have only ten, twelve, or fourteen legs ; and in a few the legs are 

 so very short, as hardly to be visible, so that these caterpillars 

 seem to glide along in the manner of slugs. Some caterpillars 

 are naked, and others are clothed with hairs or bristles, and the 

 hairs are either uniformly distributed, or grow in tufts. Some- 

 times the surface of the body is even and smooth ; sometimes it is 

 covered with little warts or tubercles ; or it is beset with prickles 

 and spines, which not unfrequently are compound or branched. 



Many caterpillars, previous to their transformation, enclose 

 themselves in cocoons, composed entirely of silk, or of silk in- 

 terwoven with hairs stripped from their own bodies, or with frag- 

 ments of other substances within their reach. Some go into the 

 ground, where they are transformed without the additional protec- 

 tion of a cocoon; others change to chrysalids in the interior of the 

 stems, roots, leaves, or fruits of plants. The chrysalids of moths 



