24 



BULLETIN 67, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



insects is due to the scales that cover the wings and body. These 

 scales are of various shades and structure, and so placed as to over- 

 lap each other. Their colors range from the most brilliant to the 

 most delicate, and often display a glittering iridescence unapproach- 

 able by any human artifice; and the pattern in which the colors are 

 arranged is often of the most attractive and exquisite design, the 

 delight of childhood and the admiration of age. 



ff 7 io u n 



Fig. 47.— A caterpillar: 1, Head; 2, thorax; 3 to 10, segments of body; 11, horn; 12, last 

 segment; 13, true legs; 14, false legs or prolegs; 15, anal claws. 



The mouth-parts of the Lepidoptera are modified to form a long 

 proboscis, haustellum, or sucking tube, which is usually carried rolled 

 up under the head and hidden by scales. In some species, as the 

 hawk moths, this proboscis is very long, so that the moth may hover 

 in front of a flower, insert the tube to the bottom of the flower, and 

 extract the nectar. The young, or caterpillars (fig. 47), are of very 

 diverse appearance, but 

 usually elongate, with a 

 distinct head and three 

 pairs of legs. Behind 

 these true legs are several 

 pairs of fleshy prolegs, 

 which assist in crawling. 

 These are from four to 

 ten in number. These 

 caterpillars are often pro- 

 vided with hairs, bristles, 

 or spinous projections. All (with a very few exceptions) feed on 

 vegetation, usually living plants, and consequently do a great deal 

 of damage. 



The generally accepted division of the Lepidoptera is that of butter- 

 flies (Rhopalocera) and moths (Heterocera). The butterflies as a rule 

 have the antennae clavate or knobbed at tip, hold their wings erect 

 when at rest, fly by day, and they do not spin a cocoon to inclose the 

 pupa, which is placed above ground. Many of the butterflies have 



Fig. 48.— A Sphingid, Ampelophaga myron. 



