OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 77 



The Lepidoptera cannot be so readily classified by the beginner as 

 the bees and beetles, although the primary groups are not difficult to 

 distinguish. The first division is into two sections or sub-orders: 

 I. Butterflies (Bfiopalocera — club-horns). 



II. Moths ( Heterocera — variable horns). 



A glance at the antennse serves to show us to which of these 

 groups an insect belongs. In the butterflies these organs are stiff, 

 thread-like, and either abruptly or gradually enlarged at the tip, so that 

 they always terminate in a knoh or club. The antenn.ne of moths, on the 

 other hand, no matter what their general form may be, whether 

 feathered or filiform, or 8pindle-sha))ed, invariably end in a point. Be- 

 sides the antennfe there are many other characters which separate the 

 insects composing- these two divisions. In the butterflies the body is 

 usually small and slender in proportion to the size of the wings, while 

 in many moths it is stout and clumsy; the fore and hind wings of but- 

 terflies are not attached during flight, while those of moths are held 

 together near the base by a bristle termed a frenulum on the second- 

 aries, which fits into a loop or socket on the inner margin of the pri- 

 maries. The butterflies are diurnal insects, while most of the moths 

 fly at night or during the morning and evening twilight. When at rest 

 butterflies hold the wings, at least one pair of them, erect, with the 

 under surfaces exposed ; the moths on the contrary close the wings 

 either flat or roof-like over the body, with the upper pair entirely con- 

 cealing the under pair, except in one family, where both are spread 

 out. 



While an entomologist rarely mistakes a butterfly larva for that of 

 a moth, or vice ver6a, it is somewhat difficult to give a list of the char- 

 acters by which they can be distinguished. The chrysalides of butter- 

 flies are usually unprotected by any sort of cover or cocoon, and are 

 very angular and irregular in outline, or are brightly colored, while 

 those of moths are protected in cocoons of silk, or in rolled leaves, or 

 hidden in the earth, and are mostly smooth and oval or oblong in out- 

 line, and in no instance display brilliant or metallic colors. 



It must be borne in mind that in entomology the term "moth" is 

 not restricted to the few small insects that breed in furs, woolens and 

 similar substances, but is used to designate the greater proportion of 

 the scale-winged insects, without regard to size or habit. The gigantic 

 Cecropia, whose wings expand about six inches, and whose body is as 

 thick as one's finger, is as much a " moth " as is the tiny creature that 

 sometimes flutters out of closets or up from the borders of carpets, to 

 the disturbance of the thrifty housekeeper. 



