LEPIDOPTERA. 259 



III. MOTHS. (^Phalanee.)* 



The third great section of the Lepidoptera, which Linnaeua 

 named Phalcena, includes a vast number of insects, sometimes 

 called millers, or night-butterflies, but more frequently moths. 

 The latter term, thus applied, comprehends not only those do- 

 mestic moths, which, in the young or caterpillar state, devour 

 cloth, but all the other insects, belonging to the order Lepi- 

 doptera, which cannot be arranged among the butterflies and 

 hawk-moths. 



These insects vary greatly in size, color, and structure. 

 Some of them, particularly those with gilded wings, are very 

 minute ; while the Atlas-moth of China {Attacus Atlas), when 

 its wings are expanded, covers a space measuring nearly nine 

 inches by five and a half; and the owl-moth {Erebus Strix) 

 has wings, which, though not so broad, expand eleven inches. 

 Some female moths are destitute of wings, or have but very 

 small ones, wholly unfitted for flight; and there are species 

 whose wings are longitudinally cleft into several narrow rays, 

 resembling feathers. The stalk of the antennae of moths gen- 

 erally tapers from the base to the end. These parts some- 

 times resemble simple or naked bristles, and sometimes they 

 are plumed on each side of the stalk, like feathers. There is 

 often a good deal of difference in the antennsB, according to 

 the sex ; feathered or pectinated antennoe being generally nar- 

 rower in the females than in the males ; and there are some 

 moths the males of which have feathered antennae, while those 

 of the other sex are not feathered at all, or 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 entirely 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 



* See page 229. 



