n4o 



AA' ECONOiMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE LEPIDOPTERA. 



Butterflies and Moths. 



Under the term Lepidoptera are included those insects popu- 

 larly known as butterflies and moths, in which the wings and 

 body are more or less clothed with scales. These scales often 

 differ greatly in form and size even in the same insect, and yet 

 more in different groups, so that a certain family or series may 

 show types peculiar to it alone. Oddly enough, there is some- 



FiG. 248. 



Fig. 249. 



Scales on wing of butterfly. 



Head of a moth. — The 

 tongue uncoiled at a ; seen 

 from side, partly coiled, at 

 b ; the appearance of tongue 

 under a lens at c. 



times a difference even in the sexes, certain kinds of highly 

 developed scales occurring on the wings of the male only, 

 usually confined to limited areas and sometimes concealed by 

 folds. 



In this order the adult insects are harmless throughout, capable 

 of feeding only upon liquid food by means of a tongue which 

 is usually coiled like a watch-spring on the under side of the 

 head between the pal])i. In some instances it is wanting, and 

 on the other hand sometimes becomes enormously developed, 

 reaching a length in some species of from five to nearly seven 



