The Life-History and Anatomy of Moths 



Fig. 7. — Head of a 

 moth viewed from in 

 front, a, antenna; c, 

 clypous ; e, eye ; oc, ocel- 

 lus; p, proboscis. 



as the Sphiiigidcv, it is produced well in advance of the thorax, but 

 even in such cases it is generally more solidly attached to the ante- 

 rior part of the thorax and is less mobile than in the butterflies. 



The suctorial apparatus is formed .in 

 the moths as in the case of the butter- 

 flies by the peculiar modification of the 

 maxilke into semi-cylindrical and inter- 

 locking tubes forming the proboscis. 

 This is enormously produced in some 

 groups, enabling the insect to hover upon 

 the wing over flowers and rob their cups 

 of the honey which they contain. This 

 is especially true of the SpliiiigidcB and 

 some subfamilies of the Nociiddce. In 

 other cases, as in the family of the Satitr- 

 niidce and Bombyc/div, the proboscis is very feebly developed 

 or aborted. In fact, we know that some of these creatures are 

 without mouths and that they do not partake of nourishment in 

 the winged state. They are simply animate, winged reservoirs 

 of reproductive energy, and, when the sexual functions have been 

 completed, they die. 



The eyes of moths are often greatly 

 developed. This is especially true of those 

 species which are crepuscular in their hab- 

 its. The eyes of the heterocera are, as in 

 all other insects, compound. They may be 

 naked, or may be more or less studded with 

 hairs, or lashes, projecting from points lying 

 at the juncture of the various facets making 

 up the organ. This fact has been utilized to 

 some extent in classification, Ocelli, or 

 minute simple eyes, subsidiary to the large 

 compound eyes, occur in some forms, 

 just above the latter, but are generally so 

 concealed by the covering of the head as to be only recognizable 

 by an expert observer. 



The labial palpi of moths, as of butterflies, consist of three 

 joints, but there is far greater diversity in the development of the 

 palpi among the moths than among the butterflies. In some 



Fig. 8.— Head of a 

 moth viewed from the 

 side, a, antenna; e, 

 eye; or, ocellus; m.p., 

 maxillary palpus ;l.p., 

 labial palpus; /'.pro- 

 boscis. 



12 



