70 LEPIDOPTERA. 



this order of insects, probably the most destructive of 

 all, has numerous parasitic insect enemies, which lay 

 their eggs in the bodies of the larvse in which they are 

 hatched, and on the juices of which they feed. 



Butterflies and Moths constitute the Order Lepidop- 

 tera. But what is the difference between a butterfly 

 and a moth ? How shall we distinguish them ? We 

 shall see. A butterfly has always a pair of club- 

 shaped antennae ; they are thickest at the tip. A moth 

 has its antenna3 of various forms, bristle-shaped, or plu- 

 mose, very seldom indeed clubbed. This distinction has 

 separated the Order into these two sections, the Bhopa- 

 locera (from rliopalon, " a club," and keras, " a horn,") 

 and the Heterocera (from heteros, "difl"erent," and keras). 

 The former contains the butterflies, the latter the moths. 

 But there are other well-marked distinctions. In 

 Butterflies the wings, when at rest, are carried upright, 

 back to back. In Aloths, as a rule, they are not so car- 

 ried, they are generally laid down flat over the body. 

 There is no rule, perhaps, without exceptions. Thus 

 the currant moth, and a few of its allies, rests with its 

 wings raised like those of a butterfly, but the antennae 

 here declare them to be moths. Again, there are but- 

 terflies, such as some of the family of Hesperidae, which 

 carry their fore-wings upright, and their hind-wings in 

 a horizontal position when at rest. In the hind legs of 

 butterflies there are two pairs of spurs on the tibiae^ 

 excepting in the family of the Ilesperldce — which would 

 almost seem to be a connecting link between butterflies 

 and moths ; the moths possess one pair of spurs only. 

 All butterflies fly by day only, moths by night and day. 

 The British species of the Butterfly section number 



