4 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



noticed. In the first place the former all fly by day t 

 while most of the latter fly at night. Again, the flight 

 of a butterfly is in a wavy line it flutters, as we say- 

 while most moths fly in a straight line, and often with 

 great speed. All our butterflies (except the Skippers) 

 repose with the wings meeting perpendicularly over 

 the back, so that the upper surface is hidden ; while 

 most moths repose with the wings arranged roof-like 

 over the body, disclosing the upper surface of the fore- 

 wings, the hind - wings being hidden beneath them. 

 Again, while it is the rule with moths to spin a cocoon 

 for the chrysalis-state, true butterflies never do so, 

 though the Skippers (which, however, resemble moths 

 in many respects) pass that state in a more or less 

 transparent net of silk. But the most satisfactory point 

 of distinction between a butterfly and a moth is to be 

 found in the antennae horns, as they are popularly 

 called. The tips of the antennae of a butterfly are club- 

 shaped, giving each antenna somewhat the appearance 

 of a miniature drumstick with a very long handle ; but 

 the antennae of moths, on the other hand, though 

 variously shaped, always come to a point at the end. 

 Moreover a butterfly, when at rest, keeps its antennae 

 erect or stretched out in front of its head, whereas a 

 moth bends them back and places them close along the 

 sides of the thorax. But in connection with the last 

 point it will perhaps turn out when more is known 

 about the matter, that the group of butterflies known as 

 Skippers fold back their antennae in the way just men- 

 tioned. Indeed in The Entomologist, xvii., 49, where the 

 sleeping position of Nisoniades tages (Dingy Skipper) is 

 admirably described and figured, we find that the 

 antennae are represented resting along the thorax in 

 the manner generally adopted by moths, as noted above. 



