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 SphingidcB, 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 

 maxillae 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 Sphingidce and 

 some subfamilies of the Noctiiidce. In 

 other cases, as in the family of the Satur- 



niidce and Bombvcidce, 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, c, antenna; e, 

 eye; oc, ocellus; m.p., 

 maxillary palpus ;l.p., 

 labial palpus; ^pro- 

 boscis. 



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