LEPIDOPTERA. 



169 



around a flower, it will very soon settle on or quite close to it. The 

 trunk is then brought forward entirely or almost entirely unrolled ; 

 very soon afterwards it is almost straightened, then directed down- 

 wards, and plunged into the flower. Sometimes the insect draws it 

 out a moment after, curves it, twists it a little, and sometimes even 



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nnz of Lepidoptera. 



curls it partially up. Immediately it straightens it again, to plunge it 

 a second time into the same flower. It repeats the same manoeuvre 

 seven or eight times, and then flies on to another flower. 



This trunk, of which the butterfly makes such good use, is com- 

 posed of two filaments more or less long, horny, concave in their 

 interior surfaces, and fastened together by their edges. When cut 



