BUTTERFLY 



1022 



BUTTERFLY 



Body Structure. The body of a butterfly 

 has three parts head, thorax and abdomen. 

 The conspicuous parts of the head are the 

 antennae, which are not only feelers, but also 

 ears and nose to the butterfly ; the eye-clusters, 



PRINCIPAL, PARTS 



(a) Antennae 



(b) Body 



(c) Wings 



which in some species are made up of as many 

 as 20,000 tiny eyes, or facets; and the long, 

 sucking tube into which the mouth parts have 

 been modified. When not in use this is coiled 

 up like a watchspring. To the thorax are at- 

 tached the six feeble legs and the four wings. 



It is the wings of the butterfly which make 

 it the exquisite, graceful creature that it is. 

 They are large and strong, the front pair usu- 

 ally triangular and the second rounded. Their 

 structure is curious, for they are made up of 

 membranes stretched on a framework of double 

 tubes. The inner tubes are filled with air; the 

 outer ones are veins. Thickly covering the 

 membrane of the wings are tiny scales, ar- 

 ranged in overlapping rows like shingles on a 

 roof. When looked at under a microscope 

 they are found to resemble feathers; thus one 

 is made to marvel at the perfection sometimes 

 displayed in insect life. Minute as they are, 

 these scales are of the utmost importance to 

 the butterfly, as any child has discovered who 

 has carelessly grasped a butterfly by the wings. 

 When released the little insect has not only 

 lost much of its beauty, for all the brilliant 

 coloring is in the scales, but it flies very feebly 

 or not at all. No one who wishes to collect 

 butterflies will ever seize them by the wings, 

 for he knows that in so doing he is ruining 

 his "specimens." 



Habits of Life. Butterflies do not, like birds 

 or even some of the lower classes of life, have 

 the "homing" instinct. They make no sort of 

 structure to, live in, and seem to have no 

 choice of a home spot except that the eggs 



must be laid on some substance which will 

 feed the young. Thomas Wentworth Higgin- 

 son, a lover of butterflies, has written of 

 them 



Birds have their nests ; they rear their eager 



young, 



And flit on errands all the livelong day ; 

 Each fleldmouse keeps the homestead whence it 



sprung ; 



But thou art Nature's freeman free to stray 

 Unfettered through the wood, 

 Seeking thine airy food, 

 The sweetness spiced on every blossomed spray. 



Their food is chiefly the nectar of flowers, 

 but they are very dainty eaters, seeming to 

 need almost nothing to keep them alive. 



One drop of honey gives satiety ; 



A second draught would drug thee past all mirth. 



Their life is very short, lasting with most spe- 

 cies but a few days. As soon as the eggs for 

 the next brood are deposited, the insect dies. 



In one point besides their wings butterflies 

 resemble birds in the decided difference in 

 color and even in size between the male and 

 female of the same species. So entirely dif- 

 ferent are they at times that none but a scien- 

 tist could tell that they were not of two spe- 

 cies rather than one. 



There is one curious fact about butterflies 

 which does not seem to accord with their 

 beauty and daintiness. They love an unpleas- 

 ant odor, especially the smell of decaying mat- 

 ter, and nothing will attract them more quickly 

 than a rotten banana or a spoiled fish. In 

 the tropics, where the natives catch the great 





OUTLINE OF WING 



(a) Apex (e) Limbal area 



(b) Base (/) Outer margin 



(c) Costal margin (g) Inner angle 



(d) Discal area (ft) Inner margin 



gorgeous-hued specimens for which collectors 

 are willing to pay high prices, they make use 

 of over-ripe fruit to attract the insects to the 

 spot where they lie in wait. 



Butterflies share with some other insects the 

 remarkable power of mimicry, which provides 

 protective coloring. Many of the common 

 brown and reddish butterflies that float about 

 in the time of falling leaves look enough like 



