374 



Erratfurj? of Datura! ^t' 



other species of fish would be swept away by 

 the current of the water. They have large 

 pectorals reaching to the under side of the 

 body ; head broad and depressed ; snout 

 curved and protractile ; body without scales; 

 gills with little opening, and four or five rays : 

 they have no air-bladder, but they swim 

 briskly In the Rev. David L/andsborough's 

 'Excursions to Arran,' the little two-spotted 

 sucker-fish, (Lepadogaster bimaculatus), 

 whose fry he found on opening a scallop, 

 furnishes him with a subject which he treats 

 in a very pleasant and edifying manner : 

 " How wonderfully the l/ord teaches the 

 feeblest of his creatures to provide for their 

 own safety and that of their offspring I 

 What a charming nursery this little sucker- 

 fish selects for itself ! It is rather nice in its 

 choice. It is not an old, weather-beaten, 

 scallop that it takes possession of, but one 

 that is fresh without, and smooth and pure 

 within. After it has entered, it certainly 

 has some way of gluingthe valves together, 

 for it is not without difficulty that they can 

 be torn asunder. Neither is it imprisoned, 

 though the apartment is thus shut against 

 intruders ; for, closely as the valves cohere, 

 there are some little apertures about the ears 

 of the shell through which it can make its 

 exit with its numerous family, or by which 

 such little creatures as they feed on may, in 

 their simplicity, enter." 



LEP AS. A genus of Cirrhipedous animals, 

 of which the Barnacle (Lepas anatifera) is a 

 specimen. They adhere in clusters to rocks, 

 shells, floating wood, and other extraneous 

 marine substances, and, being incapable of 

 changing place, are supposed to be true 

 hermaphrodites. The word Lepas, in the 

 Linnaoan system, contains all the Cirrhipeds, 

 or Multivalves. It was formerly applied to 

 Limpets or Patella : in short, the ancient 

 definition, " Concha petrae adhserens," 

 would apply to any shells attached to rocks. 

 Much may be expected from the researches 

 of Mr. Charles Darwin, F. R. S., into their 

 history. He has just published, in one of 

 the Ray Society's volumes, a minute ana- 

 tomical and zoological investigation of all 

 the species of Cirrhipeds. [See BALANCS.] 



LEPIDOPTERA. An order of four- 

 winged insects, containing some of the largest 

 and most beautiful in nature, and compre 

 hending all those usually ranked as Butter- 

 flies, Moths, and Sphinxes. The wings, 

 which vary in size, figure, and position, are 

 covered with a multitude of minute scales, 

 which when rubbed appear like powder or 

 farinaceous dust ; the nervures of the wings 

 being disposed chiefly in a longitudinal 

 direction. The antennae are composed of 

 numerous minute joints, and are generally 

 distinct. They are also furnished with a 

 proboscis, composed of two sub-cylindrical 

 tubes, between which there is an interme- 

 diate one, or sucker ; and by means of it 

 they are enabled to extract the nectar from 

 flowers, that being the only aliment on 

 which they subsist. The head, thorax, and 

 abdomen are always more or less covered 

 with hair. 



In the Linnaean system, this order is com- 

 posed of three genera : 1. Papilla (Butter- 

 flies) ; which in the Cuvierian system is 

 represented by the_ Diurna: 2. Sphinx (the 

 Hawk Moths) ; viz. the Crepuscularia of 

 Cuvier, which mostly fly in the morning or 

 evening twilight : 3. Phalcena (or Moths) ; 

 called by Cuvier the Nocturna, or those 

 which in general fly only during the night. 

 Some of these are domestic pests, and devour 

 cloth, wool, furs, feathers, wax, lard, flour, 

 and the like ; but by far the greatest num- 

 ber live wholly on vegetable food, certain 

 kinds being exclusively leaf-eaters, while 

 others attack the buds, fruits, seeds, bark, 

 pith, stems, and roots of plants. The larvaa 

 of L/epidopterous insects are well known by 

 the name of Caterpillars. [See BUTTERFLY 

 and CATERPILLAR.] 



So great is the number of insects belonging 

 to this order, that Dr. Burmeister supposes 

 them to amount to nearly one sixth of the 

 whole of the insect tribes. The imago state 

 is characterized by several peculiarities not 

 occurring in any of the other orders. " The 

 body is compact, and densely clothed with 

 hairs or scales : the head is free, not being 

 received into a frontal prothoracic cavity, 

 but attached by a narrow ligament ; it is 

 furnished at the sides with a pair of large 

 granulated eyes, and its hinder part often 

 with a pair of ocelli, which are generally 

 hidden by the thick covering of hairs or 

 scales : the antennae are inserted on the 

 upper part of the head, and are generally 

 long and multiarticulate, very variable in 

 form, and often very complicated in the 

 males ; the mouth, at first sight, appears to 

 consist of a long and delicate spirally con- 

 voluted organ, which, when examined, is 

 found to consist of two pieces, each of which 

 is sometimes provided with a small jointed 

 appendage or palpus at its base. This very 

 slender proboscis (or antlia as it is called by 

 Kirby and Spence) is employed to pump up 

 the nectar of flowers, upon which alone it 

 subsists, into the mouth and stomach of the 

 insect, and which, from its peculiar con- 

 struction, is admirably adapted for pene- 

 trating to the depths of the narrowest blos- 

 soms. When at rest, it is coiled up, and 

 defended by two large and compressed palpi, 

 composed of three joints inserted upon a 

 fleshy piece, soldered to the front of the 

 head." * * * * " The thorax is robust and 

 compact, the prothoracic portion minute, 

 owing to the fore-legs performing no supple- 

 mental functions, whilst the mesothorax, to 

 which is attached the anterior pair of large 

 wings, is greatly enlarged, the metathorax 

 being again reduced in size. The prothorax 

 bears upon its upper side a pair of organs, 

 especially characteristic of the order, name- 

 ly, a pair of scales covered with hair quite 

 distinct from the wing-covers (tegulae), which 

 Kirby and Spence call patagia or tippets, 

 but which have been overlooked by all other 

 authors except Chabrier, who first discovered 

 them." * * * * "The wings are attached 

 to the lateral and superior parts of the meso- 

 and meta-thorax, and are always present, 

 except in a few species, of which the females 

 alone are apterous, or have the wings reduced 



