Popular Mctumarg ol &mmat?tt Mature. 431 



the form of this genus, some of which we 

 have seen alive in the gardens of the Zoo- 

 logical Society. They are very delicate ani- 

 mals. [See MUSK.] 



MOSQUITO. (Cutex.) A gnat-like in- 

 sect common in America and the West 

 India islands, whose stinging qualities are 

 most annoying. These insects, of which 

 there are many species, are furnished with a 

 proboscis for piercing the flesh, and at the 

 same time forming a kind of siphon through 

 which the blood flows; but that which renders 

 the Mosquito so dangerous as well as trouble- 

 some is, that the proboscis not only makes 

 a wound, but injects into it a poison which 

 causes inflammation. Mr. Edwards, in his 

 ' Voyage up the Amazon,' has the follow- 

 ing notice of these troublesome pests : " Soon 



MOSQUITO.) 



after dark we crossed the mouth of the Xingu 

 (Shingu), much to the displeasure of the 

 Indians, who wished to stop upon the lower 

 side. And they were very right ; for scarcely 

 had we crossed, when we were beset by such 

 swarms of carapanas, or mosquitoes, as put 

 all sleep at defiance. Nets were of no avail, 

 even if the oppressive heat would have al- 

 lowed them, for those which could not creep 

 through the meshes would in some other 

 way find entrance, in spite of every precau- 

 tion. Thick breeches they laughed at, and 

 the cabin seemed the interior of a bee-hive. 

 This would not do ; so we tried the deck ; 

 but fresh swarms continually poured over 

 us, and all night long we were foaming with 

 vexation and rage." 



MOTACILLA. [See WAGTAIL.] 



MOTH. (Phalcena of Linnaeus.) The 

 name of Moths is given to a numerous and 

 beautiful divison of Lepidopterous insects, 

 readily distinguished from Butterflies by 

 their antennae tapering to a point, instead of 

 being terminated by a knob, and by their 

 being seldom seen on the wing except in the 

 evening or night. It should also be observed 

 that the antennas are often feathery, or comb- 

 shaped ; and that the legs have two spiny 

 processes or thorn-like points at the middle 

 joints of each. 



The diurnal Lepidoptera are all provided 

 with a tongue for gathering their food ; but 

 a great proportion of the Moths are destitute 

 of that organ, whilst in others it is exceed- 

 ingly small : a considerable number of them, 

 therefore, must pass the whole of their 

 winged state without food. The larvae or 

 caterpillars from which the various Moths 

 are produced, exhibit nearly the same va- 

 riety of appearance as the winged insects 

 which spring from them. Some are large, 

 while others are extremely minute ; many 

 are provided with ten, others twelve or 

 fourteen feet, and the largest have sixteen. 

 Some of the caterpillars are smooth, others 

 are covered with hairs ; but all of them, 

 after having several times cast their skin, 

 spin for themselves the materials of a habi- 

 tation, in which they are to be transformed 

 into chrysalids. 



All the nocturnal Lepidoptera were in- 

 cluded in the genus Phalcena by Linnaeus ; 

 but since the time of that great naturalist 

 they have been divided by Cuvier, Latreille, 

 and others, into a number of different groups, 

 the classification of which is too complicated 

 and embarrassing to be thoroughly explained 

 in this work. A few of the species are here 

 appended as examples of the group. We 

 may remark that there are several thousand 

 species of Moths, varying in size from a line 

 in breadth to eleven inches, and even more. 

 The variety of form and colour is endless. We 

 limit ourselves to the notice of two or three 

 species which are notorious for their depre- 

 dations ; readers who wish to see how useful 

 some members of the group are to mankind, 

 must consult the articles SILKWORM MOTH 

 and SATURNIA, though there is not a Moth 

 that is not more or less useful in many ways, 

 to Birds and Bats, if not to us. Referring to 

 the article SPHINGID^E for an account of the 

 HAWK-MOTHS, and to the article HEPIALUS 

 for a short description of another important 

 subdivision ; to the word Cossus for the 

 GOAT-MOTH ; and to other words scattered 

 over the work, we begin with noticing the 

 BOMBYCID.E, which contains the largest 

 of all the Moths yet known, the Saturnia 

 Atlas, the extent of whose wings mea- 

 sures between eight and nine inches. The 

 ground colour is a fine deep orange-brown, 

 and in the middle of each wing is a large 

 sub-triangular transparent spot ; each of 

 these transparent parts is succeeded by a 

 black border ; and across all the wings run 

 lighter and darker bars, exhibiting a very 

 fine assortment of varying shades : the 

 upper win^s are slightly curved down- 

 wards at tlw.ii- tips, and the lower wings are 

 edged with a border of black spots on a 



