CHAPTER IX 



BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



THE order Lepidoptera 1 includes the Butterflies and Moths, 

 insects to which a great deal of attention has been given, not only 

 on account of their beauty of form and coloration, but also for 

 their economic importance, for while some are of considerable 

 value to man, others during the larval stage of their life cause 

 fearful havoc to his crops, so that it is not surprising to find that 

 at least fifty thousand species have already been described. They 

 pass through a complete metamorphosis egg, larva (or cater- 

 pillar), pupa (or chrysalis), and perfect insect and are easily 

 distinguished from all other insects in the adult stage by their 

 four wings covered with scales, which are arranged like the tiles 

 on a roof (see illustration facing p. 139), and vary in shape and 

 in colour. 



The larva or caterpillar is generally cylindrical in shape, and 

 consists of thirteen divisions, the first of which is the head, the 

 next three are the thoracic segments, each bearing on the under 

 surface a pair of true legs, and the rest are the abdominal segments. 

 Besides the six true legs, the larva is furnished with from one to 

 four pairs of fleshy " pro-legs " on segments 7 10, and an addi- 

 tional pair, called " claspers," which terminate the last segment. 

 Each body segment, except the first, third, fourth, and last, is 

 provided with a small opening on each side, above the feet, which 

 is surrounded by a horny margin. These openings, through 

 which the insect breathes, are called spiracles, and they communi- 

 cate within with a series of breathing-tubes or tracheae. Many 

 caterpillars are quite smooth-skinned and naked, or only thinly 

 covered with hair, while others are covered with a close pile, or 

 with thick, long hairs; or they have tufts of hair; while others, 

 again, are furnished with humps, warts, or tubercles, varying in 

 1 Greek, lepis, a scale ; pteron, a wing scale-winged insects. 

 140 



