142 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



perfect insect developed, but both the digestive and nervous 

 systems undergo profound modification. Finally, these wonderful 

 changes completed, the skin of the pupa cracks, and the perfect 

 winged insect emerges. At first it is limp and weak, its abdomen 

 is thick, and its wings are damp and in a rudimentary condition ; 

 but the insect crawls to a position near its old pupa-skin, where 

 it can allow its wings to hang down, when they very rapidly expand 

 to their full size and beauty. Here the insect rests for a short time, 

 to allow its body, legs, and wings to dry and harden, and then 

 flies away to enjoy its comparatively short life ; for while the 

 larval stage, as in the Goat Moth, for example, may last for two 

 years, the perfect-winged state only lasts for a few weeks at the 

 most, except in the case of those insects which, emerging from 

 the pupa stage in late autumn, spend the winter in hibernation, 

 awakening with the return of spring to mate and spend a few 

 hours of happy flight in the first warm sunshine of the year. 



In the perfect state a butterfly or moth has four wings, more 

 or less thickly covered with scales, but in some groups of moths 

 the females have only rudimentary wings, and are quite incapable 

 of flight. The antennae, which are such conspicuous appendages 

 of the head, appear to be organs of touch, hearing, and smell. 

 They are composed of a great number of joints, and in the butter- 

 fly they are long and straight, and are thickened into a club at 

 the extremity. In the moths the antennae are sometimes thread- 

 like, or they may be dentated, serrated, comb-like, or plume-like. 

 The sexes often differ in the development of the antennae, and in 

 this case those of the male are always more highly developed 

 than those of the female. The proboscis or tongue forms a coiled 

 spiral tube when not in use, but can be stretched out and thrust 

 into the corolla of a flower when the insect is seeking a sip of 

 nectar. It is made of two separate pieces throughout its entire 

 length, so that it can be separated and cleaned if necessary. 



Butterflies and moths have a world- wide distribution, and are 

 exceedingly numerous in species. They are most numerous in 

 the warmer parts of the world, in those regions where the vege- 

 tation is most varied and luxuriant. In tropical America butter- 

 flies abound, more than half of all the species known inhabiting 

 this part of the world ; over two thousand different kinds have 

 been collected from the Amazon region alone. It was in this 



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