280 



MOTHS AS FEEDERS. 



With regard to one habit, that of feeding, our faineant 

 flutterers widely differ. We have given a notion of the 

 luxurious labours, in this way, of the honey-sipping " hawks " 

 and sphinxes : and we have seen a T moth suck sugar for two 

 hours on a stretch, dissolving it from the lump by a liquid let 

 down through the tubular pipe wherewith he drew it up in 

 syrup. Reaumur speaks of others which regaled on sweets 

 from off his finger, " comme aurait pufaire un oiseau prive." 



To many, on the contrary, of the moth fraternity, eating 

 would seem a thing not only undesired, but absolutely for- 

 bidden, by the absence of any perceptible organ wherewith to 

 eat. It is thus, amongst others, with the " Great Goat," the 

 "Emperor," and the moth of the silk-worm, which latter, 

 besides having no tongue to use, seldom takes the trouble to 

 employ his wings. 



Thus is the most noted and useful of all " Moth Opera- 

 tives," of all " Moth Idlers," one of the most pre-eminently 

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