7 S INSECTS. 



rays of sunlight as it plays upon the surface of their wings, that butterflies and 

 moths owe their tender shades, brilliant colours, and metallic lustres. A few 

 butterflies are clear-winged, with scarcely any scales, such as the Ithomia of 

 Brazil, while the Sesiidce represent the clear-wings amongst the moths. Some 

 orders of insects, such as the Hymenoptera, have four membranous wings like the 

 Lepidoptera, but these are transparent and not clothed with scales. Others, such 

 as the beetles, have the upper pair horny and useless for purposes of flight, the 

 second pair being membranous but not scaly. The mandibles, or jaws, found in 

 most other four-winged insects except the Hemiptera or bugs, are replaced in the 

 Lepidoptera by a long tubular proboscis or suctorial apparatus, used for exhausting 

 the contents of honey-bearing flowers, or drawing in nutriment from less taste- 

 ful sources. In common with all other insects, the Lepidoptera have the body 

 divided into three separate sections. The hea^l, bearing the eyes, proboscis, and 

 antennaa ; the thorax, whence originate the legs below and the wings above ; and 

 lastly the abdomen, bearing along the sides the spiracles for breathing, and the 

 generative organs at the apex. The abdomen is never attached by a narrow stalk 

 or pedicle as in the Hymenoptera. So close may their general resemblance be 

 to other insects, that, as is the case with the hornet clear- wing moth, none but a 

 naturalist could distinguish it from the common hornet. A general resemblance of 

 body -plan may coexist in individuals of two widely separate orders, together with 

 a habit of life and temperament, and likewise essential characters, wholly distinct 

 and different. 



The Lepidoptera also resemble the insects of most other orders in 

 passing through several sharply defined phases before the last and 

 perfect stage is attained. All first appear in the form of an egg laid by the mother 

 on some food-plant or tree. On hatching, the eggs give rise to a free- 

 walking, feeding, sleeping, and breathing larva or caterpillar ; thence, after suc- 

 cessive changes of the skin, this passes into the quiescent, trance-like state, called the 

 pupa or chrysalis stage ; from this it at last emerges, at a suitable season of the year, 

 as the fully formed butterfly or moth. At the commencement of life the butterfly 

 or moth is a thing of beauty even in the egg state. Butterflies' eggs, though falling 

 into distinct groups of resemblance, on which even systems of classification have 

 been based, are as various as they are beautiful. Globular, oval, flat, barrel-shaped, 

 bottle-shaped, green, white, or brown, the egg is usually of a hue which renders it 

 not easily visible on the leaf where it has been deposited. After a time the shell 

 bursts, the tiny larva creeps forth, and commences feeding either on the egg-shell 

 or on the food lying in abundance near at hand. The larvaa are long, cylindrical, 

 creeping, worm-like objects, with short legs, and a more or less hairy or quite 

 naked body. The greater number feed upon the leaves of trees, shrubs, plants, and 

 grasses ; while many are internal feeders, burrowing deep into the decaying hearts 

 of various trees. Others mine in the pith of thistles ; while many more burrow 

 at the roots of grass, or devour turnip-roots, to the detriment of the crops. The 

 larvae of the mining moths (Tinece) make sinuous channels between the upper and 

 lower skin of various leaves. These in the perfect form are amongst the smallest 

 and most lovely of all the Lepidoptera. Others, again, feed on clothing and other 

 woollen stuffs, gnawing ragged holes, and when the imago or perfect insect appears 



