CHAPTER IX 

 LEPIDOPTERA 



46. General Characteristics. The order Lepidoplera 

 includes those insects which are commonly known as 

 moths, millers and butterflies. They are recognized by 

 then- four wings, usually rather broad, which are covered 

 with very fine powdery scales. These scales also cover 

 the bodies of the moths and, in part, the butterflies. 

 Moths and butterflies have indirect development, the 

 young forms being known as caterpillars. Caterpillars, 

 like other larvae, are worm-like, but may be distinguished 

 from all other common larvae by the fact that they pos- 

 sess three pairs of true legs on the thoracic segments, and, 

 in addition to these, at least one pan- and usually as 

 many as five pairs of pro-legs. The only other common 

 insects which have pro-legs are the larvae of the sawflies 

 and these always have more than five pairs. (From 

 six to eight pairs. See Sawflies, page 154.) 



46. Moths and Butterflies distinguished. Moths and 

 butterflies are easily distinguished from each other by sev- 

 eral characters. The most constant of these is the form 

 of the antennae. In the butterflies these are always en- 

 larged at the tips or clubbed. In the moths they are 

 never clubbed, although they may have various forms, 

 some being thread-like, and some feathery. 



There are no characters by means of which the larvae 

 of the two groups may readily be separated, but the pupae 

 are quite different. Pupae of moths are generally smooth 



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