146 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



division, which such use implies, is everywhere 

 recognized. Its importance is not pressed in 

 modern systems of classification, and, indeed, 

 in the most recent endeavours to reduce the 

 species to a natural order, the distinction has 

 been disregarded. Still, the separation is 

 convenient for many purposes, and particularly 

 useful to the lover of Nature, who is more 

 apt to concern himself with the beauty and 

 interest of the insects, than to adhere to a 

 strict system of classification. As a general 

 rule, butterflies and moths can be distinguished 

 at a glance. The stouter bodies, and the 

 wings folded like a fan, might serve to 

 mark the moths as a group apart from the 

 slender-bodied butterflies, which fold their 

 wings vertically. Unfortunately many moths 

 (especially the geometers) resemble butterflies 

 in this particular, and we must seek a less 

 ambiguous mark of separation. This is found 

 in the structure of the antennae. Among 

 the moths these assume many forms, but 

 never end in a distinct knob; those of the 

 butterflies are always knobbed. 



It is only necessary, before turning to the 

 consideration of individual species, to repeat 



