Scent Glands in Lcpidopttva. 315 



Moths these scent glands arc developed upon the hind legs, 

 though more generally they are placed upon the wings, and 

 sometimes covered with brightly-coloured tufts or little pa-ches 

 of hair, while the odour exhaled by the Convolvulus Hawk 

 Moth, Sphinx convolvuli, is of a pleasantly fragrant musky 

 character. 



Although in butterflies it is usually the male which supplies 

 the attractive force, it is otherwise in those species or genera 

 of moths in which the females are apterous or large-bodied 

 and lethargic. In such cases it is the females which secrete 

 and exhale the alluring emanations which so powerfully 

 attract the males, as is established by the well-known method 

 of obtaining male specimens of the Emperor Moth, the 

 Vapourers, etc., by exposing a virgin female in the known 

 haunts of the particular species. The stimulating emanations 

 are probably perceived by the males through the medium of 

 their beautifully plumose antennae, which are so characteristic 

 a feature in the males of those forms in which the function of 

 attraction is transferred to the female. 



In addition to these pleasing perfumes, secreted and 

 diffused for the purpose of attracting and stimulating the 

 opposite sex to conjugal union, there are in many butterflies 

 and moths, others of a repellant and defensive character, 

 which emanate from certain minute glands upon the body, 

 whose function is to secrete a somewhat oleaginous substance 

 and shed, when necessary, its repulsive and nauseous effluvia, 

 which recall various disagreeable substances, such as acetylene, 

 stale tobacco smoke, decaying animal refuse and other dis- 

 tasteful and offensive substances, and therefore constituting 

 a protective device against lizards, birds and other enemies. 



These glands are in many cases practically restricted to 

 the female sex, but where present in both sexes, the secretions 

 are stated to be invariably much more pungent and penetrative 

 in the females, and this is believed to be due to the greater 

 importance of the female to the welfare and continuance of 

 the race. — North Grange, Horsforth, Leeds, Sept. 9th, 1918. 



[Apart from the scents alluded to by Mr. Taylor, it is 

 probable that in most lepidoptera the scent is far too subtle 

 to be appreciated by man at all, but is evident enough to the 

 insects. Nor does it follow that because a scent is obnoxious 

 to human beings it is so to moths ; often, likely enough, quite 

 the reverse is the case. As an instance, we know that the 

 Purple Emperor Butterfly {Af)afitra iris) feeds with avidity 

 on carrion and other putrid substances, and such substances 

 are sometimes used as a lure to tempt the butterfly down from 

 the high oaks, that it may be the more easy of capture. — 

 G.T.P.l. 



1918 Oct. 1. 



