164 BRANCH ARTHROPODA 



like, or wrap them about the body, but never hold them in a 

 vertical position. 



The skipper butterflies are diurnal, but, unlike other butter- 

 flies, the antennae are usually recurved, forming hooks. Their 

 bodies are more robust than those of other butterflies. They 

 fold the wings, sometimes only the front ones, vertically when 

 at rest. The skipper caterpillars are distinguished from other 

 caterpillars by the unusually large head and the much constricted 

 neck. Skippers spin thin cocoons of silk in which to pupate. 



Authorities enumerate 650 species of butterflies in the United 

 States east of the Mississippi River. Kellogg gives six families of 

 butterflies and forty-four of moths. Of the thousands of species 

 with their various and interesting habits only a few can be 

 mentioned. These should serve to stimulate the student to 

 observe and study others. Sec " Laboratory and Field Guide " 

 for collecting, breeding, and mounting. 



The carpenter moths (Cijs'sidoe), of which there are twenty species in North 

 America, are, in the larval stage, wood-borers, burrowing about in the heart- 

 wood of shade and fruit trees. Pepper and salt gray moths, indistinctly or, 

 in a few cases, conspicuously marked with black and white, lay their eggs 

 on the bark of trees, where the naked, grub-like larvae burrow into the wood. 

 Here they tunnel through the wood for two to four years, according to the 

 species. In this tunnel the pupal stage is spent. When ready for the adult 

 stage the pupa works its way, by backward projecting saw-like teeth on the 

 abdomen, to the opening of the tunnel, from which the moth emerges. 

 The empty pupa skins may often be found projecting from the deserted 

 burrows. 



The meal moth [Pyr'alis farina'lis), whose larva feeds upon meal, flour, 

 or old clover-hay, is a common species. It is usually found near the larva 

 food, but sometimes sits upon the ceiling with its tail curved over its back. 

 Its expanse of wing is about an inch. The wings are light brown with red- 

 dish reflections and a few wavy transverse lines. The larva makes long 

 tubes of silk in the meal. Perhaps the most formidable mill post is the 

 Mediterranean flour moth {Ephcs'tia kuchniH'la). The cati-rpill.irs spin 

 silken galleries through which they pass, making the flour lumpy and stringy. 



The coccid-eating pyralid {Loelil'ia coccidiv'ora) differs from other 

 members of its family in being predaoeous. It feeds upon the eggs and 

 young of several scale insects. The larva spins a silken tube or bag, in 

 which it lives. 



The codling moth {Cnrpocap'sa pomonel'la) (Fig. 134) is one of the best- 

 known and most cordially hated of moths. It causes an annual loss in the 

 United StaU-s of $10,000,000. The adult is small, with finely mottled, ash- 

 gray or rosy fore wings. Near the square ends of these wings is a large brown- 

 ish spot marked with metallic, bronze bands. The hind wings and abdomen 

 arc a lustrous light yellowish brown. This moth lays its eggs singly in the 

 blossom end of an apple, just when the petals fall. When the larva hatches 



