240 



THE INSECTS 



not so easily found as those of the cecropia. This moth is a near relative 

 of the Chinese sillrworm, and its silk might be used with success were it 

 not for the high rate of labor in this country. The Chinese silkworm is 

 now raised with ease in southern California. China, Japan, Italy, and 

 France, because of cheap labor, are still the most successful silk-raising 

 countries. 



Differences Between Moths and Butterflies 



Butterfly 



Moth 



Antennas threadhke, usually Antennse feathery or threadlike, 



knobbed at tip. 

 Ply in daytime. 

 Wings held vertically when at 



rest. 

 Pupa naked. 



never knobbed. 

 Usually fly at night. 

 Wings held horizontally or folded 



over the body when at rest. 

 Pupa usually covered by a cocoon. 



Moths and butterflies are both characterized by having a sucking 

 proboscis, membranous wings covered with scales, and both undergo a 

 complicated metamorphosis or change of form. By these characters we 

 know them to be members of the order Lepidoptera. 



Diptera. The Typhoid Fly. — This name has been recently given 

 to the common house fly by L. 0. Howard, the Chief of the Bu- 

 reau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture. 



Life history of house files, showing from left to right the eggs, larvae, pupae, and 

 adult files. Photograph, about natural size, by Overton. 



We shall later see with what reason this name is given. The body 

 of the fly, as in other insects, has three divisions. The membran- 

 ous wings appear to be two in number, a second pair being reduced 



