GENERAL ACCOUNT OF BUTTERFLIES 



all resemblance to the jaws of biting insects. 

 Each maxilla is furnished with a groove, and the 

 two maxillae are so fastened together that the two 

 grooves form a tube through which liquid food is 

 sucked. When not in use, the maxillae are coiled 

 between the palpi. 



The thorax bears the organs of locomotion, 

 the legs and the wings. 



The legs are six in number. Each leg con- 

 sists of a series of segments. The basal segment, 

 that by which the leg is attached to the body, 

 is the coxa ; next is a small segment, the tro- 

 chanter ; then follows the principal segment of 

 the leg, the femur; the next approaches the 

 femur in size, and is the tibia ; the remaining 

 segments constitute the foot or tarsus. The 

 last segment of the tarsus usually bears a pair of 

 claws. 



The wings are four in number and are always 

 present in adult butterflies. In many species of 

 moths the wings are wanting in one sex ; but 

 this is true of no butterfly. 



In the study of the classification of butterflies 

 much use is made of the variations in the struc- 

 ture of the wings. This is also true in the study 

 of any of the groups of winged insects ; but in 

 the Lepidoptera, where the body is covered with 



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