WONDERFUL TEETH AND TONGUES 243 



presents the tongue ot butterflies generally, and is 

 the origan which, when nnrolled, seeks and gathers 

 the sweet nectar or hone\- trom the flower-l)l(Xjms 

 ot summer. The small projtxtions obserx'cd at 

 the tip of the proboscis are generally supposed to 

 be organs ot taste, to aid in sampling the various 

 drinks produced so aljundantly 1)v the tlowers or 

 the ri[.)e fruits ot our gardens. The thickness of 

 this sucking-tube may l)e estimated roughly as 

 about the same as a fine horsehair. It consists ot 

 two complex tubes side by side, capable ot being 

 separated and joined again at the insect's pleasure. 

 The tubes are so firml)- and perfecth" united by 

 minute hairs or bristles as 10 make an air-tight 

 surface; the two tubes then acting as one. 



Those of my readers who when "sugaring" tor 

 moths have had their " sugar" visited by the largest 

 Ikitish beetle, known familiarly as the stag-beetle, 

 and have seen, and possibly fe't, its conspicuous 

 mandibles, would probably imagine it to be a most 

 predacious insect. However, its food is simply the 

 juice of plants. Its horny and formidable man- 

 dibles serve only to wound the plant and so produce 

 a flow of juice or sap for it to suck up with its 

 double brush-like tongue, which may be seen in 

 the centre of its mouth organs. Fi-. 163 shows 

 a portion of the moLith organs dissected out with 

 this sap-sweeping tongue in the centre. 



