MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



by experts. Miiller believes that these are for the per- 

 ception of objects close to a moth while the compound eyes 

 see farther, but he does not prove it. 



If the moth does not feed, the mouth parts are scarcely 

 developed. If a feeder, it has a long tongue that can be 

 coiled in a cleft in the face between the palpi, which 

 Packard thinks were originally the feelers. This tongue 

 is formed of two grooved parts so fastened together as to 

 make a tube through which it takes flower and fruit nectar 

 and the juices of decaying animal matter. 



What are thought by some to be small organs of touch 

 lie on either side the face, but the exact use of these is 

 yet under discussion. It is woefully difiicult to learn some 

 of these things. 



In my experience the antennae are the most sensitive, 

 and therefore the most important organs of the head — 

 to me. In the Attacine group these stand out like deli- 

 cately cut tiny fern fronds or feathers, always being 

 broader and more prominent on the male. Other 

 families are very similar and again they differ widely. 

 You will find moths having pointed hair-Uke antennae: 

 others heaviest at the tip in club shape, or they may be 

 of even proportion but flat, or round, or a feathered 

 shaft so fine as to be unnoticed as it lies pressed against 

 the face. Some writers say the antennae are the seat of 

 scent, touch, and hearing. I had not thought nature 

 so impoverished in evolving her forms as to overwork 



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