THE BUTTERFLY. 



II 



third, which are closely united, each bear a pair of wings also. 

 The legs, which in the butterfly are adapted for walking at a 

 leisurely pace, are made up of four main parts ; these are (a) the 

 basal joint (coxa, coxce), {b) the thigh (femur, femora), (c) the 

 shank {tibia, tibics), and {d) the foot {tarsus, tarsi). The small 

 joint uniting the coxa with the femur is the trochanter (/r.). 

 The foot usually has five joints, the last of which is provided 

 with claws (e). The abdomen really 

 consists of ten rings or segments accord- 

 ing to some specialists. Examined from 

 above, the female butterfly appears to 

 have only seven rings and the male 

 butterfly eight. This discrepancy arises 

 from the fact that in the former sex two 

 rings and in the latter one ring are 

 withdrawn into the body, and so are 

 tucked away out of sight. The organs 

 of reproduction are placed in the ter- 

 minal ring. The breathing arrange- 

 ments are pretty much as in the cater- 

 pillar, but the external openings are not 

 so apparent owing to the dense clothing 

 of the body. 



The beauty of a butterfly's wings is 

 intimately connected with the form and colour of the scales 

 with which they are covered, as with a kind of mosaic ; but be- 

 fore the scales and their method of attachment, etc., are referred 

 to, something should be said about the wings themselves. The 

 various shapes of these organs of flight will be seen on turning 

 to the plates, where will be found accurate portraits of every 

 species that will be dealt with in the descriptive section later on. 



A butterfly's wing consists of an upper and a lower mem- 

 brane, with a framework of hollow tubes, acting as ribs, between 

 the two layers. Fig. 9, A, shows a fore and a hind wing of the 



e 



Fig. 8. 

 Leg of Butterfly. 



