Q t LEPIDOPTERA. 



fly, are fixed on a kind of pedicle, bat come 

 off on the fingers, like a farinaceous powder, 

 with the slightest touch; leaving the bare wing, 

 a thin, transparent, elastic membrane, devoid 

 of beauty, and studded with longitudinal rays, 

 showing the places to which the scales were 

 formerly attached. The mouth in these in- 

 sects is a sort of trunk, which is not unaptly 

 called a spiral tongue, since when not in action, 

 it is completely rolled up and placed between 

 two palpi, or downy feelers, which hide it en- 

 tirely. This trunk, which differs in length, and 

 is sometimes very short, is composed of two 

 pieces, of laminse, convex on one side, and con- 

 cave on the other. These laminae are easily se- 

 parated at the will of the insect, and when re- 

 united form a hollow cylinder. 



The Lepidoptera are so elegant in their ap- 

 pearance, and perfect in their shape, that they 

 claim the highest rank among the numerous and 

 extensive class of insects to which they belong. 

 Such is their variegated beauty, and such the 

 softness of their blended tints, that we might 

 almost fancy them ethereal beings, who in their 



