a 
INSECTA BRITANNICA. 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
Ale quatuor, squamis imbricata. 
Os haustellum mawillis coherentibus compositum. 
Larva pedibus ad summum 16 instructa. 
Metamorphosis perfecta. 
Synonyma. 
Lepidoptera, Linnei, 1753, De Geer, aliorumque auctorum. 
Glossata, Fabvicii, 1775. 
Wings four, clothed with scales*, which are inserted on both sides of 
the membrane; mouth a tubular tongue} composed of the united mawille 
protected on each side by the palpit. Zhe larva furnished at the most 
with siwteen legs, rarely with less than ten. Metamorphosis complete, 
i.e. the larva changes to a quiescent masked pupa, which differs both 
from the larva and from the imago. 
None of the insects of this order are liable to be mistaken for 
any other, but several of the Zrichoptera approximate so closely 
to the Lepidoptera, that it is with the greatest difficulty they can 
* Some species of the Psychide haye all the wings clothed with hairs, and in 
some species of Incurvaria, Lampronia, Micropteryx, and Nepticula the posterior 
wings are furnished with hairs instead of scales. The females of Heferogyius, Psyche, 
and Valeporia, etc., are entirely destitute of wings. 
+ In some of the Psychide, and in Aglossa, the tongue is absent. 
{ The palpi are sometimes wanting, e.g. Bucculatrix and some of the Psychide. 
VOL. III. B 
) 
