178 BOYS AND GIRLS IN BIOLOGY. 



ends, while the butterflies' are always knobbed. It is 

 with the antennae that the butterfly feels and smells, 

 and they answer to the lobster's long feelers. On each 

 bottom-piece, or sterna, of the three breast-pieces — the 

 thoracic somites — you will find a pair of legs (Fig. 141). 

 These three pairs of legs correspond to the caterpillar's 

 true legs. Sometimes the first pair are very short, too 

 short to walk upon. Perhaps the butterfly uses them as 

 hands to clean his bill. The wings usually grow from 

 the back or tergal parts of the second and third tho- 

 racic somites (Fig. 141), and they correspond to the 

 side-piece — the pleuron, or gill-coyer, of the lobster. 

 They are of many shapes, sizes, and colors, and some- 

 times there are two pairs. All boys and girls have chased 

 butterflies, and all know that their wings are mealy. 

 This meal comes off on the fingers and colors them, 

 just as the pollen of flowers comes off and colors the 

 nose. If you put the wing under the microscope, you 

 will change your mind, and say that it is covered with 

 scales instead of meal. Each speck of this fine powder is 

 a brilliant-colored, feathery scale, and, if you place the 

 root of the wing toward the light, you can see how the 

 scales are arranged in rows, overlapping each other like 

 the scales of a fish ; hence the butterfly is said to be 

 one of the scaly-winged family — lepidoptera. Lejpis 

 means a scale, and jptera wings, so this long, hard name 



