On the Antennae and Trophi of Lepidopterous Larvce. 5 



ON THE ANTENN2E AND TROPHI OF LEPIDOPTEROUS 



LARVJS. 



By V. T. Chambers. 



The trophi of insects in their adult or imago state have been much 

 considered in the classification of the class ever since Fabricius con- 

 structed what is known as the cibarian s} T stem. But so far as I have 

 been able to learn, very little attention has been given to those of the 

 larvae. The general form of the body of the larva, the number and 

 position of the legs and prolegs, and similar facts of superficial struc- 

 ture, have received due attention, but, owing, perhaps, to their minute 

 size, and the supposed difficult}' of the examination, the mouth parts 

 have not received much attention. 



It is not my purpose to propose a system of classification, but the 

 facts and conclusions stated in this paper are the results of observa- 

 tions upon the mouth parts of hundreds of species of Heterocera 

 (Macro and Micro) and of a few Rhopalocera, and are offered as sugges- 

 tions to systematists of the Lepidoptera, and may aid somewhat in their 

 classification, especiall}- in that of the Tineina. These do not consti- 

 tute a family in the sense that the Noctuidce, Geometridai, etc., are 

 families. The Tineina is a large group of many families, some of 

 which seem to me to be as far removed from each other in a natural 

 system as they are from any of the Macro-heterocera. The old divi- 

 sion by Stephens of the group into Teneidce and Hyponomeutidai was 

 a thoroughly vicious and artificial one, and I believe is not now adopted 

 by those who are familiar with the group. It would be, perhaps, even 

 more unnatural to put them all in a single group of Tineidce. Mr. Stain- 

 ton's system, in which the name Teneidai is retained for the restricted 

 family containing Tinea, and its allies, is the best classification of the 

 group with which I am acquainted. Of course it is not perfect, and it 

 is with a view to suggesting some amendments to it — not of substitu- 

 ting another for it — that I offer the suggestions contained herein.* 



A surprising uuiformity of structure obtains among the trophi of 

 Lppidopterous larvae. To what causes this is due I shall not now 

 inquire. It can not be to the influence of external conditions actiug 

 upon the growth or development of larvae, else the most various condi- 



* I have sometimes been asked why I use the name Tineina instead oiTineidse. I trust the 

 above remarks afford a sufficient answer, Besides "Tineina" is the term adopted by the 

 Editors of "The Natural History of the Tineina," the standard work upon this group. 



