72 
TRANSFORMA TIONS OF INSECTS. 
of the mouth of the caterpillar into the long trunk-like suction 
tube of the perfect insect, and it is therefore only necessary to 
state that the lower palpi, which are attached to the lower lip 
or labrum, are large, and that they probably act as organs of 
touch. 
The antennae are formed by a long row of joints, and are ol 
different shapes in a great number of the Lepidoptera. They 
form, with the eyes, very beautiful objects for low magnifying 
powers, and the globular shape of these compound organs of 
vision is well shown with the binocular microscope, which ex- 
hibits the extraordinary long hairs between the hexagonal 
facettes of the cornea to perfection. 
All these structural details refer to the perfect insect, and 
they have been superadded to those characteristic of the larva or 
caterpillar condition during metamorphosis ; they are the pro- 
duct of a definite growth and development, and which is more 
or less invariable, according to the species, but they are often 
modified and varied in order to meet the exigencies of altered 
external circumstances. 
The most beautiful insects in the world belong to the Lepi- 
doptera, but it is remarkable that they ' should not be very 
interesting in their habits and peculiar instincts. The gift of 
superior beauty, like as in the highest of all animals, is not fre- 
quently accompanied by remarkable intelligence and superior 
sense ; and the most gaudy butterfly js a fool in comparison to 
a dingy-coloured bee. The butterflies have some curious instincts 
when in the caterpillar state, but they only live to increase and 
multiply their race, and to embellish Nature. Their existence 
is usually very brief; it is one of the prettiest of honeymoons, 
and often love subdues and destroys every other passion. The 
gormandising caterpillar is never troubled by the ardent flame 
which consumes even the thought of sipping the nectar of the 
flowers that rival in beauty the wings of the perfect represen- 
tation of elegance and love. The early insect lives and eats, 
and the perfect form loves and dies. 
The female butterfly’s instincts are principally restricted to 
selecting proper positions for her eggs. She never sees her 
hatched progeny, and can have no ideas about the respective 
