46 
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST 
tongue or probocis, which, when at rest, is coiled up beneath the head, 
and can often be extended for a considerable length. 
The Underground Grass Grub. 
(1) The Grub; (2) the Chrysalis; (3) the Moth. 
The larvai feed on vegetable matter, mostly living, but a few feed on 
various dried products, and a few others on scale insects. Some of the 
species are so voracious that they consume many times their own weight 
of food in a day, and as they occur in enormous numbers, they are 
sometimes very serious pests. In Tasmania the Underground Grass 
Grub ( Ohco pier a hiiricata) and the Harley Grub (Mamestra Eivingi) in 
some years destroy the entire grass or grain crops over hundreds of acres. 
Whilst the codlin moth (an introduced species) destroys thousands of 
pounds worth of apples and pears. As adults, moths and butterflies 
usually live on the nectar of flowers; but many species, and especially 
the males, take no food of any kind. 
Lepiilopiera are divided into two main groups—the Rhopalocera , or 
butterflies, and the lleierocera , or moths. The former have the 
antennre clubbed, and usually spin no cocoon ; while the latter have the 
antennre more or less comb-like, and usually spin a cocoon, or in 
default, construct a special chamber, either within the limbs of trees, or 
in the ground. In Tasmania the beginner should have no trouble in 
distinguishing a butterfly from a moth, although, in some parts of the 
world, there are some species the positions of which have been much 
questioned. 
Orthoptera, or Grasshoppers, Crickets, &c. 
In their adult stages the insects of this order, except when they 
possess none at all, have four wings, of which the hind pair alone are 
usually used for flight, the front pair being shorter and stouter, and 
usually being used lor the protection of the hind pair, or as balancers 
during flight. They are provided with jaws or mandibles. 
Their metamorphoses or changes are incomplete, in that the larvai 
and pup;e resemble the adults to a great extent, and are active throughout. 
