Lepidoptera

“ The insect then emits a quantity of reddish fluid, and in a short time it is able to fly away. The duration of the life of Lepidoptera varies much, most species living a few days or a few weeks, but some hibernate. The flight of Lepidoptera is a very distinctive feature of the different species, the larger, such as the Plexippus, Chrysippus and Pandora, seem to sail through the air, sometimes rising to a great height. ”

“ The water of streams or the dew on leaves may be frequently sought by Lepidoptera desirous of quenching their thirst, possibly with fatal results, the insects being sometimes drowned in rivers in large numbers. Members of several families of the Lepidoptera—the Hepialidae, Lasiocampidae and Saturniidae, for example—have the maxillae vestigial or aborted, and take no food at all after attaining the winged condition. ”

“ The lepidoptera are divided into two Suborders: the Rhopalocera, or Butterflies, and the Heterocera, or Moths. Both are characterized by having scaly wings, hence the name, which is derived from the Greek words λεπὶς (lepis) meaning scale, and πτερὸν (pteron) meaning wing. Lepidoptera are “scale-winged insects.” Any one who has ever handled a butterfly or moth, must have noticed upon his fingers a dust-like substance, rubbed off from the wings of the captured insect. ”

“ Other examples might be given amongst exotic Lepidoptera. Thus, many noxious species are closely mimicked by harmless forms which are often far removed from them in real affinity. These cases of adaptive resemblances abound amongst all organisms, and have often deceived experienced naturalists. It is in consequence of the illusive nature of these external resemblances amongst different members of the Lepidoptera, that the structure of the neuration of the wings is now considered of such great importance as a character for purposes of classification. ”

“ Linnæus gave them the name of Lepidoptera, meaning insects with scaly wings (λεπις, a scale; and πτερον, a wing) . They are to be found in great numbers in all parts of the world. All the insects contained in the order are, in their perfect state, remarkable for the elegance of their shape, the rapidity and airiness of their flight, and the multiplicity and beauty of their colours. Before they arrive at this perfect state, the Lepidoptera have to undergo three complete transformations. They leave the egg in the larva or caterpillar state; they pass next to the state of pupa, or chrysalis ”

“ There can, however, be no question that the modern view is the correct one, and that notwithstanding the large size of some of the species, they are really closely allied to those Micro-Lepidoptera, with which they are now associated. ”

“ Some genera and families of Lepidoptera, believed to secrete noxious juices that render them distasteful, are adorned with the staring contrasts of colour usually regarded as “warning,” while other genera, belonging to harmless families sought for as food by birds and lizards, are believed to obtain complete or partial immunity by their likeness to the conspicuous noxious groups. (See Mimicry.)
Sexual dimorphism is frequent among the Lepidoptera. In many families this takes the form of more elaborate feelers in the male than in the female moth. ”

“ What with the inaccuracy of figures, and the almost universal neglect with which the most eminent entomologists have passed over this beautiful order, the natural arrangement and affinities of the Lepidoptera still remain in the greatest obscurity; and it is recommended to those who may object to the additional generic distinctions I have made, to examine, in the first instance, the relative validity they bear in essential character to the innumerable genera that are continually created in the Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera. ”

“ Insects: Lepidoptera.—The Diurnal Lepidoptera, or butterflies, are not very abundant in species, their number being probably somewhat over 500, and these belong to not more than fifty genera. But no less than fifteen of these genera are wholly confined to the region. Nine of the families are represented, as follows:—1. Danaidæ; having only a single species in South Europe. 2. Satyridæ; well represented, there being more than 100 species in Europe, and three peculiar genera. 3. Nymphalidæ; rather poorly represented, Europe having only about sixty species, but there is one peculiar genus. ”

“ In setting Lepidoptera, as with other insects, symmetry and a natural position are the main points to be aimed at, special care being taken that the antennæ, fore- and hind-legs, and wings, are shown in correct positions, the middle pair of legs being of course, in the majority of cases, hidden by the wings. ”

“ The structure is in most particulars remarkably uniform, the neuration and palpi being practically identical throughout the family. The markings are usually very similar, and the colouring dull and adapted to conceal insects which are accustomed to hide amongst dead leaves or refuse; hence this family is not one of the easiest or most attractive to study. The species are the most truly nocturnal of all the Lepidoptera; few are readily obtainable by day, but at night they are found in abundance at flowers or sugar. ”

“ The distribution of few groups of animals is now better known than that of the larger butterflies and [Pg 160] moths (Macro-lepidoptera) ; even those of Siberia have been fairly well investigated. The interesting facts obtainable from their distribution are therefore of special value. No less than 243 species of Lepidoptera are mentioned by Möschler as being common to North America and Europe. ”

“ In the whole list of many thousands of species there are only eleven species of nocturnal Lepidoptera in which the males are dearer than the females.
Among the Mayflies or Ephemerides, too, the males are in the majority; in many of them there are sixty males to one female: but there are other kinds of insects, such as the dragon-flies (Libellulidæ) , in which the females are three or four times as numerous. ”

“ Lepidoptera mimicking other Insects.
In the preceding cases we have found Lepidoptera imitating other species of the same order, and such [90] species only as we have good reason to believe were free from the attacks of many insectivorous creatures; but there are other instances in which they altogether lose the external appearance of the order to which they belong, and take on the dress of bees or wasps—insects which have an undeniable protection in their stings. ”

“ The scales in Lepidoptera do not strengthen the wing or aid the insects in flight. The vast majority of the scales are merely color-bearing organs which have been developed under the influence of natural selection. ”

“ To have comprised in this scheme the large contingent of our moths known as "Micro-Lepidoptera" would have reduced further the space available for those species which experience shows appeal to the majority of nature students in a way that the minuter forms may not do. Even then, only a few general remarks on each group would have been possible, with, perhaps, a portrait or two of representative species. ”

“ The second position, that it should contain a type peculiar to itself, is almost a matter of course; but my own idea is, that the very centre should not only be a type of the genus, or order, or sub-class, but of the class itself of which it is the centre. From this position, then, a further and still more important question arises,—What is the type of Lepidoptera? The parts which afford the generic characters of Lepidoptera, and, I believe, generic characters in the perfect state are the only ones of any value, are these—the mouth, palpi, antennæ and wings ”

“ In 1735 appeared the first edition of the Systema naturae of Linnaeus, in which the “Insecta” form a group equivalent to the Arthropoda of modern zoologists, and are divided into seven orders, whose names—Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, &c., founded on the nature of the wings—have become firmly established. ”

“ There are many insects which are leaf-miners in their larval state. Very many of them belong to the minutest known examples of the moth tribes, the very humming bird of the moths, and, like the humming birds, resplendent in colours beyond description. These Micro-Lepidoptera, as they are called, are so numerous, that the study of them and their habits has become quite a distinct branch of insect lore. ”

“ In his sketch of the circular distribution of the Lepidoptera, [5] he has introduced into the Butterfly circle, the genera Coronis and Urania, the last forming the connecting link with the Geometridæ, by Leach's genus Ourapteryx, or the Swallow-tail Moth. The whole structure of the latter insect indicates, however, most clearly that the relation is but an analogical one. ”

“ Butterflies form one of the two suborders of the order Lepidoptera, or “scaly-winged insects.” There are many orders of insects. Lord Walsingham some years ago in an address stated that there were not less than three million species of insects in this little world of ours. Tens of thousands of species of Lepidoptera have already been named and classified. Of butterflies there are twenty thousand species and varieties known, and of moths there are about five times as many. In the United States we have about six hundred and fifty species of butterflies, and six thousand species of moths. ”

“ Before referring to a few of the principal methods in which it has been proposed to arrange the nocturnal Lepidoptera, it will be of advantage to take a slight glance at some of those authors who have contributed most to extend our knowledge of exotic species, and from whose works the materials must be principally derived to form the basis of these arrangements. ”

“ If we admit that the other orders of insects, the Lepidoptera, the Hemiptera, the Hymenoptera, the Neuroptera, the Orthoptera, the Diptera, the Strepsiptera, comprise, taken altogether, at least the same number of species as the Coleoptera alone, we shall gain, for the class of insects, a total of 200,000. And we shall certainly keep within the truth if we assign the same number of species to the Annelida, the Crustacea, the Arachnida, the Myriapoda, and the Monomorpha, to which, with some modification, we may apply the remarks already called forth by the Coleoptera. ”

“ It may strengthen my pleading and terminate the hesitation of the young entomologist if I mention here that the officer in charge of the collection of lepidoptera in the British Museum — the well-known authority, A. G. Butler, F.L.S., etc.. — is not only setting all newly-received butterflies and moths in precisely the fashion advocated above, but is actually re-setting all the old "low-set" insects in the same manner! ”

“ The Noctuidae are the largest and most dominant family of the Lepidoptera, comprising some 10,000 known species. They are mostly moths of dull coloration, flying at dusk or by night. The maxillae are well developed, the hindwing has a frenulum, and its sub-costal nervure touches the radial near the base. The larvae of the Noctuidae (fig. 34, c) are rarely hairy and the pupa (fig. 34, d) usually rests in an earthen cell, being often the wintering stage for the species; sometimes the pupa is enclosed in a loose cocoon of silk and leaves. ”

“ Thus, then, the individual life of certain caterpillars gives us a clue to the history of the species in past ages.
For such inquiries as this, the larvæ of Lepidoptera are particularly suitable, because they live an exposed life; because the different species, even of the same genus, often feed on different plants, and are therefore exposed to different conditions; and last, not least, because we know more about the larvæ of the butterflies and moths than about those of any other insects. ”

“ Of the other orders of insects we here say nothing, because in their case much more than in that of the Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, is the disproportion enormous between our knowledge of the European fauna and that of almost all the rest of the globe. ”

“ Certain flowers with remarkably long tubular corollas seem to be specially adapted for the visits of hawk moths. Some Lepidoptera have other sources of food-supply. The juices of fruit are often sought for, and certain moths can pierce the envelope of a succulent fruit with the rough cuticular outgrowths at the tips of the maxillae, so as to reach the soft tissue within. Animal juices attract other Lepidoptera, which have been observed to suck blood from a wounded mammal ”

“ Such facts of distribution clearly show that though the Nymphalidae have attained a high degree of specialization among the Lepidoptera, some of their genera have a history which goes back to a time when the distribution of land and water on the earth’s surface must have been very different from what it is to-day. ”

“ A great deal of evidence, both direct and indirect, has accumulated showing that the organisation of many Lepidoptera is excessively sensitive, so that slight changes of condition produce remarkable results; and it has also been shown that in the early part of the life this sensitiveness is especially great at the period of ecdysis. Numerous butterflies produce more than one generation a year, and sometimes the generations are so different that they have passed current with entomologists as distinct species. ”

“ It has already been observed that most of the organs of muscid larvæ (and this applies to most Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera) are destroyed through the action of leucocytes, and that their reformation is accomplished by definite groups of embryonal cells, the imaginal buds or folds. ”