The Butterflies and Moths of Teneriffe

by A. E. Holt White

Many persons who know little or nothing about butterflies may be tempted to make a collection of them when they find themselves in a semi-tropical land, which yields in great profusion such beautiful creatures, whose brilliant colouring when grouped together has so pleasing an effect. To such, a slight sketch of the life of a butterfly may not be unacceptable.

Butterflies and moths belong to the order Lepidoptera or Scale-winged insects. The different stages of growth of these insects are called the—

Ovum.	Larva.	Pupa.	Imago.
Egg.	Caterpillar.	Chrysalis.	Butterfly.

The body consists of three parts: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. There are two pairs of wings, the upper and the lower; or, as they are generally called, the fore and the hind wings. These are covered with a downy substance, like feathered scales, which are most beautiful when seen under a microscope, and vary much in form. It is in these that the colouring-matter resides, which gives the beautiful colour to different species. Lepidoptera have six legs; in some, however, the fore-legs are so short and inconspicuous that the insect almost appears to have only four legs. The proboscis or trunk is a long flexible double tube through which the animal sucks the juices of the flowers; it is curled up under the thorax like a watch-spring, and expands at will. It varies much in length both in moths and butterflies. The antennæ are the horns or feelers of the insect, and are believed to contain the organs of smell. They vary much in size and thickness, and are most important as regards the classification of the different species of Lepidoptera. They are generally of considerable length in a butterfly, increasing in thickness at the end till a sort of long knob is formed.

Moths are distinguished from butterflies by a few simple characteristics, which can be seen at a glance.

First, with some few exceptions, of which the Humming Bird Hawk moth is one, moths are always found on the wing at dusk, or at night, whereas butterflies take their flight by day. Secondly, the moth either folds its wings close to its side or else spreads them out flat. The butterfly, when at rest, as a rule keeps its wings straight up, face to face, or else keeps up a fluttering motion, continually putting them in this position. Thirdly, the body of a butterfly is small at the waist, while that of the moth is larger, and of a more uniform size. The antennæ are the most distinctive feature, those of the moth being fine and long, and having no knob at the end. In some species they are short and finely feathered the whole length, terminating in a sharp point; this feature is generally distinctive of the male sex; the Rufescens moth being an example. The Skipper family have antennæ like the butterfly, but the body of a moth.

The butterfly or moth lays its egg (not more than a pin’s head in size) on that particular plant or tree on which the caterpillar, that it will shortly become, feeds. These look of much the same form to the naked eye, but when magnified they are seen to be of many different shapes, some being conical, others round, angular and many sided, &c., &c. The colours also of the eggs are various, but most frequently they are yellow, green, or greenish white. A microscopic examination of these will prove both interesting and instructive.

The caterpillars, as soon as they emerge from the eggs, the time of which varies with different species, at once commence to eat, and continue to do so voraciously till they turn to the pupa state. This being the case, they must be constantly supplied with fresh food when kept in captivity, once certainly, if not twice a day. There are, however, one or two varieties which cease to eat, and lie in a semi-dormant state for some time before taking the form of a chrysalis; the caterpillar of the Exoleta moth is an example of this. The greatest cleanliness, together with good ventilation, freshness of food, and regularity in feeding, are essential to keep all caterpillars in health.

If we watch the creature feeding, we shall observe that it takes the leaf edgeways between its two fore-feet, ceaselessly moving its head up and down, and taking a large piece of leaf at each mouthful. Some moth-caterpillars are night-feeders, and so hide themselves under the thickest leaves on which they feed, or else bury themselves in the earth till night comes again.

Cannibal caterpillars are to be found on the potato-plants; they are of rather a reddish brown colour, from an inch and a half to two inches in length. The author was not very fortunate in rearing them to the moth-stage; it is said that they should be fed on the young larvæ, and possibly the specimens had caterpillars to feed on that were too old. There is room for interesting experiments in Teneriffe on one, if not more, species.