Lepidoptera -
The Butterflies and moths
The
mouthparts of a butterfly or moth are usually adapted for sucking. Most have
a structure termed a proboscis. This is a sucking tube that is coiled like a
watch spring at rest and extendable in use. A few species have greatly reduced
mouthparts and do not feed as adults, one rare group has chewing type mouthparts.
These
insects are common and well known to everyone and are the second largest order
of the class Insecta. There are about 11,000 species reported in North America.
