ANALYSIS OF WING-SHAPE CHARACTERITICS OF MIGRATORY LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS

Morphological characteristics of the forewings of 42 species of moths and 31 species of butterflies were comparatively analyzed with special reference to their migration ability. The curvature values of costal margin of the forewings revealed that the migratory moths and butterflies have relatively narrower forewings with straighter costal margin as compared with respective non migratory species. The posterior area of forewings was wider in the migratory moths and narrower in the migratory butterflies than that of respective non migratory species.