The pattern on the wings of Lepidoptera is formed before the emergence from

the pupa. In the Tortoiseshell butterfly, according to Schäffer, it

commences to appear about the ninth day of the pupal life, and the pattern

is completed about the eleventh or twelfth day. He also states that the

process varies in its rapidity, and this, he thinks, may depend on the

previous condition of the larva. According to Buckell the pupa of

_Nemeobius lucina_ is sufficiently transparent to allow the development of

the colour of the imago to be watched. He says that the coloration occurred

first in front; that its entire production occupied less than twenty-four

hours, and only commenced about forty-eight hours before the imago

emerged.[202] When the butterfly leaves the pupal skin the wings are soft,

crumpled sacs, of comparatively small size, but, as everyone knows, they

rapidly expand and become rigid; the physiology of this process is

apparently still unknown.

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. The phenomena of this character are styled "seasonal variations"

or "seasonal dimorphism." It has, however, been shown that, by careful

management, the eggs of a generation (say form _a_) may be made to produce

form _a_, whereas in the usual course of nature they would produce form

_b_. A very remarkable condition is exhibited by the North American

_Papilio ajax_. There are three forms of the species, known as _P. ajax_,

_P. telamonides_, {336}and _P. marcellus_. It is uncertain how many

generations there may be in one year of this species, as the length of the

life-cycle varies greatly according to circumstances. But in West Virginia

all the butterflies of this species that emerge from the chrysalis before

the middle of April are the form _marcellus_; those produced between the

middle of April and the end of May are _telamonides_; while those that

appear after this are _ajax_. _P. telamonides_ is not, however, the

offspring of _marcellus_, for both forms emerge from pupae that have passed

through the winter (and are the offspring of _ajax_), those that emerge

early being _marcellus_, those that appear later _telamonides_.

In various parts of Asia and Africa the butterflies produced during the wet

season differ more or less markedly from those of the same species produced

during the dry season. These are called "wet" and "dry season" forms. Their

aetiology has not been investigated, this discovery being comparatively

recent.

Turning to the early life we find that some larvae vary in colour, and that

this variation is sometimes of a definite character, the larva being one of

two different colours—green or brown. In other cases the variation of the

species is less definitely dimorphic, a considerable range of variation

being exhibited by the species. In tracing the life-histories of

Lepidopterous larvae it is not rare to find species in which the larva

abruptly changes its form and colour in the middle of its life, and so

completely that no one would believe the identity of the individual in the

two successive conditions had it not been shown by direct observation; in

these cases the change in appearance is usually associated with a change in

habits, the larva being, perhaps, a miner in leaves in its first stages,

and an external feeder subsequently. In the case of the larval variation we

have alluded to above, it is understood that there is no marked change of

habits. Poulton has shown[203] that it is not infrequent for some of these

latter kinds of variable larvae to change colour during life, and he

considers that light or conditions of illumination, that he speaks of as

"phytoscopic," are the inducing causes. Great difference is, however,

exhibited according to species, some variable species not being so amenable

to these influences as others are. In dimorphic forms the change was

observed to take place at a moult, the larva changing its skin {337}and

appearing of another colour. In some cases the result of the change was to

bring the colour of the larva into harmony with its surroundings, but in

others it was not so. During the final stage many larvae are susceptible,

the result being made evident only when the pupa is disclosed. Variably

coloured pupae of certain species of butterflies have long been known, and

it has been shown that some of the varieties can be induced by changing the

surroundings. The result of the changes is in certain cases correspondence

between the colour of the individual and its surroundings. In the case of

other species having pupae of variable colour, the colour of the pupa is

without relation to, or harmony with, the surroundings.

Experiments have been made on pupae by Merrifield and others, with the

result of showing that by changes of temperature applied at certain moments

some of the colours or marks of the butterfly that will emerge can be

altered.

It is found that in certain localities the colour of various kinds of

butterflies more or less agrees, while it differs from that of the same

butterflies found in other localities. Thus Weir speaks of a duskiness

common to various butterflies in Java, and calls it "phaeism"; and Bates

states that in the Amazon valley numerous species of butterflies vary in a

similar manner, as regards colour, in a locality. This phenomenon is now

called "homoeochromatism," and is supposed to be due to the effect of local

conditions on a susceptible organisation, though there is no experimental

evidence of this.

MIMICRY.—There are many cases in Lepidoptera of species that depart more or

less strongly in appearance from those forms to which they are considered

to be allied, and at the same time resemble more or less closely species to

which they are less allied. This phenomenon is called mimicry.[204] Usually

the resembling forms are actually associated during life. Bates, who

observed this phenomenon in the Amazon valley, thought that it might be

accounted for by the advantage resulting to the exceptionally coloured

forms from the resemblance;[205] it being assumed that these were

unprotected, while the forms they resembled were {338}believed to be

specially protected by nauseous odours or taste. It was, in fact, thought

that the destroying enemies were deceived by the resemblance into supposing

that the forms that were in reality edible were inedible. This subject has

been greatly discussed, and in the course of the discussion numerous cases

that could not be accounted for by Bates's hypothesis have been revealed.

One of these is the fact that resemblances of the kind alluded to very

frequently occur amongst inedible forms. This also has been thought to be

accounted for by a supposed advantage to the Insects; it being argued that

a certain number of "protected" forms are destroyed by enemies the

instincts of which are faulty, and which therefore always require to learn

by individual experience that a certain sort of colour is associated with a

nasty taste. The next step of the argument is that it will be an advantage

to a protected butterfly to form part of a large association of forms

having one coloration, because the ignorant enemies will more easily learn

the association of a certain form of coloration with nastiness; moreover

such destruction as does occur will be distributed over a larger number of

species, so that each species of a large, similarly coloured, inedible

association will have a less number of its individuals destroyed. It is

scarcely a matter for surprise that many naturalists are very sceptical as

to these explanations; especially as the phenomena are supposed to have

occurred in the past, so that they cannot be directly verified or

disproved. It has not, however, been found, as a matter of fact, that even

unprotected butterflies are much destroyed in the perfect state by birds.

Moreover, in endeavouring to realise the steps of the process of

development of the resemblance, we meet with the difficulty that the amount

of resemblance to the model that is assumed to be efficient at one step of

the development, and to bring safety, is at the next step supposed to be

inefficient and to involve destruction. In other words, while analysis of

the explanation shows that it postulates a peculiar and well-directed

discriminative power, and a persistent selection on the part of the birds,

observation leads to the belief that birds have been but little concerned

in the matter. If we add to this that there is no sufficient evidence that

the species now similar were ever dissimilar (as it is supposed they were

by the advocates of the hypothesis), we think it is clear that the

explanation from our point of view is of but {339}little importance.[206]

The comparatively simple, hypothetical explanation, originally promulgated

by Bates, is sometimes called Batesian mimicry; while the "inedible

association" hypothesis is termed Müllerian mimicry.

There is one branch of the subject of mimicry that we think of great

interest. This is the resemblance between Insects of different Orders; or

between Insects of the same Order, but belonging to groups that are

essentially different in form and appearance. It is not infrequent for

beetles to resemble Hymenoptera, and it is still more frequent for

Lepidoptera to resemble Hymenoptera, and that not only in colour and form,

but also in movements and attitude. Druce says: "Many of the species of

Zygaenidae are the most wonderful of all the moths; in some cases they so

closely resemble Hymenoptera that at first sight it is almost impossible to

determine to which Order they belong."[207] W. Müller says: "The little

Lepidoptera of the family Glaucopides, that are so like certain wasps as to

completely deceive us, have when alive exactly the same manner of holding

their wings, the same restless movements, the same irregular flight as a

wasp."[208] Seitz and others record a case in which a Brazilian

_Macroglossa_ exactly resembles a humming-bird, in company with which it

flies; and the same naturalist also tells us[209] of a Skipper butterfly

that greatly resembles a grasshopper of the genus _Tettix_, and that

moreover makes movements like the jumping of grasshoppers. In most of these

cases the probabilities of either original similarity, arrested evolution,

or the action of similar conditions are excluded: and the hypothesis of the

influence, by some means or other, of one organism on another is strongly

suggested.

The CLASSIFICATION of Lepidoptera was said by Latreille a century ago to be

a reproach to entomologists. Since that time an enormous number of new

species and genera have been described, but only recently has much advance

been made in {340}the way of improvement of classification. The progress

made has been limited to a better comprehension and definition of the

families. The nervuration of the wings is the character most in vogue for

this purpose. As regards the larger groups, and Phylogeny, there is a

general opinion prevalent to the effect that Micropterygidae,

Eriocephalidae and Hepialidae are in a comparatively primitive condition,

but as to the relations of these families one with the other, or with other

Lepidoptera, there is a wide difference of opinion.

[Illustration: Fig. 176—Clubs of butterflies' antennae. Terminal portions

of antenna of, 1, _Pieris brassicae_; 2, _Styx infernalis_; 3, _Hestia

idea_ (sub-family Danaides); 4, _Eudamus proteus_, and 5, _Limochores

taumas_ (Hesperiidae). (After Schatz and Scudder.)]

The primary divisions of the family most often met with in literature

are:—either Rhopalocera (= butterflies) and Heterocera (= moths); or

Macrolepidoptera and Microlepidoptera; the Macrolepidoptera including the

butterflies and large moths, the Microlepidoptera being limited to the

families Tineidae (now itself in process of division into numerous

families) and Tortricidae; some entomologists including also Pyralidae,

Pterophoridae and Orneodidae in Microlepidoptera. The division of all

Lepidoptera into two series is merely a temporary device necessitated by

imperfect acquaintance with morphology. The division into Macro- and Micro-

lepidoptera is entirely unscientific.

Series 1. _Rhopalocera_ or Butterflies.—Antennae knobbed at the tip or

thickened a little before the tip, without pectinations, projecting

processes, or conspicuous arrangements of cilia. Hind wings without a

frenulum, but with the costal nervure strongly curved at the base (Fig.

161, II, B).

Series II. _Heterocera_ or Moths.—Antennae various in form, only rarely

knobbed at the tip, and in such cases a frenulum present. In the large

majority a frenulum is present, and the costal nervure of the hind-wing

is either but little arched at the base (as in Fig. 161, I, B) or it has

a large area between it and the front margin; but in certain families the

hind wing is formed much as in Rhopalocera.

{341}It may be inferred from these definitions that the distinction between

the two sub-Orders is neither sharply defined nor of great importance. The

club of the antenna of the Rhopalocera exhibits considerable variety in

form (Fig. 176).[210] Butterflies are as a rule diurnal in their activity

and moths nocturnal; but in the tropics there are numerous Heterocera that

are diurnal, and many of these resemble butterflies not only in colour but

even in the shapes of their wings.

SERIES I. RHOPALOCERA. BUTTERFLIES.

CLASSIFICATION AND FAMILIES OF BUTTERFLIES. Although considerable unanimity

exists as to the natural groups of butterflies, there is much diversity of

opinion as to what divisions are of equivalent value—some treating as

sub-families groups that others call families—and as to the way the

families should be combined. There is, however, a general agreement that

the Hesperiidae are the most distinct of the families, and E. Reuter

considers them a distinct sub-Order with the name Grypocera.[211]

Four categories may be readily distinguished, as follows, viz:—

1. The majority of butterflies; having the first pair of legs more or

less strikingly different from the other pairs; frequently very much

smaller and not used as legs; when not very small, then differing

according to sex of the same species, being smaller in the male than in

the female; the part most peculiar is the tarsus, which is modified in

various manners, but in the males of this great series is always

destitute of its natural form of a succession of simple joints five in

number. There is no pad on the front tibia.

Fam. Nymphalidae, Erycinidae, Lycaenidae.

[The distinctions between these three families are found in the amount

and kind of the abortion of the front legs; for definition refer to the

heading of each of the families.]

2. The front legs are in general form like the other pairs; their tibiae

have no pads; the claws of all the feet are bifid, and there is an

empodium in connection with them. Fam. Pieridae.

3. The front legs are like the other pairs; their tibiae however

possess{342}

pads; the claws are large, not bifid, and there is no empodium; the

metanotum is completely exposed at the base of the abdomen.

Fam. Papilionidae.

4. The front legs are like the other pairs; their tibiae however possess

pads; the claws are small, toothed at the base, and there is an empodium;

the metanotum is concealed by the prolonged and overhanging mesonotum.

Fam. Hesperiidae.

The relations between the families Erycinidae, Lycaenidae, and Nymphalidae

are very intimate. All these have the front legs more or less modified, and

the distinctions between the families depend almost entirely on

generalisations as to these modifications. These facts have led Scudder to

associate the Lycaenidae and Erycinidae in one group, which he terms

"Rurales." It is however difficult to go so far and no farther; for the

relations between both divisions of Rurales and the Nymphalidae are

considerable. We shall subsequently find that the genus _Libythea_ is by

many retained as a separate family, chiefly because it is difficult to

decide whether it should be placed in Erycinidae or in Nymphalidae. Hence

it is difficult to see in this enormous complex of seven or eight thousand

species more than a single great Nymphalo-Lycaenid alliance. The forms

really cognate in the three families are however so few, and the number of

species in the whole is so very large, that it is a matter of great

convenience in practice to keep the three families apart. It is sufficient

for larger purposes to bear in mind their intimate connexions.

The Papilionidae and Pieridae are treated by many as two sub-divisions of

one group. But we have not been able to find any justification for this in

the existence of forms with connecting characters. Indeed it would, from

this point of view, appear that the Pieridae are more closely connected

with the Lycaenidae and Erycinidae than they are with Papilionidae; in one

important character, the absence of the pad of the front tibia, the

Nymphalo-Lycaenids and the Pierids agree. It has also been frequently

suggested that the Papilionidae (in the larger sense just mentioned) might

be associated with the Hesperiidae. But no satisfactory links have been

brought to light; and if one of the more lowly Hesperiids, such as

_Thanaos_, be compared with one of the lower Papilionidae, such as

_Parnassius_, very little approximation can be perceived.

{343}It appears, therefore, at present that Hesperiidae, Papilionidae,

Pieridae, and the Nymphalo-Lycaenid complex are naturally distinct. But in

the following review of the families and sub-families of butterflies, we

shall, in accordance with the views of the majority of Lepidopterists,

treat the Lycaenidae and Erycinidae as families distinct from both

Nymphalidae and Pieridae.[212]

The number of described species of butterflies is probably about 13,000;

but the list is at present far from complete; forms of the largest size and

most striking appearance being still occasionally discovered. Forty years

ago the number known was not more than one-third or one-fourth of what it

is at present, and a crowd of novelties of the less conspicuous kinds is

brought to light every year. Hence it is not too much to anticipate that

30,000, or even 40,000 forms may be acquired if entomologists continue to

seek them with the enthusiasm and industry that have been manifested of

late. On the other hand, the species of Rhopalocera seem to be peculiarly

liable to dimorphic, to seasonal and to local variation; so that it is

possible that ultimately the number of true species—that is, forms that do

not breed together actually or by means of intermediates, morphological or

chronological—may have to be considerably reduced.

In Britain we have a list of only sixty-eight native butterflies, and some

even of these are things of the past, while others are only too certainly

disappearing. New Zealand is still poorer, possessing only eighteen; and

this number will probably be but little increased by future discoveries.

South America is the richest part of the world, and Wallace informs us that

600 species of butterflies could, forty years ago, be found in the environs

of the city of Pará.

FAM. 1. NYMPHALIDAE.—_The front pair of legs much reduced in size in each

sex, their tarsi in the male with but one joint, {344}though in the female

there are usually five but without any claws. Pupa suspended by the tail so

as to hang down freely._ We include in this family several sub-families

treated by some taxonomists as families; in this respect we follow Bates,

whose arrangement[213] still remains the basis of butterfly classification.

With this extension the Nymphalidae is the most important of the families

of butterflies, and includes upwards of 250 genera, and between 4000 and

5000 species. There are eight sub-families.

It is in Nymphalidae that the act of pupation reaches its acme of

complication and perfection; the pupae hang suspended by the tail, and the

cremaster, that is the process at the end of the body, bears

highly-developed hooks (Fig. 177, C, D). The variety in form of the

chrysalids is extraordinary; humps or processes often project from the

body, making the Insect a fantastic object; the strange appearance is

frequently increased by patches like gold or silver, placed on various

parts of the body. It is believed that the term chrysalid was first

suggested by these golden pupæ. The Purple Emperor, _Apatura iris_, differs

strikingly in the pupa as well as in the larva-stage from all our other

Nymphalids; it is of green colour, very broad along the sides, but narrow

on the dorsal and ventral aspects (Fig. 177). The skin of this pupa is less

hard than usual, and the pupa seems to be of a very delicate constitution.

The Purple Emperor, like some of the Satyrides as well as some of its more

immediate congeners, hibernates in our climate as a partially grown larva

and passes consequently only a very brief period of its existence in the

form of a pupa.

[Illustration: Fig. 177.—Pupa of the Purple Emperor butterfly, _Apatura

iris_. New Forest. A, Lateral, B, dorsal aspect; C, enlarged view of

cremaster with the suspensory hook; D, one hook still more enlarged.]

SUB-FAM. 1. DANAIDES.—_Front wing with inner-margin {345}(submedian)

nervure, with a short fork at the base. Cell of hind wing closed. Front

foot of the female ending in a corrugate knob. Caterpillars smooth,

provided with a few long fleshy processes._ The claws are in a variable

state, being sometimes simple, as in Papilionidae, sometimes with an

empodium, apparently of an imperfect kind. The Danaides are usually large

Insects with an imperfect style of ornament and colour; they have a great

deal of black or very dark scaling, and in some _Euploea_ this is agreeably

relieved by a violet or purple suffusion, and these are really fine

Insects. Usually there are large pale spaces, of some neutral indefinite

tint, on which black blotches are distributed in a striking but inartistic

manner. In many of the species the markings are almost spot for spot the

same on the upper and under sides. About seven genera and 250 species are

recognised. Danaides occur in all the warmer parts of the world, but are

most numerous in the Eastern tropics. In Europe the family is represented

only by an Asiatic and African species, _Limnas chrysippus_, that has

extended its range to Greece. Besides this another species, _Anosia

erippus_, Cr. (unfortunately also called _Anosia menippe_, Hb., and _Danais

archippus_ or even _D. plexippus_) has in the last two or three decades

extended its range to various islands and distant localities,

concomitantly, it is believed, with an extension of the distribution of its

food-plant, _Asclepias_. This Insect has several times been taken in this

country, and may probably be a natural immigrant. It is a common butterfly

in North America, where it is called the Monarch.[214]

Some, at least, of the Danaides are unpleasant to birds in odour or in

taste, or both. Among them there occur, according to Moore[215] and others,

numerous cases of resemblance between forms that are thus protected. It is

possible that the odour and taste are of some value to the Insects;[216]

as, however, butterflies of any kind appear to be but rarely attacked in

the imago-state by birds, and as their chief enemies are parasitic Insects

that attack the larval instar, it is impossible to consider this protection

of such prime importance to the species as many theorists assume it to be.

{346}[Illustration: Fig. 178—_Ithomia pusio._ Brazil.]

SUB-FAM. 2. ITHOMIIDES.—_Differs from Danaides by the female front foot

having a true, though somewhat abbreviate tarsus. The caterpillers have no

long processes._ There has been considerable difference of opinion as to

this division of butterflies. It is the family Neotropidae of Schatz, the

Mechanitidae of Berg; also the "Danaioid Heliconiidae" of several previous

writers, except that _Ituna_ and _Lycorea_ do not belong here but to

Danaides. Godman and Salvin treat it as a group of the Danaid sub-family.

The Ithomiides are peculiar to tropical America, where some 20 or 30 genera

and about 500 species have been discovered. There is considerable variety

amongst them. _Ithomia_ and _Hymenitis_ are remarkable for the small area

of their wings, which bear remarkably few scales, these ornaments being in

many cases limited to narrow bands along the margins of the wings, and a

mark extending along the discocellular nervule. Wallace says they prefer

the shades of the forest and flit, almost invisible, among the dark

foliage. Many of these species have the hind-wings differently veined in

the two sexes on the anterior part, in connection with the existence in the

male of peculiar fine hairs, placed near the costal and subcostal veins.

_Tithorea_ and other forms are, however, heavily scaled insects of stronger

build, their colours usually being black, tawny-red or brown, yellow, and

white. In the sub-fam. Danaides, according to Fritz Müller, the male has

scent-tufts at the extremity of the abdomen, whereas in Ithomiides

analogous structures exist on the upper side of the hind-wing. Ithomiides

have various colour-resemblances with members of the Heliconiides and

Pieridae; _Tithorea_ has colour analogues in _Heliconius_, and _Ithomia_ in

_Dismorphia_ (formerly called _Leptalis_). Crowds of individuals of certain

species of _Ithomia_ are occasionally met with, and mixed with them there

are found a small number of examples of _Dismorphia_ coloured like

themselves. They are placed by Haase in his category of secondary models.

Belt states that some Ithomiides are distasteful to monkeys and spiders,

but are destroyed by Fossorial Hymenoptera, which use the butterflies as

food for their young; and he also says that {347}they are very wary when

the wasp is near, and rise off their perches into the air, as if aware that

the wasp will not then endeavour to seize them. Much information is given

about the habits by Bates in the paper in which he first propounded the

"theory of mimicry."[217] The larvae are said to live on Solanaceae.

The genus _Hamadryas_ is placed by some writers in Danaides, by others in

Ithomiides; and Haase has proposed to make it the group "Palaeotropinae."

The species are small, black and white Insects, somewhat like Pierids. They

are apparently hardy Insects, and are abundant in certain parts of the

Austro-Malay region.

SUB-FAM. 3. SATYRIDES.—_Palpi strongly pressed together, set in front with

long, stiff hairs. Front wings frequently with one or more of the nervures

swollen or bladder-like at the base of the wing. Cells of both wings

closed. Caterpillar thickest at the middle, the hind end of the body bifid.

Pupa generally suspended by the cremaster, without girth: but sometimes

terrestrial._ This is a very extensive group, consisting of upwards of 1000

species. The Insects are usually of small size, of various shades of brown

or greyish colours, with circular or ringed marks on the under sides of the

wings. It is found all over the world, and is well represented in Europe;

our Meadow-browns, Heaths, and Marbled-whites, as well as the great genus

_Erebia_ of the highlands and mountains belonging to it. Most of these

Insects have but feeble powers of flight, and rise but little from the

surface of the ground. The caterpillars live on various grasses. They are

usually green or brown, destitute of armature, and a good deal like the

caterpillars of Noctuid moths, but the hind end of the body is thinner and

divided to form two corners, while the head is more or less free, or

outstanding. The pupae are of great interest, inasmuch as in a few cases

they do not suspend themselves in any way, but lie on the ground; sometimes

in a very feeble cocoon or cell. There are no cremasteral hooks. The pupae

of the Grayling butterfly, _Hipparchia semele_, has been found in loose

soil a quarter of an inch below the surface. The chrysalis of the Scotch

Argus, _Erebia aethiops_, was found by Mr. Buckler to be neither suspended

nor attached, but placed in a perpendicular position, head upwards, amongst

the grass. {348}In the majority of cases the pupa is, however, suspended as

is usual in Nymphalidae. Nothing is known as to the nature of the peculiar

inflation of the bases of the nervures of the front wings; it is well shown

in our common species of _Coenonympha_; this character is not, however,

constant throughout the family. There is in South America a very remarkable

group of Satyrides consisting of the genera _Cithaerias_ and _Haetera_, in

which the wings are very delicate and transparent, bearing on the greater

part of their area remote fine hairs instead of scales; there are

nevertheless some scaled patches about the margins, and one or more of the

ringed marks characteristic of the Satyrides; while in some species the

distal portions of the hind wings are tinted with carmine. The species of

the genus _Pierella_ connect these transparent Satyrids with the more

ordinary forms. According to Wallace the habits of these fairy-like forms

are those characteristic of the family in general. The genus _Elymnias_ has

been separated by some authorities as a sub-family, or even as a family,

Elymniidae, chiefly on the ground of a slight peculiarity in the

termination of the branches of the veins at the outer angle of the front

wings. The _Elymnias_ are said to be of a mimetic nature, having a greater

or less resemblance to butterflies of various other divisions; there is

also a considerable difference in appearance between their own sexes. The

larva of _E. undularis_ is known; it is of the form usual in Satyrides, and

lives on the palm _Corypha_. About 50 species, ranging from India to

Australia, with two in Africa, are known of this interesting group.

SUB-FAM. 4. MORPHIDES.—_There is no cell on the hind wing, the

discocellular nervule being absent_ (Fig. 161, II. B). _Caterpillars smooth

or spiny, with the extremity of the body divided; frequently gregarious._

These Insects have become notorious from the extraordinary brilliancy of

blue colour exhibited by the upper surface of the wings of the typical

genus _Morpho_. The species of _Morpho_ are all Insects of large size, but

with wings enormous in proportion to the body; this latter part is carried

in a sort of cradle formed by the inner parts of the margins of the hind

wings. Although an arrangement of this kind is seen in numerous other

butterflies, yet there is perhaps none in which it is carried to quite such

a pitch of perfection as it is in _Morpho_, where, on the under surface no

part of the body behind the posterior legs can {349}be seen. There are only

about 100 species of Morphides, and 50 of these are included in _Morpho_,

which is peculiar to tropical and sub-tropical America; the other half of

the family is divided among ten or twelve genera, found in the Indo-Malay

region; there being none in Africa. The eastern Morphides, though fine

Insects, are not to be compared, either in size or brilliancy, with their

American allies. The species of _Morpho_ are apparently found only in the

great forests of South America, where they are far from rare; some have a

flapping and undulating flight, straight onwards along the alleys of the

forest, and near the ground; others are never seen except steadily gliding

with outstretched wings from 20 to 100 feet above the ground, where they

move across sunny spaces between the crowns of the taller trees; the

low-flyers settle frequently on the ground to suck the juices from fallen

fruit, but the members of the other section never descend to the ground. As

regards the caterpillars, W. Müller tells us[218] that the spines they are

armed with break off, and enter the skin, if the creatures are carelessly

handled. Four of the five species known to him are conspicuously coloured

with black, red, yellow and white. The individuals are gregarious. The

larvae of _M. achilles_ sit in companies, often of more than 100

individuals, on trunks of trees, and so form a conspicuous patch. The

caterpillars of _M. epistrophis_ hang together as red clumps on the twigs

of their food-plants. Hence it appears that in this genus we have an

exception to the rule that night-feeding caterpillars rest in a hidden

manner during the day.

SUB-FAM. 5. BRASSOLIDES.—_Large butterflies, with the cell of the hind wing

closed, and usually with a small adjoining prediscoidal cell. Larva not

very spiny; thinner at the two ends, the tail bifid, the head perpendicular

and margined with spines._ This small sub-family includes less than 100

species arranged in about eight genera, all South American. They have the

very unusual habit of resting during the day like moths, becoming active

only late in the afternoon. They are truly noble Insects; although not

possessed of the brilliant colours of _Morpho_, they are adorned,

especially on the under surface, with intricate lines and shades most

harmoniously combined, while the upper surface is frequently suffused with

blue or purple. This sub-family {350}attains its highest perfection in the

genus _Caligo_; they are enormous Insects, and some of them not rare. The

larva of _C. eurylochus_ (Fig. 179) during early life is green, and sits on

the leaf of a _Musa_, but after the third moult it becomes brown and hides

itself among the dry leaves. It is common in the gardens of Rio de Janeiro,

where its pupae are found on the walls, like those of our white butterflies

here.

SUB-FAM. 6. ACRAEIDES.—_Submedian nervure of fore wings not forked at the

base; the median without spur. Cells closed. Palpi in section cylindric,

sparingly set with hairs. Larva armed with branched spines._ A somewhat

monotonous and uninteresting division; the size is moderate or small, and

the colours not artistic, but consisting of ill-arranged spots; the under

side of the hind wings very frequently diversified by numerous line-like

marks, radiately arranged, and giving place at the base to a few spots.

There are about 200 species known, of which the majority are African; there

are but few Oriental or South American species. Some authorities consider

there is only one genus, but others prefer to adopt seven or eight

divisions. _Alaena_ is now placed in Lycaenidae, though until recently it

was considered to belong here. The females of some species possess an

abdominal pouch somewhat similar to that of _Parnassius_.

The members of this sub-family are considered to be of the protected kind.

[Illustration: Fig. 179—Larva of _Caligo_ (_Pavonia_) _eurylochus_. Rio de

Janeiro. × 1. (After Burmeister.)]

{351}SUB-FAM. 7. HELICONIIDES.—_Submedian nervure of front wing not forked;

median with a short spur near the base. Cell of hind wing closed by a

perfect nervule. Palpi compressed, with scales at the sides, in front

covered with hairs. Male with an elongate unjointed, female with a

four-jointed, front tarsus. Caterpillars set with branched spines._ This

family is peculiar to tropical America and consists of only two genera,

_Heliconius_ and _Eueides_, with about 150 species; but it is one of the

most characteristic of the South American groups of Butterflies. It is very

closely allied to the Nymphalides, especially to the genera _Metamorpha_

and _Colaenis_, but is readily distinguished by the perfectly-formed

nervules that close the wing-cells. The wings are longer and narrower than

in Nymphalides, and the colour, though exhibiting much diversity, is on the

whole similar to that of the heavily-scaled forms of Ithomiides of the

genera _Tithorea_, _Melinaea_, _Melanitis_; there being in several cases a

great resemblance between species of the two groups. A frequent feature in

one group of _Heliconius_ is that the hind wing bears a patch of red

prolonged outwards by angular radiating marks. The individuals of certain

species—_H. melpomene_ and _H. rhea_—are known to execute concerted dances,

rising and falling in the air like gnats; when some of them withdraw from

the concert others fill their places. _H. erato_ exhibits the very rare

condition of trichroism, the hind wings being either red, blue, or green.

Schatz states that the different forms have been reared from a single brood

of larvae. The caterpillars of Heliconiides live on Passiflorae, and are

said to be very similar to our European _Argynnis_-caterpillars. The

chrysalids are very spinous. We may here remark that considerable confusion

exists in entomological literature in consequence of Ithomiides having been

formerly included in this sub-family; for remarks formerly made as to

"Heliconiides," but that really referred only to Ithomiides, have been

interpreted as referring to Heliconiides of the present system.

The Heliconiides seem remarkably plastic as regards colour, and are

therefore exponents of "homoeochromatism." Bates says, as regards them: "In

tropical South America a numerous series of gaily-coloured butterflies and

moths, of very different families, which occur in abundance in almost every

locality a naturalist may visit, are found all to change their hues and

markings together, as if by the touch of an enchanter's wand, at {352}every

few hundred miles, the distances being shorter near the eastern slopes of

the Andes than nearer the Atlantic. So close is the accord of some

half-dozen species (of widely different genera) in each change, that he had

seen them in large collections classed and named respectively as one

species."[219] Many of them are believed to be permeated by nauseous

fluids, or to possess glands producing ill-smelling secretions.

SUB-FAM. 8. NYMPHALIDES.—_Cells, of both front and hind wing, either closed

only by imperfect transverse nervules or entirely open. Front tarsus of the

male unjointed and without spines, of the female four- or five-jointed.

Caterpillar either spined or smooth; in the latter case the head more or

less strongly horned or spined, and the apex of the body bifid._ This

sub-family is specially characterised by the open cells of the wings; the

discocellulars, even when present, being frequently so imperfect as to

escape all but the most careful observation. The Nymphalides include

upwards of 150 genera and 2000 species. The divisions having smooth larvae

are separated by Kirby[220] and others as a distinct sub-family

(Apaturides). In Britain, as in most other parts of the world, Nymphalides

is the predominant group of butterflies. We have eighteen species, among

which are included the Fritillaries, Admirals, Purple Emperor, and the

various _Vanessa_—Peacock, Camberwell Beauty, Red Admiral, Tortoise-shells,

and Painted Lady. All have spined caterpillars except the Emperor. In the

temperate regions of the northern hemisphere Vanessa may be considered the

dominant butterflies, they being very numerous in individuals, though not

in species, and being, many of them, in no wise discomfited by the

neighbourhood of our own species. Several of them are capable of prolonging

and interrupting their lives in the winged condition to suit our climate;

and this in a manner that can scarcely be called hibernation, for they

frequently take up the position of repose when the weather is still warm,

and on the other hand recommence their activity in the spring at a very

early period. This phenomenon may frequently be noticed in the

Tortoise-shell butterfly; it is as if the creature knew that however warm

it may be in the autumn there will be no more growth of food for its young,

and that in the spring vegetation {353}is sure to be forthcoming and

abundant before long, although there may be little or none at the time the

creature resumes its activity. It is probable that the habit may be in some

way connected with an imperfect activity of the sexual organs. It should,

however, be recollected that many larvae of butterflies hibernate as young

larvae after hatching, and, sometimes, without taking any food. _Pyrameis

cardui_, the Painted Lady, is, taking all into consideration, entitled to

be considered the most ubiquitous of the butterfly tribe. Its distribution

is very wide, and is probably still extending. The creature is found in

enormous numbers in some localities, especially in Northern and Eastern

Africa; and when its numbers increase greatly, migration takes place, and

the Insect spreads even to localities where it cannot maintain itself

permanently. In Britain it is probably during some years nearly or quite

absent, but may suddenly appear in large numbers as an immigrant. The

favourite food of the larva is thistles, but many other plants serve the

Insect at times.

_Vanessa_, or _Pyrameis_,[221] _atalanta_, the Red Admiral, is common in

the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, and extends its range to various

outlying spots. The most remarkable of these is the remote Hawaiian

Islands, where the Insect appears really to be now at home, though it is

associated with a larger and more powerful congener, _P. tameamea_. Another

interesting Vanessid is _Araschnia levana_, which is peculiar to Europe,

where it produces annually two generations so dissimilar to one another

that they passed current as two species, _V. levana_ and _V. prorsa_.

Although intermediate forms are rare in nature they can be induced by

certain treatments applied to the larvae under human control.

The dead-leaf butterflies of the genus _Kallima_ belong to Nymphalides.

They are so shaped and coloured that when settled, with wings closed, on a

twig, the appearance is exactly that of a dry leaf; the exposed surface is

mottled with spots that look just like the patches of minute fungi, etc.

that are so common on decaying vegetation. The colour and the spots on the

under surface of this butterfly are very variable. According to Mr.

Skertchly,[222] we may presume that in the minute details of {354}these

resemblances we have a case of hypertely similar to that of the resemblance

to Insects' minings exhibited by certain marks on the tegmina of

_Pterochroza_ (mentioned in Vol. V. p. 322).

In South America there is a somewhat peculiar genus of

Nymphalides—_Ageronia_—that delights in settling on the trunks of trees

rather than on flowers or leaves. It was long since noticed that the the

species of _Ageronia_ make a clicking noise; in some cases when on the

wing, in other cases by moving the wings when the Insect is settled. The

object of the noise is quite uncertain; it has been suggested that it is

done in rivalry or courtship, or to frighten away enemies. Bigg-Wether

found, however, that in South Brazil there is a lazy little bird to which

this sound serves as a signal, inducing it to descend from its perch and

eat the clicker. The mode in which the noise is produced is not quite

clear. Sir George Hampson has pointed out[223] that the fore wing bears at

the extreme base a small appendage bearing two hooks, and that two other

processes on the thorax play on these when the wing moves. His suggestion

that these hooks are the source of the sound seems highly probable.

There is a great variety in the larvae of Nymphalides. In the _Vanessa_

group the body is armed with spines, each one of which bears shorter

thorns, the head being unadorned. The Fritillaries (_Argynnis_, _Melitaea_)

also have caterpillars of this kind. In many other forms the head itself is

armed with horns or spines of diverse, and frequently remarkable,

character. In _Apatura_ and its allies the body is without armature, but

the head is perpendicular, the vertex bifid and more or less prolonged. The

caterpillar of our Purple Emperor, _Apatura iris_, is quite unlike any

other British caterpillar; in colour it is like a Sphingid larva—green with

oblique lateral stripes of yellow and red—but in form it is slug-like,

pointed behind, and it has on the head two rather long tentacle-like horns.

In the South American genus _Prepona_, the larva of which in general form

resembles that of _Apatura_ there are no anal claspers, but the extremity

of the body is prolonged, forming a sort of tail.

FAM. 2. ERYCINIDAE (LEMONIIDAE of some authors).—_The female has six

perfectly formed legs, though the front pair is smaller. The male has the

coxae of the front legs forming a spine, and the tarsi unjointed, without

claws._ This family consists of about 1000 {355}species, usually of rather

small size, exhibiting a great variety of shape and coloration, some of

them being remarkably similar to some of the gay, diurnal moths of South

America. The palpi are usually small, but in _Ourocnemis_ they are large

and porrect. The family is specially characteristic of tropical America,

but there is one small group of 30 or 40 species, _Nemeobiides_, in the

Eastern Hemisphere. We have one species in Britain, _Nemeobius lucina_, the

Duke of Burgundy Fritillary. Neither the larvae nor the pupae of Erycinidae

present any well-marked characteristic feature, but exhibit considerable

variety. According to Bar,[224] some of the larvae are like those of moths;

the caterpillar of _Meliboeus_ is said to be like that of a _Liparis_: the

chrysalis has the short, rounded form of that of the _Lycaenidae_, and is

suspended with the head down, and without a band round the body. The larvae

of _Eurygona_ are gregarious. The pupae of some other forms adhere, heads

downwards, to branches. Scudder considers that this family is not distinct

from Lycaenidae, and that the Central American genus _Eumaeus_ connects the

two. Reuter also treats Erycinidae as a division of Lycaenidae.

SUB-FAM. 1. ERYCINIDES.—[_Characters of the family._] _Palpi not unusually

large._ We place all the Erycinidae in this sub-family except the

following—

SUB-FAM. 2. LIBYTHEIDES.—_Butterflies of average size, with the palpi large

and porrect: the front legs of the male small, the tarsus reduced to one

joint: the front leg of the female of the normal structure, and but little

reduced in size._ This division consists of the single genus _Libythea_,

with only a score of species. They are Insects somewhat like _Vanessa_ in

appearance, but cannot fail to be recognised on account of the peculiar

palpi. The genus is of very wide distribution, occurring in most parts of

the warm and temperate continental regions, and it also occurs in Mauritius

and the Antilles.

The Libytheides have given rise to much difference of opinion amongst

systematists, some of whom assign them as a sub-family to the Erycinidae,

some to the Nymphalidae; while others treat them as a family apart. The

families Nymphalidae, Erycinidae and Lycaenidae are so intimately allied,

that Scudder is probably correct in considering them to form really one

huge family; if this view were adopted there would be no difficulty {356}in

locating _Libythea_ therein. If they be kept apart, it is almost necessary

to separate _Libythea_ also; though possibly its claims to be placed in

Erycinidae slightly preponderate. The recently described genus _Ourocnemis_

to some extent connects Erycinides with Libythaeides.[225]

FAM. 3. LYCAENIDAE.—_The front legs but little smaller than the others: in

the male, however, the tarsus, though elongate, is only of one joint, and

is terminated by a single claw. No pad on the front tibia. Claws not

toothed._ The Lycaenidae, or Blues, are, as a rule, of small size, but in

the tropics there are many that reach the average size of butterflies,

_i.e._ something about the stature of the Tortoise-shell butterfly. The

family is one of the larger of the divisions of butterflies, considerably

more than 2000 species being at present known, and this number is still

rapidly increasing. Although blue on a part of the upper surface is a very

common feature in the group, it is by no means universal, for there are

many "Coppers," as well as yellow and white Lycaenidae. Many species have

delicate, flimsy appendages—tails—to the hind wings, but in many others

these are quite absent; and there are even tailed and tailless forms of the

same species. The members of the group Lipteninae (_Liptena_, _Vanessula_,

_Mimacraea_, etc.) resemble members of other sub-families of Nymphalidae,

and even of Pieridae. Lycaenidae are well represented wherever there are

butterflies; in Britain we have 18 species.

The larvae of this family are very peculiar, being short, thicker in the

middle, and destitute of the armature of spines so remarkable in many other

caterpillars. It has of late years been frequently recorded that some of

these larvae are attended by ants, which use their antennae to stroke the

caterpillars and induce them to yield a fluid of which the ants are fond.

Guénée had previously called attention[226] to the existence of peculiar

structures contained in small cavities on the posterior part of the

caterpillar of _Lycaena baetica_. These structures can be evaginated, and,

it is believed, secrete a fluid; Edwards and M‘Cook are of opinion that

they are the source of the matter coveted by the ants. The larvae are

without spines.

The caterpillars of the Blues have some of them strange tastes; more than

one has been recorded as habitually feeding on Aphidae {357}and

scale-Insects. The pupae are, like the larvae, of short inflated form. By a

remarkable coincidence, the pupae of two species bear a considerable

resemblance to the heads of monkeys, or mummies. The Lycaenid pupa is

usually extremely consolidated, destitute of movement, and is supported—in

addition to the attachment by the cremaster—by a silk thread girdling the

middle. There are exceptions to these rules, and according to Mr. Robson

the pupa of _Tajuria diaeus_ hangs free, suspended from a leaf, and can

move the body at the spot where the abdominal segments meet the wing-cases

in the dorsal line.[227]

FAM. 4. PIERIDAE.—_The six legs well developed, and similar in the sexes;

there is no pad on the front tibia. The claws of all the feet are bifid, or

toothed, and there is an empodium._ There are upwards of 1000 species of

Pieridae already known. Although several taxonomists treat the Pieridae and

Papilionidae as only subdivisions of one family, yet they appear to be

quite distinct, and the relationships of the former to be rather with

Lycaenidae. In Pieridae, white, yellow, and red are the predominant

colours, though there is much black also. It has recently been ascertained

that the yellow and red pigments, as well as the white, are uric acid or

derivatives therefrom.[228] The physiology of this peculiarity has not yet

been elucidated, so that we do not know whether it may be connected with

some state of the Malpighian vessels during metamorphosis.

Our Garden-White, Brimstone, Clouded-yellows and Orange-tip butterflies

belong to this family; as does also the South American genus formerly

called _Leptalis_. This generic name, which is much mentioned in literature

owing to the resemblance of the species of the genus to _Heliconiides_, has

now disappeared; _Leptalis_ having been divided into various genera, while

the name itself is now considered merely a synonym of _Dismorphia_.

The African Insect, _Pseudopontia paradoxa_, has nearly transparent wings,

no club to the antennae, a remarkably small cell on the wing, and an

arrangement of the nervules not found in any other butterfly; there being

only ten nervules at the periphery of the front wing, and both upper and

lower radial nervules uniting with the posterior branch of the subcostal.

It has been treated as a moth by several entomologists. Aurivillius

considers that it {358}is certainly a butterfly; but as the metamorphoses

are unknown, we cannot yet form a final opinion as to this curious form.

The extraordinary Peruvian Insect, _Styx infernalis_, is also placed in

this family by Staudinger; it is a small, pale Insect, almost white, and

with imperfect scales; a little recalling a Satyrid. It appears to be

synthetic to Pieridae and Erycinidae.

[Illustration: Fig. 180—Pupation of the Orange-tip butterfly, _Euchloe

cardamines_. A, The completed pupa; B, the larva, with its girdle, prepared

for the change.]

The caterpillars of Pieridae are perhaps the least remarkable or attractive

of all butterfly-caterpillars; their skins are as a rule bare, or covered

only with fine, short down or hair; their prevalent colour is green, more

or less speckled with black and yellow, and they are destitute of any

prominent peculiarities of external structure. Pupation is accomplished by

the larva fixing itself to some solid body by the posterior extremity, with

the head upwards (or the position may be horizontal), and then placing a

girdle round the middle of the body. The pupa never hangs down freely as it

does in Nymphalidae. It has been ascertained by experiment that if the

girdle round the larva be cut, the pupation can nevertheless be

accomplished by a considerable proportion of larvae. Some of the pupae are

of very peculiar form, as is the case in the Orange-tip (Fig. 180, A) and

Brimstone butterflies. The Orange-tip butterfly passes nine or ten months

of each year as a pupa, which is variable in colour; perhaps to some extent

in conformity with its surroundings. The North American _E. genutia_ has a

similar life-history, but the larva leaves its Cruciferous food-plant,

wanders to an oak tree, and there turns to a pupa, resembling in colour the

bark of the tree.

[Illustration: Fig. 181—Newly-hatched larva of _Euchloe cardamines_. A, The

larva in profile; B, one segment more magnified, showing the liquid-bearing

setae; C, one of the setae still more magnified, and without liquid.]

It is not unusual for caterpillars to change their habits and

{359}appearance in a definite manner in the course of the larval life. The

caterpillar of _Euchloe cardamines_ exhibits a larval metamorphosis of a

well-marked character. The young larva (Fig. 181) is armed with peculiar

setae, furcate at the tip, each of which bears a tiny ball of fluid. In

this stage the caterpillar makes scarcely any movement. In the middle of

the caterpillar's life a new vestiture appears after an ecdysis; numerous

fine hairs are present, and the fluid-bearing spines nearly disappear,

being reduced to a single series of spines of a comparatively small size on

each side of the upper middle region of the body (Fig. 182). The colour is

also a good deal changed, and concomitantly there is a much greater

voracity and restlessness.

[Illustration: Fig. 182—Larva of _Euchloe cardamines_ in middle life. A,

the larva in profile; B, one segment more magnified.]

FAM. 5. PAPILIONIDAE.—_All the legs well developed. Claws large, simple,

without empodium. Front tibiae with a pad. The metanotum free,

conspicuously exposed between mesonotum and abdomen._ This series of

butterflies includes some of the most magnificent of the members of the

Insect world. It is considered by some authorities to be the highest family

of butterflies; and in one very important feature—sexual differentiation—it

certainly is entitled to the rank. There are about 700 recorded species,

the larger portion of which are included in the genus _Papilio_. The great

variety of form has led to this genus being divided; the attempts have,

however, been partial, with the exception of an arrangement made by Felder,

who adopted 75 sections, and a recent consideration of the subject by

Haase, who arranges Felder's sections into three sub-genera. Many of the

sections have received names, and are treated by some authors as genera, so

that an unfortunate diversity exists as to the names used for these

much-admired Insects. The genus is distributed all over the world, but is

perhaps nowhere more numerous in species than in South America.

{360}[Illustration: Fig. 183—_Ornithoptera_ (_Schoenbergia_) _paradisea_,

male. New Guinea. × 1. (Colours, velvet-black, golden-yellow and green.)]

Wallace informs us that the great majority of the species of the Amazon

valley frequent the shady groves of the virgin forest. In many cases the

sexes are extremely different in appearance and habits, and are but rarely

found together in one spot. The genus _Ornithoptera_ is closely allied to

_Papilio_, and contains some of the most remarkable of butterflies, the

homes of the species being the islands of the Malay Archipelago, and

outlying groups of islands, there being a smaller number of species in the

neighbouring continents. The females are of great size, and are so

excessively different from their consorts of the other sex, as to arouse in

the student a feeling of surprise, and a strong desire to fathom the

mysteries involved. {361}[Illustration: Fig. 184—_Ornithoptera

(Schoenbergia) paradisea_, female. × 1. (The wings, on the right side,

detached, showing the under surface. Colours, black, white, and gray.)]

{362}It would be difficult to surpass the effective coloration of the males

in many of the species of _Ornithoptera_; they are, too, very diverse in

this respect; _O. brookiana_ is of an intense black colour, with a band of

angular green marks extending the whole length of its wings, while behind

the head there is a broad collar of crimson colour. Perhaps the most

remarkable of all is the _O. paradisea_, recently discovered in New Guinea;

in this species the sexual disparity reaches its maximum. The female (Fig.

184) is a large, sombre creature of black, white and grey colours, but the

male (Fig. 183) is brilliant with gold and green, and is made additionally

remarkable by a long tail of unusual form on each hind wing.

We may anticipate that these extraordinary cases of sexual total

dissimilarity in appearance are accompanied by equally remarkable habits

and physiological phenomena. In the case of _O. brookiana_ the female is

extremely rare, so that the collector, Künstler, could only obtain fifteen

females to a thousand males. According to Mr. Skertchly, instead of the

crowd of males being eager to compete for the females, the reverse is the

case; the female diligently woos the male, who exhibits a reluctance to

coupling. This observer apparently considered that the "emerald feathers"

of the male are a guide or incitement to the female.[229]

In Africa _Ornithoptera_ is to a certain extent represented by two

extremely remarkable forms, _Papilio zalmoxis_ and _P. (Drurya)

antimachus_. There are about a dozen other genera of Papilionidae; most of

them contain but few species. _Parnassius_, however, is rich in species

inhabiting the mountains and elevated plateaus of the northern hemisphere

in both the Old and New Worlds; it is remarkable for the small amount of

scales on the wings, and for the numerous variations of the species. The

female possesses a peculiar pouch at the end of the body; although only

formed during the process of coupling, it has a special and characteristic

form in most of the species. The curious Indian genus _Leptocircus_ has

parts of the front wings transparent, while the hind pair form long tails.

This genus is of interest in that {363}it is said to connect Papilionidae

to some extent with Hesperiidae. The larvae of this family are remarkable

on account of a curious process on the thoracic segment called an

"osmeterium." It is usually retracted, but at the will of the caterpillar

can be everted in the form of a long furcate or Y-shaped process; there is

a gland in the osmeterium, and as a result a strong odour is emitted when

the exstulpation occurs.

The pupation of Papilionidae is similar to that of Pieridae, the pupa being

placed with the head upwards, fixed by the tail, and girt round the middle.

A very curious diversity of pupation occurs in the genus _Thais_, in which

the pupa is attached by the tail as usual, and—which is quite

exceptional—also by a thread placed at the top of the head. Scudder thinks

there is also a girdle round the middle, but Dr. Chapman inclines to the

view that the thread attaching the head is really the median girdle slipped

upwards. The pupation of _Parnassius_ is exceptional, inasmuch as, like

Satyrides, it is terrestrial, in a slight construction of silk.

FAM. 6. HESPERIIDAE (_Skippers_).—_Six perfect legs: metanotum not free,

largely covered by the mesonotum. A pad on the front tibia. Claws short and

thick; empodium present._ Although this family has been comparatively

neglected by entomologists, upwards of 2000 species and more than 200

genera are known, and it is not improbable that it may prove to be as

extensive as Nymphalidae. We have already said that Hesperiidae is

generally admitted to be the most distinct of the butterfly groups. It has

been thought by some taxonomists to be allied to Papilionidae, but this is

a mistake. It is undoubtedly more nearly allied to Heterocera, and when the

classification of Lepidoptera is more advanced, so that the various natural

groups placed in that sub-Order are satisfactorily distinguished, it is

probable that Hesperiidae will be altogether separated from Rhopalocera. We

have already mentioned that E. Reuter considers the Hesperiidae to be

phylogenetically unconnected with Rhopalocera proper; but though quite

ready to admit that he will probably prove correct in this, we think

Lepidopterists will not be willing to recognise the family as a sub-Order

equivalent in value to all Heterocera.

The body is shorter and thicker than it is in most butterflies, and is

pointed at the tip rather than knobbed or bent downwards; the wings are

less ample; the antennae are not truly {364}knobbed, but are thicker before

the actual tip, which is itself pointed and more or less bent backwards, so

that the antennae are somewhat hook-shaped.

In habits as well as structure the family is markedly distinct from

butterflies; the pupation is peculiar, and the name Skipper has been

applied to the perfect Insects, because so many of them indulge in a brief,

jerky flight, instead of the prolonged aerial courses characteristic of the

higher butterflies.

There is great difference among the members of the family, and some of them

possess a very high development of the powers of locomotion, with a

correspondingly perfect structure of the thoracic region, so that, after

inspection of these parts, we can quite believe Wallace's statement that

the larger and strong-bodied kinds are remarkable for the excessive

rapidity of their flight, which, indeed, he was inclined to consider

surpassed that of any other Insects. "The eye cannot follow them as they

dart past; and the air, forcibly divided, gives out a deep sound louder

than that produced by the humming-bird itself. If power of wing and

rapidity of flight could place them in that rank, they should be considered

the most highly organised of butterflies." It was probably to the genera

_Pyrrhopyge_, _Erycides_, etc., that Mr. Wallace alluded in the above

remarks. Although the Hesperiidae are not as a rule beautifully coloured,

yet many of these higher forms are most tastefully ornamented; parts of the

wings, wing-fringes, and even the bodies being set with bright but

agreeable colours. We mention these facts because it is a fashion to

attribute a lowly organisation to the family, and to place it as ancestral

to other butterflies. Some of them have crepuscular habits, but this is

also the case with a variety of other Rhopalocera in the tropics.

In their early stages the Skippers—so far as at present known—depart

considerably from the majority of butterflies, inasmuch as they possess in

both the larval and pupal instars habits of concealment and retirement. The

caterpillars have the body nearly bare, thicker in the middle, the head

free, and more or less notched above. They make much greater use of silk

than other butterfly-larvae do, and draw together leaves to form caves for

concealment, and even make webs and galleries. Thus the habits are almost

those of the Tortricid moths.

{365}[Illustration: Fig. 185—Pupation of _Badamia exclamationis_. (After

Dudgeon. _J. Bombay Soc._ x. 1895, p. 144). A, One side of the leaf-cradle,

the other (nearest to the observer) being broken away; B, transverse

section of entire cradle, _a_, The pupa; _b_, fastenings of perpendicular

threads round pupa; _c_, cross thread retaining the leaf in cradle form;

_d_, margins of the leaf; _e_, midrib of leaf.]

Pupation takes place under similar conditions; and it is interesting to

find that Chapman considers that the pupa in several points of structure

resembles that of the small moths. Not only does the larva draw together

leaves or stalks to make a shelter for the pupa, but it frequently also

forms a rudimentary cocoon. These arrangements are, however, very variable,

and the accounts that have been given indicate that even the same species

may exhibit some amount of variation in its pupation. Scudder considers

that, in the North American Skippers, the cremaster is attached to a single

Y-like thread. In other cases there is a silk pad on the leaf for the

cremaster to hook on. An interesting account given by Mr. Dudgeon of the

pupation of a common Indian Skipper, _Badamia exclamationis_, shows that

this Insect exercises considerable ingenuity in the structure of the

puparium, and also that the arrangements it adopts facilitate one of the

acts of pupation most difficult for such pupae as suspend themselves, viz.

the hooking the cremasters on to the pad above them. _Badamia_ uses a

rolled-up leaf (Fig. 185); the edges of the leaf are fastened together by

silk at _d_; from this spot there descends a thread which, when it reaches

the pupa, _a_, forks so as to form an inverted Y, and is fastened to the

leaf on either side; the two sides of the leaf are kept together by a cross

thread, _cc_. Mr. Dudgeon was fortunate enough to observe the act of

pupation, and saw that "although the anal prolegs of the larva were

attached to a tuft or pad of silk in the usual way, and remained so until

nearly the whole skin had been shuffled off, yet when the last segment had

to be taken out, the pupa drew it entirely away from the skin and lifted it

over the {366}empty skin, and by a series of contortions similar to those

made by an Insect in depositing an egg, it soon re-attached its anal

segment or cremaster to the web, throwing away the cast-off skin by

wriggling its body about."

SERIES II. HETEROCERA. MOTHS.

Although Rhopalocera—if exclusion be made of the Hesperiidae—is probably a

natural group, yet this is not the case with Heterocera. The only

definition that can be given of Heterocera is the practical one that all

Lepidoptera that are not butterflies are Heterocera. Numerous divisions of

the Heterocera have been long current, but their limits have become more

and more uncertain, so that at the present time no divisions of greater

value than the family command a recognition at all general. This is not

really a matter of reproach, for it arises from the desire to recognise

only groups that are capable of satisfactory definition.

Several attempts have recently been made to form a rough forecast of the

future classification of moths. Professor Comstock, struck by some

peculiarities presented by the Hepialidae, Micropterygidae (and

Eriocephalidae), recently proposed to separate them from all other

Lepidoptera as a sub-order Jugatae. Comstock's discrimination in making

this separation met with general approval. The character on which the group

Jugatae is based is, however, comparatively trivial, and its possession is

not sufficient, as pointed out by Packard,[230] to justify the close

association of Hepialidae and Micropterygidae, which, in certain important

respects, are the most dissimilar of moths. The characters possessed by the

two families in common may be summarised by saying that the wings and

wing-bearing segments remain in a low stage of development. In nearly all

other characters the two families are widely different. Packard has

therefore, while accepting Comstock's separation of the families in

question, proposed a different combination. He considers that

Eriocephalidae should be separated from all others as "Protolepidoptera" or

"Lepidoptera Laciniata," while the whole of the other Lepidoptera,

comprised under the term "Lepidoptera Haustellata," are divided into

Palaeolepidoptera (consisting only of Micropterygidae) and Neolepidoptera,

comprising all Lepidoptera {367}(inclusive of Hepialidae) except the

Eriocephalidae and Micropterygidae. The question is rendered more difficult

by the very close relations that exist between Micropterygidae and a

sub-Order, Trichoptera, of Neuroptera. Dr. Chapman, by a sketch of the

classification of pupae,[231] and Dyar, by one on larval stages,[232] have

made contributions to the subject; but the knowledge of early stages and

metamorphosis is so very imperfect that the last two memoirs can be

considered only as preliminary sketches; as indeed seem to have been the

wishes of the authors themselves.

Simultaneously with the works above alluded to, Mr. Meyrick has given[233]

a new classification of the Order. We allude, in other pages, to various

points in Mr. Meyrick's classification, which is made to appear more

revolutionary than it really is, in consequence of the radical changes in

nomenclature combined with it.

As regards the various aggregates of families that are widely known in

literature by the names Bombyces, Sphinges, Noctuae, Geometres, Pyrales, we

need only remark that they are still regarded as to some extent natural.

Their various limits being the subject of discussion and at present

undecided, the groups are made to appear more uncertain than is really the

case. The group that has to suffer the greatest changes is the old

Bombyces. This series comprises the great majority of those moths that have

diurnal habits. In it there were also included several groups of moths the

larvae of which feed in trunks of trees or in the stems of plants, such as

Cossidae, that will doubtless prove to have but little connection with the

forms with which they were formerly associated. These groups with aberrant

habits are those that give rise to the greatest difficulties of the

taxonomist.

The following key to the families of Heterocera is taken from Sir G. F.

Hampson's recent work, _Fauna of British India—Moths_.[234] It includes

nearly all the families at present recognised among the larger Lepidoptera;

certain families[235] not mentioned in this key are alluded to in our

subsequent remarks on the families:—

{368}Key to the Families of Moths[236]

N.B.—_This table is not simply dichotomic; three contrasted categories

are used in the case of the primary divisions, A, B, C, and the secondary

divisions, I, II, III_.

A. Fore wing with nervule 5 coming from the middle of the discocellulars,

or nearer 6 than 4 (Categories I, II, III = 1-18).

I. Frenulum rudimentary. Fam. 38. EPICOPEIIDAE, see p. 418.

II. Frenulum absent (Categories 1-8).

1. Proboscis present, legs with spurs (Cat. 2-5).

2. Hind wing with nervule 8 remote from 7 (Cat. 3 and 4).

3. Fore wing with nervule 6 and 7 stalked

Fam. 39. URANIIDAE, see p. 419.

4. Fore wing with nervules 6 and 7 not stalked

Fam. 5. CERATOCAMPIDAE, see p. 375.

5. Hind wing with nervule 8 nearly touching 7 beyond end of

cell Fam. 4. BRAHMAEIDAE, see p. 374.

6. Proboscis absent, legs without spurs (Cat. 7 and 8).

7. Hind wing with one internal nervure

Fam. 3. SATURNIIDAE, see p. 372.

8. Hind wing with two or three internal nervures

Fam. 6. BOMBYCIDAE, see p. 375.

III. Frenulum present (Cat. 9-18).

9. Antennae fusiform [spindle-shaped]

Fam. 9. SPHINGIDAE, see p. 380.

10. Antennae not fusiform (Cat. 11-18).

11. Proboscis absent Fam. 7. EUPTEROTIDAE, see p. 376.

12. Proboscis present (Cat. 13-18).

13. Hind wing with nervule 8 curved and almost touching 7

after end of cell; nervure 1a reaching anal angle

Fam. 12. CYMATOPHORIDAE, see p. 386.

14. Hind wing with nervule 8 remote from 7 after end of

cell (Cat. 15-18).

15. Tarsi as short as tibia, hairy; stoutly built

moths Fam. 11. NOTODONTIDAE,[237] see p. 383.

16. Tarsi long and naked; slightly built moths

(Cat. 17 and 18)

17. Fore wing with nervule 7 remote from 8, and

generally stalked with 6

Fam. 40. EPIPLEMIDAE, see p. 420.

18. Fore wing with nervule 7 given off from 8;

hind wing with nervure 1a short or absent

Fam. 36. GEOMETRIDAE, see p. 411.

B. Fore wing with nervule 5 coming from lower angle of cell or nearer

4{369}

than 6 [see figures 161 and 162, pp. 318, 319] (Categories 19-58).

19. Hind wing with more than 8 nervules (Cat. 20, 21).

20. Proboscis absent, no mandibles nor ligula; size not very

small Fam. 23. HEPIALIDAE, see p. 396.

21. Mandibles, long palpi and ligula present; size very small

Fam. 47. MICROPTERYGIDAE, see p. 435.

22. Hind wing with not more than 8 nervules (Cat. 23-58).

23. Hind wing with nervule 8 remote from 7 after origin of

nervules 6 and 7 (Cat. 24-51).

24. Frenulum absent (Cat. 25-29).

25. Hind wing with one internal nervure; nervule 8 with a

precostal spur, Fam. 31. PTEROTHYSANIDAE, see p. 406.

26. Hind wing with two internal nervures (Cat. 27

and 28).

27. Hind wing with a bar between nervules 7 and 8

near the base; nervure 1a directed to middle of

inner margin Fam. 30. ENDROMIDAE, see p. 406.

28. Hind wing with no bar between nervules 7 and 8;

nervure 1a directed to anal angle

Fam. 29. LASIOCAMPIDAE, see p. 405.

29. Hind wing with three internal nervures

Fam. 21. ARBELIDAE, see p. 396.

30. Frenulum present (Cat. 31-51).

31. Hind wing with nervule 8 aborted

Fam. 15. SYNTOMIDAE, see p. 388.

32. Hind wing with nervule 8 present (Cat. 33-51).

33. Antennae knobbed, Fam. 1. CASTNIIDAE, see p. 371.

34. Antennae filiform, or (rarely) dilated a little

towards the tip (Cat. 35-51).

35. Fore wing with nervure 1c present

(Cat. 36-43).

36. Hind wing with nervule 8 free from the

base or connected with 7 by a bar

(Cat. 37-42).

37. Proboscis present

Fam. 16. ZYGAENIDAE, see p. 390.

38. Proboscis absent (Cat. 39-42).

39. Palpi rarely absent; ♀

winged; larvae wood-borers

Fam. 20. COSSIDAE, see p. 395.

40. Palpi absent; ♀ apterous

(Cat. 41, 42).

41. ♀ rarely with legs; ♀ and

larvae case-dwellers

Fam. 19. PSYCHIDAE, see p. 392.

42. ♀ and larvae free[238]

Fam. 18. HETEROGYNIDAE, see p. 392.

43. Hind wing with nervule 8 {370}

anastomosing shortly with 7

Fam. 26. LIMACODIDAE, see. p. 401.

44. Fore wing with nervure 1c absent

(Cat. 45-51).

45. Hind wing with nervule 8 rising out of 7

Fam. 34. ARCTIIDAE, see p. 408.

46. Hind wing with nervule 8 connected with 7

by a bar, or touching it near middle of

cell (Cat. 47, 48).

47. Palpi with the third joint naked and

reaching far above vertex of head;

proboscis present

Fam. 33. HYPSIDAE, see p. 408.

48. Palpi not reaching above vertex of

head; proboscis absent or very minute

Fam. 32. LYMANTRIIDAE, see p. 406.

49. Hind wing with nervule 8 anastomosing

shortly with 7 near the base; proboscis

well developed (Cat. 50, 51).

50. Antennae more or less thick towards tip

Fam. 35. AGARISTIDAE, see p. 410.

51. Antennae filiform

Fam. 37. NOCTUIDAE, see p. 414.

52. Hind wing with nervule 8 curved and nearly or quite touching

nervure 7, or anastomosing with it after origin of nervules

6 and 7 (Cat. 53-58).

53. Hind wing with nervure 1c absent (Cat. 54-57).

54. Hind wing with nervule 8 with a precostal spur

Fam. 24. CALLIDULIDAE, see p. 400.

55. Hind wing with nervule 8 with no precostal spur

(Cat. 56, 57).

56. Hind wing with nervure 1a absent or very short

Fam. 25. DREPANIDAE, see p. 400.

57. Hind wing with nervure 1a almost or quite

reaching anal angle

Fam. 28. THYRIDIDAE, see p. 404.

58. Hind wing with nervure 1c present

Fam. 41. PYRALIDAE, see p. 420.

C. Fore wing with 4 nervules arising from the cell at almost even

distances apart (Cat. 59-66).

59. Wings not divided into plumes (Cat. 60-63).

60. Hind wing with nervule 8 coincident with 7

Fam. 13. SESIIDAE, see p. 386.

61. Hind wing with nervule 8 free (Cat. 62, 63).

62. Fore wing with nervure 1b simple or with a very minute

fork at base Fam. 14. TINAEGERIIDAE, see p. 387.

63. Fore wing with nervure 1a forming a large fork with 1b

at base Fam. 45. TINEIDAE, see p. 428.

64. Wings divided into plumes (Cat. 65, 66). {371}

65. Fore wing divided into at most two, hind wing into three

plumes Fam. 42. PTEROPHORIDAE, see p. 426.

66. Fore wing and hind wing each divided into three plumes

Fam. 43. ALUCITIDAE (= ORNEODIDAE), see p. 426.

FAM. 1. CASTNIIDAE.—_The Insects of this family combine to a large extent

the characters of butterflies and moths. The antennae are knobbed or hooked

at the tip, there is a large precostal area to the hind wing. The nervules

of the front wing are complex and anastomose so as to form one or more

accessory cells_ (Fig. 162). This important, but not extensive, family

consists chiefly of forms found in tropical America and Australia. The

diversity of size, form and appearance is very great, and it is probable

that the members of the family will be separated; indeed, taxonomists are

by no means in agreement as to the limits of the family. The Castniidae are

diurnal Insects, and the North American genus _Megathymus_ is by many

considered to belong to the Rhopalocera. _Euschemon rafflesiae_ (Fig. 186)

is extremely like a large Skipper with long antennae, but has a well-marked

frenulum. The members of the Australian genus _Synemon_ are much smaller,

but they also look like Skippers. Their habits are very like those of the

Hesperiidae; they flit about in the hot sunshine, and when settling after

their brief flights, the fore wings are spread out at right angles to the

body, so as to display the more gaily coloured hind wings; at night, or in

cloudy weather, the Insect rests on blades of grass with the wings erect,

meeting vertically over the back, like a butterfly. _Hecatesia_, another

Australian genus, is now usually assigned to _Agaristidae_; its members

look like moths. The male of _H. fenestrata_ is provided with a

sound-producing organ similar to that of the Agaristid genus _Aegocera_.

[Illustration: Fig. 186—_Euschemon rafflesiae._ Australia. (After

Doubleday.)]

The _Castnia_ of South America are many of them like {372}Nymphalid

butterflies, but exhibit great diversity, and resemble butterflies of

several different divisions of the family.[239]

The species are apparently great, lovers of heat and can tolerate a very

dry atmosphere.[240] The transformations of very few have been observed; so

far as is known the larvae feed in stems; and somewhat resemble those of

Goat-moths or Leopard-moths (Cossidae); the caterpillar of _C. therapon_

lives in the stems of Brazilian orchids, and as a consequence has been

brought to Europe, and the moth there disclosed. The pupae are in general

structure of the incomplete character, and have transverse rows of spines,

as is the case with other moths of different families, but having larvae

with similar habits.[241] _Castnia eudesmia_ forms a large cocoon of

fragments of vegetable matter knitted together with silk. These Insects are

rare in collections; they do not ever appear in numbers, and are generally

very difficult to capture.

FAM. 2. NEOCASTNIIDAE.—The Oriental genus _Tascina_, formerly placed in

Castniidae has recently been separated by Sir G. Hampson and associated

with _Neocastnia nicevillei_, from East India, to form this family. These

Insects have the appearance of Nymphalid butterflies. They differ from

Castniidae by the want of a proboscis.

FAM. 3. SATURNIIDAE.—This is a large and varied assemblage of moths; the

larvae construct cocoons; the products of several species being used as

silk. These moths have no frenulum and no proboscis. The hind wings have a

very large shoulder, so that the anterior margin or costa stretches far

forward beneath the front wing, as it does in butterflies. The antennae of

the males are strongly bipectinated and frequently attain a magnificent

development. The family includes some of the largest and most remarkable

forms of the Insect-world, _Coscinocera hercules_, inhabiting North

Australia, is a huge moth which, with its expanded wings and the long tails

thereof, covers a space of about 70 square inches. One of the striking

features of the family is the occurrence in numerous forms of remarkable

transparent spaces on the wings; these window-like areas usually occur in

the middle of the wing and form a most remarkable contrast to the rest of

the surface, which is very densely {373}scaled. In _Attacus_ these attain a

large size. In other species, such as the South African _Ludia

delegorguei_, there is a small letter-like, or symboliform, transparent

mark towards the tip of each front wing. We have at present no clue to the

nature or importance of these remarkable markings. In the genus

_Automeris_, and in other forms, instead of transparent spaces there are

large and staring ocellate marks or eyes, which are concealed when the

Insect is reposing. In _Arceina_, _Copiopteryx_, _Eudaemonia_ and others,

the hind wings are prolonged into very long tails, perhaps exceeding in

length those of any other moths.

[Illustration: Fig. 187—Larva of _Attacus atlas_, India. A, at end of 1st

instar, profile; B, 4th instar, dorsal view; C, full-grown larva, in

repose. (After Poujade.)]

The cocoons are exceedingly various, ranging from a slight open network to

a dense elaborate structure arranged as in our Emperor moth; in this latter

case an opening is left by the larva for its exit after it has become a

moth, but by an ingenious, chevaux-de-frise work, this opening is closed

against external enemies, though the structure offers no resistance at all

to the escape of the moth. Fabre has recorded some observations and

experiments which seem to show that the instinct predominating over the

formation of the cocoon is not cognoscent. The Insect, if interfered with,

displays a profound stupidity. Its method is blind perseverance in the

customary.[242] The cocoon of Saturniidae is more often continuous, _i.e._

entirely closed. Packard says that {374}_Actias luna_ effects its escape by

cutting through the strong cocoon with an instrument situate at the base of

the front wing. Other species were examined and were found to possess the

instrument; but Packard is convinced that the majority of the species

possessing the instrument do not use it, but escape by emitting a fluid

that softens the cocoon and enables the moth to push itself through.[243]

The cocoons of the species of _Ceranchia_ have a beautiful appearance, like

masses of filagree-work in silver. The pupa in _Ceranchia_ is very

peculiar, being terminated by a long, spine-like process. In _Loepa newara_

the cocoon is of a green colour and suspended by a stalk; looking like the

pod, or pitcher, of a plant. The silk of the Saturniidae is usually coarse,

and is known as Tusser or Tussore[244] silk.

The larvae of this family are as remarkable as the imagos, being furnished

with spine-bearing tubercles or warts, or long fleshy processes; the

colours are frequently beautiful. The caterpillar of _Attacus atlas_ (Fig.

187) is pale olive-green and lavender, and has a peculiar, conspicuous, red

mark on each flank close to the clasper.

About seventy genera and several hundred species are already known of this

interesting family. They are widely distributed on the globe, though there

are but few in Australia. Our only British species, the Emperor moth,

_Saturnia pavonia_, is by no means rare, and its larva is a beautiful

object; bright green with conspicuous tubercles of a rosy, or yellow,

colour. It affects an unusual variety of food-plants, sloe and heather

being favourites; the writer has found it at Wicken flourishing on the

leaves of the yellow water-lily. Although the Emperor moth is one of the

largest of our native Lepidopterous Insects, it is one of the smallest of

the Saturniidae.

The family Hemileucidae of Packard is included at present in Saturniidae.

FAM. 4. BRAHMAEIDAE.—The species forming the genus _Brahmaea_ have been

placed in various families, and are now treated by Hampson as a family

apart, distinguished from Saturniidae by the presence of a proboscis. They

are magnificent, large moths, of sombre colours, but with complex patterns

on the wings, looking as if intended as designs for {375}upholstery. About

fifteen species are recognised; the geographical distribution is

remarkable; consisting of a comparatively narrow belt extending across the

Old World from Japan to West Africa, including Asia Minor and the shores of

the Caspian Sea. Little has been recorded as to the life-histories of these

Insects. The larva is said to have the second and third segments swollen

and armed with a pair of lateral spines projecting forwards. A cocoon is

not formed.

FAM. 5. CERATOCAMPIDAE.—This is a small family. They are fine moths

peculiar to the New World, and known principally by scattered notices in

the works of North American entomologists. Seven genera and about sixty

species are known. The chief genus is _Citheronia_. Some of the larvae are

remarkable, being armed with large and complex spines. A cocoon is not

formed.

FAM. 6. BOMBYCIDAE.—In entomological literature this name has a very

uncertain meaning, as it has been applied to diverse groups; even at

present the name is frequently used for the Lasiocampidae. We apply it to

the inconsiderable family of true silkworm moths. They are comparatively

small and uninteresting Insects in both the larval and imaginal instars;

but the cocoons formed by the well-known silkworm are of great value, and

some other species form similar structures that are of more or less value

for commercial purposes. The silkworm has been domesticated for an enormous

period, and is consequently now very widely spread over the earth's

surface; opinions differ as to its real home, some thinking it came

originally from Northern China, while others believe Bengal to have been

its native habitat. The silkworm is properly called _Bombyx mori_, but

perhaps it is as often styled _Sericaria mori_. Besides being of so great a

value in commerce, this Insect has become an important object of

investigation as to anatomy, physiology and development. Its domestication

has probably been accompanied by a certain amount of change in habits and

instincts, the creature having apparently lost its appreciation of freedom

and its power of flight; it is also said to be helpless in certain respects

when placed on trees in the larval state; but the importance of these

points has been perhaps somewhat exaggerated.[245]

Although the family Bombycidae is very widely distributed in the warmer

regions of the world, it includes only 15 or 20 {376}genera, and none of

them have many species. The Mustiliidae of some entomologists are included

here. Like the Saturniidae, the Bombycidae are destitute of proboscis and

of frenulum to the wings, but they possess two or three internal nervures

on the hind wing instead of the single one existing in Saturniidae.

FAM. 7. EUPTEROTIDAE (Striphnopterygidae of Aurivillius).—This family has

only recently been separated from Lasiocampidae; its members, however,

possess a frenulum; while none is present in the larger family mentioned.

Its limits are still uncertain, but it includes several extremely

interesting forms. The larvae of the European processionary moth,

_Cnethocampa processionea_, are social in habits; they sometimes occur in

very large numbers, and march in columns of peculiar form, each band being

headed by a leader in front, and the column gradually becoming broader. It

is thought that the leader spins a thread as he goes on, and that the

lateral leaders of the succeeding files fasten the threads they spin to

that of the first individual, and in this way all are brought into unison.

The hairs of these caterpillars are abundant, and produce great irritation

to the skin and mucous membrane of any one unlucky enough to come into too

close contact with the creatures. This property is, however, not confined

to the hairs of the processionary moths, but is shared to a greater or less

extent by the hairs of various other caterpillars of this division of

Lepidoptera. In some cases the irritation is believed to be due to the form

of the hair or spine, which may be barbed or otherwise peculiar in form. It

is also thought that in some cases a poisonous liquid is contained in the

spine.

The larvae of other forms have the habit of forming dense webs, more or

less baglike, for common habitation by a great number of caterpillars, and

they afterwards spin their cocoons inside these receptacles. This has been

ascertained to occur in the case of several species of the genus _Anaphe_,

as has been described and illustrated by Dr. Fischer,[246] Lord

Walsingham,[247] and Dr. Holland.[248] The structures are said to be

conspicuous objects on trees in some parts of Africa. The common dwelling

of this kind formed by the caterpillars of _Hypsoides radama_ in Madagascar

is said to be several feet in length; but the structures of most of the

other species are of much smaller size.

{377}The larvae of the South American genus _Palustra_, though hairy like

other Eupterotid caterpillars, are aquatic in their habits, and swim by

coiling themselves and making movements of extension; the hair on the back

is in the form of dense brushes, but at the sides of the body it is longer

and more remote; when the creatures come to the surface—which is but

rarely—the dorsal brushes are quite dry, while the lateral hairs are wet.

The stigmata are extremely small, and the mode of respiration is not fully

known. It was noticed that when taken out of the water, and walking in the

open air, these caterpillars have but little power of maintaining their

equilibrium. They pupate beneath the water in a singular manner: a first

one having formed its cocoon, others come successively and add theirs to it

so as to form a mass.[249] Another species of _Palustra_, _P. burmeisteri_,

Berg,[250] is also believed to breathe by means of air entangled in its

long clothing; it comes to the surface occasionally, to renew the supply;

the hairs of the shorter brushes are each swollen at the extremity, but

whether this may be in connexion with respiration is not known. This

species pupates out of the water, between the leaves of plants.

_Dirphia tarquinia_ is remarkable on account of the great difference of

colour and appearance in the two sexes. In the Australian genus _Marane_

the abdomen is densely tufted at the extremity with hair of a different

colour.

FAM. 8. PEROPHORIDAE.—The moths of the genus _Perophora_ have for long been

an enigma to systematists, and have been placed as abnormal members of

Psychidae or of Drepanidae, but Packard now treats them as a distinct

family. The larvae display no signs of any social instincts, but, on the

contrary, each one forms a little dwelling for itself. Some twenty species

of _Perophora_ are now known; they inhabit a large part of the New World,

extending from Minnesota to Buenos Aires. The habits of _P. melsheimeri_

have been described by Harris, Packard[251] and Newman, and those of _P.

batesi_ by Newman.[252] The larva is very peculiar; there is a flexible

pair of appendages on the {378}head, the use of which is unknown;[253] they

arise by slender stalks behind and above the eyes, are about as long as the

head, and are easily broken off. After hatching, the young larva, when it

begins to feed, fastens two leaves together with silk threads, and so feeds

after the fashion of a Tortricid, rather than a case-making, larva.

Subsequently, however, the caterpillar entirely detaches two pieces of

leaves and fastens them together at the edges, thus constructing a case

that it lives in, and carries about; it can readily leave the case and

afterwards return to it. When at rest, the larva relieves itself from the

effort of supporting this case by the device of fastening it to a leaf with

a few silken threads; when the creature wished to start again, "it came out

and bit off these threads close to the case." Subsequently it changes

inside the case to a pupa armed with transverse rows of teeth, like so many

other pupae that are capable of a certain amount of movement. The larva is

of broad, short, peculiar form, and is said to be very bold in defending

itself when attacked. The moth is somewhat like the silkworm moth, though

of a more tawny colour. Newman does not allude to any cephalic appendages

as existing in the larva of _P. batesi_. If we accept the eggs figured and

described by Snellen,[254] as those of _P. batesi_, it is possible that

this Insect possesses a peculiar mode of oviposition, the eggs being placed

one on the other, so as to form an outstanding string; but we think this

example probably abnormal; the mode is not shared by _P. melsheimeri_. The

genus _Lacosoma_ is considered by Packard to be an ally of _Perophora_. The

caterpillar of _L. chiridota_ doubles a leaf at the mid-rib and fastens the

two edges together, thus forming an unsymmetrical case. Many larvae of

Microlepidoptera do something like this, but the _Lacosoma_ cuts off the

habitation thus formed and carries it about. Packard says it may have

descended from ancestors with ordinary habits and that certain peculiar

obsolete markings on the body of the caterpillar may be indications of

this.[255]

{379}[Illustration: Fig. 188—Larvae of Hammock-moth, _Perophora

sanguinolenta_, projecting from their Hammocks, built from their own

excrement. South America. (After Jones.)]

The Argentinian Insect _Mamillo curtisea_[256] is also probably an ally of

_Lacosoma_. The caterpillar of this moth spins a dwelling for itself, and

is remarkable from the bright colour of the thoracic segments, the

following somites being colourless; the head bears a pair of large

processes, quite different from those figured by Harris. The moth itself is

very Geometrid-like in colour and form. This species is now assigned to

_Perophora_, but it seems to be very doubtful whether many of the species

placed in this genus really belong to it. The diversity of habits and

instincts evinced by these moths of exceptional modes of life, but

considered to be closely allied, is very interesting. The most remarkable

of all is the Hammock-moth, _Perophora sanguinolenta_, of the centre of

South America, the larva of which constructs its portable habitations out

of its own {380}excrement, which is of peculiar form, specially suitable

for the purpose. The caterpillar, when wishing to enlarge its case, builds

it up from excrement "flattened at the sides, so as to adapt it for

building purposes."[257]

[Illustration: Fig. 189.—Antennae of Sphingidae. A, One joint of antenna of

_Choerocampa elpenor_ ♂, enlarged; B, three joints of antenna of _Sphinx

ligustri_, seen from one side, and enlarged.]

FAM. 9. SPHINGIDAE (_Hawk-moths_).—A very important family of moths of

large or moderate size. They have a proboscis which is frequently very

long; there is a frenulum; the body is stouter than in most other

Lepidoptera, and the wings are of small superficies in comparison with it;

the antennae are somewhat peculiar, having a thick, solid appearance,

pointed at the tip. This is usually somewhat hooked, and bears a few hairs.

In the males the antennae are formed in a manner specially characteristic

of the family. In section, each joint shows a chitinous process on the

under side (Fig. 189, A), forming with that of the other joints a

continuous ridge, and on each side of this ridge there exists a series of

short, delicate "cilia" arranged in a very beautiful manner (Fig. 189, B).

This structure, with some modifications, appears to be usually present in

the family; it attains a very perfect development in cases where the tips

of two rows of cilia bend towards one another, meeting so as to form an

arched cavity. This structure is different from what occurs in the males of

other families of Lepidoptera, for though cilia are very common, they are

usually placed either on two projections from the body of the antennae

(instead of on the two sides of a single projection), or there is but a

single whorl, or set, of them on each joint (_Catocala_, etc.). The front

wings are usually pointed at the tip, and are long in proportion to their

width; but in the Smerinthini they are of different form, with the outer

margin scalloped; the hind wings are remarkably small; the abdomen is

frequently pointed, but in the Macroglossini, or Humming-bird hawk-moths,

it is furnished at the {381}tip with a tuft, or with two tufts, of dense,

long scales, capable of expansion.

The larvae are remarkable for their colours and form. The anterior segments

are attenuated, but are capable of great retraction, so that in repose

(Fig. 190, A) this shape is concealed by the curious attitudes that are

assumed. There is in nearly all cases a conspicuous horn on the eleventh

segment, and the body at the extremity behind the horn is so much modified

that the terminal two segments look like little more than a pair of large

claspers. In the Choerocampini, the thoracic segments are retractile, and

can be withdrawn into the more or less inflated fourth segment, and give

the creature somewhat the appearance of a miniature hooded snake. The

larvae of Sphingidae do not bear any conspicuous hairs—except during the

first instar. They do not spin cocoons, but bury themselves in the earth.

The pupa is remarkable from the deep cleft that exists to admit air to the

first spiracle, and for a deep depression on each side of the anterior part

of abdominal segments 5-7; in some cases the proboscis projects on the

breast somewhat like the handle of a pitcher.

[Illustration: Fig. 190—Larva of the Poplar Hawk-moth, _Smerinthus populi_.

× 1. A, in repose; B, in movement.]

A great deal has been written on the colours, markings, and attitudes of

Sphingid larvae, and many interesting facts have been brought to light. We

may refer the reader to the writings of Weismann[258] and Poulton,[259]

without, however, recommending him to place an implicit confidence in their

somewhat metaphysical disquisitions; for the views there shadowed will

{382}necessarily became much modified with the advance of exact knowledge.

It is certain that the position assumed by the same individual varies much

according to age, and to the interval since the last moult; sometimes the

attitude is much more remarkable than that shown in Figure 190, A, for the

anterior segments are held erect, as well as contracted, the front part of

the body being curled, and the Insect supported by the claspers and two

pairs only of the abdominal feet. There is, too, a considerable difference

in colour before and after an ecdysis. Piepers, who has had a long

experience among Sphingid larvae in Java, considers that much of what has

been written as to the protective value of their colours and attitudes, is

mere fancy, and wild generalisation.[260]

Sphingidae have been recorded as capable of producing sounds in the larval

and pupal, as well as in the perfect, instars; but the method in which this

is done has not been ascertained, except in the case of the imago of the

Death's-head moth, which is well known to emit a very audible cry when not

on the wing; in this case it is highly probable that the method is the

friction of the palpi against the proboscis, as stated by Réaumur and

Landois; the inner face of the palp is said to be marked in this case with

fine ridges or striae.

[Illustration: Fig. 191—_Cocytia durvillii._ New Guinea. (After

Boisduval.)]

FAM. 10. COCYTIIDAE.—A single genus constitutes this family, and there are

only three or four species known; they come from the region of New Guinea,

whence the first was brought by D'Urville nearly a hundred years ago. They

are still amongst {383}the rarest of Insects. Nothing is known as to their

life-histories. In appearance they somewhat remind us of the Bee-hawk moths

and Zygaenidae. Butler says[261] the family is characterised by the palpi,

which differ much in the two sexes, and by the antennae resembling those of

Castniidae or Hesperiidae. The form, transparency, and coloration of the

wings reminds one vividly of the Sphingid genus _Hemaris_; the nervuration

is somewhat like that of _Hemaris_, but has certain features of Zygaenidae.

Butler places the family between Agaristidae and Zygaenidae.

[Illustration: Fig. 192—_Cerura vinula_ (Puss-moth) caterpillar. A,

Moulting; B, the same individual a few hours after the moult.]

FAM. 11. NOTODONTIDAE (_Prominents_, _Puss-moths_, etc.).—This is one of

the most extensive of the families of Bombyces; it consists in larger part

of obscure-coloured moths, somewhat like the ordinary Noctuidae of

temperate regions; to which family the Notodonts are indeed considered to

be very closely allied. The family contains, however, some very remarkable

forms. _Tarsolepis_ has an elongate body, terminated (in the female of _T.

fulgurifera_) by a very conspicuous tuft of enormously long, battledore

scales; while in the male of _T. sommeri_ the hind legs are provided with

an appendage of beautiful, roseate hairs. A few of the larger kinds bear a

considerable resemblance in form and proportions to the Sphingidae. Some of

the larvae are most interesting objects; the Puss-moth caterpillar, the

Lobster, and the Dragon larvae are of such strange forms that they have

already interested several generations of observers. The Puss-moth is

common in the southern half of England; its caterpillar (Fig. 192) has,

instead of the claspers, a pair of tubes in which are concealed {384}two

long, flexible whips, capable of being thrust out, and withdrawn, with

rapidity. The structure and the mode of action of these flagella have been

well elucidated by Professor Poulton.[262] The flagella are to be

considered as actual prolongations of the receptacle in which each is

placed, though they are of very different texture therefrom; they are

everted by blood-pressure and drawn in by muscular action; this latter

function is very perfectly accomplished, the amount of relaxation and

contraction of the muscle being very great. It has been maintained that the

whips have arisen as arms of protection against the attacks of Ichneumon

flies; observation shows, however, that the proportion of these "protected"

Insects destroyed by enemies of this sort is quite as large as it is in the

case of forms that are not so protected. The Puss-moth larva is also

believed to be protected by terrifying attitudes,[263] as well as by

ejection (like so many other larvae and insects generally) of fluid. There

is no reason for believing that these larvae are less eaten than others,

and consequently a further hypothesis has been proposed, to the effect that

if they had not acquired these means of defence they would have been

exterminated altogether. This supposition is considered to account for

their acquiring the defence by means of natural selection; realising the

dictum of D. O'Phace, Esq.—

Some flossifers think that a fakkilty's granted,

The minnit it's proved to be thoroughly wanted.

When the Puss-moth caterpillar is full grown it spins a peculiar cocoon of

a solid and impervious nature, which it manages to make look very like the

spots, crevices, or other places amongst which it is located; in this

prison the creature remains for nine or ten months—by far the larger part

of its existence. When it has changed to a moth it has to escape from the

cell in which it so effectually confined itself. This is effected by the

cocoon being thinner in front of the head of the moth, and by the emission

from the alimentary canal of a fluid that softens the cocoon at the spot

alluded to. Mr. Latter has ascertained[264] that this fluid is strongly

alkaline, and contains potassium hydroxide. The front of the head of the

moth is provided with a shield, consisting of a portion of the pupa shell,

which enables the moth to {385}push through in safety, and at the same time

protects the head from the emitted fluid. Figure 192 shows the great change

that occurs in the period of a few hours in the size of the head of the

larva, as well as in that of the spiracles: in A the old spiracles are seen

surrounded by the much larger new orifices, which are at the moment of

moulting quite visible through the skin that is about to be cast off.

The caterpillar of the Lobster-moth, _Stauropus fagi_, is more remarkable

than that of the Puss-moth, but is unfortunately very rare. It has

remarkably long thoracic legs, the abdomen is swollen at the tip, and

instead of the terminal claspers has two long slender processes. The effect

of these peculiarities is greatly enhanced by the extraordinary attitude

assumed by the caterpillar, which holds the first five segments erect, with

the second and third pairs of thoracic legs outstretched; the swollen

terminal segment is also held erect. Hermann Müller states[265] that when

seen from the front this caterpillar looks like a spider, and also that

when alarmed it moves the long legs after the fashion of an Arachnid. He

believes that it is thus effectually protected from the attacks of

Ichneumons. Birchall says[266] that the young larva, when at rest, closely

resembles, in colour and outline, one of the twigs of beech with unopened

buds, on which it frequently stations itself; and that, when feeding, its

likeness to a great earwig or to a _Staphylinus_ is very striking. Others

say that this caterpillar resembles a dead and crumpled beech leaf.

The larva of _Hybocampa milhauseri_—the Dragon of old Sepp—is highly

remarkable. When young it has grand lateral horns in front, and a dorsal

row; as it grows the lateral horns disappear. Dr. Chapman says[267] that he

could not understand at first why any larva should have such remarkable

angular outlines, curiously conspicuous corners and humps. But he

afterwards found that the creature exactly resembled a curled oak leaf,

eaten and abandoned by a _Tortrix_ larva. This caterpillar also constructs

an elaborate cocoon from which the moth escapes by an operation performed

by the pupa, which is provided with two hard spines, called by Dr. Chapman

sardine-openers. "By a lateral rotatory movement of the pupa, which obtains

its fulcrum {386}from the tightness with which it is grasped by the cocoon,

it traverses over and over again" the same part of the cocoon till it is

cut through; at the same time the spines act as guides to a fluid which is

emitted so as to soften the part that has to be sundered.

Though many other larvae of Notodontidae are of most curious form and

assume remarkable attitudes, yet this is not the case with all, and some

are quite ordinary and like the caterpillars of common Noctuidae. This is

the case with the species _Rhegmatophila alpina_ we have selected to

illustrate the metamorphosis of the Order (Fig. 157). Those who wish to

form an idea of the variety of larval forms in this family will do well to

refer to Packard's beautiful volume on the North American forms.[268] The

family has a very wide distribution, but is absent from New Zealand and

Polynesia, and appears to be but poorly represented in Australia. In

Britain we have about two dozen species.

FAM. 12. CYMATOPHORIDAE.—A small family of nocturnal moths that connect the

Bombyces with the Noctuids; they are usually associated with the latter,

but are widely separated in Hampson's arrangement because of a slight

difference of nervuration, nervule 5 being nearer to 6 than to 4, whereas

in Noctuidae the reverse is the case. The Insects, however, in certain

respects approach the Notodontidae, and are of interest if only as showing

that the linear sequences we adopt in books are necessarily conventional,

and to some extent deceptive. We have three genera in Britain; our pretty

Peach-blossom, _Thyatira batis_, and the very different Buff-arches, _T.

derasa_, being among them. Meyrick denies any connexion of this group with

Noctuidae, and in his nomenclature _Cymatophora_ becomes _Polyploca_, and

the family, consequently, Polyplocidae.

FAM. 13. SESIIDAE or AEGERIIDAE (_Clear-wings_).—A family of comparatively

small extent; its members have frequently one or both pairs of wings in

large part free from scales, the tip of the body tufted, the hind legs of

one sex peculiar. The size is usually small, but in the largest forms the

measurement may be but little less than two inches across the expanded

wings. The pupa is of the kind classed as "incompletae" by Chapman, the

appendages not being firmly glued to the body, and much {387}mobility

existing; an "eye-collar" is present, and the segments of the abdomen are

armed with series of teeth. The larva is a concealed feeder, nearly naked

and colourless, but with the legs normal in number—three thoracic, four

abdominal pairs of feet, and the terminal claspers; these are sometimes but

poorly developed; the larvae have a greater or less resemblance to those of

Longicorn beetles, the habits of which they share. The family was formerly

associated with the Sphingidae, with which it has no true relationship; it

is more closely allied to the Tineidae. Some of the species have a certain

resemblance to Hymenoptera, which is probably in most, if not in all cases

merely incidental. The proper position of the family was pointed out by

Butler,[269] but he did not distinguish it from Tinaegeriidae. Meyrick

calls the family Aegeriadae, and places it in his series Tineina.

[Illustration: Fig. 193—_Oedematopoda princeps._ Africa. (After

Walsingham.)]

We have two genera of these Clear-wings in Britain. They are _Trochilium_

(called variously _Sesia_, _Sphecia_, and _Aegeria_), with two species of

comparatively large size, and _Sesia_ (called variously _Trochilium_ and

_Aegeria_), with nearly a dozen species of smaller size. A third genus,

_Sciapteron_, is doubtfully native with us. They are much prized by

collectors on account of the rarity of the Insects and their great

difference in appearance from our other native Lepidoptera.

FAM. 14. TINAEGERIIDAE. This is one of the least known of the families of

Lepidoptera, and has only recently been distinguished from Sesiidae. It is

entirely exotic, and our knowledge of it is principally due to Lord

Walsingham.[270] Nothing is known as to the life-histories, except that it

has been stated by Stainton that a larva feeds in webs on shoots of a shrub

of the genus _Clerodendron_. The family is widely distributed, but its

metropolis will probably prove to be the tropics of Africa. It is of

considerable interest as showing that the Sesiidae really {388}belong to

the Tineid series of moths. The species we figure (Fig. 193) has a

character otherwise peculiar to Sesiidae in the wings being inserted on the

thorax remote from the head—a feature we do not find in the Tineidae

proper; while on the other hand it has the long wing-fringes, and the shape

of the wings that are characteristic of Tineidae. It is worth mentioning

that though these Insects are of excessive rarity and very peculiar, there

exists in the Solomon Islands[271] a species distinct from, though at first

sight excessively similar to, the S. African one we figure.

FAM. 15. SYNTOMIDAE.—This family has usually been associated with the

Zygaenidae. It includes a large number of moths having, as a rule, in

external appearance little to distinguish them from the family named. Many

of them are of gaudy colours, and probably of diurnal, but somewhat

sedentary, habits. The wings are less ample than usual, the hind pair

frequently very small, so that the Insects have somewhat the proportions of

Hymenoptera. In some cases the resemblance is made more remarkable by the

fact that the wings are transparent and bare of scales, or have scales only

at the margins, so as to be like the wings of Hymenoptera. Not less

remarkable is the fact that these Insects use the body itself for the

purposes of adornment or display; thus adopting a system prevalent in the

Hymenoptera, rather than that of their own Order, where the rule is that

the wings are more ornamented than the body. In many cases the shape of the

body is so very different from the normal that the disposition of the

organs of life in the interior of the body must be materially affected. In

some genera, such as _Andrenimorpha_, the form, colour and attitude of the

body and some of the limbs are plainly similar to Hymenoptera. These

Insects have a highly-developed frenulum, retinaculum, and proboscis;

bipectinate antennae in the male, a complex organ at the base of the

abdomen on each side, and are in fact highly-developed forms, except

perhaps as regards the structures in connexion with flight.

Unfortunately little or nothing is known as to the habits and metamorphoses

of these extraordinary creatures, but it is no doubt to them Seitz referred

in saying, "How far one may be deceived by appearances of a mimetic nature

can only be comprehended by visiting the tropics; in this part of the world

{389}[Europe] one is prepared by knowledge gained from books for the

appearance _Sesia_ presents. Had one no knowledge of this sort as to

Sesiidae he would actually in the field [in Brazil] overlook dozens of

these little creatures without being aware of his deception. The surprise

at finding a quite different being in the net from what one believes he has

caught occurs daily in Brazil, so rich in Lepidoptera."[272] The same

intelligent observer says[273] that a species of _Macrocneme_ was observed

by him to be exactly like one of the blue wasps of the genus _Pepsis_.

One remarkable point in these Hymenopteroid Syntomids is their complete

dissimilarity from their immediate allies. They resemble very different

Hymenoptera; and not only stinging Hymenoptera; the Sessiliventres have a

large share of their attentions; the numerous species of _Dycladia_

partaking the appearance of the South American Sawflies in a wonderful

manner. Bees, Wasps of the most different kinds, and a variety of Sawflies

are beautifully paralleled, if one may use such an expression, by these

Syntomids. That shown in Fig. 194 has the abdomen formed like that of a

Petiolate Hymenopteron; the base of this part, moreover, resembles in a

remarkable manner the "median segment" of that Order. The constriction is,

however, placed not at the base of the abdomen but beyond the second

segment. Thus the structure is not morphologically similar to that of the

Hymenoptera, for the median segment of Aculeate Hymenoptera consists of

only one abdominal segment, while in this moth the corresponding part is

formed of two segments. Though anatomically inexact, the resemblance is, as

to proportions, correct; and those who delight in the use of the

imagination will see that had the moth used only one segment for the

imitation, the result would have been less successful owing to insufficient

size. In his very interesting account of some Brazilian Syntomids,[274]

Seitz describes a species of _Trichura_ provided with a long appendage that

is held straight backwards during life; and he informs us that this

creature resembles a female Ichneumon, the long process looking like the

elongate ovipositor of the Hymenopteron. Possibly the species from Demerara

we figure may resemble an Ichneumon we are not acquainted with, though its

colour and form rather suggest a likeness to an Aculeate. {390}This case of

resemblance is of the most noteworthy character, for an appendage of this

kind in a Lepidopterous Insect is without parallel, and is almost

equivalent to the production of a new structure. An interesting feature of

the case is that Ichneumonidae do not sting, and there is no evident reason

why the enemies of the moth should be particularly afraid of an ovipositor.

The larvae appear to be in form somewhat like those of Zygaenidae; but with

the same sort of remarkable clothing, in the form of tufts and brushes,

that we find in Lymantriidae. A cocoon is formed. In Britain no member of

this family is to be met with, but _Naclia ancilla_ may formerly have been

a native; _Syntomis phegea_ has occurred here; probably an escaped example

that had been introduced in one of its earlier stages.

[Illustration: Fig. 194—_Trichura_, sp. × 2/1. Demerara.]

FAM. 16. ZYGAENIDAE (_Burnet-Moths_).—This family is one about the limits

and characters of which much difference of opinion prevails. As exemplified

by our Burnet-moths it is characterised (in addition to the points given in

the table) by the peculiar, flexible antennae; these are a little thicker

before the tip, but are curved and pointed at the extremity, and without

pectinations in the male. There is an elongate proboscis; bladder-like

organs at the sides of the first abdominal segment are not present. The

pupa is softer than is usual in the Macrolepidoptera, and the parts are

less firmly fixed together, so that unusual mobility exists; six of the

intersegmental membranes {391}are free, and the abdomen has much power of

movement; there is no eye-collar; the antennae, hind legs, and

proboscis-tips stretch backwards as far as the fifth or sixth abdominal

segment, the tips being quite free; on the dorsal plates of the abdomen

there are rows of minute elevations reminding one of the teeth existing in

pupae that live in stems or galleries. This is altogether a peculiar pupa;

it lives closely enclosed in a small hard cocoon, and its great capacity

for movement is perhaps connected with the fact that the pupa itself

manages to force its way through the cocoon in anticipation of the

emergence of the moth. This cocoon is fastened tightly to a stem, and is

covered with a substance that gives it a glazed appearance. The larvae are

objects of a baggy nature, with inferior coloration, consisting of large

dark blotches on a light ground, and without any remarkable development of

their somewhat feeble system of hairs. Numerous small moths from the

tropics are assigned to the family; they are most of them conspicuously

marked and coloured, and like our Burnets are probably diurnal.

[Illustration: Fig. 195—_Hampsonia pulcherrima._ Wings on right side

detached and denuded to show nervuration. India. (After Swinhoe.)]

The family Chalcosiidae is reduced by Hampson to the position of a

sub-family of Zygaenidae. It consists of a large variety of diurnal moths

of varied and brilliant colours, with an expanse of wing large in

comparison with the typical Zygaenae, and with the antennae pectinate or

flabellate to the tip. Some of these Insects (which are as conspicuous as

possible in appearance, at any rate in a cabinet, the East Indian

_Cadphises moorei_ _e.g._) are considered to be destitute of any special

"protection." _Histia_ is a genus of remarkable cruciform moths, of a

mixture of black and metallic colours, with carmine-tinted bodies.

_Hampsonia pulcherrima_ (East India) is a curious moth of butterfly form

and coloration, red and black with yellow patches, and with some of the

nervules distorted, as if they had been forced apart in certain spots in

order to accommodate these patches.

Two or three hundred species of Chalcosiidae are recorded. They are

specially characteristic of the Indo-Malayan region.