MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 493 



sweet nut. . . . The first time this diet is used by the native tribes, violent vomitin^ 



* O 



and other debilitating effects are produced, but after a few days they become accus- 

 tomed to its use, and then thrive and fatten exceedingly upon it." Danais limniace 

 is at times quite common in the gardens of Sydney and Brisbane. 



To India and Australia also belongs the great genus Euplcea, in which the wings 

 are generally marked with white spots, and adorned with purple or blue reflections. 

 Many very fine and rare species are found in the little known islands of the Am and 

 Timor groups, and we are yearly adding others to our lists through the energy of 

 collectors in those regions. Many genera of few species follow the Euplceas, most of 

 which bear great resemblance to the Heliconias. Such are Lycorea, of which L. 

 cleobcea is a familiar example, and Diricenna hhtzii, a species with clear wings, marked 

 along the nervures with bright brown streaks, common in Mexico and Central 

 America. Mechanitis contains a group of rather large insects, in which the wings are 

 comparatively narrow, the abdomen and antenme quite long, with the prevailing 

 colors yellow and shades of brown. The last three genera appear to replace the 

 Danaiads and Euplo&as in the New World, none of them being found away from the 

 American continent. 



Closely allied to them is a large group, natives of the tropical portion of the con- 

 tinent belonging chiefly to the genus Ithomia. These have the wings, with the 

 exception of the margins, entirely destitute of scales, and when in flight appear as 

 has been aptly said, like " spirit butterflies," their gauzy wings hardly giving the 

 idea of active life. They are numerous both in species and examples, and no forest 

 in tropical America can be searched without several being captured. They are not 

 of large size, seldom exceeding three inches in expanse of wing, the colors of the borders 

 being shades of brown, occasionally mottled with white or yellow. The denudation 

 of the wing gives the idea of great weakness, but though in itself so beautifully thin 

 and transparent, it is very tough and strong, and able to bear the dashing about 

 among trees and flowers equally as well as those covered with scales. The genus 

 contains upward of one hundred and sixty species already known to science. 



The PAPILIONID^E may be characterized as follows : " Larva elongated, somewhat 

 swollen anteriorly, tapering considerably to the posterior extremity, with two retrac- 

 tile tentacles on the segment behind the head. Chrysalis angular, supported by a girth 

 around the centre. Perfect insect (imago) with the abdom- 

 inal edge of the secondaries (hind wings) concave, and the 



1 *T1 lit ~\ TT 1 (* 1 fi * 



discoidal cell closed. Hooks ot the tarsi simple. Six well- 



, 1 T ,. T ,1 m , ,, ., . , ,. ., , FIG. 618. Larva of Papilio. 



developed feet in both sexes. The family is subdivided 



into two sub-families, the Pierinae and Papilioninse, but it is as yet an open question 



as to whether the Parnassinae should not be elevated to an equal rank, the singular 



pouch possessed by the females, the fact of their weaving a slight cocoon in which to 



undergo their transformations, the short antenna, and many details connected with 



their habits and economy, seeming to point to the conclusion that they should be 



separated. 



First we approach a sub-family of great extent, and from the destructive habits of 

 the larvae of many of the species, of immense importance in the economy of nature, 

 including the insects known as the 'garden white,' 'cabbage white,' etc., and by 

 science called the Pierinae. It contains twenty-nine genera, and about eight hundred 

 species, and is distributed in one or other of its forms over the world's surface. This 

 sub-family may be thus described: "Larva slightly pubescent, somewhat attenuated 



