17 



I give a central position. I find among the North American 

 genera evidence from which I follow this latter group with 

 the ftplihxjinac, terminating the family with the Acherontinae, 

 a tribe not found in the New World. It will be seen that 

 I do not agree with my friend Butler that the Cnsxinae are 

 at all nearly related to the present group. With the Hepi- 

 alii>(> (from which I separate them while Packard keeps 

 the two together) I believe the Goat Moths to be very low 

 Bomln/ces and Butler himself points out antennal features 

 which warrant this view of their structure. I should not 

 consider the resemblance between my genera Prionoxyst-us 

 and Lt'pixpsia as being more than casual. 



When coal was being formed, there were probably already 

 differentiated the progenitors of modern Butterflies und Moths, 

 nocturnal creatures, obscurely colored and banded, perhaps 

 with aquatic larvae and active pupal state, living in those 

 literally darker days of the world's past. The gayer tints 

 came in their endless diversity with 'the daylight and the 

 flowers, probably differentiating comparatively rapidly. From 

 the Moths, the Day Butterflies proceeded, under certain con- 

 ditions and in certain localities. So far we may be safe 

 with our imaginative science; but, when we come into the 

 region of exact details, we are at fault, the story of all this 

 development can only be guessed at, traced by the steps 

 which have been impressed on the structure and ornamen- 

 tation of the larvae and perfect insects. Probably whole 

 families have become extinct; in the North American Paho- 

 lie$j>r)-i(t<' are the few survivors of such an extinct assem- 

 blage, lying between Castii'in and the lowest Butterflies. With 

 the Lep'nlnptera, as with all life, there has been the same 

 remoulding force at work, but these frail creatures seem 

 to have escaped, by their very lightness, some of the grinding 

 processes of time and circumstance. According to Scudder, 

 a specimen belonging to the Hpllniiidm: has been found in 

 amber ; I have seen no mention of other fossil remains of 

 this group. This group of Moths must have been influenced 

 by flowers in their development to a large extent. The dis- 

 tribution of Butterflies nnd Moths is assisted by wind currents 



3 



