116 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:3— Mch., 1916 



cur, outside of the polar zones, in nearly all parts of the world; 

 the number of species and subspecies is .practically limitless; 

 their chase and capture calls for the most active kind of exercise 

 in the open air; the literature about them is enormous, and stu- 

 dents devoted to their collection and study are to be met with 

 almost wherever one travels; their study may be difficult or easy, 

 just as the student may elect; but little pain is inflicted in col- 

 lecting them, and wounded ones are very rarely left to suffer 

 in the field. Finally, a collection of butterflies or moths, when 

 scientifically prepared and displayed, is one of the most attract- 

 ive and handsome exhibits the naturalist contributes toward 

 man's enlightenment and culture. 



Entomology — or the science of insects— is a field of enor- 

 mous extent, and no single man, had he a thousand lives to live, 

 could begin to master even what the single group of scale-winged 

 insects — the Lepidoptera, which contains the butterflies and 

 moths — has to offer for study. When I say this, I mean the 

 Lepidoptera of the world. What an infinitesimal amount, then, 

 even of what we have mastered about these insects, can be im- 

 parted in the few pages of this brief article! My object will 

 have been attained if I can characterize one or two each of our 

 most common butterflies and moths in such a way that the nature 

 student, who studies the pictures I present here and masters 

 what T say in regard to them, will ever afterwards know those 

 particular species, in whatever manner they be presented to him. 



To accomplish this, I rely far more upon my photographs 

 of the living insects than upon my descriptions; for I firmly be- 

 lieve that an absolutely correct figure of an animal of any kind 

 is far more likely to be of value to the young naturalist, in the 

 matter of identification, than a dozen pages of descriptive matter. 



This value is greatly enhanced when the illustrations are col- 

 ored; but unfortunately we cannot have that advantage in the 

 present instance, although I have colored not a few photographs 

 from life of .butterflies and moths. Within the last few 

 years, comparatively speaking, students in this line of study 

 have fortunately been given two magnificent handbooks on the 

 subject, by the aid of which almost any moth or butterfly in this 

 country, north of Mexico, may be readily identified, the identi- 

 fication being made the more certain by the use of the superb 

 colored plates illustrating the volumes. I refer to the "Butter- 



