86 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



than the ventral. Among the Pierinae, the pupae of some of Pieris, as 

 Rapa. and the Napi group, have a tolerably flat ventral surface, others 

 of the same genus do not. And Neophasia, Anthocharis, Callidryas, 

 Terias, Colias, Nathalis, all which I know well, have anything but a flat 

 ventral surface. Among the Nymphalin^, many of the genera have no 

 such surface, as Argynnis, all the Vanessinae, Limenitis, etc., etc. The 

 Heliconinae do not. And, admittedly, the Satyrinae have pupae " among 

 the most rounded in the whole family." Moreover, among many of the 

 Satyrinas the dorsal side is as much flattened as the ventral. The su- 

 premacy of the Satyrinje, and with them the Nymphalidae, cannot be 

 proved from the shape and conditions of the pupa any more than from 

 the papillae. 



The third prime feature consists in the extreme degree of atrophy of 

 the fore legs of the imago. The Hesperid^e have six walking, useful legs ; 

 the Papilionidae the same number. The Nymphalidse, however, have in 

 both sexes but four walking legs, the first pair being deformed, atrophied, 

 useless for walking, and, so far as is known, for any purpose whatever. 

 It is exactly the sort of phenomenon not very infrequently seen in the 

 genus Honx), but here a crippled or atrophied limb has never become a 

 hereditary character. It certainly would not be regarded as a mark of 

 elevation. How atrophy of the legs originated in the butterflies no one 

 can tell, but perhaps by accident in a single member of the type form, 

 and became perpetuated in a family. In the Lycaenidje, we are told, 

 But, 254: — "All the legs of the female are alike, but the front legs of 

 the male are variously aborted." In the But., N. E , 203 : — " As soon as 

 we approach the Lycaenidae, we notice signs of an approaching abortion 

 of the fore legs, but only in the male \ " described as slight ; but is 

 greater in the Lemoniinae. It affects both sexes in the Nymphalidae, but 

 not in one of the sub-families, the Libytheinae. These have six good 

 legs in both sexes. And, in the Satyrinae, the deformity is the most 

 extreme of all. Indeed, unless the front pair of legs should drop off, it is 

 not easy to see what more could be done in that direction. A disfigure- 

 ment is not generally regarded as a sign of beauty, though tastes do 

 differ. In certain valleys in Switzerland, he who can show the most 

 enormous goitre is the pride of the district. Atrophy of limb, if it pre- 

 vails throughout a family, may properly be held to be a mark of degra- 

 dation. It is a phenomenon not confined to any particular order of 



