ORDER LEPIDOPTERA 

 SUBORDER RHOPALOCERA (BUTTERFLIES) 



FAMILY I 

 NYMPHALID/E (THE BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES) 



The family of the Nymphalidae is composed of butterflies 

 which are of medium and large size, though a few of the genera 

 are made up of species which are quite small. They may be 

 distinguished from all other butterflies by the fact that the first 

 pair of legs in both sexes is atrophied or greatly reduced in size, 

 so that they cannot be used in walking, but are carried folded up 

 upon the breast. The fore feet, except in the case of the female of 

 the snout-butterflies (Libytheinae), are without tarsal claws, and 

 hence the name " Brush-footed Butterflies " has been applied to 

 them. As the anterior pair of legs is apparently useless, they 

 have been called "The Four-footed Butterflies," which is scien- 

 tifically a misnomer. 



Egg.— The eggs of the Nymphalidae, for the most part, are 

 dome-shaped or globular, and are marked with raised longitudinal 

 lines extending from the summit toward the base over the entire 

 surface or over the upper portion of the egg. Between these 

 elevations are often found finer and less elevated cross-lines. In 

 a few genera the surface of the eggs is covered with reticulation^ 

 arranged in geometrical patterns (see Fig. i). 



Caterpillar.— The caterpillars of the Nymphalidae, as they 

 emerge from the egg, have heads the diameter of which is larger 

 than that of the body, and covered with a number of wart-like 



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