INTRODUCTION 
CHAPTER I 
THE LIFE-HISTORY AND ANATOMY OF BUTTERFLIES 
“ The study of butterflies,—creatures selected as the types of airiness and frivolity, 
—instead of being despised, will some day be valued as one of the most important 
branches of biological science.”— Bates, Naturalist on the Amazons. 
In studying any subject, it is always well, if possible, to com¬ 
mence at the beginning; and in studying the life of animals, or of 
a group of animals, we should endeavor to obtain a clear idea at 
the outset of the manner in which they are developed. It is a 
familiar saying that “all life is from an egg.” This statement is 
scientifically true in wide fields which come under the eye of the 
naturalist, and butterflies are no exception to the rule. 
THE EGGS OF BUTTERFLIES 
The eggs of butterflies consist of a membranous shell con¬ 
taining a fluid mass composed of the germ of the future cat¬ 
erpillar and the liquid food which is 
necessary for its maintenance and de¬ 
velopment until it escapes from the 
shell. The forms of these eggs are 
various. Some are spherical, others 
hemispherical, con¬ 
ical, and cylindri¬ 
cal. Some are bar¬ 
rel-shaped ; others 
Fig. i. — Egg of Basilar chi a 
disippus , magnified 50 diame¬ 
ters (Riley). 
Fig. 2.—Egg of Basilar- 
have the shape of chia disippus, natural size, 
, , ... at the end of under surface 
a cheese, and still 0 f leaf (Riley), 
others have the 
form of a turban. Many of them are angled, some depressed 
at the ends. Their surface is variously ornamented. Some- 
3 
