ORDER LEPIDOPTERA 
SUBORDER RHOPALOCERA (BUTTERFLIES) 
FAMILY I 
NYMPHALIDAE (THE BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES) 
The family of the Nymphalidse 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 (Libytheinse), 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 reticulations 
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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