Genus Megathymus 
by the late Professor C. V. Riley, and the student who is curious 
to know more about this remarkable insect will do well to con¬ 
sult the “Eighth Annual Report of the State Entomologist of 
Fig. 182 .—Megathymus yuccce: a , egg, magnified; b, egg from which larva has 
escaped; bb, bbb, unhatched eggs, natural size; c, newly hatched larva, magnified; 
cc, larva, natural size; d, head, enlarged to show the mouth-parts; e } maxillary 
palpi; /, antenna; g , labial palpi; h, spinneret. 
Missouri” (p. 169), or the “Transactions of the St. Louis Acad¬ 
emy of Science” (vol. iii, p. 323), in which, with great learning, 
the author has patiently set forth what is known in reference to 
the insect. 
The genus Megathymus is referred by some writers to the 
Castniidce , a genus of day-flying moths, which seem to connect 
the moths with the butterflies; but the consideration of the ana¬ 
tomical structure of this insect makes such a reference impos¬ 
sible. The genus properly 
represents a subfamily of the 
Hesperiidae, which might be 
named the Megathymince. The 
species represented in our cuts 
is Megathymus yuccce, Boisdu- 
Fig. 183.—Chrysalis of Megdthymus va l and Leconte. There are a 
number of other species of 
Megathymus that are found in our Southern States, principally in 
Texas and Arizona. They are interesting insects, the life-history 
of which is, however, in many cases obscure, as yet. 
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