COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 



1\ 



unable to say with certainty whether any particular cateriiilhir belong^s 

 to one or the other of the two great divisions of the Lcpidoptera. 

 Instruction on these ])oints will [irobably l)o of interest to most 

 collectors. 



The main diti'erence between a butteriiy and a moth lies in the 

 antennae or feelers which, in the former, are always more or less 

 swollen into a "club," as it is called,, at the extremities while in the 

 latter they are, generally speaking, attenuated gradually to the end. 

 In the former, also, these antenna) are always smooth while in the 

 latter they may be set with hairs, simple or in fascicles, may have 

 branches like a comb in a double or single row or may be toothed like 

 a saw. The majority of the Hesj>erida> or Skippers, a family of but- 

 terflies somewhat moth-like in appearance and habits, have the club 

 ending in a more or less lengthened hook and are practically unique 

 n this character. Some few moths have clubbed antennae hut 



Fig. ].— Antennae of Butterflies (apical portions much enlarged), a. Danais : 

 b. Orsotricena ; c. Hypolhunas ; d. Pareba ; e. Lihythco : /. Abimra : 

 fj. Papilio ; h. Pieri:< : j. Lampkles : k. Tagiadcs. 



may be recognised at once as such by the presence of an arrangement 

 for attaching the hindwing to the forewing never present in any 

 butterfly. This arrangement consists of what is called a " retina- 

 culum "* and "frenulum" at the base of the wings on the underside. 

 The retinaculum consists of, in the male, a single tuft of hairs, a bar, 

 fold, or plate directed downwards from the costal vein, in the female 

 ot a tuft of hairs directed upwards from the median nervure or there- 

 abouts. The frenulum consists in the male of a single strong, curved 

 bristle proceeding upwards from the costal edge of the hindwing and 



* 0' "jugum," Col. Bingham informs us that a single aberrant Skipper from Australi 

 possesses these attachments. 



