LEPIDOPTERA 



nz 



coalesce to the margin of the wing. 

 to be only four-branched. 



The North American skip- 

 pers represent two families. 

 In Australia there is a skipper- 

 like insect, Euschemon rafflesicB, 

 which has a distinct frenulum. 

 If this belongs to the Hesperi- 

 oidea, it represents a third 

 family, the Euschemonidae. 

 Our two families can be sepa- 

 rated as follows. 



A. Head of moderate size; club of 

 antenna large, neither drawn out 

 at the tip nor recurved. Large 

 skippers, with wing expanse of 



40 mm. or more. p. 733 



Megathymid^ 



AA. Head very large ; club of an- 

 tenna usually drawn out at the 

 tip, and with a distinct recurved 

 apical crook. In a few forms the 

 crook of the antenna is wanting; 

 such forms can be distinguished 

 from the Megathymidas by their 

 smaller size, the wing expanse be- 

 ing less than 30 mm. p. 734. . . 

 Hesperiid^ 



In such butterflies vein R appears 



Family MEGATHYMID^ 



The Giant Skippers 



Fig. 937. — Wings of Epargyreus tityrus. 



This family includes a small number of large skippers, which are 

 found in the South and far West. In the adult insect the head is 

 of moderate size, the width, including the eyes, being much less 

 than that of the metathorax. The club of the antennas is large; 

 and, although the tip is turned slightly to one side, it is neither drawn 

 out to a point nor recurved. The body is very robust, even more so 

 than in the Hesperiidas. These insects fly in the daytime and with 

 a rapid darting, flight. When at rest they fold their wings in a 

 vertical position. 



So far as is known the larvse in the later stages of their growth are 

 borers in the stems and roots of various species of Yucca and Agave 

 and the young larvee spin silken tubes between the young and tender 

 shoots of these plants. 



A monograph of the family was published by Barnes and Mc- 

 Dunnough ('12). It is represented in the United States by a single 

 genus, Megathymus, of which eight species have been found in the 

 United States. 



Megathymus streckeri (Fig. 938) will serve as an example of the 

 giant skippers. The specimen figured is a female of the variety 



