DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA. 69 



On the Classifieatioii of Btitterlljes, with si>eoial reference 

 to the position of iUv ICQi'l'TI^S or Swsdlow-tails. 



BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDKH. 



The family groups into which butterflies should he jiriiiiarily divided 

 have been variously given, all the way from two to sixteen. As the 

 structure of the different stages becomes better known, there is an 

 increasing proof of the intimate connection of many of the groups 

 formerly believed very distinct, and it is generally conceded by the 

 better class of recent writers, that there are only about half-a-dozen 

 principal groups. My own study of their structure and transformatiou 

 leads me to divide them primarily into four families, viz. : 



The bru.sh-fo.)ted butterflies or Nymphales (=: NyniphalidiB 

 Bates.)* 



The gossamer-winged butterflies or Rurales (= Erycinidai et 

 Lycaenidne Hates.) 



The typical butterflies f or 1\\pilionipes (= Papilionidii) Bates.) 

 The skippers or UBBl.^or-i^E (= Hesperidae Bates.) 

 The family nature of the last group has never been questioned 

 by any who look upon the butterflies as composed of more than one 

 family ; indeed their distinction from the others is so marked that 

 some have considered the remainder of the butterflies their equivalent 

 in value; that is, they divide all butterflies into only two families or 

 tribes. I Doubtless, these skippers first separated from the common 

 stock and never d;!veloped to a high degree, since they still remain 

 by far the lowest of the gmup and are in many points more closely 

 allied to some of the higher moths, than they are to any other butter- 

 flies. They are peculiar for their mbust body, broad head, hooked 

 antenna), which are widely separated at base, great length of tongue, 



*I have given in parenthesis the corresponding " family" groups of Bates 

 (Journ. Eut. I, 219 — 20), since tlie arran.i;ement here proposed agrees more 

 closely with his than with that of any other naturalist. The only exception to 

 complete general equivalency is his separation of the Rurales into two families 

 (whereas I look on those divisions as sub-families), and his placing the Liby- 

 theidfe as the his<hest meinber of his Ei'ycinida;, while I would place them as 

 the lowest member of the Nymphales. 



{■J call these tyi>ical (as Swaiii^on called them "true butterflies,") because 

 they include the commonest butterflies of the north teinjierate zone, the white 

 and yellow butterflies, or the insects most familiarly known as butterflies to 

 the world at large. 



J See the writings of Geon"roy, Fabricius, Leach, Dalman, Latreille, etc. 



TRANS. AMER. E.NT. SOC. VI. (10) JlNt:, 1S77. 



