142 LEPIDOPTERA. 



of the hind wings is tessellated with straw-colour or pale red. 

 They are found throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, 

 but not in Africa or South America ; nor do they extend to the 

 very high Arctic latitudes, where we still meet with Argynnis. 

 Some of the North American species are black, with, white and 

 red spots. 



Most of the smaller tawny Nymphalince, of America belong to 

 the genus Phyciodes, Hiibn. Many resemble Melitcea above, but 

 the under side of the hind wings is yellowish or greyish, without 

 sharply defined markings. Others have very long wings, and 

 closely resemble small Heliconince, being marked with black and 

 tawny in a similar manner, while others again are black, with 

 white spots on the fore wings, and a broad white band on the 

 hind wings. The short-winged species are usually smaller than 

 an average Melitcea, but the largest of the other group occasion- 

 ally exceed two inches in expanse. This genus, though occur- 

 ring also in North America, entirely replaces Melitcea in tropical 

 America, and has given rise to Mr. Bates's observation that repre- 

 sentative tropical forms of temperate groups rarely surpass, and 

 are often inferior to the latter, both in size and beauty. 



All these genera have spiny larvae, and so likewise has the 

 next group of Nymphalince, that represented by Vanessa, Fabr., 

 and its allies, which may be distinguished from most of the other 

 Nymphalince by their more or less dentated wings. This char- 

 acter reaches its acme in the genus Polygonia, Hiibn., the species 

 of which are rich tawny, spotted with black, and marked with a 

 white C on the under surface of each wing. This genus is most 

 numerous in North America, but is represented in Britain by the 

 Comma Butterfly {P. C- Album, Linn.). 



Eleven species of the Vanessa group are found in Europe, seven 

 of which are British, a larger jjroportion than obtains among other 

 butterflies; but most of the Vanessce are strong-winged insects, 

 feeding on nettles, thistles, and other common weeds ; and this 

 may help to account for the wide distribution of many of the 

 species. They are richly-coloured butterflies, and most of the 

 species are common ; one of the most beautiful is the black and 

 scarlet " Red Admiral " (Pyrameis Atalanta, Linn.), which is 

 common in most gardens in autumn. 



The Vanessce are represented in Asia and Africa by the genera 

 Junonia, Hiibn., Precis, Hiibn., Salamis, Boisd., and a tew others. 

 Junonia Orithya, Linn., a common East Indian species, is black 



