244 LEPIDOPTERA. 



chrysalis. It is very rare tliat the wings of such an insect 

 are developed, though I have obtained some perfect specimens 

 in this way ; and in one instance the development of the wings 

 took place only three days after the pupal skin had been 

 removed. Success is more certain if the insect is put under a 

 glass jar with a moistened sponge, and something for the insect 

 to hang from ; the dampness of the air in the jar will prevent 

 the soft wings from drying too fast, and when the time arrives 

 for the insect to accomplish its transformation, the fluid will be 

 active. Such an insect has much analogy with a vertebrate 

 born prematurel}^ ; the insect, like the quadruped, remains 

 almost motionless till the natural time for its birth arrives." 



Papilionid^ Latreille. The Butterflies, or Diurnal Lepi- 

 doptera, are at once distinguished from the moths b}' their 

 knobbed antenna?, though they are sometimes nearly flliform. 

 The body is small, but there is a greater equality in the size of 

 the three regions than in the moths, the abdomen being much 

 shorter and smaller, as a general rule, than in the lower fami- 

 lies. The ocelli are usually wanting ; the spiral tongue or 

 maxillae, are long and well developed ; and the wings are car- 

 ried erect when in repose, and are not held together during 

 flight by a bristle and socket as in the moths. 



The larva? vary greatly in shape and in their style of orna- 

 mentation, but they uniforml}^ have, besides the thoracic legs, 

 five pairs of abdominal legs. The pupa is called a " chrysalis" 

 or ''aurelian" from the bright golden hues which adorn those 

 of many species. They disappear as the wet tissues beneath the 

 l)upa-skin harden just before the fl}^ appears. The pupa is usu- 

 ally angulated on the sides of the thorax and along the upper 

 side of the abdomen. A few species, such as those of Vanessa, 

 hibernate, while several species, such as Vanessa Antiopa, are 

 social as young larva. The most " perfect state of society' is ex- 

 hibited by a Mexican butterfly (Eucheira socialis Westwood), 

 the caterpillars of which construct a very strong parchment-like 

 bag, in which they not only reside, but undergo their change to 

 the pupa state." Butterflies also occasionall}^ SAvarm while 

 in the perfect state, such as species of Colias, Cynthia and 

 Danais, multitudes of which are sometimes seen passing over- 



