Brassolis, Westw. being practically the only species which so far has escaped 

 its influence, although a few other of the Lycaenidae also still attain a fair size, 

 while Arhopala Hercules, Hew. even approaches the former in its dimensions. 

 The said process has, however, advanced in this group to such an extent that 

 it must have operated during a very long period, leading to the inference that 

 the group must be a very ancient one among the Rhopalocera, a supposition 

 which receives confirmation from the presence of the girdle thread in the pupae. 

 The difference between individuals of the same species, moreover, is striking, 

 especially in the case of those species which Snellen includes in the genus 

 Lycaena. Not infrequendy real dwarfs are met with; I possess several specimens 

 of Lycaena Pavana, Felder, and one of Lycaena Celeno, Cram., which are 

 no larger than the species usually included in the genus Zizera. Whence 

 does this difference come? Insufficient nourishment of the larva, will be the 

 answer of the experimentalist, for by this means very small examples are 

 obtained experimentally. But I am unable to concur in this view. Invariably, 

 during drought as well as in the rainy season — therefore when there can be 

 no question of lack of nourishment for the larva — much difference in size is 

 found to occur between individuals, even though this does not always result 

 in such dwarfed examples as those referred to. Moreover, many specimens 

 from the middle of the dry period are no smaller than those occurring in the 

 middle of the rainy season. Every creature, to be sure, is the result of a 

 number of evolutionary processes, each of which acts independently on each 

 individual and the result of which, consequendy, must vary amongst the individuals, 

 also where size is concerned. But this cannot account for all the difference. 

 Why then is there so much difference in size between different species? Why 

 are so many butterflies from Celebes and the Moluccas so much larger than 

 those of the same species in Java, and why should in the lapse of time the 

 diminution in size of the body, referred to, have manifested itself, causing us 

 to regard such forms as Liphyra Brassolis, Westw., as well as Hestias and 

 Ornithoptera, as relicts from earlier periods, a process which clearly manifests 

 itself in the descent of the Papilios from the so much larger Ornithoptera, 

 as is unmistakably demonstrated by the ontogenesis of the larvae of Papilio? 

 In this direction, there is still unlimited scope for investigation in which account 

 will have to be taken of the large size of so many animal forms formerly living. 

 Among the Protoneuroptera, from which the Lepidoptera are descended, such 

 giant forms are also known to have occurred. 



The so-called tails occur in many species, differing in number, length, and 

 shape, and sometimes forming lobes. They are purely relics, appendages of 

 no utility to the insect, and whose frequent destruction, entire or partial therefore 



