PREFACE. 



THE present work originated in a plan, devised thirty years ago by 

 the students of Professor Louis Agassiz, to describe within the com- 

 pass of a series of volumes all the animals of New England, with special 

 reference to their life histories. To me was assigned, among other sub- 

 jects, the volume on Lepidoptera, and though the original scheme never 

 passed beyond the stage of discussion (and the design of a titlepage by one 

 of our number, which I still preserve), it has borne fruit in not a few addi- 

 tions to our knowledge of " The Zoology of New England," by my associ- 

 ates, — Messrs. Allen, Hyatt, Morse, Packard, Putnam, Shaler, and Verrill, 

 to mention the living only. Twenty years ago the present work was 

 definitely planned, announced, and begun, and the greater part of it has 

 been written for fifteen years ; but with the increase of our knowledge, 

 nearly all the histories of the species have been completely rewritten 

 within the past few years, in the intervals of work in other directions. 

 This delay has not been to follow the sage advice of Horace, — 



" Si quid tamen olim 

 Scripseris, in Maeci descendat indicis auris, 

 Et patris et nostras, nonumque prematur in annum, 

 Membranis intus positis : " ^ 



but has been caused rather by the " res angusta domi," preventing earlier 

 accomplishment of my desire. 



Although very much more extended than I at first contemplated, 

 especially in the matter of illustration, the work as completed is still 

 far short of what I could wish; insufficient attention, for instance, has 

 been paid to the differences in the form and clothing of the head in the 

 various stages of the caterpillar, though the illustrations of the same will 

 partly atone for this omission. I had also intended to include a descrip- 

 tion of the minute texture of the integument of the caterpillar, and 

 made many preparations for the purpose, but not enough to warrant the 

 introduction of this material. 



It had also been my purpose to make extended comparisons of the 

 species described with their nearest allies outside the region concerned, 

 together with critical discussions, when necessary, to explain the synonymy 



* Ars Poetica, 386. 



