240 THE BUTTERFLIES OF XEW ENGLAND. 



chrysalis, are characters which this group shares with no others. Here, 

 too, we find the curious phenomenon of partial atrophy in the front legs 

 of the males, though as a general rule not sufficient to interfere with their 

 use. When, however, we come to the highest family, the Nymphalidae, 

 this atrophy has gone so far as, wuth rare exceptions, to affect both sexes 

 and to render the feet absolutely useless for locomotion ; while the pendu- 

 lous character of the chrysalis, the frequently spinous armature of the 

 caterpillar, the almost universally ribbed surface of the egg, the complete 

 separation of the antennal scrobes from the inner edges of the eye and the 

 tumid prothoracic lobes of the imago, are characters which are, with some 

 rare exceptions, confined to this group. 



By means of a diagram, I once attempted to exhibit the apparent rela- 

 tion of these different families and their subdivisions to each other, their 

 position on the genealogical tree being supposed to indicate, on the basis 

 of existing affinities, the relative time at which the different groups diverged 

 from each other or from the main stem : and the height which each branch 

 attained marked the relative perfection of the highest members of that 

 group. But it is impossible to represent this with any accuracy on a flat 

 surface; for one may properly conceive of a grou^:) only as a mass, with 

 branches springing from a common central core, and the sketch necessarily 

 involved some errors. Thus the swallow-tails and lycaenids were brought 

 at opposite extremities of the tree, whereas they are closely related to each 

 other, and disagree with all other groups in the relation of the head of the 

 caterpillar to the segment behind it ; this relationship, however, was to a 

 slight extent indicated by each occupying the lowest twig of the branch on 

 which it was seated, both branches being closely connected at their base. 

 The striking and unique peculiarities of certain groups were shown by then' 

 extreme divergence from the main stem ; thus the swallow-tails stood apart 

 from all others in the possession of dorsal osmateria in the caterpillar ; the 

 lycaenids at the opposite extreme, in the onisciform nature and diminutive 

 heads of their caterpillars ; the castnioides among the skippers by their 

 close api)roach to the moths, and the satyrs or meadow browns by the 

 forked tail of their caterpillars. The superficial affinity of this last group 

 to the skippers was also indicated by the directness of their line from the 

 very base ; it is one of the most curious features in the structure of butter- 

 flies that some of its highest and lowest members should resemble each 

 other in so many minor points. For instance, the tone of coloring and 

 pattern of markings on the wings of many satyrs, as well as the position 

 and general nature of the sexual marks on the front pair of some males, 

 find a close counterpart on the wings of some skippers ; so also the chry- 

 salids of satyrs are among the simplest, most rounded, and compact in the 

 whole family, approaching in this respect the lowest butterflies. Never- 

 theless, in all the prime features of their organization, the satyrs outrank 

 nearly all others. 



