riir, lAMii.v i.vi ai;mii.\i;. 769 



fniinit, ultlii>ii<;li i'.\liiliitiii<r liiit a limited iiiinilicr of •ruiicric types. In 

 North Aint'ricii it is fi-olilv (lt'Vt'lo|ieil »'X('r|tt ii|ii>ii tlu' wotfrii count ; c'Ii*c- 

 wlu'fi' it is liifiicly outnuiulx'n'd liotli h\ ilic \\iii|iliali(lae and llie 

 Hi'.H|icridac'. 



Till' l)iittorliii's 111' tlii'* jiroiip as a iidi' arc snialiri- iliaii lliu.-c of any 

 otliiT family, not r.\cf|)tin<^ tlic II('B|H'rida('. from wliicli ilny arc i|iiickly 

 distin>;iiislii'd l>y tht-ir nioiT vivid colors and <r<'i><i"ally {ray attirr. 'Jlicir 

 dolicatc and brilliant nnirkinjis, togctlii-r with the iiiniMc and vaiitd fii;,dit 

 of many, scarcely excelled Ity the most vivacious ot ilir .Nymiiiiaiidae, 

 nnirk them as jjems in the lepiilopterons world. Tlicir v inj.'-s arc almost 

 alwavs entire excepting:; when the inner hall' ot' the iiind winjf develops a 

 tail, often of excessive length and delicacy, a mere thread of cidor. 

 In the structure of the fore legs this group stands midway between the 

 Nvmphalidae and the Papilionidae. Those of the female are always per- 

 fectlv formed though usually slightly smaller than the middle pair: while 

 those of the male are always more or less atrophied, yet never to the 

 extent that prevails among Nymphalidae*. 



Tiie caterpillars may at once be distinguished from all others by the 

 small size of the head, their more or less onisciform and never elongate 

 shape and l)v the brevity of their legs and pi'olegs. forcing some of them 

 to "lide rather than creep. Not a few are known to a^ail tlu'in>el\('s of 

 their small head, extensible neck and oldiijwe position of the mouth, to 

 burrow into pods, seeds and fruit. The clirysalids aiv broad in propor- 

 tion to their length, seldom, and then \erv slightly and roundly, angu- 

 hited and are not only attached by the hinder extremity as those of tlie 

 previous family, but tightly girt by a silken cord, passing aromid the 

 bodv near the division between the thorax and abdomen ; their infei-ior 

 surface is nearly straight, and closely pressed against the surface to which 

 thev are attached. In one or two instances they secure a similar position 

 by the tail fastenings alone, probably from the length of the cremastral 

 area and the rigidity of the abdominal joints. 



Division of the family. In the lists and other systematic papers that I 

 have pulilished wiiiiin the last ten or fifteen years, T have ventured to 

 depart from the ordinary custom of entomologists by considering the Leni- 

 oniinae and Lycaeninae as subfamilies of one great group, instead of 

 classing them as distinct families ; but my reasons for this conclusit)n have 

 never been fully stated. In brief, it may be said that these two groups 

 bear to each other almost identical relations to those ])orne to each other 

 by the Pierinae and Paj)ilioninae. Those who consider these two latter 

 groups a.-* members of a single family slioidd regard the Lycaenidae as 



• fioilman ami .Salviii linvc rei'cnlly «l»- rliininnticm uf llio claws" lins "iifviT liccn 

 8crllM><l a gcmis TlifolopniB in wliirli "Hip onrriod out." Tlio 8|iccics ooiiic from Central 

 fusion of the joint!) of the tnr-ins mid tlir Aniorica. 



97 



