236 BUTTERFLIES 



eral colors are cliocolate-brown and black, dotted and 

 spotted with white. The eggs are laid upon milkweed and 

 the life-history is much like that of the Monarch. One of 

 the most interesting facts in connection with this species 

 is that it seems to be mimicked by the Vicereine butterfly 

 in the same way that the Monarch is mimicked by the 

 Viceroy. 



THE SNOUT BUTTERFLIES OR LONG-BEAKS 



Family Lihytheidae 



One has a suggestion of Hobson's choice in the common 

 names of this unique family. If Snout butterflies does 

 not seem sufficiently elegant as a descriptive phrase for 

 such delicate creatures, he can call them the Long-beaks, 

 until he sees that this also is inadequate. As a matter of 

 fact both are misnomers, for the projection from the head 

 that gives them these names is neither a snout nor a beak. 

 It is simply a pair of palpi unusually developed, which 

 perhaps in an early stage of butterfly history served a use- 

 ful purpose. At present, however, they serve chiefly 

 to set the few owners apart from the other butterflies 

 in the system of classification; although possibly they may 

 also serve the butterfly by helping to give the impression 

 of a leaf attached to a twig. {See plate^ page 24'0.) 



The Snout Butterfly 



Hypatus hachmani 



There is a peculiar interest in any form of animal life 

 which can be definitely traced far back through the 

 geologic ages. In nearly every group of living creatures 



