XXIV INTRODUCTION. 



flies are placed in the middle of the Moths ; but although a 

 natural linear arrangement of any group of animals or plants is 

 impossible, yet the Butterflies exhibit so many well-marked 

 characteristics that they appear to have every claim to be 

 treated as an isolated group, placed either at the head of 

 the Lepidoptera, as the most highly organised group, if we 

 follow the descending series of forms, as is usually done ; or at 

 the extremity, if we adopt the reverse arrangement, and con- 

 clude the series with the highest forms. 



The Heterocera, or AIoths. 



The Moths are distinguished from the Butterflies rather by 

 an aggregation of characters, none of which hold good through- 

 out, than by any hard-and-fast line. Thus, the antennae in 

 Moths, are very various in form; and, although in a few genera, 

 such as Synemo?i, Doubleday, they much resemble those of a 

 Butterfly in shape, this occurs in conjunction with other 

 characters, such as the possession of a frenulum, which are 

 never found in Butterflies at all. In many Moths, simple eyes, 

 or ocelli, are present, a character never found in Butterflies, 

 and in some of the Micro- Lepidopf era the maxillary palpi are well 

 developed, though they are obsolete in the Butterflies and in 

 the larger Moths. In most Moths there is an apparatus called 

 the frenulum, which consists of one or more bristles on the 

 under side of the hind-wings near the base. These serve to con- 

 nect the fore and hind-wings together during flight, but many 

 Moths do not possess them ; and in some cases a bristle is only 

 found in the male. In the males the apparatus consists of one 

 bristle only, but in the females which possess it, it generally con- 

 sists of two or three. It is never found in any Butterfly, un- 

 less we regard the anomalous Australian Ettschemon rafflesice 

 (Macleay) as a Butterfly rather than a Moth. Moths are very 



