LEPIDOPTERA. 71 



sixt3^-six ; they are divided into five families. Of the 

 Moths there are about two thousand species, and more 

 than one hundred families, which consist of nine large 

 groups. 



The following are the five families into which the 

 British buttertiies are divided : — 



1. Papilionida). 



2. Nymphalidte. 



3. Erycinidse. 



4. Lycoenidce. 



5. Hesperid^. 



The first family contains two sub-families, the Papili- 

 on'idce and the Fierldw. In the first the inner margin 

 of the hind wing is concave ; in the other it is not so. 

 Of the first sub-family only one species is known in this 

 country, and that is the large, rare, and beautiful 

 Swallows-tailed butterfly {Papilio machaon), so called 

 from the prolonged margin of the hind wings. Its 

 colour is yellow and black, with lines and spots, a deep 

 bluish black band near the hind margin, a bright red 

 round spot on the inner margin of each hind wing. I 

 do not know this species except in cabinets. It is chiefly 

 to be found in the fenny districts of Huntingdon and 

 Cambridgeshire, though it has occasionally been cap- 

 tured in Sussex and Kent. The larva, which is of a 

 bright pale green colour, with black bands and orange 

 spots, feeds on the cow-parsley, marsh-parsley, and 

 other umbelliferous plants. The perfect insect is said 

 to be a high and rapid flyer, capable of soaring aloft. 

 It emerges from its pupa the middle of May. 



