INTRODUCTION 



CHAPTER I 



THE LIFE-HISTORY AND ANATOMY OF BUTTERFLIES 



" The study of butterflies,— creatures selected as the types of airiness and frivolity, 

 — instead of being despised, will some day be valued as one of the most important 

 branches of biological science."— Bates, Naturalist on the Amazons. 



In Studying any subject, it is always well, if possible, to com- 

 mence at the beginning; and in studying the life of animals, or of 

 a group of animals, we should endeavor to obtain a clear idea at 

 the outset of the manner in which they are developed. It is a 

 familiar saying that **all life is from an egg." This statement is 

 scientifically true in wide fields which come under the eye of the 

 naturalist, and butterflies are no exception to the rule. 



THE EGGS OF BUTTERFLIES 



The eggs of butterflies consist of a membranous shell con- 

 taining a fluid mass composed of the germ of the future cat- 

 erpillar and the liquid food which is 

 necessary for its maintenance and de- 

 velopment until it escapes from the 

 shell. The forms of these eggs are 

 various. Some are spherical, others 

 hemispherical, con- 

 ical, and cylindri- 

 cal. Some are bar- 

 rel-shaped ; others 



Fig. I . — Egg of Basilarchia 

 disippus, magnified 30 diame- 

 ters (Riley). 



Fig. 2. —Egg of Basilar- 

 have the shape of c/n'^rf25i/)/)»s, natural size, 

 1 J X 11 at the end of under surface 



a cheese, and still of leaf (Riley). 

 others have the 



form of a turban. Many of them are angled, some depressed 

 at the ends. Their surface is variously ornamented. Some- 



3 



