SUBFAMILY ITHOMIIN^ (THE LONG-WINGS) 



" There be Infects with little homes proaking out before their eyes, but weak and 

 tender they be, and good for nothing ; as the Butterflies."— Pliny, Philemon Holland's 

 Translation. 



Bnfterjfy.— This subfamily is composed for the most part of 

 species of moderate size, though a few are quite large. The fore 

 wings are invariably greatly lengthened and are generally at least 

 twice as long as broad. The hind wings are relatively small, 

 rounded, and without tails. The wings in many of the genera 

 are transparent. The extremity of the abdomen in both sexes 

 extends far beyond the margin of the hind wings, but in the fe- 

 male not so much as in the male. The antennse are not clothed 

 with scales, and are very long and slender, with the club also long 

 and slender, gradually thickening to the tip, which is often droop- 

 ing. The fore legs are greatly atrophied in the males, the tibia 

 and tarsi in this sex being reduced to a minute knob-like ap- 

 pendage, but being more strongly developed in the females. 



The life-history of none of the species reputed to be found in our 

 fauna has been carefully worked out. The larvse are smooth, cov- 

 ered in most genera with longitudinal rows of conical prominences. 



The chrysalids are said to show a likeness to those of the 

 Euploeinae, being short, thick, and marked with golden spots. 

 Some authors are inclined to view this subfamily as merely con- 

 stituting a section of the Euploeinae. The insects are, however, 

 so widely unlike the true Euploeinae that it seems well to keep 

 them separate in our system of classification. In appearance they 

 approach the Heliconians more nearly than the Euploeids. Itho- 

 miid butterflies swarm in the tropics of the New World, and sev- 

 eral hundreds of species are known to inhabit the hot lands of 

 Central and South America. But one genus is found in the Old 

 World, Hamadryas, confined to the Australian region. They are 



85 



