836 PYRRHOPYGINAE. By Dr. M. Draudt. 



shaped cobwebs with tough, ahiiost sticky threads in which thei'e hung not only large Hesperidae, but also 

 large and powerful Papilio {polydamas) and even beetles of the size and strength of large Scarabaeids. I further- 

 more observed Mantids that had picked out their post at the ends of twigs in so insidious a way that the Hesperids 

 flew directly into their arms. 



The division of the Hesperids causes rather great difficulties by reason of the great conformity of the 

 species and genera among each other. For a long time nobody wanted to try a scientifically well-founded classi- 

 fication, until Wat.son, in 1893, solved this task in a very satisfactory way by the abundant material of the 

 British Museum. He based his task upon the preliminary studies by Scudder and created a system of the 

 Hesperidae, which was later on yet improved by P. Mabille by furnishing a catalogue of the whole family 

 which, tliough it seems to be not quite complete and somewhat superficial in the citations, can still scarcely be 

 excelled in its zoogeographical argumentation, and which is therefore retained here without any essential 

 alteration. 



The Hesperidae, in their total appearance, are mostly small butterflies, not exceeding an expanse of 

 few centimeters. 



The head being conspicuously broad, as we have already mentioned, is not vertically, as in the Rhopalocera, 

 but more horizontally placed, as in the Sphingids, so that the frons shows upwards instead of forewards. The 

 palpi have a stout basal and middle joint, they are mostly also very much inflated, the terminal joint being 

 small, styloid. Also the antennae distinguish the Hesperidae from all the other day-butterflies by the club 

 being not only bent round like a hook, but also comprising far more antennal joints than in any other family 

 of day-butterflies. Particularly the apex of the spindle often bends off in a sharp flaw rectangularly from the 

 shaft . 



The thorax is uncommonly robust and its chitinous cuirass offers great resistance to the pressure of 

 the fingers; it is, however, not elastic and tenacious, as for instance in a Danaid or Zygaenid, but delicate, and 

 the animals having once been pressed are no more able to recover their flying power; legs and antennae are 

 easily broken, but particularly only a rude touch at the head suffices to make the palpi di'op. 



The abdomen, though it sits broadly on the thorax, is nevertheless slender, pointed, not heavy nor 

 strongly inflated. It is usually just as stout in the ,^ as in the $, so that it is often not easy at first sight to 

 distinguish the two sexes. It is never seen conspicuously lengthened. 



All the 6 legs are adapted for resting. They also exhibit a peculiarity by the hindlegs, mostly having 

 2 pair of well-developed spines, as we find them also in Heterocera. 



The venation likewise greatly deviates from that of the other day-butterflies. The cell of the forewing 

 is usually very long and narrow, sometimes open like that of the hindwing. The subcostal veins branch off 

 at almost the same distances, so do the radial veins from the discocellular, wherever it is present. Thereby 

 the phase is shown that all the subcostal veins of the forewing touch the co.stal margin, which imparts to the 

 scheme of venation a peculiar primitive appearance. 



Subfamily: Pyrrliopyginae W'ts. 



By the peculiar .shape of the antennae, this well-characterized subfamily, which is confined to the 

 New World in its distribution, is always distinctly to be separated from all the other Hesperidae. They are 

 almost without exception large, strong species, on the bodies and wings of which dark colours, often with a 

 deep blue or green lustre, are predominant, sometimes with hyaline spots. Most peculiarly almost all the forms 

 find imitators among the other subordinate groups. 



The club of the antenna is strong, quite cylindrical or also slightly conic, rarely very little pointed, 

 but never with the long, turned down point which we find otherwise. The club is usually more or less strongly 

 bent at the beginning of the thickening. The cell of the forewing is long, at least -<i of the length of the costal 

 margin, mostly longer. Vein 5 of the hindwing is often absent. The ^ has never an overturned costal fold. 

 While being at rest, the wings are usually spread out horizontally. 



1. Genus: Pyrrliop^ge Hbn. 



This genus comprises very numerous, partly extremely similar species which are difficult to separate 

 and herhaps neither are sepai'able as distinct species. Nearly all are large, strong animals with black body 

 and wings, often with a bronze-green or deep blue lustre, often spotted red on the head and abdomen. On the 

 broad, mostly pointed forewings the discoidal runs veiy obliquely, the upper median vein rising somewhat 

 behind the middle of the cell. On the hindwing the lower radial and upper median vein rise unpetioled, the 

 middle radial being absent. The hind tibiae are .strongly haired outside. 



The Pyrrhopyge, according to statements by Dr. Seitz, are conspicuous animals owing to their almost 

 invariably one-coloured black colouring and the mostly glaring-red ends of their bodies. When they fly past 

 swiftly, these red places are difficult to notice for the human eye, but the resting insect makes the impression 



