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Genus VANESSA. 



In this genus the antennae terminate in an oval 

 Hub ; the palpi approximate at the extremity, and 

 project obliquely, forming- a kind of beak in front of 

 the head : the basal joint is short and curved, the se- 

 cond very long and tapering, and the terminal one 

 slender and conical : the wings angular, or having 

 projecting points on the hinder margin ; legs alike in 

 both sexes ; the anterior pair not formed for walking, 

 the tarsus being composed of a single compressed 

 spatulate piece, and densely clothed with long hairs ,• 

 the four posterior tarsi terminating in double claws, 

 with a minute heart-shaped appendage between them. 

 The caterpillars are armed with long spines, but 

 have the segment next the head naked. The chry- 

 salis is angular, with two projecting points on the 

 head, and is suspended by the tail. Several of the 

 Vanessse are among our most common insects, and 

 they are surpassed by few in the beauty and variety 

 of their colours. The wings are thick and of a rigid 

 texture, and the body so much more robust than in 

 the generality of their tribe, that they frequently pass 

 the winter in a kind of dormant state, and again take 

 wing on the returning warmth of spring. They pre- 

 sent some differences in the structure of their oral 

 organs, and ought perhaps, in strict propriety, to 

 f orm two or three subgenera. 



