HESPERID7E. 



ALTHOUGH the HESPERID^E are usually classed with 

 the diurnal lepidoptera, they recede in many im- 

 portant characters from that group, and become 

 considerably assimilated, both in structure and 

 habits, to the crepuscular and nocturnal kinds, and 

 are therefore not improperly regarded as forming 

 the connecting link between these two tribes. Like 

 butterflies, they have the antennae strongly clubbed 

 at the summit (where they are generally furnished 

 with a hook), and the anterior wings are directed 

 upwards in repose but diverge from each other, 

 while the under pair are horizontal, and the hinder 

 tibiae furnished with two pair of spurs ; attributes 

 which are common to them with moths and hawk- 

 moths. The season of their flight is most commonly 

 towards the evening, which led Fabricius to dis- 

 tinguish them by a generic name bearing reference 

 to that circumstance. But they are likewise ob- 

 served on the wing during the whole day, and their 

 mode of flight, which is only for a short distance at 

 a time, and performed with frequent and sudden 

 jerks, has caused them to be well known in this 

 country by the name of Skippers. They are insects 



