3046 THE JOINTED ANIMALS 



into families. Butterflies are mostly diurnal in their habits, flying in the sunshine 

 by day, although a few take wing only toward evening. Their eggs and larvae dif- 

 fer considerably in many respects from those of the moths, while the chrysalis is 

 seldom inclosed in even the finest network of silk, and in no case is wrapped in a 

 distinct cocoon, nor even buried beneath the earth, very rarely even close to the 

 surface. Usually the chrysalis is angular and blotched and speckled, with gold and 

 silver ornamentation; sometimes it is suspended to a branch or twig by the tail, and 

 sometimes while fastened by the tail also engirdled with a line of silk around the 

 middle, thus tying in a position horizontal to the plane to which the larvae has 

 attached itself. These two characteristics also have been used for purposes of 

 classification, and the suborder has been divided into Suspensi and Succincti on ac- 

 count of this difference in the attachment of the chrysalis. 



The following broad subdivisions of butterflies may be made: Firstly, 

 those which have four perfect legs only in both sexes, the fore-pair 

 being rudimentary or undeveloped; while the chrysalis is suspended by the tail 

 without any girdle. These include the family Nymphalidce. Secondly, those hav- 

 ing four perfect legs in the male, and six in the female, while the feet of the former 

 have no claws at their extremity; the chrysalis being raised, resting on a leaf or 

 suspended. The Erydnidce represent this group. Thirdly, we have the family of 

 the blues {Lyccsnidce} , in which there are six perfect legs in the female, and the 

 chrysalis is suspended. The fourth group is that of the swallowtails (Papilionidce) , 

 in which both sexes possess six perfect legs, while the chrysalis is attached by the 

 tail and girdled by a silken thread. Lastly, the Hesperiidce agree with the preced- 

 ing as regards the legs, but the chrysalis is either attached by threads, or in- 

 closed in a loose cocoon. As a rule, mountainous regions are those which abound 

 most in butterflies, although there is a marked exception in the case of the valleys 

 of tropical America. 



The family Nymphalidce includes an extensive assemblage of butter- 

 _ flies, among which are the fritillaries, peacocks, painted ladies, tortoise- 



shells, and admirals. Here also come the leaf butterflies, purple 

 emperors, white admirals, Camberwell beauty, and the large high-flying blue 

 Morphos. We have also the subfamily Safyrince, which includes the ringlets, marbled 

 whites, meadow browns, and graylings, besides many others too numerous to men- 

 tion. First we may notice, as an example of the subfamily, Danaina, the butterfly 

 shown on the lower right-hand corner of the colored plate, which is known as Eu- 

 plcea harrisii. In common with several other species, it belongs to a genus of large 

 blue, and brown-winged tropical butterflies, in which the upper surface of the wings 

 is usually spotted with white. At the top left-hand corner of the same plate is figured 

 the male of the orange scallop wing ( Cethosia biblis) , which may be taken as a rep- 

 resentative of the subfamily Nymphalida. It is an inhabitant of Northeastern 

 India. Its black and spiny larvae have the body banded with red and yellow, and 

 the head surmounted with a pair of horn-like processes. 



A better-known group are the fritillaries {Argynnis), which are mostly con- 

 fined to the temperate districts of the Northern Hemisphere. In this genus, the 

 British silver-washed fritillary {A. paphia) is among the finest representatives of a 



