80 



BEITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



of flight, so that the creature when thus shorn, but 

 not otherwise injured, if thrown into the air seems to 

 have no idea of using his wings properly, but with a 

 purposeless flutter tumbles headlong to the earth. Still 

 this merely goes to prove that the antennae are the in- 

 struments of some important sense, one of whose usea 

 is to guide the creature's flight ; but as many wingless 

 insects have large antennae, this evidently is not their 

 only function. 



The antennae are also often styled the "feelers ;" but 

 with our present incomplete knowledge of their nature, 

 the former term is preferable, as it does not attempt to 

 define their use as the word "feelers" does. 



Considerable variety of form exists in the clubbed 

 tip of the antennaB in various butterflies, as will be seen 

 by reference to Plate II., where three of the most dis- 

 tinct forms are shown considerably magnified. Fig. 1 2 

 is the upper part of the antenna of the High-brown 

 7ritillary (Argynnis Adippe), the end suddenly swelling 

 into a distinct knob. Fig. 13 is that of the Swallow- 

 tail Butterfly (Papilio Machaon), the enlargement here 

 being more gradual; and fig. 14 is that of the Largo 

 Skipper Butterfly (Pamphila Sylvanus), distinguished 

 by the curved point that surmounts the club. These 

 differences in the forms of the antennae are found to be 

 excellent aids in tho classification of butterflies, and I 

 jihall therefore have occasion to refer to them mow 

 Minutely in describing the insects in detail, 

 Tho stems of th<?e organs are found to be tubula^ 



