388 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



Family LYC/ENID^E (Ly-caen'i-dae). 

 The Gossamer-winged Butterflies. 



The family Lycaenidae includes butterflies which are of 

 small size and delicate structure. In size they resemble the 

 smaller Hesperiidae ; but they can be distinguished at a 

 glance from the skippers, as they present an entirely differ- 

 ent appearance. The body is slender, the wings delicate 

 and often brightly colored, and the club of the antenna 

 straight. The antennae are nearly always ringed with white, 

 and a conspicuous rim of white scales encircles the eyes. 

 An easily-observed combination of characters by which 



the members of this fam- 

 ily can be distinguished 

 is the absence of one or 

 two of the branches of 

 radius of the fore wings, 

 this vein being only 

 three- or four-branched, 

 and the origin of vein V, 

 of the fore wings at 

 or near the apex of the 

 discal cell (Fig. 465). 

 In all other butterflies 

 occurring in our fauna 

 in which radius is only 

 three- or four-branched, 

 vein V, of the fore wings 

 coalesces with radius for 

 a considerable distance 

 beyond the apex of the 

 discal cell. An excep- 



4 6 5 .-wings of chrysophanus thoe. tion to the characters of 

 the Lycaenidae is presented by Feniseca, as indicated in 

 the table of families, p. 375. 



A remarkable characteristic of this family is that while in 



Vllt 



