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CHAPTER VI. 



ON THE GROUPS AND FAMILIES OF BRITISH BUTTER- 

 FLIES AND MOTHS. 



THE British butterflies and moths may be tabulated as 

 on the opposite page. The figures after the families and 

 groups show the number of British species in each. 



Of the differences between butterflies and moths (be- 

 tween the 66 Rhopalocera and the 1910 Heterocera 

 found in this country) we have already spoken in the 

 opening chapter. We now proceed to consider the nine 

 groups into which the Heterocera are divided. 



1. The SPHINGINA. This group, of comparatively 

 small extent, is represented in this country by 38 species 

 only. 



In the structure of the antennae, the Sphinges, or 

 Hawk Moths, show their intermediate position between 

 the butterflies and the true moths ; the antennae are 

 fusiform, that is, thicker in the middle and attenuated 

 at each end. 



2. The BOMBYCINA. This extensive group, repre- 

 sented in this country by 105 species, comprises the true 

 silk-producing insects, and many are remarkable for 

 their beauty. The antennae are thickest at the base, and 

 then gradually taper ; in most of the species they are 

 pectinated, and hardly longer than the thorax ; the body 



