2 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



male ; hind-wings rounded, produced towards the anal angle ; 

 rarely tailed, and still more rarely dentated. Fore-wings often 

 with three small transparent spots towards the tip, but rarely with 

 more extended vitreous markings. Fore-wings with the sub- 

 costal nervure five-branched, the branches all rising near 

 together at the end of the cell, where also the upper discoidal 

 nervule rises, the upper disco-cellular nervule being absent ; 

 sub-median nervure not forked at base ; no internal nervure on 

 the fore-wings, though it is very long on the hind-wings, extend- 

 ing to the anal angle ; hind-wings with a pre-costal nervure, 

 and a cross-nervure between the sub-costal and median 

 nervures near the base ; disco-cellular nervules and discoidal 

 nervule generally more or less imperfectly developed on hind- 

 wings. Legs perfectly developed in both sexes, generally 

 spined. 



Range. This Family, is exceedingly numerous in Tropical 

 America, to which a large number of genera and species are 

 confined. It is also well represented in the Tropics of the 

 Old World ; and whereas in Europe the Lyccenidcz form by 

 far the largest family of Butterflies, and the Hesperiidce are 

 comparatively few, in North America the proportions are 

 reversed, the Hesperiida being very numerous, and the 

 Lyccenidce few. The Hesperiidcz are less exclusively a tropical 

 family than the Lemoniidcz, but although some of the species of 

 Hesperia are mountain insects, and one or two Hesperiidce are 

 met with as far north as Lapland and Labrador, these 

 countries seem to be the extreme northern limits of their 

 range, none having been brought from Greenland, where the 

 families NymphalidcB^ Lyccznidce, and Pieridcz. are all repre- 

 sented. 



Habits. The Hesperiidce are remarkable for their very short, 

 swift, and jerky flight, from which they have derived their 

 English name of "Skippers." When in full flight, they fre- 



