DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA, OR BUTTERFLIES. 



177 



which differ alike in their conformation and habits. These are, 

 I. The RHOPALOCERA, Diurnal Lepidoptera, or Butterflies, 

 which may usually be distinguished by the vertical position of the 

 wings during repose, and by their having the antennae slender, and 

 terminated by a small club ; II. The HETEROCERA, or Moths, in 

 which the wings are horizontal in repose, and the posterior pair 

 are furnished with a small bristle on their anterior margin, 

 which usually fits into a small loop in the hinder margin of the 

 anterior wings, and thus holds the wings connected during flight. 

 This structure does not exist in the Butterflies. The antennae 

 in the Moths are generally bristle-shaped, and frequently plu- 

 mose. 



772. Section I. RHOPALOCERA. This section corresponds 

 with the Linnasan genus Papilio ; which is now, however, very 



much subdivided. 

 The Butterflies are 

 distinguished from 

 the other Lepi- 

 doptera by the 

 brilliancy of their 

 colouring, and by 

 the beauty of the 

 under as well as 

 the upper side of 

 the wings. Their 



Caterpillars have usually sixteen feet ; and their Pupas are 

 nearly always destitute of any silken envelope, and are attached 

 by the tail. The Pupae of a great many species of this group 

 are ornamented with golden spots ; from which circumstance the 

 name Chrysalis is derived : this term ought, therefore, to be 

 limited to the Pupa of the Butterflies ; but it is now in such ge- 

 neral use, as applied to all Pupae, that it is undesirable so to re- 

 strict it, and the term Aurelia (which means in Latin what 

 Chrysalis does in Greek) is often employed by Entomologists to 

 designate these Pupae. To the genus Vanessa, distinguished by 

 the abrupt termination of the antennae in a short knob, belong 

 several of the most beautiful of the British Butterflies ; such 



FIG. 503. ARGYKNIS PAPHI*.. 



