Fossil Insects 



which at one time tenanted the globe, are paralleled by recent 

 discoveries made in insect-bearing strata in France. M. Charles 

 Brongniart of the Paris Museum is preparing an account of the 

 collection which he has made at Commentry, and among the 

 creatures which he proposes to figure is an insect which is 

 regarded by Brongniart as one of the forerunners of our dragon- 

 flies, which had an expanse of wing of two feet, a veritable giant 

 in the insect world. 



Of fossil butterflies there have thus far been discovered sixteen 

 species. Of these, six belong to the subfamily of the Nymphali- 

 dce, and five of the six were found in the fossiliferous strata of 

 Florissant, Colorado. Two species belong to the subfamily Saty- 

 rince, both occurring in deposits found in southern France, and 

 representing genera more nearly allied to those now found in 

 India and America than to the Satyrince existing at the present 

 time in Europe. One of the fossils to which reference has al- 

 ready been made belongs to the subfamily of the Libytheince. 

 The remainder represent the subfamilies of the Pierince, the 

 Papilionince, and the family Hesperiidce. 



It is remarkable that the butterflies which have been found in 

 a fossil state show a very close affinity to genera existing at the 

 present time, for the most part, in the warmer regions of the 

 earth. Though ages have elapsed since their remains were 

 embedded in the mud which became transformed into stone, 

 the processes of life have not wrought any marked structural 

 changes in the centuries which have fled. This fixity of type 

 is certainly remarkable in creatures so lowly in their organi- 

 zation. 



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