84 INSECTS. 



sometimes while fastened by the tail also engirdled with a line of silk around the 

 middle, thus tying in a position horizontal to the plane to which the larva has 

 attached itself. These two characters also have been used for purposes of classifi- 

 cation, and the suborder has been divided into Suspensi and Succincti on account 

 of this difference in the attachment of the chrysalis. 



The following broad subdivisions of butterflies may be made : 

 Classification. .. . . . . ,, PIT i i n 



Firstly, those which have four perfect legs only in both sexes, the 



fore-pair being rudimentary or undeveloped ; while the chrysalis is suspended by 

 the tail without any girdle. These include the family Nymphalidce. Secondly, 

 those having four perfect legs in the male, and six in the female, while the feet of the 

 former have no claws at their extremity ; the chrysalis being raised, resting on a 

 leaf or suspended. The Erycinidce represent this group. Thirdly, we have the 

 family of the blues (Lyccenidcv), in which there are six perfect legs in the female, and 

 the chrysalis is suspended. The fourth group is that of the swallow-tails 

 (Papilionidce), in which both sexes possess six perfect legs, while the chrysalis is 

 attached by the tail and girdled by a silken thread. Lastly, the Hesperiidce agree 

 with the preceding as regards the legs, but the chrysalis is either attached by 

 threads, or enclosed in a loose cocoon. As a rule, mountainous regions are those 

 which abound most in butterflies, although there is a marked exception in the 

 case of the valleys of Tropical America. 



The Fritiiiary The family Nymphalidce includes an extensive assemblage of 



Group. butterflies, among which are the fritillaries, peacocks, painted ladies, 

 tortoiseshells, and admirals. Here also come the leaf -butterflies, purple emperors, 

 white admirals, Camberwell beauty, and the large high-flying blue Morphos. We 

 have also the subfamily Satyrince, which includes the ringlets, marbled whites, 

 meadow-browns, and graylings, besides many others too numerous to mention. 

 First we may notice, as an example of the subfamily Danaince, the butterfly 

 shown on the lower right-hand corner of the coloured Plate, which is known as 

 Euplcea harrisii. In common with several other species, it belongs to a genus of 

 large blue, and brown- winged tropical butterflies, in which the upper surface of the 

 wings is usually spotted with white. At the top left-hand corner of the same Plate 

 is figured the male of the orange scallop- wing (Cethosia biblis), which may be taken 

 as a representative of the subfamily Nymphalince. It is an inhabitant of North- 

 Eastern India. Its black and spiny larvae have the body banded with red and 

 yellow, and the head surmounted with a pair of horn-like processes. 



A better -known group are the fritillaries (Argynnis), which are mostly 

 confined to the temperate districts of the Northern Hemisphere. In this genus, 

 the British silver- washed fritillary (A. paphia) is amongst the finest representatives 

 of a large number of orange-red or fulvous insects whose hind- wings on the under 

 side are spotted, spangled, or slashed with silver upon a dusted green ground. 

 Not uncommon throughout England, it occurs in abundance in the glades of the 

 New Forest, where the larva feeds on the dog-violet or wild raspberry. The dark 

 green fritillary ( A. aglaia), a near relative, frequents the southern grassy downs along 

 the margins of the cliffs, or sports in the fern-embroidered dells of the lake-district 

 valleys. The high brown fritillary (A. adippe), a rather smaller form, whose hind- 

 wings, as are those of the last-named species, are spotted with silver discs, while 



