iv PREFACE. 



finished is possessed, like the imago of a butterfly, of any 

 superiority over its preceding parts. Thus much only can be 

 said for it that as an insect, of what sort soever, is sure 

 to become an object of increased interest to those who have 

 followed it through its progressive stages, so it is hoped that 

 the ensuing series, making up the entire of an entomological 

 year, may be read with increased relish by those who have 

 followed it through its progressive periods: this, because 

 with all that pertains to natural knowledge " Vappetit vient 

 en mangeant" 



To the same class of subjects belongs yet another merit, 

 noticeable here because most sensibly felt, both by those that 

 write and those that read, when they come to the conclusion 

 of a book devoted to any one of them. In a sustained work 

 of fiction, or even in one on an historic theme sedulously 

 explored and vivified con amore, a writer may often entertain, 

 in common with his readers, a feeling of regret at having 

 done with the persons and scenes of his own creation, or such 

 as have become familiar in their recalment from the depths of 

 the past ; but it is never thus with the objects drawn from 

 the world of nature. With these neither writer nor reader 

 are ever called upon to part. They may have done, the for- 



