189I.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 89 



alive. Here and there they had nipped a leaf on the edges and 

 the light honey coating had disappeared. Of all the fifty-seven 

 larvae I only succeeded in bringing out nine to the pupal state, 

 and the next season only five, three females and two males to the 

 imago state, lacge full grown imagos, of which two pairs are in 

 my collection. The imago of this insect has been described by 

 Barnst, but the earlier stages according to Prof Smith's book on 

 the Sphingidae are still unknown, 



I have not much time for this work, and I had almost my mind 

 made up to turn over my numerous notes on original work to 

 somebody better fitted to the task, yet I will try to do the best I 

 can if the editor of Entomological News will allow me the 

 space. The eggs, the four larval stages and the pupae I will de- 

 scribe next month. I have given this introduction, as, I believe, 

 it will be of interest to many of the readers. Next I shall attempt 

 to describe the earlier stages of Platardia parthenos and Smer- 

 inthus cerisyi, of which species I raise some every year. I have 

 the eggs, the larvae in all the stages in alcohol, and inflated, of 

 these species. 



o 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY. 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



Butterflies and moths, or Lepidoptera (from the Greek, lepis 

 a scale, and //^r^w wing), comprises those insects characterized 

 by cylindrical, compact bodies, small head, mouth parts (in most 

 species) developed for sucking, maxillae prolonged into a tongue, 

 mandibles obsolete, wings covered with minute scales, transfor- 

 mations complete. The word butterfly comes from the Anglo- 

 saxon buttor-fleoge, or the resemblance of some common species 

 {Colzas) to butter in color. In German they are called schmet- 

 terlinge, from schmetten, cream. Molken-dieb (the whey-thief) 

 is another name. The association with milk in its three forms- 

 butter, cream and whey, is remarkable. 



The order Lepidoptera is separated into two grand divisions: 

 Rhopalocera (from two Greek words, meaning knob and horn), 

 butterflies or diurnals, and Heterocera (variable and horn), 

 moths or nocturnals. The butterflies are thus separated from the 

 moths by the structure of the antennae or feelers. In the former 



