68 INTRODUCTION. 



species (that of Papilio Protesilaus), is likewise 

 clothed with plumose spines, two of which at the 

 hinder extremity are much longer than the rest, and 

 terminate in an appendage like a star. Equally re- 

 markable with any of these is the caterpillar of one 

 of the Nymphalidas ( Adoleas AcontheaJ, which has a 

 series of long filiform bodies projecting from each 

 side, thickly clothed laterally with hairs of consi- 

 derable length diminishing gradually to the extre- 

 mity, which is armed with a few minute spines. 



As might be expected, great diversity likewise 

 prevails in the appearance of the chrysalides ; but 

 to these it will be more convenient hereafter to re- 

 fer, in the preliminary notices to the respective 

 genera. One of the most remarkable, however, 

 may be mentioned, that of Morpho Menelaus, which 

 has the nasal prominence of the prothorax produced 

 into a long curved horn, which extends to the middle 

 of the abdomen. In another species of the same 

 group, the head is obtuse, projects considerably, and 

 is curved upwards at the extremity, exactly like the 

 beak of an ancient galley. 



Our acquaintance with the geographical distribu- 

 tion of the diurnal lepidoptera was long very im- 

 perfect, and it may yet be said to be very far from 

 complete. The older naturalists seem to have been 

 but little alive to the importance of the subject, and 

 even if it had been otherwise, the means they pos- 

 sessed for illustrating it were comparatively limited. 

 Those who had opportunities of collecting speci- 

 mens in foreign countries, valued them merely as 



