AGARISTA PICTA. 83 



the line of demarcation. Mr. Westwood has not 

 hesitated to include Agarista in the family of the 

 Uraniidae, and completely to disjoin the latter 

 from the Rhopalocera (or Lepidoptera with club- 

 shaped antennae, including all the true butterflies) 

 by the interposition of the Sphingidas. It is im- 

 possible, however, to look at one of the brightly 

 coloured day-flying Uraniidas, without at once re- 

 cognising a much closer affinity to the true butter- 

 flies than is presented by any of the sphingideous 

 species; and whatever distribution may be ulti- 

 mately adopted, it seems indispensable that the 

 Uraniidae should immediately succeed the Rhopalo- 



AGARISTA PICTA. 



PLATE II. Fig. 1. 



Leach, Zool. Miscellany, vol. i. pi. 15 ; God. Ency. Meth. vol. ix. 



p. 803 ; Boisduv. Voy. de VAstrolobe, p. 172 Pap. Agricola, 



Donovan's Insects of New Holland. 



According to his arrangement, Latreille justly 

 regarded the genus Agarista as one of the most 

 characteristic of the group which he named Hesperi- 

 sphinges, as intermediate between the Hespereidan 

 butterflies and the sphinxes properly so called. The 

 antennae of the hesperi-sphinges are simple, thick- 



