BurLEn.—On the Butterflies of New Zealand. 263 
Fig. 5 represents a larva case of this insect affixed to a twig of Discaria 
, toumatou (fig. 6). 
I have never met with any of these insects on the wing; all my speci- 
mens have been bred from cases. 
Art. XXXV.—On the Butterflies of New Zealand. By Artuur G. Buruer, 
S., &e. Communicated by Jonn D. Exvs, F.G.S. 
Plate XII. 
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 12th January, 1878.] 
Or the fourteen species of Rhopalocerous Lepidoptera hitherto recorded as 
unquestionably occurring in New Zealand, exactly one half appear to be 
endemic forms; of the remaining seven, six are probably of Australian 
origin, or at any rate are common to Australia and New Zealand, whilst 
the remaining species is of American origin. 
In the present paper it is proposed, where necessary, to give the 
synonymy of each of the species, with a short description and with one or 
more figures ; so that by reference to this little memoir the collector may 
be enabled to recognize without difficulty any New Zealand species which 
he may obtain. 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
Section Rhopalocera. 
The term Rhopalocera, as applied exclusively to the butterflies, is a mere 
convenience, and does not (as has been falsely stated by some lepidopterists) 
express any constant distinction between butterflies and moths; indeed, 
these groups are only to be distinguished by family characters, such as the 
structure and habits of the larvæ, the form and economy of the pupæ, and 
the habits, form of venation, or other structural peculiarities of the imago ; 
the same characters do not hold good as distinctive marks throughout the 
moths, and thus it happens that some genera are in a wretcted state of 
“limbo,” neither accepted as butterflies by the student of that group, nor 
permitted to rest peacefully among the moths. 
Butterflies therefore are not all '**club-horned," some have clubs, some 
- have filiform antenne, some have moniliform and subserrated antenne. 
the Hesperiide alone you have any amount of variation of structure—elubs, 
hooks, whips, spoons; all indicating a mere generic distinction and not 
differing from the same organs in such families as the Sphingide, Cartertida, 
and Agaristide. The term Rhopalocera therefore is used to indicate the five 
highest families of the Lepidoptera—the Nymphalide, the Erycinide, the 
Lycanida, the Papilionide, and the Hesperiida. 
