INTRODUCTION. 4S 



stand at the immediate confines in the next stirps. The former, which have also 

 been named Nobiles, were divided into Equites Troes, and Achivi. But thes6 

 divisions rest entirely on artificial characters : it will appear in the sequel, that the 

 variations in the form of the larva, afford indications for subdivisions ; and they will 

 eventually supply a test of the accuracy of the principles followed : my observations^ 

 however, are as yet very insufficient. The view which is given of the wings of 

 Lepidoptera, by Mr. Jones, in the Linnean Transactions, vol. ii., p. 63, &c., in 

 which the nervures are displayed, tends to confirm the perfection of the genus 

 Papilio. No general description can be given of the form of the mngs, which would 

 apply characteristically to the whole stirps. In Colias and Pieris the anterior wings 

 are upon the whole triangular, and the posterior wings short and obtuse : in the 

 typical group the anterior wings have generally a slight curve in the exterior margin, 

 which renders them somewhat falcate, and the posterior wings are lengthened and 

 provided with tails, which are generally spatulate or contracted at the base. 



The palpi, which in the Vermiform stirps are long, slender, naked, and projecting, 

 have in this stirps a very different character. In the typical group they are shorter 

 than the head, closely applied and concealed, by a very dense covering of long 

 bristly hairs. The third joint is very minute, and, in the genus Papilio, the palpi are 

 never exserted. In Colias, the situation of which, in the series, according to the 

 metamorphosis is at the confines of the Vermiform stirps, these organs possess a 

 moderate length ; but in Terias an evident diminution is apparent, and in the follow- 

 ing genera the decrease is more sudden. The Javanese series does not, howevei", 

 afford the means of tracing the gradual change of form from Myrina to Colias, 

 where these organs are most developed. The Polyonimatus Pkcedrus of Latreille, a 

 well-known Indian insect, which is also contained in the Javanese Collection, pos- 

 sesses a character intermediate between Myrina, of the Vermiform, and Colias of the 

 Chilognathiform sth'ps ; it appears to supply a natural connecting link. In the 

 genus Terias, which follows immediately after Colias, the basal and middle joints are 

 short, thick, and closely covered with scales, the terminal joint is minute, naked, 

 and slightly projecting. The character of the palpi of the typical group is exhi- 

 bited in various figures on the fourth plate ; the articulations here are short, compact, 

 closely beset with long hairs, while the last joint is not perceptible. The lateral 

 view of the perfect insects, given on the first plate, tends likewise to show the 

 comparative length, the position and attachment of the palpi in several genera. The 

 minute distinctions will be pointed out in the generic characters. 



The antenncB, in the typical group, have that form, from which LinrifEUS con- 

 structed the character of the genus Papilio. They are multiarticulate and marked 

 with defined rings at the joints, elongate, filiform at the base, thicker towards the 



G 2 extremity 



