248 



INSECT LIFE. 



from all others in our fauna in having the fore legs 

 very greatly reduced in size in both sexes. So great 

 is the reduction that these legs can not be used for 

 walking, but are folded on the 'breast like a tippet. 

 A slight reduction in the size of the fore legs oc- 

 curs in the Lycaenid^, but there it occurs only in 

 the males and to a much less degree than in this 

 family. 



This is the largest of the families of butterflies. 

 It not only surpasses the other families in number of 

 species, but it contains a greater number and variety of 

 striking forms and also a larger proportion of the Spe- 

 cies of butterflies familiar to every observer of insects. 

 There may be in any locality one or two species of 



Fig. 220. — The monarch. 



yellows or of whites more abundant, but the larger 

 number of species commonly observed are four- 

 footed butterflies. The following are some of the 

 more common forms : — 



