LEPIDOPTERA. G05 



pillars or Clirysalides pass tlie winter, and the insect only iindergoes its change in the spring 

 or summer of the following year. In general the eggs deposited in the autumn are not 

 hatched till the next spring. They escape from the chrysalis in the ordinary manner, or hy a 

 slit down the back of the thorax. 



The larva3 of Ichneumonida; and Chaleidida; rid us of a great number of these destructive 

 insects. 



[The arrangement of this order cannot be considered as arrived at an equal degree of per- 

 fection with that of the Coleojitera, or some other orders. Dr. Ilorsheld, in his Lciiidoptera 

 Javaiiica, has attempted a more natural classification, founded especially upon the transforma- 

 tions of these insects, but his work is incomidete ; as is also the case with Boisduval's Histoire 

 naturc'lle des Insectes Lepidopthes. The British species have been described in detail by 

 Mr. Stephens, in whose work, as well as in that of Curtis, great numbers of new genera are 

 introduced; there still, however, requires a more minute investigation of the generic characters 

 of these insects, and especially of the exotic species, than has yet been given to them ; authors 

 having generally contented themselves with describing or figuring the beautiful marking of 

 the ^vings, without attending to the real generic or structural peculiarities.] 



We divide this order into three families, which correspond with the three genera of v.diich 

 the order is composed in the Linna;an system. 



THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE LEPIDOPTERA,— 

 The DiuRNA [or Butterflies], — 

 Is the only one in which the outer edge of the hind-wings is not furnished with a scaly and =^tiff liristle 

 like a bridle, to retain the two fore-wings, ^^hich, as well as the others, generally, are elevated perpen- 

 dicularly in repose ; the antennae are terminated either by a knob, or are nearly of the same thickness, 

 or even more slender, and terminated in a bent hook at tlie tip. Tliis family corresporids with the 



genus 



Papilio, liinnffius. 

 The caterpillars have always sixteen feet. The chrysalides are nearly always naked, attached by 

 the tail, and mostly angular. The perfect insect, always furnished with a proboscis, only flies by day, 

 and the colours of the under side of the wings are equal in beanty to those of the upper. 

 We divide them into two sections. 



The first have only a single pair of spurs to the tibia:, placed at the tips ; the fore-wings are elevated 

 perpendicularly in repose ; the antenna: are mostly clnbbed at the tip, which is trnucated, or 

 rounded, or are sometimes nearly tiliform. This very numerous section may be further divided as 

 fodows. 



1. Those with the third joint of the palpi either obsolete, or if present, clothed with scales as 

 thickly as the preceding joint, and the tarsal claws very distinct. Their caterpillars are elongate, 

 subcylindric ; the chrysahdes are almost always regular, sometimes smooth, but inclosed in a rough 

 cocoon ; some of these (Hexapoda) have all the legs fit for walking, and nearly alike in both sexes : 

 the pupa is not only attached by the tail, but by a thread round the middle of the body ; the central 

 cell of the bind wings is closed externally. 



The four following; genera have the inner edge of the hind wings concave or folded. 



Pap/llo proper, or the Eqntles of Linnaeus, have the lower paipi very short, scarcely reaching the clypens, with 

 the third joint scarcely distinct. Their caterpillars, w'hen alarmed, throw out a forked hor" from the neck, which 

 emits a disagreeable scent. 



These Butterflies are remarkable for their size and the variety of their colotu-s. They are genei-ally found in the 

 equatorial res;ions of both worlds ; many have the hind wings prolon^^ed into a tail, as in our FtqjtUo Machaon, 

 or the Swallow-tail Butterfly. 



Zt'Uma, Fabr., difl'ers from Papilio oidy in having the club of the antennae shorter and rounder. [Two exotic 

 species.] 



Parnassius, Latr. {Doritis, Fabr.), have the palpi elevated above the clypeus, and pointed, with three distinct 

 joints ; the caterpillars have a retractile tentacle in the neck, but they form a kind of cocoon with leaves. P. 

 JpollOt [a reputed British species], which, with the others, is only found in mountainous districts. 



77m;.f, Fab., has pnli>i like Parnassius, tint the club of tlie antenntE is elongated and curved ; the caterpilhu-s 

 are apparently destitute of the retractile tubercle in the neck. The species are found in the South of Europe. 



