BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON BUTTERFLIES. 



Butterflies and moths together make up the order of insects known 

 as Lepidoptera (scale-winged insects), so called because their wings are 

 covered with delicate scales which are very easily removed. The 

 popular idea is that there are profound differences between butterflies 

 and moths, but this is not so, the butterflies comprising simply two of 

 the superfamilies of the " upright -egged " stirps of the lepidoptera, 

 and finding probably their closest relatives in the Castniids, Noto- 

 dontids, Noctuids, etc. 



There is, indeed, no real line of demarcation between butterflies and 

 moths, those superfamilies of moths just mentioned being much nearer 

 to the butterflies than to many other superfamilies of moths. The general 

 characters that are supposed to distinguish butterflies are (1) The 

 knobbed antennas. (2) Resting with their wings upright, i.e., with their 

 wings raised vertically face to face over their bodies. (3) The thorax and 

 abdomen being separated by a w r aist, etc. Some moths, however, have 

 knobbed antenna?, others rest with their wings upright over their backs, 

 and yet others have the waist between the thorax and abdomen more 

 marked than in many butterflies. The fact is that all lepidoptera have 

 been evolved from the same original stock, the various superfamilies 

 having been produced by modifications and changes taking place through 

 the course of ages, yet all, different as they now are, bearing the stamp 

 of a common origin. The differences have no doubt been brought 

 about by changes in environment, the individuals having to adapt 

 themselves to the great physical changes that we know the earth and 

 its atmosphere have undergone in past time. 



Geological remains of insects are scarce, due no doubt to the fragile 

 nature of the organisms themselves. Yet there is much fragmentary 

 testimony of the history of insects written in those remains that have 

 been found. Butterflies and moths are among the more recently 

 evolved insects, and appear to have been contemporaneous with 

 flowering plants, the newer rocks of the Tertiary period providing most 

 fossil examples. Although above 30000 fossil insects have been found 

 in the tertiary beds of Europe and America, only about 20 examples of 

 lepidoptera have been found. Scudder notes that over 15000 fossil 



