802 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



cranium, often completely retractile within the segment behind. Body onisciform 

 or subonisciform, never elongate, often long-ovate, the sides sometimes tectiform, 

 furnished with longer or shorter pile, among which are sometimes longer, longitudinally 

 ranged, hairs or bristles ; never spined, but occasionally furnished With fleshy 

 or filamentous processes longitudinally arranged or confined to the 1st thoracic or 

 8th abdominal segments. Legs and prolegs generally short. 



Pupa. — Fastened by a silken girth around the middle, and by cremastral hooks 

 to a silken pad at the tail, in almost any position, but with the head never lower or 

 much lower than the tail, and always in close embrace of the surface. With rare 

 possible exceptions (Bar), never enclosed in more of a cell than the loose attach- 

 ment of the flaring edges of a leaf might give. Short, stout, compact, rounded, with 

 no angular, and few rounded, prominences, in front bluntly, rounded, though some- 

 times feebly emarginate, the ventral surface almost perfectly flat ; head wholly upon 

 the ventral surface, invisible from above ; prothorax large. 



As has been already noticed, the Erycinids (Lemoniids) are charac- 

 teristic of the New World, the Ruralids (Lycaenids) of the Old World, 

 and are found in the tropical parts of each, rather than the temperate, 

 although the Lycaenids of the Old World form a fair proportion of the 

 temperate butterfly fauna, confined in these cases, however, to a few 

 tribal forms. In North America the Lycaenids are poorly represented 

 except on the western coast, being elsewhere much overshadowed by 

 the numbers of the Nymphalids and Urbicolids. 



The imagines are, on the whole, smaller than those of any other 

 large group, except, perhaps, the Urbicolids, which are also in many 

 species comparatively small ; they are, however, usually brightly 

 tinted, and often exceedingly brilliant in hue. Scudder says that 

 their delicate and brilliant markings, together with the nimble and 

 varied flight of many, scarcely excelled by the most vivacious of the 

 Nymphalids, mark them as gems in the lepidopterous world. Their 

 wings are almost always entire, excepting when the inner half of the 

 hindwing develops a tail, often of excessive length and delicacy, a 

 mere thread of colour. 



Scudder gives the following diagnostic comparison of the two 

 families that comprise the superfamiiy Buralides : — 



Egg. — Converging septse extending from walls of cells towards their centre 



ErycinidjE (Lemonixdje). 

 No converging septas thrown off from walls of cells 



RuralidjE (Lyc^nid^;) . 



Larva (newly-batched). — Body with chitinous, dorsal, and subsfcigmatal shields 



on every segment, in which the haired papilla? are confined, and only 



subdorsal annuli . . . . . . . . . . Erycinids (Lemoniid/e). 



Body with chitinous shields of greater or less extent and distinctness, 



only on first thoracic and last abdominal segments, no subsligmatal shields, 



and with annuli on the sides of the body . . BuRALiDiE (Lyc^enidje). 



Larva (adult). — Head at least half as broad as the middle of the body ; the 



latter scarcely onisciform .. .. .. Erycinid/e (Lemoniid;e). 



Head less, generally far less, than half as broad as the middle of the 

 body ; the latter more or less onisciform . . Ruralid,e (Lyc-enid^e). 



Pupa. — Body elongate, sparsely clothed with long hairs 



Erycinid.e (Lemoniid^e). 



Body contracted, sparsely or densely clotbed with short hairs or other 



dermal appendages • • . . . . . . Ruralidje (Lyc.enice). 



Imago. — Labial palpi minute, only the minute apical joint surpassing the face : 

 forewings provided with a distinct internal nervure ; hindwings scarcely 

 channeled to receive the abdomen, furnished with a precostal nervure, the 

 costal nervure only running to the middle of the costal margin ; fore 

 tarsi of J with rare exceptions, without spines or claws 



Erycinids (Lemoniids). 

 Labial palpi well-developed, porrect, half or more of the middle joint 

 surpassing the faoe ; forewings with excessively brief, hardly perceptible, 



