PREFACE. Vll 



such help ; indeed the increasing mastery he gained 

 over this part of his work can be seen by comparing his 

 earlier and later papers ; hence it may be said that at 

 no time were his labours more valuable than just when 

 he was taken away. 



It would occasionally happen that in some groups 

 he had already figured the larvae of all the rarer species 

 before he turned his attention to the commoner kinds, 

 with regard to which the natural feeling prevailed 

 that they could be taken up at any time. 



For many years past Mr. Buckler had been in the 

 habit of urging his numerous correspondents to procure 

 for him this or that larva, and when at last some much- 

 desired insect was obtained in the egg state it might 

 chance that a lack of knowledge of the proper food 

 of the larva led to the loss of the young broods after 

 their exclusion from the egg. It will be seen at pp. 

 113, 114 of this volume that the larvse of a compara- 

 tively common butterfly, Polyommatus {Lyccena) Mgon, 

 narrowly escaped starvation from this cause, and to 

 this day some mystery seems to prevail as to the 

 proper food of the larva of the rarer Polyommatus 

 (Lyccena) Arion, for though when quite young it eats 

 readily enough the flowers of thyme it seems at a 

 certain stage of its growth to require something else 

 (see p. 190). 



Out of the sixty-three species of butterflies which 

 now occur in this country (for I fear that Ghrysophanus 

 dispar must certainly be looked on as extinct) Mr. 

 Buckler succeeded in figuring the larva? of fifty-eight, 

 which to all who know the very retired habits of 

 many of these creatures will seem a very large propor- 

 tion. For three species of larva? out of the fifty-eight 



