388 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



Family Lyc^NID^ (Ly-caen'i-dae). 



The Gossamer -winged Biitterjiies, 



The family Lycaenidae includes butterflies which are of 

 small size and delicate structure. In size they resemble the 

 smaller Hesperiidae ; but they can be distinguished at a 

 glance from the skippers, as they present an entirely differ- 

 ent appearance. The body is slender, the wings delicate 

 and often brightly colored, and the club of the antenna 

 straight. The antenncX are nearly always ringed with white, 

 and a conspicuous rim of white scales encircles the eyes. 

 An easily-observed combination of characters by which 



the members of this fam- 



jjj 2^^ ily can be distinguished 



is the absence of one or 



two of the branches of 



radius of the fore wings, 



viix this vein being only 



three- or four-branched, 



and the origin of vein Vj 



of the fore wings at 



or near the apex of the 



discal cell (Fig. 465). 



In all other butterflies 



occurring in our fauna 



in which radius is only 



three- or four-branched, 



vein V^ of the fore wings 



coalesces with radius for 



a considerable distance 



beyond the apex of the 



discal cell. An excep- 



FiG, 465.— Wings of chrysophanus ihoe. tion to the charactcrs of 



the Lycaenidae is presented by Feniseca, as indicated in 



the table of families, p. 375. 



A remarkable characteristic of this family is that while in 



Vi 



V2 

 V3 



Vllj 



