XXXI 



The eggs of butterflies differ very remarkably both in size and 

 shape. In some the surface is most beautifully ornamented as with 

 carved work, but a thousand times more delicate and fine than any 

 carving that human hands could execute. Some are exquisitely flu- 

 ted, others are ribbed, the ribs being from ten to thirty in number, and 

 these are connected by a great number of excessively minute trans- 

 verse raised lines ; some are entirely covered with a net-work of raised 

 lines, others have rows of minute warts, forty or fifty in number, all of 

 which converge to a point at the top of the egg ; others are perfectly 

 smooth and without markings of any kind ; and some few of them 

 have a lid at the top, which the young caterpillar gently lifts off when 

 he makes his first appearance in the world. 



One of the most curious and striking facts, is the extreme differ- 

 ence in the eggs of some species which in the perfect state closely 

 resemble each other. Thus the egg of the Large Tortoise- Shell is 

 pear-shaped and smooth, while that of the Small Tortoise-shell is ob- 

 long, with eight very conspicuous ribs. The characters of each are, 

 however so constant in each species of butterfly, that any one who has 

 paid attention to the subject can immediately say to what butterfly 

 any particular egg belongs. Thus the egg of the Peacock is like a 

 polygonal jar, the egg of the Meadow brown is globular, that of the 

 Large white reminds us of some antique vessel, and that of the Queen 

 of Spain, simulates curious wicker-work baskets. 



Our British Rhopalocera or butterflies are divisable into three 

 primary groups or tribes, and into eight families, thus : — 

 Tribe i. Succinta. Pupa attached by the tail and by a belt of silk 

 round the body, head pointed upwards. 

 Family i. Papilionidae. Larva elongate, smooth or pubescent, 



Imago with six feet in both sexes. 

 Family n. Lycaenidae. Larva short and thickset, in shape some- 

 thing like a woodlouse. Imago with six feet in both sexes. 

 Family in. Erycinidae. Larva short and thickset, in shape some- 

 thing like a woodlouse. Imago with four feet in the male and six 

 feet in the female. 

 Tribe u. Pendul^e. Pupa attached only by the tail, and hangs 

 with head downwards. Imago with four feet in both sexes. 

 Family iv. Satyridae. Larva with a bifid tail, like a fish. 

 Family v. Danaidae. Larva with from one to five pair of fleshy 

 prolongations. 



