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THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Adippe 



Lathonia 



Euphrosyne 



Selene 



Athalia 



Polychloros 



Antiope 



Iris 



iEgeria 



Galathea (green var.) 



Any of the Genus 

 ^Lycaena 



Lucina 



Alveolus 



Tages 



Paniscus 



Sylvanus 



Comma 



Linea 



Actaeon (pupa?) 



We will also be pleased to receive ichneu- 

 mons or other parasites bred from any of our 

 British species of lepidoptera, which we will 

 either return, when determined and figured, ! 

 or make a suitable acknowledgement in other 

 insects. In sending parasites, please attach 

 to the pin a slip of paper with the name of the 

 species from which the specimen was bred, 

 and whether from larvae or pupae. If cocoons 

 are spun, as in the genus Microgaster, specimens 

 of the cocoons will also be welcome. We have I 

 gratefully to own much help in this line 

 already received. All such help will be ac- 

 knowledged in its proper place. At present 

 parasites from butterflies are most needed, 

 but we hope our readers will throw none 

 away, and we trust we will, with their kind 

 assistance, be able greatly to advance this 

 much neglected branch of Entomology. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

 The order Lepidoptera is characterised 

 by Stephens thus, " Wings four, membran- 

 aceous, more or less clothed with imbricated 

 scales, mouth furnished with a spiral, filiform 

 tongue, body hairy, prothorax adorned with a 

 pair of tippets, metamorphosis obtected. ' ' The 

 order is divided into two sections : — 



Rhopalocera, having clubbed antenna?. 



Heterocera, having antennae of various 

 forms but without clubs. 



This is equivalent to the ordinary division 

 into Butterflies and Moths, Butterflies all 

 having clubbed antennae, while those of moths 

 though very varied, are never clubbed. Some 

 authors call the first divison Diurni — day- 

 fliers — and make several divisions of the 

 second ; but to call one section " day-fliers" J 



implies that all the others fly by night, which 

 is not the case even in the first section, 

 though it is called " Nocturm " — night-fliers. 

 We therefore prefer to use the terms 

 Rhopalocera and Heterocera, and our present 

 business is with the former. 



RHOPALOCERA. 



This section is divided into five familes by 

 the latest writers, viz., Papilionid^e, Nym- 

 PHALiDiE, Erycinid^e, Lyc^enidje, and Hes- 

 perid.e. In Doubleday and Westwood's 

 " Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera " fifteen 

 families are described, but the expediency of 

 uniting some of them is pointed out, and in 

 Kirby's "Synonymic Catalogue" thishasbeen 

 done as above. The small number of species 

 that occur in Britain renders it impossible to 

 form correct conclusions from a consideration 

 of these only, but each of these five families 

 are represented. 



Some writers place the Nymphalidce first in 

 order, but precedence has generally been 

 given to the Papilionidce, Tht. great size and 

 beauty of many of the species, and their 

 world-wide distribution has perhaps led to 

 this, but good reasons can be assigned for 

 placing them first, independent of these. Mr. 

 Wallace, and few men are entitled to speak 

 with greater authority, lays particular stress 

 on the structural difference in the larva of the 

 first sub-family which has two curious 

 " retractile tentacula on the prothoracic seg- 

 ment, which are extended when the animal 

 is irritated, and then exhale an aromatic but 

 mostly disagreeable odour." — (Doub. and 

 West. " Gen. Diur. Lepid.") Those who 

 have had the pleasure of rearing our English 

 " Swallow Tail " (P. Machaon) will have seen 

 these extraordinary organs. Those who place 

 the Nymphalidce first, base much of their 

 argument on the imperfection of the first 

 pair of legs, which are more or less abortive 

 and not used in walking, but v/e incline to 

 agree with Mr. Wallace's reply that "it is 

 questionable whether any amount of difference 

 or abortion of certain organs, can establish in 

 the group exhibiting it, a claim to a high 



