50 
INTRODUCTION. 
prevailing structure indicate no essential disagree- 
ment, nor do they disturb the regularity of the or- 
der, which is perhaps the most natural and best de- 
fined of the whole. 
The species which it includes are popularly known 
as Butterflies, Hawk-moths, and Moths ; terms 
which nearly correspond to the genera Papilio, Sphinx, 
and Phaluena, as originally constituted by Linnreus, 
and to the sectional divisions of more recent writers, 
founded on the seasons of flight, Diurnal, Crepus- 
cular, and Nocturnal. Many of these are among 
our most common insects ; and the curious economy 
of some, and the remarkable beauty of others, have 
long attracted the notice of observers ; while their 
varied forms, and gorgeous colouring, have afforded 
subjects of the highest interest to the lovers of the 
pictorial art. Their amount is so considerable, that 
the Lepidopterous order ranks among the most ex- 
tensive with which we are acquainted. There is 
reason to believe, that it is surpassed only by the 
Coleoptera or Beetles ; and some authors are even 
inclined to assign it a precedence in this respect over 
that numerous order. In this country alone, al- 
though its variable and humid climate seems but 
little adapted to the welfare of creatures formed 
above all others for sunshine and calm, they fall very 
little short of 2000. From this we may infer that 
their numbers are very great in countries every way 
adapted to their increase. 
The diurnal Lepidoptera, or such as fly during 
