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Genus VANESSA. 
In this genus the antenna terminate in an oval 
club ; the palpi approximate at the extremity, and 
project obliquely, forming a kind of beak in front of 
the head : the basal joint is short and curved, the se- 
cond very long and tapering, and the terminal one 
slender ai)d conical : the wings angular, or having 
projecting points on the hinder margin; legs alike in 
both sexes ; the anterior pair not formed for walking, 
the tarsus being composed of a single compressed 
spatulate piece, and densely clothed with long hairs; 
the four posterior tarsi terminating in double claws, 
with a minute heart-shaped appendage between them. 
The caterpillars are armed with long spines, but 
have the segment next the head naked. The chry- 
salis is angular, with two projecting points on the 
head, and is suspended by the tail. Several of the 
Vanessse are among our most common insects, and 
they are surpassed by few in the beauty and variety 
of their colours. The wings are thick and of a rigid 
texture, and the body so much more robust than in 
the generality of their tribe, that they frequently pass 
the winter in a kind of dormant state, and again take 
wing on the returning warmth of spring. They pre- 
sent some differences in the structure of their oral 
organs, and ought perhaps, in strict propriety, to 
form two or three subgenera. 
