108 
HESPERID^. 
Althoucu the Hesperid^ are usually classed uith 
the diurnal lepidoptera, they recede in many im- 
portant characters from that group, and become 
considerably assimilated, both in structure and 
habits, to the crepuscular and nocturnal kinds, and 
are therefore not improperly regarded as forming 
the connecting link behveen these t>vo tribes. Like 
butterflies, they have the antennae strongly clubbed 
at the siunmit (where they are generally furnished 
■\vith a hook), and the anterior -Nvings are directed 
upwards in repose but diverge from each other, 
while the under pair are horizontal, and the hinder 
tibire furnished with two pair of spurs ; attributes 
which are common to them with moths and hawk- 
moths. The season of their flight is most commonly 
towards the evening, which led Fahricius to dis- 
tinguish them by a generic name hearing reference 
to that circumstance. But they are likewise ob- 
served on the wing during the whole day, and their 
mode of flight, which is only for a short distance at 
a time, and performed with frequent and sudden 
jerks, has caused them to he well knomi in this 
country by the name of Skijtpers. They are insects 
