THE IDENTIFICATION OF INDIAN BUTTEBFLIES. 
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which it is based and to explain in general terms the %’alue that can be placed 
on each. Broadly tlie characters may be divided into two main groujJs, those 
appertaining to the early stages and those to the butterfly itself. I will pass 
briefly over the features that concern the early stages. My j-easons are fii’stly 
that a knowledge of them is of no use to the amateur who is trymg to identify 
liis captures and secondly that they have been very fully described by Mr. 
Bell in his articles on the “ Common Butterflies of the Plains ” now being pub- 
lished m the joiu-nal ; for purposes of classification their importance is paramount. 
The principal characters are the egg, its shape, size, its delicate ribs and whether 
laid singly or in clutches ; the caterpillar or larva at birth and W'hen full grown, 
its shape ana clothing, wdrether of hairs, spines or tentacles, etc., the plant it 
feeds on and whether its habits are gregarious or not ; the chrysalis or pupa, 
its shape and mode of attacliment. Let us pass on to the perfect msect or 
imago as it is tecimically called. The featmes to be studied are firstly those 
pertaining to the body, i.e., the legs, eyes, antennae, j>alin and genitalia ; se- 
condly those pertammg to the wing, i.e., the shape, venation, cilia, markhigs 
and secondary sexual characters. I wall not discuss further the genitalia, 
which are to be found at the end of the body or abdomen, smee their examination 
is beyond the beginner ; their study is still incomplete, but since it was com- 
menced, a number of changes have had to be made in the arrangement of various 
species and genera. The remaming featirres should be studied carefully by the 
begmner : the procedure is perfectly simple, if the spirit is wdlling. To follow 
the descriptions it is as well to have at hand a freshly killed butterfly of com- 
paratively large size so that it does not dry quickly and which has not been 
mauled about too much durmg the process of killing. A good hand lens is a 
necessity and to make the veins of the svings easily visible apply pure petrol 
liberally by means of an ordinary fine paint brush. 
6. A butterfly has six legs sprmging from the part of the body known as the 
thorax and each leg consists of four parts ; the coxa or hip next the body, usual- 
ly rather difficult to see properly ; the femur or thigh next to the coxa, usually 
long and directed upwards ; the tibia or shank, also usually long and directed 
domiwards ; the tarsus, which is m continuation of and in line with the tibia, is 
composed of a number of small joints and ends in a single or double pair of claws. 
The tibia of the foreleg sometimes bears a central spur and on the hind leg it 
may be furnished with one or two pairs of movable spines. In many butter- 
flies the forelegs are atrophied and unfitted for walking, sometimes, more par 
ticularly in the male, appearing as a brush pres.sed up against the body. Some 
times the legs are curiously swollen, often more or less hairy, while in some 
species of skippers the male has a prominent tuft of hair on each of the fore 
coxae or hmd tibiae. The difterences between the legs have proved of the 
very greatest importance in defining families and genera, perhaps more so than 
any other feature. In certain families the sex can be at once indicated by a 
glance at the forelegs. 
7. The eyes of butterflies are compo.sed of an innumerable number of minute 
faces ; they may be absolutely smooth or covered with hairs, the density and 
length of which varies with the species. Whether the eyes are smooth or hairy 
(ciliated) serves very often as a useful and easily recognised character for sepa- 
rating genera. Usually the eyes are black or shining golden brown, but in some 
of the skippers they are blood red. 
8. The antennae are the long feelers that spring from the forehead of a 
butterfly between the eyes. Usually they are close together at their bases 
but in the skippers they are wide apart. They may be smooth or scaled, plain 
or chequered, or smeared with white or ochreous colouring. Their relative length 
is an important matter, while the shape of the club at the end of the antenna 
is even more important. In some species, blues principallj', there is no club at all 
(filiform) ; in others there is just a perceptible thickening at the end (incrassate), 
