RAKE — BUTTERFLIES'. 
41 
remarks apply also to butterflies, for though the larvae of many 
butterflies have two or three food plants, it is usually the case 
that each species of larva feeds on one particular species of plant. 
It is thus evident that the distribution of butterflies must be 
indirectly affected by geological formation. This is a very large 
subject, and one that requires very careful observations and 
systematic field notes on the part of naturalists. 
My object, however, to-night is to bring before you a few 
rough notes on the habits of Trinidad butterflies, in the hope 
that I may learn something from the discussion which follows, 
and that I may perhaps stimulate more members to study this most 
interesting section of the Lepidoptera. 
The tendency of modern scientific research is to break down 
existing barriers and to show that alleged distinctions between 
groups in the animal kingdom are purely artificial. This is well 
illustrated in the case of butterflies and moths. 
The classical distinguishing features of butterflies are three 
in number : 
1. The antenna? end in a more or less gradually formed 
club. 
2. The fore and hind wings are not linked together by a 
bristle at the base. 
3. The flight is generally diurnal. 
With reference to the first and third distinctions it is only 
necessary to refer to two common Trinidad moths. We all know 
the beautiful Urania leilus or Green Page, whose green and gold 
bands flash in the sun as it flies swiftly over cane fields and 
savannahs. This insect was regarded by the older writers as a 
butterfly, for it has thickened antenme and it always flies by day. 
It is now placed among the moths. 
The second insect is also well known as the banana sucker 
( Castnia liens). It may often be seen darting about by the road 
side with a peculiar erratic flight. It has large clubs at the 
ends of the antenna? and is a day flyer. The larva does much 
