INTRODUCTION. 
XV 
calculation with the beginning of time itself. It will be 
gratifying to my readers to see how numerous are the 
kinds that are still to he met with, even in the immediate 
neighbourhood of our largest cities and towns. Whether 
it be that the introduction of new plants on which they 
feed encourages their growth, or that the climate is 
improved for their existence by drainage and cultivation, 
certain it is that in many cases where we should have 
looked for extinction of race, we find increase; where 
we should have thought that this or that kind would 
have perished through and together with the eradication 
of weeds, we find them to thrive on the very same 
plants that nourish ourselves. 
I have given an extensive list of the localities where 
the several species are to be found, and I have thought 
it better where I could, especially in the case of rare 
insects, to give exact dates as well, for “It’s a long cry 
to Lochow,” and without close instructions a hunter 
might wander far from his game. The day of the month 
when a capture was made will, therefore, too, in like 
manner, often, though, not always, be useful; as well as 
the particular spot, the exact “ locus in quo.” Even 
when a species is “common,” “plentiful,” or “abundant,” 
“ everywhere,” I have still thought it better to indicate 
a few of the places, widely separate, where it occurs 
or has occurred. I have not taken up space with 
synonyms, as they may he had in any mere catalogue. 
When the male only is mentioned, the female is to be 
understood as of general resemblance to it. I have 
described the upper and under wings severally as of a 
triangular shape, within the inner corner, lower corner, 
and outer corner. 
Of the larger species, of course fewer figures are given, 
though I think it will be allowed, considering the 
