Chapter VIII: Hemiptera, or Bugs—anoplura 532 (15)

SUB-FAM. 4. MORPHIDES.—_There is no cell on the hind wing, the discocellular nervule being absent_ (Fig. 161, II. B). _Caterpillars smooth or spiny, with the extremity of the body divided; frequently gregarious._ These Insects have become notorious from the extraordinary brilliancy of blue colour exhibited by the upper surface of the wings of the typical genus _Morpho_. The species of _Morpho_ are all Insects of large size, but with wings enormous in proportion to the body; this latter part is carried in a sort of cradle formed by the inner parts of the margins of the hind wings. Although an arrangement of this kind is seen in numerous other butterflies, yet there is perhaps none in which it is carried to quite such a pitch of perfection as it is in _Morpho_, where, on the under surface no part of the body behind the posterior legs can {349}be seen. There are only about 100 species of Morphides, and 50 of these are included in _Morpho_, which is peculiar to tropical and sub-tropical America; the other half of the family is divided among ten or twelve genera, found in the Indo-Malay region; there being none in Africa. The eastern Morphides, though fine Insects, are not to be compared, either in size or brilliancy, with their American allies. The species of _Morpho_ are apparently found only in the great forests of South America, where they are far from rare; some have a flapping and undulating flight, straight onwards along the alleys of the forest, and near the ground; others are never seen except steadily gliding with outstretched wings from 20 to 100 feet above the ground, where they move across sunny spaces between the crowns of the taller trees; the low-flyers settle frequently on the ground to suck the juices from fallen fruit, but the members of the other section never descend to the ground. As regards the caterpillars, W. Müller tells us[218] that the spines they are armed with break off, and enter the skin, if the creatures are carelessly handled. Four of the five species known to him are conspicuously coloured with black, red, yellow and white. The individuals are gregarious. The larvae of _M. achilles_ sit in companies, often of more than 100 individuals, on trunks of trees, and so form a conspicuous patch. The caterpillars of _M. epistrophis_ hang together as red clumps on the twigs of their food-plants. Hence it appears that in this genus we have an exception to the rule that night-feeding caterpillars rest in a hidden manner during the day.

SUB-FAM. 5. BRASSOLIDES.—_Large butterflies, with the cell of the hind wing closed, and usually with a small adjoining prediscoidal cell. Larva not very spiny; thinner at the two ends, the tail bifid, the head perpendicular and margined with spines._ This small sub-family includes less than 100 species arranged in about eight genera, all South American. They have the very unusual habit of resting during the day like moths, becoming active only late in the afternoon. They are truly noble Insects; although not possessed of the brilliant colours of _Morpho_, they are adorned, especially on the under surface, with intricate lines and shades most harmoniously combined, while the upper surface is frequently suffused with blue or purple. This sub-family {350}attains its highest perfection in the genus _Caligo_; they are enormous Insects, and some of them not rare. The larva of _C. eurylochus_ (Fig. 179) during early life is green, and sits on the leaf of a _Musa_, but after the third moult it becomes brown and hides itself among the dry leaves. It is common in the gardens of Rio de Janeiro, where its pupae are found on the walls, like those of our white butterflies here.

SUB-FAM. 6. ACRAEIDES.—_Submedian nervure of fore wings not forked at the base; the median without spur. Cells closed. Palpi in section cylindric, sparingly set with hairs. Larva armed with branched spines._ A somewhat monotonous and uninteresting division; the size is moderate or small, and the colours not artistic, but consisting of ill-arranged spots; the under side of the hind wings very frequently diversified by numerous line-like marks, radiately arranged, and giving place at the base to a few spots. There are about 200 species known, of which the majority are African; there are but few Oriental or South American species. Some authorities consider there is only one genus, but others prefer to adopt seven or eight divisions. _Alaena_ is now placed in Lycaenidae, though until recently it was considered to belong here. The females of some species possess an abdominal pouch somewhat similar to that of _Parnassius_.

The members of this sub-family are considered to be of the protected kind.

{351}SUB-FAM. 7. HELICONIIDES.—_Submedian nervure of front wing not forked; median with a short spur near the base. Cell of hind wing closed by a perfect nervule. Palpi compressed, with scales at the sides, in front covered with hairs. Male with an elongate unjointed, female with a four-jointed, front tarsus. Caterpillars set with branched spines._ This family is peculiar to tropical America and consists of only two genera, _Heliconius_ and _Eueides_, with about 150 species; but it is one of the most characteristic of the South American groups of Butterflies. It is very closely allied to the Nymphalides, especially to the genera _Metamorpha_ and _Colaenis_, but is readily distinguished by the perfectly-formed nervules that close the wing-cells. The wings are longer and narrower than in Nymphalides, and the colour, though exhibiting much diversity, is on the whole similar to that of the heavily-scaled forms of Ithomiides of the genera _Tithorea_, _Melinaea_, _Melanitis_; there being in several cases a great resemblance between species of the two groups. A frequent feature in one group of _Heliconius_ is that the hind wing bears a patch of red prolonged outwards by angular radiating marks. The individuals of certain species—_H. melpomene_ and _H. rhea_—are known to execute concerted dances, rising and falling in the air like gnats; when some of them withdraw from the concert others fill their places. _H. erato_ exhibits the very rare condition of trichroism, the hind wings being either red, blue, or green. Schatz states that the different forms have been reared from a single brood of larvae. The caterpillars of Heliconiides live on Passiflorae, and are said to be very similar to our European _Argynnis_-caterpillars. The chrysalids are very spinous. We may here remark that considerable confusion exists in entomological literature in consequence of Ithomiides having been formerly included in this sub-family; for remarks formerly made as to "Heliconiides," but that really referred only to Ithomiides, have been interpreted as referring to Heliconiides of the present system.

The Heliconiides seem remarkably plastic as regards colour, and are therefore exponents of "homoeochromatism." Bates says, as regards them: "In tropical South America a numerous series of gaily-coloured butterflies and moths, of very different families, which occur in abundance in almost every locality a naturalist may visit, are found all to change their hues and markings together, as if by the touch of an enchanter's wand, at {352}every few hundred miles, the distances being shorter near the eastern slopes of the Andes than nearer the Atlantic. So close is the accord of some half-dozen species (of widely different genera) in each change, that he had seen them in large collections classed and named respectively as one species."[219] Many of them are believed to be permeated by nauseous fluids, or to possess glands producing ill-smelling secretions.

SUB-FAM. 8. NYMPHALIDES.—_Cells, of both front and hind wing, either closed only by imperfect transverse nervules or entirely open. Front tarsus of the male unjointed and without spines, of the female four- or five-jointed. Caterpillar either spined or smooth; in the latter case the head more or less strongly horned or spined, and the apex of the body bifid._ This sub-family is specially characterised by the open cells of the wings; the discocellulars, even when present, being frequently so imperfect as to escape all but the most careful observation. The Nymphalides include upwards of 150 genera and 2000 species. The divisions having smooth larvae are separated by Kirby[220] and others as a distinct sub-family (Apaturides). In Britain, as in most other parts of the world, Nymphalides is the predominant group of butterflies. We have eighteen species, among which are included the Fritillaries, Admirals, Purple Emperor, and the various _Vanessa_—Peacock, Camberwell Beauty, Red Admiral, Tortoise-shells, and Painted Lady. All have spined caterpillars except the Emperor. In the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere Vanessa may be considered the dominant butterflies, they being very numerous in individuals, though not in species, and being, many of them, in no wise discomfited by the neighbourhood of our own species. Several of them are capable of prolonging and interrupting their lives in the winged condition to suit our climate; and this in a manner that can scarcely be called hibernation, for they frequently take up the position of repose when the weather is still warm, and on the other hand recommence their activity in the spring at a very early period. This phenomenon may frequently be noticed in the Tortoise-shell butterfly; it is as if the creature knew that however warm it may be in the autumn there will be no more growth of food for its young, and that in the spring vegetation {353}is sure to be forthcoming and abundant before long, although there may be little or none at the time the creature resumes its activity. It is probable that the habit may be in some way connected with an imperfect activity of the sexual organs. It should, however, be recollected that many larvae of butterflies hibernate as young larvae after hatching, and, sometimes, without taking any food. _Pyrameis cardui_, the Painted Lady, is, taking all into consideration, entitled to be considered the most ubiquitous of the butterfly tribe. Its distribution is very wide, and is probably still extending. The creature is found in enormous numbers in some localities, especially in Northern and Eastern Africa; and when its numbers increase greatly, migration takes place, and the Insect spreads even to localities where it cannot maintain itself permanently. In Britain it is probably during some years nearly or quite absent, but may suddenly appear in large numbers as an immigrant. The favourite food of the larva is thistles, but many other plants serve the Insect at times.

_Vanessa_, or _Pyrameis_,[221] _atalanta_, the Red Admiral, is common in the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, and extends its range to various outlying spots. The most remarkable of these is the remote Hawaiian Islands, where the Insect appears really to be now at home, though it is associated with a larger and more powerful congener, _P. tameamea_. Another interesting Vanessid is _Araschnia levana_, which is peculiar to Europe, where it produces annually two generations so dissimilar to one another that they passed current as two species, _V. levana_ and _V. prorsa_. Although intermediate forms are rare in nature they can be induced by certain treatments applied to the larvae under human control.

The dead-leaf butterflies of the genus _Kallima_ belong to Nymphalides. They are so shaped and coloured that when settled, with wings closed, on a twig, the appearance is exactly that of a dry leaf; the exposed surface is mottled with spots that look just like the patches of minute fungi, etc. that are so common on decaying vegetation. The colour and the spots on the under surface of this butterfly are very variable. According to Mr. Skertchly,[222] we may presume that in the minute details of {354}these resemblances we have a case of hypertely similar to that of the resemblance to Insects' minings exhibited by certain marks on the tegmina of _Pterochroza_ (mentioned in Vol. V. p. 322).

In South America there is a somewhat peculiar genus of Nymphalides—_Ageronia_—that delights in settling on the trunks of trees rather than on flowers or leaves. It was long since noticed that the the species of _Ageronia_ make a clicking noise; in some cases when on the wing, in other cases by moving the wings when the Insect is settled. The object of the noise is quite uncertain; it has been suggested that it is done in rivalry or courtship, or to frighten away enemies. Bigg-Wether found, however, that in South Brazil there is a lazy little bird to which this sound serves as a signal, inducing it to descend from its perch and eat the clicker. The mode in which the noise is produced is not quite clear. Sir George Hampson has pointed out[223] that the fore wing bears at the extreme base a small appendage bearing two hooks, and that two other processes on the thorax play on these when the wing moves. His suggestion that these hooks are the source of the sound seems highly probable.

There is a great variety in the larvae of Nymphalides. In the _Vanessa_ group the body is armed with spines, each one of which bears shorter thorns, the head being unadorned. The Fritillaries (_Argynnis_, _Melitaea_) also have caterpillars of this kind. In many other forms the head itself is armed with horns or spines of diverse, and frequently remarkable, character. In _Apatura_ and its allies the body is without armature, but the head is perpendicular, the vertex bifid and more or less prolonged. The caterpillar of our Purple Emperor, _Apatura iris_, is quite unlike any other British caterpillar; in colour it is like a Sphingid larva—green with oblique lateral stripes of yellow and red—but in form it is slug-like, pointed behind, and it has on the head two rather long tentacle-like horns. In the South American genus _Prepona_, the larva of which in general form resembles that of _Apatura_ there are no anal claspers, but the extremity of the body is prolonged, forming a sort of tail.

FAM. 2. ERYCINIDAE (LEMONIIDAE of some authors).—_The female has six perfectly formed legs, though the front pair is smaller. The male has the coxae of the front legs forming a spine, and the tarsi unjointed, without claws._ This family consists of about 1000 {355}species, usually of rather small size, exhibiting a great variety of shape and coloration, some of them being remarkably similar to some of the gay, diurnal moths of South America. The palpi are usually small, but in _Ourocnemis_ they are large and porrect. The family is specially characteristic of tropical America, but there is one small group of 30 or 40 species, _Nemeobiides_, in the Eastern Hemisphere. We have one species in Britain, _Nemeobius lucina_, the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary. Neither the larvae nor the pupae of Erycinidae present any well-marked characteristic feature, but exhibit considerable variety. According to Bar,[224] some of the larvae are like those of moths; the caterpillar of _Meliboeus_ is said to be like that of a _Liparis_: the chrysalis has the short, rounded form of that of the _Lycaenidae_, and is suspended with the head down, and without a band round the body. The larvae of _Eurygona_ are gregarious. The pupae of some other forms adhere, heads downwards, to branches. Scudder considers that this family is not distinct from Lycaenidae, and that the Central American genus _Eumaeus_ connects the two. Reuter also treats Erycinidae as a division of Lycaenidae.

SUB-FAM. 1. ERYCINIDES.—[_Characters of the family._] _Palpi not unusually large._ We place all the Erycinidae in this sub-family except the following—

SUB-FAM. 2. LIBYTHEIDES.—_Butterflies of average size, with the palpi large and porrect: the front legs of the male small, the tarsus reduced to one joint: the front leg of the female of the normal structure, and but little reduced in size._ This division consists of the single genus _Libythea_, with only a score of species. They are Insects somewhat like _Vanessa_ in appearance, but cannot fail to be recognised on account of the peculiar palpi. The genus is of very wide distribution, occurring in most parts of the warm and temperate continental regions, and it also occurs in Mauritius and the Antilles.

The Libytheides have given rise to much difference of opinion amongst systematists, some of whom assign them as a sub-family to the Erycinidae, some to the Nymphalidae; while others treat them as a family apart. The families Nymphalidae, Erycinidae and Lycaenidae are so intimately allied, that Scudder is probably correct in considering them to form really one huge family; if this view were adopted there would be no difficulty {356}in locating _Libythea_ therein. If they be kept apart, it is almost necessary to separate _Libythea_ also; though possibly its claims to be placed in Erycinidae slightly preponderate. The recently described genus _Ourocnemis_ to some extent connects Erycinides with Libythaeides.[225]

FAM. 3. LYCAENIDAE.—_The front legs but little smaller than the others: in the male, however, the tarsus, though elongate, is only of one joint, and is terminated by a single claw. No pad on the front tibia. Claws not toothed._ The Lycaenidae, or Blues, are, as a rule, of small size, but in the tropics there are many that reach the average size of butterflies, _i.e._ something about the stature of the Tortoise-shell butterfly. The family is one of the larger of the divisions of butterflies, considerably more than 2000 species being at present known, and this number is still rapidly increasing. Although blue on a part of the upper surface is a very common feature in the group, it is by no means universal, for there are many "Coppers," as well as yellow and white Lycaenidae. Many species have delicate, flimsy appendages—tails—to the hind wings, but in many others these are quite absent; and there are even tailed and tailless forms of the same species. The members of the group Lipteninae (_Liptena_, _Vanessula_, _Mimacraea_, etc.) resemble members of other sub-families of Nymphalidae, and even of Pieridae. Lycaenidae are well represented wherever there are butterflies; in Britain we have 18 species.

The larvae of this family are very peculiar, being short, thicker in the middle, and destitute of the armature of spines so remarkable in many other caterpillars. It has of late years been frequently recorded that some of these larvae are attended by ants, which use their antennae to stroke the caterpillars and induce them to yield a fluid of which the ants are fond. Guénée had previously called attention[226] to the existence of peculiar structures contained in small cavities on the posterior part of the caterpillar of _Lycaena baetica_. These structures can be evaginated, and, it is believed, secrete a fluid; Edwards and M‘Cook are of opinion that they are the source of the matter coveted by the ants. The larvae are without spines.

The caterpillars of the Blues have some of them strange tastes; more than one has been recorded as habitually feeding on Aphidae {357}and scale-Insects. The pupae are, like the larvae, of short inflated form. By a remarkable coincidence, the pupae of two species bear a considerable resemblance to the heads of monkeys, or mummies. The Lycaenid pupa is usually extremely consolidated, destitute of movement, and is supported—in addition to the attachment by the cremaster—by a silk thread girdling the middle. There are exceptions to these rules, and according to Mr. Robson the pupa of _Tajuria diaeus_ hangs free, suspended from a leaf, and can move the body at the spot where the abdominal segments meet the wing-cases in the dorsal line.[227]

FAM. 4. PIERIDAE.—_The six legs well developed, and similar in the sexes; there is no pad on the front tibia. The claws of all the feet are bifid, or toothed, and there is an empodium._ There are upwards of 1000 species of Pieridae already known. Although several taxonomists treat the Pieridae and Papilionidae as only subdivisions of one family, yet they appear to be quite distinct, and the relationships of the former to be rather with Lycaenidae. In Pieridae, white, yellow, and red are the predominant colours, though there is much black also. It has recently been ascertained that the yellow and red pigments, as well as the white, are uric acid or derivatives therefrom.[228] The physiology of this peculiarity has not yet been elucidated, so that we do not know whether it may be connected with some state of the Malpighian vessels during metamorphosis.

Our Garden-White, Brimstone, Clouded-yellows and Orange-tip butterflies belong to this family; as does also the South American genus formerly called _Leptalis_. This generic name, which is much mentioned in literature owing to the resemblance of the species of the genus to _Heliconiides_, has now disappeared; _Leptalis_ having been divided into various genera, while the name itself is now considered merely a synonym of _Dismorphia_.

The African Insect, _Pseudopontia paradoxa_, has nearly transparent wings, no club to the antennae, a remarkably small cell on the wing, and an arrangement of the nervules not found in any other butterfly; there being only ten nervules at the periphery of the front wing, and both upper and lower radial nervules uniting with the posterior branch of the subcostal. It has been treated as a moth by several entomologists. Aurivillius considers that it {358}is certainly a butterfly; but as the metamorphoses are unknown, we cannot yet form a final opinion as to this curious form. The extraordinary Peruvian Insect, _Styx infernalis_, is also placed in this family by Staudinger; it is a small, pale Insect, almost white, and with imperfect scales; a little recalling a Satyrid. It appears to be synthetic to Pieridae and Erycinidae.

The caterpillars of Pieridae are perhaps the least remarkable or attractive of all butterfly-caterpillars; their skins are as a rule bare, or covered only with fine, short down or hair; their prevalent colour is green, more or less speckled with black and yellow, and they are destitute of any prominent peculiarities of external structure. Pupation is accomplished by the larva fixing itself to some solid body by the posterior extremity, with the head upwards (or the position may be horizontal), and then placing a girdle round the middle of the body. The pupa never hangs down freely as it does in Nymphalidae. It has been ascertained by experiment that if the girdle round the larva be cut, the pupation can nevertheless be accomplished by a considerable proportion of larvae. Some of the pupae are of very peculiar form, as is the case in the Orange-tip (Fig. 180, A) and Brimstone butterflies. The Orange-tip butterfly passes nine or ten months of each year as a pupa, which is variable in colour; perhaps to some extent in conformity with its surroundings. The North American _E. genutia_ has a similar life-history, but the larva leaves its Cruciferous food-plant, wanders to an oak tree, and there turns to a pupa, resembling in colour the bark of the tree.

It is not unusual for caterpillars to change their habits and {359}appearance in a definite manner in the course of the larval life. The caterpillar of _Euchloe cardamines_ exhibits a larval metamorphosis of a well-marked character. The young larva (Fig. 181) is armed with peculiar setae, furcate at the tip, each of which bears a tiny ball of fluid. In this stage the caterpillar makes scarcely any movement. In the middle of the caterpillar's life a new vestiture appears after an ecdysis; numerous fine hairs are present, and the fluid-bearing spines nearly disappear, being reduced to a single series of spines of a comparatively small size on each side of the upper middle region of the body (Fig. 182). The colour is also a good deal changed, and concomitantly there is a much greater voracity and restlessness.

FAM. 5. PAPILIONIDAE.—_All the legs well developed. Claws large, simple, without empodium. Front tibiae with a pad. The metanotum free, conspicuously exposed between mesonotum and abdomen._ This series of butterflies includes some of the most magnificent of the members of the Insect world. It is considered by some authorities to be the highest family of butterflies; and in one very important feature—sexual differentiation—it certainly is entitled to the rank. There are about 700 recorded species, the larger portion of which are included in the genus _Papilio_. The great variety of form has led to this genus being divided; the attempts have, however, been partial, with the exception of an arrangement made by Felder, who adopted 75 sections, and a recent consideration of the subject by Haase, who arranges Felder's sections into three sub-genera. Many of the sections have received names, and are treated by some authors as genera, so that an unfortunate diversity exists as to the names used for these much-admired Insects. The genus is distributed all over the world, but is perhaps nowhere more numerous in species than in South America.

{360}

Wallace informs us that the great majority of the species of the Amazon valley frequent the shady groves of the virgin forest. In many cases the sexes are extremely different in appearance and habits, and are but rarely found together in one spot. The genus _Ornithoptera_ is closely allied to _Papilio_, and contains some of the most remarkable of butterflies, the homes of the species being the islands of the Malay Archipelago, and outlying groups of islands, there being a smaller number of species in the neighbouring continents. The females are of great size, and are so excessively different from their consorts of the other sex, as to arouse in the student a feeling of surprise, and a strong desire to fathom the mysteries involved. {361}

{362}It would be difficult to surpass the effective coloration of the males in many of the species of _Ornithoptera_; they are, too, very diverse in this respect; _O. brookiana_ is of an intense black colour, with a band of angular green marks extending the whole length of its wings, while behind the head there is a broad collar of crimson colour. Perhaps the most remarkable of all is the _O. paradisea_, recently discovered in New Guinea; in this species the sexual disparity reaches its maximum. The female (Fig. 184) is a large, sombre creature of black, white and grey colours, but the male (Fig. 183) is brilliant with gold and green, and is made additionally remarkable by a long tail of unusual form on each hind wing.

We may anticipate that these extraordinary cases of sexual total dissimilarity in appearance are accompanied by equally remarkable habits and physiological phenomena. In the case of _O. brookiana_ the female is extremely rare, so that the collector, Künstler, could only obtain fifteen females to a thousand males. According to Mr. Skertchly, instead of the crowd of males being eager to compete for the females, the reverse is the case; the female diligently woos the male, who exhibits a reluctance to coupling. This observer apparently considered that the "emerald feathers" of the male are a guide or incitement to the female.[229]

In Africa _Ornithoptera_ is to a certain extent represented by two extremely remarkable forms, _Papilio zalmoxis_ and _P. (Drurya) antimachus_. There are about a dozen other genera of Papilionidae; most of them contain but few species. _Parnassius_, however, is rich in species inhabiting the mountains and elevated plateaus of the northern hemisphere in both the Old and New Worlds; it is remarkable for the small amount of scales on the wings, and for the numerous variations of the species. The female possesses a peculiar pouch at the end of the body; although only formed during the process of coupling, it has a special and characteristic form in most of the species. The curious Indian genus _Leptocircus_ has parts of the front wings transparent, while the hind pair form long tails. This genus is of interest in that {363}it is said to connect Papilionidae to some extent with Hesperiidae. The larvae of this family are remarkable on account of a curious process on the thoracic segment called an "osmeterium." It is usually retracted, but at the will of the caterpillar can be everted in the form of a long furcate or Y-shaped process; there is a gland in the osmeterium, and as a result a strong odour is emitted when the exstulpation occurs.

The pupation of Papilionidae is similar to that of Pieridae, the pupa being placed with the head upwards, fixed by the tail, and girt round the middle. A very curious diversity of pupation occurs in the genus _Thais_, in which the pupa is attached by the tail as usual, and—which is quite exceptional—also by a thread placed at the top of the head. Scudder thinks there is also a girdle round the middle, but Dr. Chapman inclines to the view that the thread attaching the head is really the median girdle slipped upwards. The pupation of _Parnassius_ is exceptional, inasmuch as, like Satyrides, it is terrestrial, in a slight construction of silk.

FAM. 6. HESPERIIDAE (_Skippers_).—_Six perfect legs: metanotum not free, largely covered by the mesonotum. A pad on the front tibia. Claws short and thick; empodium present._ Although this family has been comparatively neglected by entomologists, upwards of 2000 species and more than 200 genera are known, and it is not improbable that it may prove to be as extensive as Nymphalidae. We have already said that Hesperiidae is generally admitted to be the most distinct of the butterfly groups. It has been thought by some taxonomists to be allied to Papilionidae, but this is a mistake. It is undoubtedly more nearly allied to Heterocera, and when the classification of Lepidoptera is more advanced, so that the various natural groups placed in that sub-Order are satisfactorily distinguished, it is probable that Hesperiidae will be altogether separated from Rhopalocera. We have already mentioned that E. Reuter considers the Hesperiidae to be phylogenetically unconnected with Rhopalocera proper; but though quite ready to admit that he will probably prove correct in this, we think Lepidopterists will not be willing to recognise the family as a sub-Order equivalent in value to all Heterocera.

The body is shorter and thicker than it is in most butterflies, and is pointed at the tip rather than knobbed or bent downwards; the wings are less ample; the antennae are not truly {364}knobbed, but are thicker before the actual tip, which is itself pointed and more or less bent backwards, so that the antennae are somewhat hook-shaped.

In habits as well as structure the family is markedly distinct from butterflies; the pupation is peculiar, and the name Skipper has been applied to the perfect Insects, because so many of them indulge in a brief, jerky flight, instead of the prolonged aerial courses characteristic of the higher butterflies.

There is great difference among the members of the family, and some of them possess a very high development of the powers of locomotion, with a correspondingly perfect structure of the thoracic region, so that, after inspection of these parts, we can quite believe Wallace's statement that the larger and strong-bodied kinds are remarkable for the excessive rapidity of their flight, which, indeed, he was inclined to consider surpassed that of any other Insects. "The eye cannot follow them as they dart past; and the air, forcibly divided, gives out a deep sound louder than that produced by the humming-bird itself. If power of wing and rapidity of flight could place them in that rank, they should be considered the most highly organised of butterflies." It was probably to the genera _Pyrrhopyge_, _Erycides_, etc., that Mr. Wallace alluded in the above remarks. Although the Hesperiidae are not as a rule beautifully coloured, yet many of these higher forms are most tastefully ornamented; parts of the wings, wing-fringes, and even the bodies being set with bright but agreeable colours. We mention these facts because it is a fashion to attribute a lowly organisation to the family, and to place it as ancestral to other butterflies. Some of them have crepuscular habits, but this is also the case with a variety of other Rhopalocera in the tropics.

In their early stages the Skippers—so far as at present known—depart considerably from the majority of butterflies, inasmuch as they possess in both the larval and pupal instars habits of concealment and retirement. The caterpillars have the body nearly bare, thicker in the middle, the head free, and more or less notched above. They make much greater use of silk than other butterfly-larvae do, and draw together leaves to form caves for concealment, and even make webs and galleries. Thus the habits are almost those of the Tortricid moths.

{365}

Pupation takes place under similar conditions; and it is interesting to find that Chapman considers that the pupa in several points of structure resembles that of the small moths. Not only does the larva draw together leaves or stalks to make a shelter for the pupa, but it frequently also forms a rudimentary cocoon. These arrangements are, however, very variable, and the accounts that have been given indicate that even the same species may exhibit some amount of variation in its pupation. Scudder considers that, in the North American Skippers, the cremaster is attached to a single Y-like thread. In other cases there is a silk pad on the leaf for the cremaster to hook on. An interesting account given by Mr. Dudgeon of the pupation of a common Indian Skipper, _Badamia exclamationis_, shows that this Insect exercises considerable ingenuity in the structure of the puparium, and also that the arrangements it adopts facilitate one of the acts of pupation most difficult for such pupae as suspend themselves, viz. the hooking the cremasters on to the pad above them. _Badamia_ uses a rolled-up leaf (Fig. 185); the edges of the leaf are fastened together by silk at _d_; from this spot there descends a thread which, when it reaches the pupa, _a_, forks so as to form an inverted Y, and is fastened to the leaf on either side; the two sides of the leaf are kept together by a cross thread, _cc_. Mr. Dudgeon was fortunate enough to observe the act of pupation, and saw that "although the anal prolegs of the larva were attached to a tuft or pad of silk in the usual way, and remained so until nearly the whole skin had been shuffled off, yet when the last segment had to be taken out, the pupa drew it entirely away from the skin and lifted it over the {366}empty skin, and by a series of contortions similar to those made by an Insect in depositing an egg, it soon re-attached its anal segment or cremaster to the web, throwing away the cast-off skin by wriggling its body about."

SERIES II. HETEROCERA. MOTHS.

Although Rhopalocera—if exclusion be made of the Hesperiidae—is probably a natural group, yet this is not the case with Heterocera. The only definition that can be given of Heterocera is the practical one that all Lepidoptera that are not butterflies are Heterocera. Numerous divisions of the Heterocera have been long current, but their limits have become more and more uncertain, so that at the present time no divisions of greater value than the family command a recognition at all general. This is not really a matter of reproach, for it arises from the desire to recognise only groups that are capable of satisfactory definition.

Several attempts have recently been made to form a rough forecast of the future classification of moths. Professor Comstock, struck by some peculiarities presented by the Hepialidae, Micropterygidae (and Eriocephalidae), recently proposed to separate them from all other Lepidoptera as a sub-order Jugatae. Comstock's discrimination in making this separation met with general approval. The character on which the group Jugatae is based is, however, comparatively trivial, and its possession is not sufficient, as pointed out by Packard,[230] to justify the close association of Hepialidae and Micropterygidae, which, in certain important respects, are the most dissimilar of moths. The characters possessed by the two families in common may be summarised by saying that the wings and wing-bearing segments remain in a low stage of development. In nearly all other characters the two families are widely different. Packard has therefore, while accepting Comstock's separation of the families in question, proposed a different combination. He considers that Eriocephalidae should be separated from all others as "Protolepidoptera" or "Lepidoptera Laciniata," while the whole of the other Lepidoptera, comprised under the term "Lepidoptera Haustellata," are divided into Palaeolepidoptera (consisting only of Micropterygidae) and Neolepidoptera, comprising all Lepidoptera {367}(inclusive of Hepialidae) except the Eriocephalidae and Micropterygidae. The question is rendered more difficult by the very close relations that exist between Micropterygidae and a sub-Order, Trichoptera, of Neuroptera. Dr. Chapman, by a sketch of the classification of pupae,[231] and Dyar, by one on larval stages,[232] have made contributions to the subject; but the knowledge of early stages and metamorphosis is so very imperfect that the last two memoirs can be considered only as preliminary sketches; as indeed seem to have been the wishes of the authors themselves.

Simultaneously with the works above alluded to, Mr. Meyrick has given[233] a new classification of the Order. We allude, in other pages, to various points in Mr. Meyrick's classification, which is made to appear more revolutionary than it really is, in consequence of the radical changes in nomenclature combined with it.

As regards the various aggregates of families that are widely known in literature by the names Bombyces, Sphinges, Noctuae, Geometres, Pyrales, we need only remark that they are still regarded as to some extent natural. Their various limits being the subject of discussion and at present undecided, the groups are made to appear more uncertain than is really the case. The group that has to suffer the greatest changes is the old Bombyces. This series comprises the great majority of those moths that have diurnal habits. In it there were also included several groups of moths the larvae of which feed in trunks of trees or in the stems of plants, such as Cossidae, that will doubtless prove to have but little connection with the forms with which they were formerly associated. These groups with aberrant habits are those that give rise to the greatest difficulties of the taxonomist.

The following key to the families of Heterocera is taken from Sir G. F. Hampson's recent work, _Fauna of British India—Moths_.[234] It includes nearly all the families at present recognised among the larger Lepidoptera; certain families[235] not mentioned in this key are alluded to in our subsequent remarks on the families:—

{368}Key to the Families of Moths[236]

N.B.—_This table is not simply dichotomic; three contrasted categories
are used in the case of the primary divisions, A, B, C, and the secondary
divisions, I, II, III_.

A. Fore wing with nervule 5 coming from the middle of the discocellulars,
or nearer 6 than 4 (Categories I, II, III = 1-18).

I. Frenulum rudimentary. Fam. 38. EPICOPEIIDAE, see p. 418.

II. Frenulum absent (Categories 1-8).

1. Proboscis present, legs with spurs (Cat. 2-5).

2. Hind wing with nervule 8 remote from 7 (Cat. 3 and 4).

3. Fore wing with nervule 6 and 7 stalked
Fam. 39. URANIIDAE, see p. 419.

4. Fore wing with nervules 6 and 7 not stalked
Fam. 5. CERATOCAMPIDAE, see p. 375.

5. Hind wing with nervule 8 nearly touching 7 beyond end of
cell Fam. 4. BRAHMAEIDAE, see p. 374.

6. Proboscis absent, legs without spurs (Cat. 7 and 8).

7. Hind wing with one internal nervure
Fam. 3. SATURNIIDAE, see p. 372.

8. Hind wing with two or three internal nervures
Fam. 6. BOMBYCIDAE, see p. 375.

III. Frenulum present (Cat. 9-18).

9. Antennae fusiform [spindle-shaped]
Fam. 9. SPHINGIDAE, see p. 380.

10. Antennae not fusiform (Cat. 11-18).

11. Proboscis absent Fam. 7. EUPTEROTIDAE, see p. 376.

12. Proboscis present (Cat. 13-18).

13. Hind wing with nervule 8 curved and almost touching 7
after end of cell; nervure 1a reaching anal angle
Fam. 12. CYMATOPHORIDAE, see p. 386.

14. Hind wing with nervule 8 remote from 7 after end of
cell (Cat. 15-18).

15. Tarsi as short as tibia, hairy; stoutly built
moths Fam. 11. NOTODONTIDAE,[237] see p. 383.

16. Tarsi long and naked; slightly built moths
(Cat. 17 and 18)

17. Fore wing with nervule 7 remote from 8, and
generally stalked with 6
Fam. 40. EPIPLEMIDAE, see p. 420.

18. Fore wing with nervule 7 given off from 8;
hind wing with nervure 1a short or absent
Fam. 36. GEOMETRIDAE, see p. 411.

B. Fore wing with nervule 5 coming from lower angle of cell or nearer
4{369}
than 6 [see figures 161 and 162, pp. 318, 319] (Categories 19-58).

19. Hind wing with more than 8 nervules (Cat. 20, 21).

20. Proboscis absent, no mandibles nor ligula; size not very
small Fam. 23. HEPIALIDAE, see p. 396.

21. Mandibles, long palpi and ligula present; size very small
Fam. 47. MICROPTERYGIDAE, see p. 435.

22. Hind wing with not more than 8 nervules (Cat. 23-58).

23. Hind wing with nervule 8 remote from 7 after origin of
nervules 6 and 7 (Cat. 24-51).

24. Frenulum absent (Cat. 25-29).

25. Hind wing with one internal nervure; nervule 8 with a
precostal spur, Fam. 31. PTEROTHYSANIDAE, see p. 406.

26. Hind wing with two internal nervures (Cat. 27
and 28).

27. Hind wing with a bar between nervules 7 and 8
near the base; nervure 1a directed to middle of
inner margin Fam. 30. ENDROMIDAE, see p. 406.

28. Hind wing with no bar between nervules 7 and 8;
nervure 1a directed to anal angle
Fam. 29. LASIOCAMPIDAE, see p. 405.

29. Hind wing with three internal nervures
Fam. 21. ARBELIDAE, see p. 396.

30. Frenulum present (Cat. 31-51).

31. Hind wing with nervule 8 aborted
Fam. 15. SYNTOMIDAE, see p. 388.

32. Hind wing with nervule 8 present (Cat. 33-51).

33. Antennae knobbed, Fam. 1. CASTNIIDAE, see p. 371.

34. Antennae filiform, or (rarely) dilated a little
towards the tip (Cat. 35-51).

35. Fore wing with nervure 1c present
(Cat. 36-43).

36. Hind wing with nervule 8 free from the
base or connected with 7 by a bar
(Cat. 37-42).

37. Proboscis present
Fam. 16. ZYGAENIDAE, see p. 390.

38. Proboscis absent (Cat. 39-42).

39. Palpi rarely absent; ♀
winged; larvae wood-borers
Fam. 20. COSSIDAE, see p. 395.

40. Palpi absent; ♀ apterous
(Cat. 41, 42).

41. ♀ rarely with legs; ♀ and
larvae case-dwellers
Fam. 19. PSYCHIDAE, see p. 392.

42. ♀ and larvae free[238]
Fam. 18. HETEROGYNIDAE, see p. 392.

43. Hind wing with nervule 8 {370}
anastomosing shortly with 7
Fam. 26. LIMACODIDAE, see. p. 401.

44. Fore wing with nervure 1c absent
(Cat. 45-51).

45. Hind wing with nervule 8 rising out of 7
Fam. 34. ARCTIIDAE, see p. 408.

46. Hind wing with nervule 8 connected with 7
by a bar, or touching it near middle of
cell (Cat. 47, 48).

47. Palpi with the third joint naked and
reaching far above vertex of head;
proboscis present
Fam. 33. HYPSIDAE, see p. 408.

48. Palpi not reaching above vertex of
head; proboscis absent or very minute
Fam. 32. LYMANTRIIDAE, see p. 406.

49. Hind wing with nervule 8 anastomosing
shortly with 7 near the base; proboscis
well developed (Cat. 50, 51).

50. Antennae more or less thick towards tip
Fam. 35. AGARISTIDAE, see p. 410.

51. Antennae filiform
Fam. 37. NOCTUIDAE, see p. 414.

52. Hind wing with nervule 8 curved and nearly or quite touching
nervure 7, or anastomosing with it after origin of nervules
6 and 7 (Cat. 53-58).

53. Hind wing with nervure 1c absent (Cat. 54-57).

54. Hind wing with nervule 8 with a precostal spur
Fam. 24. CALLIDULIDAE, see p. 400.

55. Hind wing with nervule 8 with no precostal spur
(Cat. 56, 57).

56. Hind wing with nervure 1a absent or very short
Fam. 25. DREPANIDAE, see p. 400.

57. Hind wing with nervure 1a almost or quite
reaching anal angle
Fam. 28. THYRIDIDAE, see p. 404.

58. Hind wing with nervure 1c present
Fam. 41. PYRALIDAE, see p. 420.

C. Fore wing with 4 nervules arising from the cell at almost even
distances apart (Cat. 59-66).

59. Wings not divided into plumes (Cat. 60-63).

60. Hind wing with nervule 8 coincident with 7
Fam. 13. SESIIDAE, see p. 386.

61. Hind wing with nervule 8 free (Cat. 62, 63).

62. Fore wing with nervure 1b simple or with a very minute
fork at base Fam. 14. TINAEGERIIDAE, see p. 387.

63. Fore wing with nervure 1a forming a large fork with 1b
at base Fam. 45. TINEIDAE, see p. 428.

64. Wings divided into plumes (Cat. 65, 66). {371}

65. Fore wing divided into at most two, hind wing into three
plumes Fam. 42. PTEROPHORIDAE, see p. 426.

66. Fore wing and hind wing each divided into three plumes
Fam. 43. ALUCITIDAE (= ORNEODIDAE), see p. 426.

FAM. 1. CASTNIIDAE.—_The Insects of this family combine to a large extent the characters of butterflies and moths. The antennae are knobbed or hooked at the tip, there is a large precostal area to the hind wing. The nervules of the front wing are complex and anastomose so as to form one or more accessory cells_ (Fig. 162). This important, but not extensive, family consists chiefly of forms found in tropical America and Australia. The diversity of size, form and appearance is very great, and it is probable that the members of the family will be separated; indeed, taxonomists are by no means in agreement as to the limits of the family. The Castniidae are diurnal Insects, and the North American genus _Megathymus_ is by many considered to belong to the Rhopalocera. _Euschemon rafflesiae_ (Fig. 186) is extremely like a large Skipper with long antennae, but has a well-marked frenulum. The members of the Australian genus _Synemon_ are much smaller, but they also look like Skippers. Their habits are very like those of the Hesperiidae; they flit about in the hot sunshine, and when settling after their brief flights, the fore wings are spread out at right angles to the body, so as to display the more gaily coloured hind wings; at night, or in cloudy weather, the Insect rests on blades of grass with the wings erect, meeting vertically over the back, like a butterfly. _Hecatesia_, another Australian genus, is now usually assigned to _Agaristidae_; its members look like moths. The male of _H. fenestrata_ is provided with a sound-producing organ similar to that of the Agaristid genus _Aegocera_.

The _Castnia_ of South America are many of them like {372}Nymphalid butterflies, but exhibit great diversity, and resemble butterflies of several different divisions of the family.[239]

The species are apparently great, lovers of heat and can tolerate a very dry atmosphere.[240] The transformations of very few have been observed; so far as is known the larvae feed in stems; and somewhat resemble those of Goat-moths or Leopard-moths (Cossidae); the caterpillar of _C. therapon_ lives in the stems of Brazilian orchids, and as a consequence has been brought to Europe, and the moth there disclosed. The pupae are in general structure of the incomplete character, and have transverse rows of spines, as is the case with other moths of different families, but having larvae with similar habits.[241] _Castnia eudesmia_ forms a large cocoon of fragments of vegetable matter knitted together with silk. These Insects are rare in collections; they do not ever appear in numbers, and are generally very difficult to capture.

FAM. 2. NEOCASTNIIDAE.—The Oriental genus _Tascina_, formerly placed in Castniidae has recently been separated by Sir G. Hampson and associated with _Neocastnia nicevillei_, from East India, to form this family. These Insects have the appearance of Nymphalid butterflies. They differ from Castniidae by the want of a proboscis.

FAM. 3. SATURNIIDAE.—This is a large and varied assemblage of moths; the larvae construct cocoons; the products of several species being used as silk. These moths have no frenulum and no proboscis. The hind wings have a very large shoulder, so that the anterior margin or costa stretches far forward beneath the front wing, as it does in butterflies. The antennae of the males are strongly bipectinated and frequently attain a magnificent development. The family includes some of the largest and most remarkable forms of the Insect-world, _Coscinocera hercules_, inhabiting North Australia, is a huge moth which, with its expanded wings and the long tails thereof, covers a space of about 70 square inches. One of the striking features of the family is the occurrence in numerous forms of remarkable transparent spaces on the wings; these window-like areas usually occur in the middle of the wing and form a most remarkable contrast to the rest of the surface, which is very densely {373}scaled. In _Attacus_ these attain a large size. In other species, such as the South African _Ludia delegorguei_, there is a small letter-like, or symboliform, transparent mark towards the tip of each front wing. We have at present no clue to the nature or importance of these remarkable markings. In the genus _Automeris_, and in other forms, instead of transparent spaces there are large and staring ocellate marks or eyes, which are concealed when the Insect is reposing. In _Arceina_, _Copiopteryx_, _Eudaemonia_ and others, the hind wings are prolonged into very long tails, perhaps exceeding in length those of any other moths.

The cocoons are exceedingly various, ranging from a slight open network to a dense elaborate structure arranged as in our Emperor moth; in this latter case an opening is left by the larva for its exit after it has become a moth, but by an ingenious, chevaux-de-frise work, this opening is closed against external enemies, though the structure offers no resistance at all to the escape of the moth. Fabre has recorded some observations and experiments which seem to show that the instinct predominating over the formation of the cocoon is not cognoscent. The Insect, if interfered with, displays a profound stupidity. Its method is blind perseverance in the customary.[242] The cocoon of Saturniidae is more often continuous, _i.e._ entirely closed. Packard says that {374}_Actias luna_ effects its escape by cutting through the strong cocoon with an instrument situate at the base of the front wing. Other species were examined and were found to possess the instrument; but Packard is convinced that the majority of the species possessing the instrument do not use it, but escape by emitting a fluid that softens the cocoon and enables the moth to push itself through.[243] The cocoons of the species of _Ceranchia_ have a beautiful appearance, like masses of filagree-work in silver. The pupa in _Ceranchia_ is very peculiar, being terminated by a long, spine-like process. In _Loepa newara_ the cocoon is of a green colour and suspended by a stalk; looking like the pod, or pitcher, of a plant. The silk of the Saturniidae is usually coarse, and is known as Tusser or Tussore[244] silk.

The larvae of this family are as remarkable as the imagos, being furnished with spine-bearing tubercles or warts, or long fleshy processes; the colours are frequently beautiful. The caterpillar of _Attacus atlas_ (Fig. 187) is pale olive-green and lavender, and has a peculiar, conspicuous, red mark on each flank close to the clasper.

About seventy genera and several hundred species are already known of this interesting family. They are widely distributed on the globe, though there are but few in Australia. Our only British species, the Emperor moth, _Saturnia pavonia_, is by no means rare, and its larva is a beautiful object; bright green with conspicuous tubercles of a rosy, or yellow, colour. It affects an unusual variety of food-plants, sloe and heather being favourites; the writer has found it at Wicken flourishing on the leaves of the yellow water-lily. Although the Emperor moth is one of the largest of our native Lepidopterous Insects, it is one of the smallest of the Saturniidae.

The family Hemileucidae of Packard is included at present in Saturniidae.

FAM. 4. BRAHMAEIDAE.—The species forming the genus _Brahmaea_ have been placed in various families, and are now treated by Hampson as a family apart, distinguished from Saturniidae by the presence of a proboscis. They are magnificent, large moths, of sombre colours, but with complex patterns on the wings, looking as if intended as designs for {375}upholstery. About fifteen species are recognised; the geographical distribution is remarkable; consisting of a comparatively narrow belt extending across the Old World from Japan to West Africa, including Asia Minor and the shores of the Caspian Sea. Little has been recorded as to the life-histories of these Insects. The larva is said to have the second and third segments swollen and armed with a pair of lateral spines projecting forwards. A cocoon is not formed.

FAM. 5. CERATOCAMPIDAE.—This is a small family. They are fine moths peculiar to the New World, and known principally by scattered notices in the works of North American entomologists. Seven genera and about sixty species are known. The chief genus is _Citheronia_. Some of the larvae are remarkable, being armed with large and complex spines. A cocoon is not formed.