Download the full version of the textbook now at textbookfull.

com

The Notebooks of Alexander Skryabin 1st

Edition Aleksandr Nikolayevich Scriabin

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-notebooks-of-
alexander-skryabin-1st-edition-aleksandr-
nikolayevich-scriabin/

Explore and download more textbook at https://textbookfull.com

 Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

The Notebooks Of Alexander Skryabin 1st Edition Aleksandr

Nikolayevich Scriabin

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-notebooks-of-alexander-
skryabin-1st-edition-aleksandr-nikolayevich-scriabin-2/

textbookfull.com

The Alexander Scriabin Companion History Performance and

Lore 1st Edition Lincoln Ballard

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-alexander-scriabin-companion-
history-performance-and-lore-1st-edition-lincoln-ballard/

textbookfull.com

Warning to the West Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

https://textbookfull.com/product/warning-to-the-west-aleksandr-
solzhenitsyn/

textbookfull.com

Women in the Picture Women Art and the Power of Looking

1st Edition Catherine Mccormack

https://textbookfull.com/product/women-in-the-picture-women-art-and-
the-power-of-looking-1st-edition-catherine-mccormack/

textbookfull.com
The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic
Countries Oxford Handbooks Fabian Holt

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-popular-music-
in-the-nordic-countries-oxford-handbooks-fabian-holt/

textbookfull.com

Good Design Practices for GMP Pharmaceutical Facilities

Second Edition Terry Jacobs

https://textbookfull.com/product/good-design-practices-for-gmp-
pharmaceutical-facilities-second-edition-terry-jacobs/

textbookfull.com

Black Power Radical Politics and African American Identity

Jeffrey Ogbonna Green Ogbar

https://textbookfull.com/product/black-power-radical-politics-and-
african-american-identity-jeffrey-ogbonna-green-ogbar/

textbookfull.com

Python Crash Course A Hands On Project Based Introduction

to Programming 2nd Edition Eric Matthes

https://textbookfull.com/product/python-crash-course-a-hands-on-
project-based-introduction-to-programming-2nd-edition-eric-matthes/

textbookfull.com

Witsec and Whiskey Last Chance Security 1 1st Edition

Allison Lafleur [Lafleur

https://textbookfull.com/product/witsec-and-whiskey-last-chance-
security-1-1st-edition-allison-lafleur-lafleur/

textbookfull.com
A False Tree of Liberty: Human Rights In Radical Thought
Susan Marks

https://textbookfull.com/product/a-false-tree-of-liberty-human-rights-
in-radical-thought-susan-marks/

textbookfull.com
 The Notebooks
of Alexander Skryabin
Alexander Skryabin in 1914 (© Skryabin Museum, Moscow)
 The Notebooks
of Alexander Skryabin
T R A N S L AT E D B Y S I M O N N I C H O L L S
AND MICHAEL PUSHKIN

A N N O TAT I O N S A N D C O M M E N TA RY
BY SIMON NICHOLLS

FORE WORD BY VL ADIMIR A SHKENA ZY

1
 1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.

Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press

198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.

© Oxford University Press 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.

You must not circulate this work in any other form

and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Data

Names: Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich, 1872–1915. | Nicholls, Simon, 1951– |
Pushkin, Michael, 1944– | Ashkenazy, Vladimir, 1937–
Title: The notebooks of Alexander Skryabin / translated by Simon Nicholls and
Michael Pushkin; annotations and commentary by Simon Nicholls; foreword
by Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017042778 (print) | LCCN 2017044481 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190863678 (updf) | ISBN 9780190863685 (epub) |
ISBN 9780190863661 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Scriabin, Aleksandr Nikolayevich, 1872–1915.
Classification: LCC ML410.S5988 (ebook) | LCC ML410.S5988 A25 2018 (print) |
DDC 786.2092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017042778

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
Dedicated to the memory of Dr. Oliver Smith (1979–​2013)
 CONTENTS

List of illustrations xi
Foreword xiii
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Editorial procedure xv
The Translations xv
Russian dates xvii
Acknowledgements xix

Introduction 1
Simon Nicholls
CULTURAL CONTEXT 1
BIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS 5

The Writings of Skryabin (Russkie propilei, Moscow, 1919) 29

A Note by Boris de Schloezer on the Preliminary Action 31

The Notebooks:
I. A SINGLE SHEET, WRITTEN AT THE AGE OF ABOUT SIXTEEN 49
II. PERIOD OF THE FIRST SYMPHONY, AROUND 1900 50
III. CHORUS FROM SYMPHONY NO. 1 51
IV. LIBRETTO FOR AN OPERA, WRITTEN AFTER SYMPHONY NO. 1
BUT BEFORE 1903 52
V. NOTEBOOK, SUMMER 1904, SWITZERLAND 61
VI. NOTEBOOK, 1904–​5 66
VII. NOTEBOOK, 1905–​6 102

vii
viii Contents

VIII. THE POEM OF ECSTASY 115

IX. [THE PRELIMINARY ACTION]:
1. Initial version, full text 125
2. Final, fair copy of the text, unfinished 158

Commentary 175
Simon Nicholls

The growth of Skryabin’s thought 177

A ‘PHILOSOPHER-​MUSICIAN’? 177
THE INFLUENCE OF PHILOSOPHY
Music and philosophy 178
Skryabin’s reading 179
Ernest Renan 180
Greek philosophy 181
German idealism 183
Russian philosophy and Russian symbolism 186

Congress at Geneva 189

The influence of theosophy 191
Indian culture 193
Skryabin’s philosophy of music 194
Skryabin’s ‘teaching’ 196

Thought in words, music, colour: Skryabin’s developing

symbolist practice 203
SKRYABIN’S POETIC LANGUAGE 203
THE POEM OF ECSTASY: TEXT AND MUSIC (1905–​8) 207
PROMETHEUS: MUSIC, COLOUR, AND THE WORD (1908–​10) 212

The Preliminary Action 215

A PRELIMINARY TO WHAT?—​‘THE IDEA OF THE MYSTERY’

(LEONID SABANEYEV) 215
PERFORMANCE AS SACRAMENT 219
THE MUSIC FOR THE PRELIMINARY ACTION 220

People and publications 225

LEONID SABANEYEV 225

MIKHAIL GERSHENZON AND RUSSKIE PROPILEI 228
 Contents ix

Supplementary Texts by Alexander Skryabin 231

I. REMINISCENCES OF YOUTH 231

II. TEXT TO AN UNFINISHED BALLADE FOR PIANO (1887) 232
III. ROMANCE (1891) 232
IV. AN EARLY STATEMENT OF ASPIRATION (1892) 233

Letters to Natal′ya Sekerina:

V. [ JUNE 1892] 234
VI. [ JULY 1892] 234
VII. [MAY/​JUNE 1893] 236
VIII. [ JUNE 1893] 236

Letters to Margarita Morozova:

IX. APRIL 1904 237
X. [APRIL/​MAY 1906] 238

Letters to Tat′yana Schloezer:

XI. [ JANUARY 1905] 238
XII. [DECEMBER 1906] 239
XIII. POEM TO ACCOMPANY SONATA NO. 4 239
XIV. OPEN LETTER TO A. N. BRYANCHANINOV: ‘ART AND POLITICS’ (1915) 241

Biographical notes 245

Bibliography 251
Index 259
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
 L I S T O F I L L U S T R AT I O N S

Skryabin in 1914 ii
Lyubov′ Petrovna Skryabina (Shchetinina) 5
Lyubov′ Alexandrovna Skryabina 7
Sergei Taneyev 9
Vasilii Safonov 10
Natal′ya Sekerina 12
Sergei Trubetskoy 13
Vera Skryabina (Isakovich) 14
Tat′yana de Schloezer 16
Vésenaz 17
Yulii Éngel′ 18
H. P. Blavatsky 20
Konstantin Bal′mont 22
Skryabin’s funeral procession (press photograph) 23
Russkie propilei: title page of the original edition, 1919 29
Skryabin and Baltrušaitis, 1913, Petrovskoe 32
Belotte 64
Reproductions from the original edition:
Two drawings by Skryabin 85
Two excerpts from the Preliminary Action in Skryabin’s manuscript 125, 133
Vladimir Solovyov 187
Vyacheslav Ivanov 188
Les Lilas, Vésenaz 189
Margarita Morozova 196
Leonid Sabaneyev with Tat′yana de Schloezer and Alexander Skryabin 225
Mikhail Gershenzon 228

xi
 FOREWORD

Evaluation of Skryabin’s music is not an easy task. His idiom is often dismissed—​
his early music simply as too Chopinesque and his late music as the sense-
less product of an amateur philosopher. Skryabin’s orchestral music, perhaps
excluding The Poem of Ecstasy, is not often performed.
But his piano music survives. He was, after all, an excellent pianist, and his
piano sonatas and many other pieces are often an integral part of many pian-
ists’ repertoire—​and not only those of the Russian school. Sergei Rachmaninov
played a lot of Skryabin’s music, and closer to our time Svyatoslav Richter also
had many of his pieces in his repertoire. There are countless CDs available of
his piano music played by pianists from many countries. Evidently his idiom in-
spires artistic endeavour in the minds and souls of many performers.
It would be pointless to go here into detailed analysis of Skryabin’s idiom
and the message of his final product. One tends to simply accept the fact of
the survival of his spirit and register that his message has a meaning inherently
connected with our spiritual existence—​and that is one hundred years after
his death.
There is evidence that (just before 1903) Skryabin once wrote: ‘I am the
apotheosis of world creation. I am the aim of aims, the end of ends’. As a very
frequent visitor to the Skryabin Museum in Moscow in the 1950s and 1960s,
I often heard the director of the museum, Mrs. Tatyana Shaborkina, telling vis-
itors that shortly before his death Skryabin uttered a statement to this very same
effect—​obviously meaning that once he ceased to exist, the world would also
come to an end. Whatever he might have meant, and whatever his philosophy,
Skryabin’s music is still around and is important to many of us.
Vladimir Ashkenazy

xiii
 E D I TO R I A L P RO CE D U R E

The Translations
We have sought to give as accurate a rendering of the Russian text as possible.
Following Mikhail Gershenzon, Skryabin’s first editor, we have not attempted
to correct the ellipses, inconsistencies, and grammatical lapses due to the
composer’s hasty noting down, for private use, of thoughts as they occurred
to him. Our aim in translating the poetical writing was to adhere as closely as
possible to the sense of the Russian, rather than to try to reproduce metres or
rhymes which Skryabin used.1
In Skryabin’s writing, as in Russian writing about Skryabin, words and con-
cepts recur frequently. Russian and English words overlap in their meanings but
do not necessarily coincide exactly, and so it is not always possible to achieve
a word-​for-​word equivalence. We have, however, attempted to reproduce repe-
titions to some extent, when these constitute a stylistic feature with which the
Russian language is more comfortable than is English. It may be helpful to pro-
vide a short glossary of some words in this key vocabulary which have several
equivalents or present other special features:

deistvo ​ an old word, usually translated as ‘action’, meaning a dramatic

presentation, originally on a sacred subject
edinyi ​ one, single, unified, unique
pod′′yom ​animation, élan, upsurge; in a musical composition, ‘build-​up’
poryv ​impulse, rush
sobornost′ ​
It is hard to find an English word which fully expresses this
concept. Its root is the Russian sobor, which signifies both
‘gathering’ and ‘cathedral’. The Slavophile philosopher and
poet Aleksei Khomyakov (1804–​60) defined it as ‘a unity in

xv
xvi Editor ial P rocedure

the grace of God, living in a multitude of rational creatures,

submitting themselves willingly to grace.’2 This concept, either
in its original form or shorn of its Orthodox or of all religious
trappings, was a central component of much Russian thought
from Khomyakov onwards, and of Skryabin’s own thought.
stremit′sya ​to aspire, rush, strive, but
stremitel′no ​headlong, in striving.

Transliteration of Russian is based on a simplified version of the British

Standard system. Endings of surnames have been rendered as ‘-​y ’ rather than ‘-​ii’
or ‘-​yi’. When names are well known in English, the customary English spelling
has been preferred (‘Goldenweiser’ rather than ‘Gol′denveizer’), except in the
bibliography and bibliographic references, where the exact transliteration of the
Russian has been adhered to in every case, or, in the case of a translated edition,
the transliteration of that edition. For example, Sabaneyev, Sabaneev, Sabaneeff,
and Sabanejew are the same person. As the works of Elena Petrovna Blavatskaya
were initially published in English, her name appears in the form employed in
those publications: H. P. Blavatsky. The surname of Skryabin’s daughter Marina
is given as Scriabine, as references are made to her translation of the writings
into French.3
In the translation of Russkie propilei4 the footnotes of the original edition, pre-
pared by Mikhail Gershenzon, are introduced by the letters M. G., the notes in-
dicated by Gershenzon as Skryabin’s own by A. S. All endnotes are the present
author’s or translators’. The headings to each numbered section of the Propilei
are by Gershenzon. Divisions between sections of text are indicated inconsist-
ently in that edition (by * or _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​). This inconsistency has been retained,
as it may reflect an attempt to reproduce a feature of the manuscripts. The verse
is laid out, as far as possible, according to the original edition; the arrangement
on the page, shown in facsimile excerpts reproduced in that edition, reflects that
in Skryabin’s manuscripts. We have retained the original edition’s use of round
and square brackets. It appears from the context that the round brackets are
Skryabin’s and the square ones are editorial additions. The page numbers of the
original are included, to facilitate comparison with the original edition.
Skryabin’s projected final work, known in Russian as Misteriya, has been
referred to in English as ‘the Mysterium’, the term adopted by Oskar von
Riesemann in his German translation of the writings.5 We have preferred to
call it ‘the Mystery’. This nomenclature emphasises the links between Skryabin’s
conception, the ancient Greek mysteries, and the ‘mystery play’ (sacred drama)
from which such writers of Skryabin’s period as Ivanov and, at an early stage,
Bely also drew inspiration. Our choice is a return to the usage of the first English-​
language biographers of Skryabin.6
 Editor ial P rocedure xvii

We have worked from original sources wherever possible, but references are
made to good English translations of Russian and German texts when avail-
able. In the case of Boris de Schloezer’s Skryabin, translated into English as
Scriabin: Artist and Mystic,7 the excerpts quoted have been newly translated, with
the page reference of the original given first and that of the published transla-
tion following. Translations of the titles of all Russian sources are given in the
bibliography.

Russian dates
Throughout Skryabin’s lifetime Russia used the Julian Calendar ( = ‘Old Style’,
OS), gradually abandoned in most of Europe after 1582. Russia adjusted its
dates to the Gregorian calendar ( = ‘New Style’, NS) in 1918. Calendar dates
in Russia in this book are given in Old Style, events elsewhere in New Style. In
the nineteenth century, the Julian calendar was behind the Gregorian by twelve
days; from the end of February 1900, the discrepancy increased to thirteen days.
Where dates are given in both styles, Old Style comes first.

Notes
1. See the section ‘Skryabin’s poetic language’, 203–07.
2. William Leatherbarrow. “Conservatism in the age of Alexander I and Nicholas I.” In A History of
Russian Thought, edited by William Leatherbarrow and Derek Offord. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2010, 110.
3. Alexandre Scriabine. Notes et réflexions, carnets inédits. Translated with introduction and notes
by Marina Scriabine. Paris: Editions Klincksieck, 1979.
4. Russkie propilei (Russian propylaea—​‘propylaea’ being the word used in classical Greek for a
monumental gateway) was an annual publication of material relating to Russian thought and
literature, which appeared from 1915 to 1919 with the exception of 1917. See the section
‘Mikhail Gershenzon and Russkie propilei’, 228–29.
5. Alexander Skrjabin. Prometheische Phantasien. Translated and with introduction by Oskar von
Riesemann. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-​Anstalt, 1924.
6. A. Eaglefield Hull. A Great Russian Tone-​Poet, Scriabin. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner,
1916, 258; Alfred J. Swan, Scriabin. London: John Lane, 1923, 27.
7. B. F. Shletser. Skryabin. Tom I: Lichnost′, Misteriya. Berlin: Grani, 1923. English transla-
tion: Boris de Schloezer. Scriabin: Artist and Mystic. Translated by Nicolas Slonimsky. With
introductory essays by Marina Scriabine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book could not have been written without the generous help of Russian
institutions and of many individuals. Friends and colleagues have helped with
obtaining source materials, some very scarce, and with advice. I am indebted to
the following:

In Moscow
Andrei Golovin, composer
Alina Ivanova-​Skryabina, journalist
Aleksandr S. Skryabin, president of the A. N. Skryabin Foundation
Professor Vladimir Tropp, head of piano faculty, Gnesin Academy, pro-
fessor of piano, Tchaikovsky Conservatoire

At the Skryabin Memorial Museum, Moscow:

Aleksandr Lazarev, director

The late Pavel Lobanov, senior researcher
Vladimir Popkov, head of the memorial exhibition and research
department
Valentina Rubtsova, vice-director for research
Tamara Rybakova, director (retired)

At the Taneyev Research Music Library of the Moscow Tchaikovsky

Conservatoire:

Lyudmila Dedyukina, leader of the Information and Bibliographical

Section
Evgenii Zhivtsov, editor (retired)

xix
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
xx A ck nowl edg ements

In the United Kingdom

Robert Allan, librarian of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (retired), assisted
in obtaining research materials. My friend and colleague at Royal Birmingham
Conservatoire Michael Pushkin has taken on far more than the role of co-​
translator. Both in this role and in the task of editing and preparing the book
his assiduous care has saved me from many a blunder. Any remaining errors
are entirely my own responsibility. Translations from French and German are
also my responsibility. Conversations with the late Alan Rowlands, my ex-​col-
league at the Royal College of Music, London, were illuminating on the sub-
ject of Indian spirituality. The late Dr. Oliver Smith (University of St. Andrews)
generously shared materials and ideas. Thanks are due to Sasha Dugdale and
Maria Kozlovskaya, to Jelena Pozdnyakova (University of Birmingham), and to
Dr. Snejana Tempest (University College London) for advice on linguistic and
textual matters.

In the United States

Some elements in the section ‘Supplementary Texts by Alexander Skryabin’
were first published in the Journal of the Scriabin Society of America, 15/​1 (Winter
2010–​11), 77–​101, and are republished here with the permission of the editor,
David Minshall.
I would like to thank OUP USA’s editor in chief (humanities), Suzanne Ryan,
and Victoria Kouznetsov, editorial assistant, for invaluable support and advice.

Illustration copyright holders

Photograph of Madame Blavatsky by permission of the Theosophical Society, in
England and in America.
Reproductions from Russkie propilei and photograph of Belotte from the
author’s private collection, with the kind assistance of Robin Kinross.
Photograph of Vyacheslav Ivanov by permission of Lebrecht Music & Arts.
Photograph of ‘Les Lilas’ by Marc Meyer. First published in Sigfried Schibli,
Alexander Skrjabin und seine Musik. Munich/​Zurich: R. Piper & Co., 1983.
Reproduced by permission of Dr. Schibli.
Photograph of Mikhail Gershenzon, copyright Mikhail Chegodaev. In the
M. O. Gershenzon Archive, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. First
published in Brian Horowitz, Russian Idea—​Jewish Presence: Essays on Russian–
Jewish Intellectual Life, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2013.
All remaining illustrations are from the archive of the Skryabin Museum,
Moscow, and are the Museum’s copyright property.
 Ack nowl edg ement s xxi

Many documents given or referred to in the present volume were quoted

by Faubion Bowers in his biography Scriabin, frequently with no indication of
source or location and sometimes with unannounced cuts or interpolations. For
this reason all quotations in the present volume are from the original sources,
and Bowers’s work was not the basis of research for it. Any English-​speaking
Skryabin researcher must nevertheless acknowledge a debt to Bowers’s pio­
neering work. Marina Lobanova’s Teosof, Teurg, Mistik, Mag was a valuable in-
dicator of key texts. Sigfried Schibli’s Alexander Skrjabin und seine Musik was
helpful in preparing the sections on philosophy.
Simon Nicholls
London, 2017
 The Notebooks
of Alexander Skryabin
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
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 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.

Fig. 180—Pupation of the Orange-tip butterfly, Euchloe cardamines. A,

The completed pupa; B, the larva, with its girdle, prepared for the
change.

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.
 Fig. 181—Newly-hatched larva of Euchloe cardamines. A, The larva in
profile; B, one segment more magnified, showing the liquid-bearing
setae; C, one of the setae still more magnified, and without liquid.

It is not unusual for caterpillars to change their habits and 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.

Fig. 182—Larva of Euchloe cardamines in middle life. A, the larva in

profile; B, one segment more magnified.

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.

Fig. 183—Ornithoptera (Schoenbergia) paradisea, male. New Guinea. ×

1. (Colours, velvet-black, golden-yellow and green.)

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.
Fig. 184—Ornithoptera (Schoenbergia) paradisea, female. × 1. (The wings, on the
right side, detached, showing the under surface. Colours, black, white, and gray.)

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 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 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.

Fig. 185—Pupation of Badamia exclamationis. (After Dudgeon. J. Bombay

Soc. x. 1895, p. 144). A, One side of the leaf-cradle, the other
(nearest to the observer) being broken away; B, transverse section
of entire cradle, a, The pupa; b, fastenings of perpendicular threads
round pupa; c, cross thread retaining the leaf in cradle form; d,
margins of the leaf; e, midrib of leaf.

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
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 (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:—

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 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 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).
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.
 Fig. 186—Euschemon rafflesiae. Australia. (After Doubleday.)

The Castnia of South America are many of them like 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 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.

Fig. 187—Larva of Attacus atlas, India. A, at end of 1st instar, profile; B,

4th instar, dorsal view; C, full-grown larva, in repose. (After Poujade.)

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 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 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.

Fam. 6. Bombycidae.—In entomological literature this name has a

very uncertain meaning, as it has been applied to diverse groups; even
at present the name is frequently used for the Lasiocampidae. We
apply it to the inconsiderable family of true silkworm moths. They are
comparatively small and uninteresting Insects in both the larval and
imaginal instars; but the cocoons formed by the well-known silkworm
are of great value, and some other species form similar structures that
are of more or less value for commercial purposes. The silkworm has
been domesticated for an enormous period, and is consequently now
very widely spread over the earth's surface; opinions differ as to its real
home, some thinking it came originally from Northern China, while
others believe Bengal to have been its native habitat. The silkworm is
properly called Bombyx mori, but perhaps it is as often styled Sericaria
mori. Besides being of so great a value in commerce, this Insect has
become an important object of investigation as to anatomy, physiology
and development. Its domestication has probably been accompanied
by a certain amount of change in habits and instincts, the creature
having apparently lost its appreciation of freedom and its power of
flight; it is also said to be helpless in certain respects when placed on
trees in the larval state; but the importance of these points has been
perhaps somewhat exaggerated.[245]

Although the family Bombycidae is very widely distributed in the warmer

regions of the world, it includes only 15 or 20 genera, and none of them
have many species. The Mustiliidae of some entomologists are
included here. Like the Saturniidae, the Bombycidae are destitute of
proboscis and of frenulum to the wings, but they possess two or three
internal nervures on the hind wing instead of the single one existing in
Saturniidae.

Fam. 7. Eupterotidae (Striphnopterygidae of Aurivillius).—This family

has only recently been separated from Lasiocampidae; its members,
however, possess a frenulum; while none is present in the larger family
mentioned. Its limits are still uncertain, but it includes several extremely
interesting forms. The larvae of the European processionary moth,
Cnethocampa processionea, are social in habits; they sometimes occur
in very large numbers, and march in columns of peculiar form, each
band being headed by a leader in front, and the column gradually
becoming broader. It is thought that the leader spins a thread as he
goes on, and that the lateral leaders of the succeeding files fasten the
threads they spin to that of the first individual, and in this way all are
brought into unison. The hairs of these caterpillars are abundant, and
produce great irritation to the skin and mucous membrane of any one
unlucky enough to come into too close contact with the creatures. This
property is, however, not confined to the hairs of the processionary
moths, but is shared to a greater or less extent by the hairs of various
other caterpillars of this division of Lepidoptera. In some cases the
irritation is believed to be due to the form of the hair or spine, which
may be barbed or otherwise peculiar in form. It is also thought that in
some cases a poisonous liquid is contained in the spine.

The larvae of other forms have the habit of forming dense webs, more
or less baglike, for common habitation by a great number of caterpillars,
and they afterwards spin their cocoons inside these receptacles. This
has been ascertained to occur in the case of several species of the
genus Anaphe, as has been described and illustrated by Dr. Fischer,
[246] Lord Walsingham,[247] and Dr. Holland.[248] The structures are
said to be conspicuous objects on trees in some parts of Africa. The
common dwelling of this kind formed by the caterpillars of Hypsoides
radama in Madagascar is said to be several feet in length; but the
structures of most of the other species are of much smaller size.

The larvae of the South American genus Palustra, though hairy like
other Eupterotid caterpillars, are aquatic in their habits, and swim by
coiling themselves and making movements of extension; the hair on the
back is in the form of dense brushes, but at the sides of the body it is
longer and more remote; when the creatures come to the surface—
which is but rarely—the dorsal brushes are quite dry, while the lateral
hairs are wet. The stigmata are extremely small, and the mode of
respiration is not fully known. It was noticed that when taken out of the
water, and walking in the open air, these caterpillars have but little
power of maintaining their equilibrium. They pupate beneath the water
in a singular manner: a first one having formed its cocoon, others come
successively and add theirs to it so as to form a mass.[249] Another
species of Palustra, P. burmeisteri, Berg,[250] is also believed to breathe
by means of air entangled in its long clothing; it comes to the surface
occasionally, to renew the supply; the hairs of the shorter brushes are
each swollen at the extremity, but whether this may be in connexion
with respiration is not known. This species pupates out of the water,
between the leaves of plants.

Dirphia tarquinia is remarkable on account of the great difference of

colour and appearance in the two sexes. In the Australian genus
Marane the abdomen is densely tufted at the extremity with hair of a
different colour.

Fam. 8. Perophoridae.—The moths of the genus Perophora have for

long been an enigma to systematists, and have been placed as
abnormal members of Psychidae or of Drepanidae, but Packard now
treats them as a distinct family. The larvae display no signs of any
social instincts, but, on the contrary, each one forms a little dwelling for
itself. Some twenty species of Perophora are now known; they inhabit a
large part of the New World, extending from Minnesota to Buenos