. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 406 THE POSEIDON. flies having knobs at their tij^s, while those of the Moths are pointed. The first family is that of the Painlionidee, in which are inchided the largest and most magrrificent specimens of this order. The fanciful names with which so many of these insects ha\e been honored are chiefly due to Linn;eus, who was so struck with the splendid dimensions and gorgeous coloring of these insects, that he deemed them worthy of Homeric titles, called them Equites, or knights, and, s
. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 406 THE POSEIDON. flies having knobs at their tij^s, while those of the Moths are pointed. The first family is that of the Painlionidee, in which are inchided the largest and most magrrificent specimens of this order. The fanciful names with which so many of these insects ha\e been honored are chiefly due to Linn;eus, who was so struck with the splendid dimensions and gorgeous coloring of these insects, that he deemed them worthy of Homeric titles, called them Equites, or knights, and, separating them into two divisions, gave to all those which have red spots on the sides of the breast the names of the Ti'ojan heroes, and to those which were without the red spots, and had an eye-shaped mark on the lower wings, the names of the Greek warriors who fought against Troy. Unfortunately, for this division, it happens that the two sexes of many species are very diverse, and cause great confusion, so that Polycaon, one of the Greeks, and Lao- docus, a Trojan hero, have been found to be the two sexes of the same insect, the latter being the female. The splendid insect which is shown in the illustration is one of a genus which, by common consent, takes the first rank among the Lepidoptera, in consequence of their great size, the elegant boldness of their shapes, and the richness of their coloring. In them, the two fore-legs are not stunted, as is the case with so many butterflies, but are large, strong, and can be used in walk- ing ; and the tips of the antennae have a very slight bend upwards. The caterpillar of this insect is furnished with two retractile tentacles, placed on the neck in a fork-like shape, and is able to protrude these organs at will, at the same time emitting a very unpleasant odor. The chrysalis is hung up by means of silken threads from the tail, and the body is prevented from swinging about too rudely by a pair of very stout silken cords, one of wh
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbr, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
