Fossil Butterflies: Memoirs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I.Scudder, Samuel Hubbard
Science
Fossil Butterflies: Memoirs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I.
Scudder, Samuel Hubbard
Butterflies, Fossil
The actual condition of the fossil, for an opportunity of examining which
I am indebted to the courtesy of Count Saporta, is this (see Pl. I, fig.
13): The thorax, hind legs and both pair of wings of the left side are
preserved, almost completely; all the rest is lost. The thorax is viewed
from above and somewhat on the left side; the hind coxæ seem to be almost
torn away from their immediate connection with the trunk. The two hind
legs are stretched out bent at the femoro-tibial articulation; the left
leg lies above both the wings and is apparently attached throughout,
although its base is covered a little by the crushed body; the right
leg lies below both the wings and is apparently partially detached,
though but slightly, from the coxæ; the tibio-tarsal articulation can
be distinguished (Pl. I, fig. 11) but not the tarsal joints. The wings
are bent over downward in a position the reverse of that of repose. The
fore wing covers the hind wing as in nature, but to such an extent as to
conceal the greater part of it; the guttered portion of the inner margin
of the hind wings is almost fully expanded, but apparently has a fold
next the submedian nervure. The fringe of the fore wing seems to be gone,
but that of the hind wing is preserved nearly throughout. Head, fore and
middle legs, wings of the right side and abdomen are wholly wanting.
The upper surface of the wings is, therefore, the part which attracts
most attention. That it is the upper and not the under surface which
is exposed to view is shown by the relation of the wings to each other
(Pl. I, fig. 10), by their unquestionable attachment to the thorax, of
which we certainly see only the upper portion with its smooth arched
dome marked by the sutures which separate the portions which compose
it; and by the design itself of the wings, which is such as pertains
to the upper rather than to the under surface of butterflies of this
group. These markings are most wonderfully preserved; and the careful
and prolonged study I have given every part of the fossil has enabled me
to separate, with a considerable degree of certitude, the markings which
appertain to the fore wing and those which belong to the hind wing. Those
of the latter are generally to be traced through the semi-diaphanous
fore wing and are given in Pl. I, fig. 8. One is aided greatly in this
investigation by following the lines and series of markings which extend
over both the exposed and covered portions of the hind wing; and then
by comparing the fainter and obscurer tints of the covered portion with
equivalent marks on other parts of the stone covered by both the wings;
in this way the markings of the hind wing may be separated from those
of the front wing, but subject, certainly, to some degree of doubt. In
the figure upon the plate (Pl. I, fig. 8) the portions to which the
least degree of doubt attaches are the outer halves of the two wings. I
am inclined to consider these as almost absolutely accurate. The parts
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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