Conclusion
We here bring to a conclusion our survey of the butterflies of North America. There are, in addition to the species that have been described and figured in the plates, about one hundred and twenty-five other species, principally Hesperiidæ, which have not been mentioned. The field of exploration has not by any means been exhausted, and there is no doubt that in the lapse of time a number of other species will be discovered to inhabit our faunal limits.
The writer of these pages would deem it a great privilege to aid those who are interested in the subject in naming and identifying any material which they may not be able to name and identify by the help of this book. In laying down his pen, at the end of what has been to him a pleasurable task, he again renews the hope that what he has written may tend to stimulate a deeper and more intelligent interest in the wonders of creative wisdom, and takes occasion to remind the reader that it is true, as was said by Fabricius, that nature is most to be admired in those works which are least—"Natura maxime miranda in minimis."
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION
The first edition of this book having been nearly exhausted in less than a month after publication, the author has not yet had opportunity to avail himself of the criticisms of scientific friends who are presumably looking for sins of omission and commission, of which it is sincerely hoped they will acquaint him when discovered. Thus far all criticisms have been of an approbatory character, and have only expressed pleasure.
The writer is indebted to Mr. Harrison G. Dyar, the Honorary Curator of the Department of Entomology in the United States National Museum, for reminding him of the fact, which he had carelessly overlooked, that the larva and chrysalis of Eumæus atala (see p. 237) have been fully described by Scudder, "Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History," vol. ii., p. 413, and by Schwartz, "Insect Life," vol. i., p. 39. The caterpillar is found abundantly upon the "coontie" (Zamia integrifolia, Willdenow), and the insect, according to Schwartz, fairly swarms in the pine-woods between the shores of Biscayne Bay and the Everglades.