Almost all of the species are American, and the family attains its highest development in the tropical regions of South America.
_Butterfly._--Small, brightly colored, the sexes often differing greatly in appearance from each other. The eyes are naked. The palpi are produced, porrect; the last joint is short, thin, pointed, and depressed. The antennæ are moderately long, provided with a gradually thickening, inconspicuous club. The upper discocellular vein is wanting in the fore wing. The middle and lower discocellulars are of equal length. The hind wing has the end of the cell obliquely terminated by the middle and lower discocellular veins. The apex of the fore wing is somewhat pointed, the outward margin straight. The outward margin of the hind wing is evenly rounded.
[Illustration FIG. 126.--Neuration of the genus _Lemonias_.]
_Egg._--Flattened, turban-shaped, with a small, depressed, circular micropyle, the whole surface covered with minute hexagonal reticulations.
_Caterpillar._--Short, flattened, tapering posteriorly; the segments arched; provided with tufts of hair ranged in longitudinal series, the hairs on the sides and at the anal extremity being long, bent outward and downward.
_Chrysalis._--Short, suspended at the anal extremity, and held in position by a silk girdle, but not closely appressed to the surface upon which pupation has taken place; thickly covered with short, projecting hair.
The citadel of this genus is found about the head waters of the Amazon, where there are many species. Thence the genus spreads northward and southward, being represented in the limits of our fauna by only a few species, which are found on the extreme southern borders of the United States.
(1) =Lemonias mormo=, Felder, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 7, ♂, _under side_ (The Mormon).
_Butterfly._--The wings on the upper side are dark ashen-gray, with the primaries from the base to the limbal area, and inwardly as far as the bottom of the cell and the first median nervule, red. The wings are profusely marked with white spots variously disposed. The under side is accurately depicted in our plate. Expanse, 1.10 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have not been studied.
The Mormon is found in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.