*COMMENT ~ Character notes. 
 
*CHARACTER NOTES
#1. ~ (alternatively) is here used to indicate sometimes not
unreasonably included in or reduced to.
#6. Data calculated from the numeric character relating wingspan to
thoracic width (q.v.). 
#8. Apterous females, or females with greatly reduced wings, occur in
several families. 
#11. Vertical apposition when at rest is usually associated with
camouflage-patterned undersides of the wings, and seems to be almost
confined to the families constituting butterflies. 
#13. \i{}In situ\i0{} length when straightened, relative to the
forewing. Approximated from ranges detailed in the next character,
mainly from data provided by Meyrick. 
#14. Data mainly from Meyrick. He seems to have been referring to the
centre-thorax-to-forewing-apex measurement (i.e., the one he advocates
doubling to obtain wingspan), although his Method of Description
details do not specify this. 
#16. Clubbed antennae could be represented by one state of a
multi-state character describing general form, but is offered separately
here because it is reliably applicable to lepidopterans of both sexes
(i.e., by contrast with the character describing antennae of males,
which is also available). 
#19. Some caution is required in using this character, because (1), the
descriptions refer exclusively to male insects; and (2), the literature
consulted is unconvincing regarding details of non-pectinate forms.
However, since the occurrence of bipectinated antennae is well
documented, and since an insect with bipectinated antennae will
presumably be a male, possession by a specimen of state 2 is certainly a
useful identificatory state. The other states are best avoided for this
purpose. Clubbed antennae (q.v.) are dealt with as a separate
character which is applicable to lepidopterans of both sexes, and are
here arbitrarily classed as simple (with reference to the shaft). 
#20. This character is potentially valuable; but the data compiled to
date do not inspire confidence, and anyway refer only to males. 
#26. Ocelli: tiny paired simple eyes, when present situated above the
relatively large compound eyes. 
#27. Chaetosemata: paired secretory or sensory structures of
infrequent occurrence and uncertain function. They are situated on
either side of the forehead, above and adjoining the compound eyes
(intervening between the compound eyes and the ocelli, when the latter
are present). 
#33. As shown in the illustrations, the popular and euphonious
description porrected palps refers to labial palps, which lend the
delightful, perky appearance to the face presented by several groups of
Lepidoptera. These organs generally retain their position in set
specimens. However, from the standpoint of useful description, there
exists in reality an awkward continuum of forms, from porrected
through ascending to erect. 
#38. Wingspan: centre of thorax to tip of forewing, multiplied by 2. 
#42. The assessments are based on base-to-apex length, divided by the
approximate maximum width measured at right angles to a line drawn from
base to tornus (i.e., approximately at right angles to the hind or inner
margin). 
#43. The assessments are based on base-to-apex length, divided by the
approximate maximum width measured at right angles to a line drawn from
base to tornus (i.e., approximately at right angles to the hind or inner
margin) from hind margin to costa. 
#45. The angle between the hind/inner margin and the wing apex, measured
at the commencement of the tornal curve when the angle is not sharp.
Data were obtained by applying a protractor to published photographs.
The character is unreliable because of imprecision regarding locations
of apex and tornus, and only large differences are meaningful. 
#50. Published descriptions of lepidopteran wing colours are often very
inadequate and misleading, with later efforts often comparing very
poorly with Newman's. For example, compare the latter's pleasant and
genuinely informative word pictures with Meyricks inadequate and boring
attempts to be scientific. 
#53. Jugum: a membranous process from the proximal region of the
dorsal edge of the forewings, confined to few families, and concerned
with locking together of fore- and hindwings. 
#65. Frenulum: comprising a bristle (or bristles) from the base of the
costa of the hindwing. In life, the tip of the frenulum passes under a
chitinous catch (the retinaculum) on the underside of the forewing,
thus locking fore- and hindwings together. 
#66-77. Basic information on lepidopteran wing neuration and the
terminology used here is available via the Lepidopteran morphology
toolbar button. 
#78. Meyricks vein 2 employed here = the vein CuA2 of modern works.
\par{}Basic information on lepidopteran wing neuration and the
terminology used here is available via the Lepidopteran morphology
toolbar button. 
#79-91. Basic information on lepidopteran wing neuration and the
terminology used here is available via the Lepidopteran morphology
toolbar button. 
#92. Including vein 8 if this coincides or anastomoses with the cell -
see second image. \par{}Basic information on lepidopteran wing neuration
and the terminology used here is available via the Lepidopteran
morphology toolbar button. 
#93-97. Basic information on lepidopteran wing neuration and the
terminology used here is available via the Lepidopteran morphology
toolbar button. 
#100. Tibial epiphysis: a basally articulated, leaf-like or spur-like
structure commonly occurring on the tibiae of the front legs, seemingly
used by the insect for cleaning its antennae and tongue. 
#108. The true legs corresponding with those of the adult (generally 3
pairs) occupy the thoracic segments (segments 2-4) of the larva. The
prolegs are fleshy, hook-bearing, leg-like organs typically borne on
the larval segments 7-10 and 14 (i.e., on the abdominal segments 3-6 and
10). The hindmost pair constitute the anal claspers. \par{}In some
families, the prolegs are reduced in number from the basic 10, and in a
few cases they are lacking or vestigial. 
#110. Hairs of many lepidopteran larvae produce stinging sensations on
contact with human skin, or can cause urticaria. Some comprise
specialised, brittle setae with basal, eversible poison glands. The
causes of irritation are probably diverse, however, with interpretation
complicated by human allergies. While species notorious for causing
problems are relatively few, all hairy caterpillars should be treated
with caution, and children in particular should be dissuaded from
handling them. 
#113. Case-bearing, unusual in Lepidoptera, is the norm in the related
Order Trichoptera. 
#129. Bradley (2000) details in precise terms the national status of
species here tagged adventive. The term as used here denotes not
native to this environment, and includes species usually indicated in
check lists as of doubtful British status. Assignment is inevitably
somewhat arbitrary, because situations where specimens have been rarely
but genuinely found at large in the British Isles as a result of
migrations beyond the normal range of a species, or of accidental
transport by human agencies, are hard to disentangle from honest but
erroneous records and cases of fraud. Migrant species recorded regularly
in Britain as adults but which are unable breed successfully there are
treated as native in this connection. 
#130. Complete lists of species and genera are given here (cf. Bradley
et al., 1972, 2000) for British Macrolepidoptera. For Microlepidoptera,
only examples illustrated by Curtis are listed, although nearly all the
families are represented in the package by at least one illustration.
\par{}Bradley (2000) details in precise terms the national status of
species here tagged adventive. The latter term here denotes not
native to this environment, and includes species usually indicated in
check lists as of doubtful British status. Assignment is inevitably
somewhat arbitrary, because situations where specimens have been rarely
but genuinely found at large in the British Isles as a result of
migrations beyond the normal range of a species, or of accidental
transport by human agencies, are hard to disentangle from honest but
erroneous records and cases of fraud. Migrant species recorded regularly
in Britain as adults but which are unable breed successfully there are
treated as native in this connection. 
#132-133. Classification after Bradley \i{}et al\i0{}. (1972, 2000). 
#136. \i{}Melaninism\i0{}. Melanin is a complex of dark (black, brown,
yellowish or dull red) animal pigments, and melanism in the present
context is the occurrence in a species of some individuals that are
darker than the typical form, due to a heritable increase in the
proportions of melanins in the epidemis (cf. Kettlewell, 1973). Melanism
occurs in numerous moth species. In some it is known only as a rare
mutation, but others exhibit populations in which melanic individuals
are common or even predominant in certain habitats and/or geographical
locations. From an evolutionary standpoint, persistence of melanic
populations in relatively natural habitats (rural or non-industrial
melanism) is sometimes reasonably interpretable with reference to
Darwinian natural selection , as in the genus \i{}Spilosoma\i0{},
although few cases have yet been thoroughly investigated (see Majerus,
2002). However, spectacular \i{}changes\i0{} in the proportions of
melanic versus normal individuals in the populations of some moth
species have been observed and quantitatively detailed in Britain for
over a hundred years. Being rather obviously correlated with probable
habitat pollution consequent on industrialisation, this phenomenon is
termed industrial melanism, and in the case of the Peppered Moth
(\i{}Biston betularia\i0{}) in particular, a causal relationship
involving Darwinian selection has been rather convincingly demonstrated
via numerous, laborious experiments. Researchers disagreements over
experimental design and interpretation of results leads to spurious
claims by religious extremists, who fail to grasp that the obvious fact
of organic evolution is not in the least undermined by arguments over
details of the complex mechanisms. For detailed discussion of the
Peppered Moth in the context of evolutionary debate in the 21st century,
see Majerus (1998, 2002). \par{}\par{}Examples of melanism are
illustrated under the appropriate family descriptions in the present
package (The families of Lepidoptera), or in the generic descriptions
in the accompanying Geometridae or Noctuidae packages, with
references to the phylogenetic status of melanism largely following Ford
(1955) and Majerus (2002). In the latter connection, non-industrial to
industrial" here implies occurrence of melanics in natural, unpolluted
habitats, with observed increased proportions of them in habitats
affected by industrialization. \par{}\par{}\i{}Non-industrial
melanism\i0{} (= rural melanism, cf. Ford 1955). The intra-specific
variation encompassed by all moth species frequently includes
significant levels of heritable melanism (q.v.), which existed prior to
the Industrial Revolution and cannot be attributed to selective
advantages in the face of environmental pollution. A range of possible,
natural selective factors that may have been operative in different
cases have been postulated (cf. Majerus 2002), mostly assuming either
increased crypsis of darker individuals in habitats with low light
intensity, or associated with deceiving predators that have learned to
associate the normal colouring with palatability. 
 
