by William Swainson

“ At a time when minute and obscure Coleoptera are submitted to the most delicate dissection, under powerful magnifiers, the Lepidoptera, not only the most striking and splendid of all insects, but the pre-eminent type of the Annulosa, have been comparatively neglected. ”

“ We have represented the species in that attitude which is assumed by L. Braziliensis, when at rest; the wings of which species are sometimes less but never more expanded: the fruit, upon which the insect is reposing, is the common West India Banana, shewing its natural size.
In drawing the attention of Entomologists to the anatomical details of this typical example of the genus Leilus, it will be readily perceived that the obscurity which has involved its natural affinities, has entirely arisen from ignorance of its structure. ”