372 Observaiiofis on Madame Menan*s 



Plate 51. is useless: it represents a species of C61ia5 (Pk- 

 pilio Zy.), and some singular plant unknown to me. 



Plate 52. has three figures of the bat-like ^ombyx A'tla^^ 

 Fabr. 1. Gmel. 2400. The larva (as is generally the case in 

 these plates) is most carefully engraved. All the insects of 

 this princely subgenus which I have taken in our forests, so 

 far from being " volatu celeres " [swift in flight], were very 

 heavy, and ^easily captured. She describes the cocoon as 

 affording a good silk which would be useful in commerce were 

 it possible to domesticate the moth. The plant is the Seville 

 orange (Citrus vulgaris), hardly valued as a fruit. The thick 

 skin, when emptied of the pulp, forms a fine preserve. 



Plate 53. The splendid Papllio Menelau5 Fabr. 270. 

 Gmel. 2244. The larva has very remarkable dorsal needles, 

 and the pupa a free humeral process of very unusual form. 

 The plant, whose seeds are eatable, 1 do not know. 



Plate 54. About the flowers of some kind of Heliconia 

 are six figures of two moths of no value. The vespoid in- 

 sect belongs to that group so remarkable for its economy in 

 constructing cells of mud, in which the ovum is sealed up 

 with the destined [living] food of the future larva, disabled 

 by the parent's poison, but not destroyed. 



Plate 65, Here, again, is a distinct species of /Sphin-r, 

 unknown to Fabricius, on a sprig of some species of Cap- 

 sicum : on this several varieties of the berries are fixed 

 without any attention to nature. The many kinds of peppers, 

 so useful and palatable in hot countries, are worthy of being, 

 well drawn and better known, 



Plate 5Q. contains, as its name imports, the largest of its. 

 genus, the iVepa grandis Fabr. 1. Gmel. 2120., with its larva. 

 The frog, with its spawn and young, is the 72ana (Hyla) 

 Merian« Shaw's Zoology, vol. iii. p. 133. t. 39. The plant, if 

 my memory is faithful, has been introduced into Barbadoes, 

 where curious persons keep it in tubs of water to enjoy the 

 beauty of its blossoms. At the bishop's residence, I saw 

 numbers of them in flower. 



Plate 57. To the left are representations of iSphin-r 

 Carolina Fabr. 25. Gmel. 2377., Curtis's Genera of Insects^ 

 pi. 195. The plate contains also the cocoon and larva of a 

 Saturnitt? If I judge rightly, the caterpillar is remarkable 

 for its dense coat, which gives it the appearance of the French 

 variety of the dog, which I have seen aged people in their 

 dotage cherish so fondly. I have in spirits a specimen equally 

 curious from Trinidad. The hair is said here to have acted 

 like cowitch. The pupa was fly-blown, and Madame 

 Merian has drawn two of the parasites to commemorate 



