SUBFAMILY HELICONIIN/E (THE HELICONIANS) 



" Men, like butterflies, 

 Show not their mealy wings but to the summer." 



Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act lii, sc iii 



Medium or large-sized butterflies, with the fore wings twice 

 as long as they are broad; the hind wings relatively small and 

 rounded upon the outer margin; without tails. The palpi are 

 produced. The antennae, which are nearly as long as the body, 

 are provided at the tip with a gradually tapering club, thicker 

 and stouter than in the Ithomiinse, and are clothed with scales 

 on the upper surface. The fore legs are 

 very feebly developed in both sexes. The 

 eggs are cylindrical, twice as high as wide, 

 tapering rather abruptly toward the apex, 

 which is truncated ; they are ribbed longi- 

 tudinally, with strongly developed cross- 

 ridges, giving the egg a somewhat pitted 

 appearance. The caterpillar, when emerg- 

 ing from the egg, has the head somewhat 

 larger than the body; each segment is 

 clothed with hairs, which upon the first 

 moult are replaced by branching spines. 

 The caterpillar, when it reaches maturity, 

 is provided with six branching spines on 

 each segment. The chrysalis is very pecu- 

 liar in shape, and is strongly angulated and covered with curious 

 projections, which cause it to somewhat resemble a shriveled leaf. 



These butterflies are extremely numerous in the tropics of the 

 New World, and are there represented by a number of genera which 

 are rich in species. Most of them are very gaily colored, the preva- 

 lent tints being black banded with yellow or crimson, sometimes 

 marked with a brilliant blue luster. They are evidently very 

 strongly protected. Belt, in his "Naturalist in Nicaragua," tells 



91 



Fig. 84.— Neuration of the 

 genus Heliconius. 



