SUBFAMILY HELICONIIN^E (THE HELICONIANS) 
“ Men, like butterflies, 
Show not their mealy wings but to the summer.” 
Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida , act iii, 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 Ithomiinae, 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. 
