SPLENDOUR OF COLOURING 



551 



long scarlet hairs, forming a fine contrast to the jetty Hack 

 plumage which surrounds it. There is only a single specimen 

 in the British Museum. 



Another species, Papilio jEneas, inhabiting Demerara, so 

 closely resembles the Ergeteles that the two species can only be 

 distinguished by practised eyes. 



AlthouCxH not so large, or at first sight so imposing, as many 

 of the species which have been described, Pajjilio ffierocles is 



Fig 301 — Pcpilio Hieroeles 

 (Purple and crimson.) 



really one of the most splendid of the Butterflies, Its beauties, 

 however, cannot be seen unless it be exposed to a strong light 

 and turned in all manner of ways. 



The upper wings are black on the upper surface, with the 

 exception of a patch in the middle, which is green in the male 

 and whitish in the female. The illustration is drawn from a 

 male specimen. Its chief beauty lies in the upper surface of 

 the lower wings. Even when the insect is in a cabinet, and 

 partly sheltered from the light by the sides of the drawer, it is 

 a very handsome creature, the lower wings looking as if they 

 were velvet black, crossed by a row of vivid crimson spots. If, 

 however, it be removed from the drawer, placed in a strong 



