July, 1882.] 25 



above and beneath) ; a very minute " blue," not unlike our P. Ahus in aspect, but 

 scarcely half the size ; a Fhyciodes, like a miniature M. Athalia ; two or three 

 handsome skippers, &c. I do not think I saw a single beetle : the most abundant 

 insects were decidedly mosquitoes, of the hungriest description. 



We had a pleasant passage of a week's duration from Guayaquil to Panama, 

 arriving at the latter place on October 7th. Here we remained for about seven 

 weeks, and I think I may safely affirm that I made the most of my time, as I suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining at least 150 species of butterflies, scarcely one of which I had 

 seen before, besides a good many moths and other insects. Beetles were, however, 

 as at Callao, singularly scarce : I got one or two fine Elaters and BrenthidcB, some 

 Lamellicorns {PhancBus, &c.), CassididcB, and Chrysomelidm, but not a single Longi- 

 corn or Pujirestis ! though I fear I must confess that the Lepidoptera engrossed most 

 of my attention. I am afraid, too, that I was not there at the best time of year, it 

 being the fag-end of the rainy season ; the mornings, it is true, were usually fine 

 enough, but heavy clouds usually began to form about 11 a.m., terminating in a 

 deluge of rain two or three hours later : vei'y few days were fine throughout. The 

 heat, although not really very gi'eat (seldom reaching So""), was extremely oppressive, 

 from the dampness of the atmosphere. 



The town of Panama is built on a low rocky spit, from which an extensive reef, 

 partly dry at low water, runs out for nearly a mile, and considerably lengthens the 

 passage on shore, as it cannot be safely crossed in a boat : the anchorage for large 

 ships is about three miles from the town, as the crow flies, under the lee of the 

 little verdant islands of Perico and Ilenao. It is far more picturesque, with its 

 ancient stone walls and red-tiled houses, than the collection of whitewashed mud 

 huts and wooden shanties which pass for towns on the Chilian and Peruvian coasts ; 

 there is an extensive suburb of palm-thatched bamboo huts, among which pigs, dogs, 

 fowls, and little niggers revel in happy community of freedom and dirt. The sur- 

 rounding country, for four or five miles at least, is not much cultivated, and presents 

 a beautifully undulated and varied surface, for the most part covered with dense 

 bush, with fine clumps of large timber here and there. My chief collecting ground 

 was a steep and well-wooded hill, about 550 feet high, immediately behind the town, 

 called the " Cerro de Ancon." Here I spent many a pleasant afternoon, wandering 

 about the shady lanes and pathways which intersect the wood, and revelling in 

 tropical vegetation and tropical insects. I often returned to the ship with a wet 

 jacket, but never without something new to me, in my well-filled collecting-box and 

 helmet. As I am all alone here, and far from books and collections, I cannot ven- 

 ture to name one-fifth of the insects I met with, but I have managed to puzzle out 

 a few of the butterflies, &c., by the aid of Chenu's " Papiilons Diurnes et Nocturnes," 

 which I have by me. 



The tropical American genera, Mechanitis, Ithomia, and their allies do not 

 appear particularly well represented at Panama, as I met with very few species — 

 though I believe they are more abundant earlier in the year. HatyridcB, on the con- 

 trary, are very numerous, many pretty little species of P^tiptychia (some nearly 

 white), occurring in woody places, and a handsome and curiously-shaped brown 

 Hetara being not I'are in the darkest shady corners. The grandest butterflies are 

 the big 3IorpIio Peleides and Caligo Teucer, both of which are not uncommon, and 

 the first is a most magnificent object, as it flaps along a wood-path, with the rays of 



