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INTRODUCTORY PAPERS ON LEPIDOPTERA. 193 
A. odius is fully as large as Prepona in expanse, but the wings 
are narrower, and the fore wings are very deeply concave below 
the tip. It is black, with the basal third, and the whole middle 
of the fore wings, fulvous. 
_ Agrias and Smyrna are two other handsome South American 
genera, allied to Prepona, &c., but smaller, rarely exceeding 
3 inches in expanse. They are, however, stout-bodied insects, 
capable of powerful flight. ‘The hind margin of the fore wings is 
only slightly concave; but the anal angle of the hind wings in 
Smyrna is sometimes slightly lobed. The species of Smyrna are 
of a rich tawny or fulvous, with the apex of the fore wings 
broadly black, and marked with three white or tawny spots. 
Agrias is one of the most beautiful genera of butterflies, being 
of a rich black, banded or suffused with large masses of scarlet, 
orange-yellow, rich purple, blue, or bluish green. 
The genus Charazes is well represented in Asia and Africa. 
There is a single species (C. jasius) found in all the countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean, which is the most tropical- 
looking of all our European butterflies. They are large insects, 
usually measuring 3 or 4 inches in expanse, and are often 
provided with one, two, or three tails in the hind wings. Some 
are of a rich tawny or fulvous above, and either brown, or 
beautifully tessellated with red, black, white, and yellow below; 
others are black, with a broad yellow or whitish band across both 
wings; others again are black, with blue markings; and some of 
the largest Indian species are of a pale creamy yellow, with black 
borders; one of the smallest West African species (C. ewpale) 
is of a very delicate green, with the borders rather darker. 
The nearest ally of Charaxes in South America is Megistanis. 
Two handsome black species, banded above with blue or orange, 
and spotted with white towards the tip of the fore wings, are not 
uncommon. The under surface is beautifully tessellated with 
black on a bluish white ground, and the wings expand over 
3 inches. 
The genus An@a includes much smaller species, averaging 
2 inches in expanse, and with a short, sometimes spatulate tail on 
the hind wings. They are very numerous in Tropical America, 
and are of a brown or black colour, more or less of the surface of 
the wings being filled up with red or blue. A. nessus, Linn., one 
of the largest species, may also be considered the most beautiful, 
