Species of Butt erjli/ from Mexico. 41 



also discovered that the palpi were laid along the breast immediately 

 beneath the base of the maxillae. I was much perplexed at first in 

 not discovering the third pair of legs, and as I could only meet with 

 two pair in the first two or three specimens which I dissected, I con- 

 cluded that these were the only legs the insect possessed, and that the 

 other, or, as I supposed, anterior pair, (which in the Vanessce, &c., 

 are rudimental,) had here become totally obsolete. Subsequently, 

 however, by examining the place of insertion of the legs, I found that 

 a third posterior pair existed, but that in the pupa state they were 

 laid under the lower pair of wings. 



In these chrysalides I also observed the lunate Isevigated piece on 

 the inner side of the eyes, which Messrs. Kirby and Spence con- 

 sider may perhaps transmit some light to the inclosed butterfly. 



It is here to be observed that the lower part of the interior of the 

 nest was stained with a fluid similar to that emitted by newly hatch- 

 ed specimens of our English Vanessce, which has in certain seasons 

 been regarded as bloody rain. Moreover, it is evident that, as in the 

 case of the Pomegranate Butterfly*, the imago as soon as hatched 

 must quit the nest before its wings are expanded, otherwise it would 

 be unable to make its exit through the small orifice at the bottom of the 

 nest. 



My next object was to ascertain the structure of the butterfly in- 

 closed in these chrysalides, and after much labour I discovered that 

 the upper wings are entire, with a transverse nerve closing the large 

 elongated discoidal cell. They are of a dark brown colour, with a row 

 of irregular- sized cream-coloured spots at about one third of the di- 

 stance from the outer margin of the wing, and with three or four very 

 slender short linesbetween the latter and the margin. The lower wings 

 are oval and entire, with the outer posterior angle rather acute; they 

 are also dark brown, with a central row of irregular cream-coloured 

 spots, and another submarginal row of a much smaller size : the large 

 discoidal basal cell is also closed by a transverse nerve. I have care- 

 fully figured the nervures occupying the exterior angle of the upper 

 wings, as this character appears of much importance in the very 

 difficult classification of the Lepidoptera. 



These wings, as they lay within the pupa-skin, exhibited all their 

 markings, of course of a reduced size, as represented in fig. 3. The 

 wings themselves appeared perfectly flat ; and it was difficult to con- 

 ceive how these organs could expand to their full dimensions, all the 

 spots preserving their relative sizes. The difficulty was, however. 



* The history of this butterfly will form the subject of a memoir to appear in the 

 next Part of these Transactions. 



