PAPHIA. 317 



Genus LXXXI. PAPHIA. 



Paphia Fahric.ius {Syst. Gloss, pars), Boisduval MS., E. DouMeday. 

 Anaea and Memphis H'dbncr. 

 Nymphalis p. God'. 



Body moderately robust; wings often with a metallic gloss, under side generally Indistinctly reticulated; female with 



the upper side of the wings more variegated with brown or pale-coloured spots than the male. 

 Head of moderate size, not tufted in front. 



Eyes large, prominent. 



Labial Palpi rather small, nearly erect, elevated considerably above the level of the eyes, thickly squamose, broad 

 in front, porrected but to a very short distance in front of the face. Terminal joint very minute but distinct ; 

 preceding joint rather thickly hairy on the back beyond the middle, the hairs applied to the face. 



Antemia short, scarcely more than one third of the length of the fore wings, slender ; terminated by a gradually 

 formed but slender club, obliquely rounded off at the tip, finely carinated beneath. 

 Thorax oval, woolly, pilose on the metathorax. 



Fore Wings large. Fore margin strongly arched, somewhat elbowed near the base. Apical angle more or less 

 acute. Apical margin about two thirds of the length of the fore margin ; in some species, however, the inner 

 angle is considerably elongated, and the inner margin is, in such cases, deeply emarginate near the tip. 

 Costal vein reaching nearly to the tip of the wings. First (and second when existing) branch arising before 

 the anterior extremity of tlie discoidal cell; third branch (in Portia) arising at about three fourths of the 

 length of the wing, extremely short, and joining the costal vein ; fourth branch arising at about the length of 

 four fifths of the wing, and extending to the apex, being slightly deflexed near the tip in some species. Upper 

 disco-cellular short, oblique, arising at about the length of two tiftlis of the wing ; middle disco-cellular also 

 very short ; lower disco-cellular very slender, arched, uniting witli the third branch of the median vein at 

 about the same distance from its origin as exists between the base of the second and third branches, closing 

 the discoidal cell rather obliquely at some distance before the middle of the wing. 



Hind Wings subovate. Costal margin rounded (in some species the outer angle is somewhat dilated). Outer 

 margin generally entire ; but in some species it is scalloped, the extremity of the third branch of the median 

 vein being extended, in a considerable number of the species, into a tail, which is often dilated at the extremity. 

 Precostal vein oblique, curved, the tip bent outwards. Discoidal cell imperfectly closed by a very delicate 

 outer disco-cellular vein. 



Fore Legs of the male very small and slender, hairy, but scarcely forming a brush. Tibia rather shorter than 

 the femur. Tarsus slender, and nearly equal to the til)ia in length, exarticulate. Fore Legs of the female 

 very similar to those of the male in thickness and general appearance ; the basal portion of the tarsus is, 

 however, rather more thickened, and rather oblique at the tip, where are several spines varying in length, indi- 

 cating the articulations, which are also seen through the coating of scales. 



Four Hind Legs short, and rather robust, thickly scaly. Tibia with a i'ew short spines placed irregularly beneath ; 

 tibial spurs vei-y short. Tarsus nearly as thick as the tibia, scaly, sliglitly spinose beneath. 

 Abdomen rather small and subovate. 



Larva elongate, scabrous, setose; head square, tubercled. 



Chrysalis short, swollen, especially the abdominal portion ; destitute of conical protuljcrances. 



This is a group of insects confined to the hottest portions of South America and the West India Islands, iiavinc; the wings, in many 

 of the species, glossed with metallic tints. Tiicy are, however, extremely difficult to determine and describe specifically, owing to the 

 ill-defined character of the markings, more especially on the under side of the wings. Tliis confusion has partially arisen from the 

 want of a careful examination of the minute characters of the species, such as the arrangement of the veins of the wings, and the 

 structure of the fore feet. By adopting this unerring guide I have been led to discover that the opposite sexes do not v.ary in the form 

 of the wings in the majority of the species; and, hence, that the tailed and tailless specimens which have been jilaced in collections 

 under the name of Ryphea, and regarded as males and females, are, in foct, distinct species, although so exactly alike in other respects 

 that it is only necessary to cut off the tails of some of them to obtain the supposed female, of which, however, tailless males exist, as 

 pro%'ed by the fore feet ; whilst, on examining the veins of their wings, we find that these individuals belong, in fact, to two distinct 

 sections of the genus. On the contrary, the same mode of examination has proved, that the Anaea Ilalice of Iliibner, with large 

 white spots on the fore wings, is the female of tailed males, also closely resembling Ivy[>liea, but Hiibner's figure of tlic female does not 

 represent the tail of the hind wings sufficiently long. It required, however, the direct observation of an entomologist upon the spot to 

 determine the identity of the sexes when the hind wings diftcr in being tailed or tailless, according to the sex; and this lias been done 

 by M. Beske with reference to P. Phidile of Hiibner, the male of winch has the hind wings entire, but coloured exactly like those of 

 the male of Halice, whilst they are tailed in the female, wiiich is marked like the male but destitute of the splendid purple gloss. The 

 true Ryphea of Cramer has the hind wings produced into an acute angle, rather than tailed. Tiie male of P. Nessushas the wings tailed 

 as well as the female, and is also marked with two small transjiarent spots in the middle of the wings, which are intensely tinged with 



