of Butterflies related to the Genus Morpho. 161 



modified so greatly in another group as to lose their primary 

 value, which is seen to be usurped by quite a distinct set of cha- 

 racters. Hence I consider that we are not in a position to assert 

 that the genus Papilio, either on account of its minute palpi, 

 or the arrangement of its wing veins, forms but a single genus, 

 especially as the larvae of various species are so very distinct in 

 their forms, as may be seen in the plates of Dr. Horsfield's 

 " Lepidoptera Javanica," or, on the other hand, to regard all the 

 species of caterpillars which have furcate heads and tails as 

 belonging to one primary division of the Diurna, thus separating 

 Apatura (rom its allies, and bringing it with Morpho and 

 Hipparchia into one group ; or, again, to strike Parnassius and 

 Thais from Papilio as a distinct sub-family, because the Apollo 

 butterfly spins for itself a loose cocoon in a leaf like a moth, as 

 Mr. Swainson has done in his Nat. Arr.of Insects, p. 76 ; or, lastly, 

 with an imperfect knowledge of the larva of only a single species 

 of Erycinidce to unite that extensive group of butterflies with 

 Lyccena and Thecla. I might also dwell upon the impossibility 

 of satisfactorily arranging all those other groups of strikingly 

 distinct types of form amongst exotic butterflies, of whose trans- 

 formations we still remain ignorant, such as those typified by 

 Ageronia, Heliconia, Acrcea, &c. 



But if we cannot (it would indeed be a most marvellous thing if 

 we could), with our present state of knowledge, hope for the reali- 

 zation of our wishes in the discovery of the System of Nature, it is 

 the more incumbent on us to collect materials for that purpose, 

 and, by careful examination of such materials as we actually 

 possess, to discover the relations of affinity between species and 

 groups, and to point out the analogies which they exhibit with 

 other groups. 



The butterflies, then, which are the objects of the present 

 paper are natives of India and the adjacent parts of the East. 

 They are of a large or moderate size, with wings large in propor- 

 tion to the body, and rounded ; the hind pair in the Amathusice, 

 Zeuxidice, and Kallimce, having the anal angle produced into a 

 long point, or a broad short tail, and the underside of the wings, 

 especially of the posterior pair, beautifully ornamented with eye- like 

 spots. In a few of the species the upper side is more or less 

 tinged with a dark metallic purple gloss; the discoidal cell in the 

 lore wings is closed, but that of the hind wings is open ; the base 

 of the latter pair of wings not being furnished with a small sup- 

 plemental cell at the base of the submarginal vein. In the males 

 of some of the species, the hind wings are ornamented wiih tufts 



VOL. IV. N, S. PT. VI. JAN. 1858. M 



