82 PURPLE HAIBSTBEAK. 



a quarter to an inch and a half. The fore wings are blackish brown 

 all round and over the whole of the upper outside corner, the outside 

 edge white, the remainder being filled in with iridescent purple, more 

 or less extensive and intense. The hind wings, which have a short 

 tail, are uniform blackish brown ; the outside edge is white. 



Underneath, the front wings are bronzed ash-colour, with a slender 

 white streak shadowed on the inside with brown some distance within 

 the outer margin, and following it, but not all the way; near the 

 lower corner are two orange fulvous marks, the base of a faint 

 procession of the same upwards, obscurely visible in some lights. 

 The hind wings are of the same bronzed ash-colour, with a similar 

 white streak, taking up that of the fore wings, but slightly curved 

 inwards instead of following the margin; near the lower corner are 

 two other orange fulvous spots, the upper one with a black centre, 

 and the outer one edged at its base with black, which runs on in a 

 streak to the tail. The antennse are reddish on the lower side 

 of the clubs. 



The female resembles the male, but the purple is obscurely extended 

 over the black of the upper wings in some lights, and likewise over 

 the lower ones, excepting a rather broad band at the margin. 



The caterpillar, which in appearance somewhat resembles a wood- 

 louse, is short and thick, of a dull rose-red colour, covered with 

 short hairs, and with several rows of dark greenish lines or dots. It 

 sometimes, when full fed, goes under the ground. 



The chrysalis is described as being of a shining rusty brown colour, 

 with three rows of brown spots on the hack. 



