﻿favourable 
  to 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  these 
  little 
  beings 
  ? 
  Every- 
  

   where 
  are 
  flowers, 
  humid 
  places, 
  decaying 
  trunks 
  and 
  leaves. 
  

   But 
  what 
  is 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  these 
  laborious 
  walks, 
  of 
  the 
  assiduous 
  

   researches 
  of 
  the 
  naturalist 
  ? 
  a 
  dozen 
  species 
  of 
  Lepidoptera, 
  

   some 
  Hymenoptera 
  and 
  Hemiptera, 
  and 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  very 
  small 
  

   Coleoptera. 
  Moreover, 
  except 
  for 
  three 
  species 
  of 
  Nymphalidae 
  

   of 
  which 
  the 
  size, 
  the 
  beauty, 
  and 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  individuals 
  

   strike 
  the 
  eye 
  of 
  the 
  traveller 
  at 
  every 
  moment, 
  he 
  would 
  

   willingly 
  believe 
  that 
  these 
  islands 
  nourish 
  no 
  insects 
  whatever 
  

   — 
  Besides, 
  the 
  sole 
  observation 
  I 
  have 
  to 
  make 
  on 
  Borabora, 
  

   is 
  that 
  this 
  island 
  has 
  afforded 
  me 
  a 
  Lepidopteron 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  

   not 
  yet 
  seen 
  in 
  Tahiti 
  ; 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  found 
  again 
  

   another, 
  occurring 
  in 
  elevated 
  stations 
  near 
  Matavai 
  (Tahiti), 
  

   where 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  rare. 
  In 
  both 
  islands, 
  a 
  Melitaea 
  near 
  cinxia 
  

   frequents 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  torrents, 
  hillsides, 
  and 
  solitary 
  places 
  ; 
  

   and 
  it 
  settles 
  but 
  rarely, 
  which 
  makes 
  it 
  difficult 
  to 
  capture." 
  

   This 
  " 
  Melitaea 
  " 
  is 
  evidently 
  Atella 
  gaberti, 
  Guer., 
  a 
  species 
  

   peculiar 
  to 
  the 
  Society 
  Islands; 
  I 
  met 
  with 
  it 
  rather 
  commonly 
  

   in 
  Tahiti, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  mountain 
  forests, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  

   almost 
  the 
  only 
  butterfly 
  to 
  be 
  seen, 
  and 
  where 
  the 
  brilliantly 
  

   gilded 
  pupa 
  was 
  sometimes 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  attached 
  to 
  leaves. 
  

   The 
  other 
  butterflies 
  I 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  island, 
  mostly 
  in 
  the 
  low 
  

   ground 
  near 
  the 
  shore, 
  were 
  Hypolitnnas 
  bolina, 
  fine, 
  large, 
  and 
  

   abundant, 
  Danaida 
  plexippus, 
  an 
  Euploea, 
  which 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  H. 
  

   Druce 
  has 
  named 
  E. 
  {Nipara) 
  walkeri, 
  the 
  finely 
  ocellated 
  form 
  

   of 
  Melanitis 
  leda 
  known 
  as 
  taitensis, 
  Feld., 
  a 
  small 
  race 
  of 
  the 
  

   wide-ranging 
  Lampides 
  hoeticus, 
  and 
  another 
  little 
  Lycaenid. 
  

   I 
  did 
  not, 
  however, 
  meet 
  with 
  the 
  brightly 
  coloured 
  form 
  

   taitica 
  of 
  Precis 
  villida, 
  which 
  I 
  was 
  informed 
  was 
  at 
  times 
  by 
  

   no 
  means 
  rare, 
  and 
  here 
  reaches 
  the 
  easternmost 
  limit 
  of 
  this 
  

   widely 
  spread 
  butterfly. 
  No 
  records 
  are 
  available 
  from 
  the 
  

   Paumotu 
  or 
  Low 
  Archipelago, 
  though 
  Hypolinmas 
  and 
  Eiiploea 
  

   may 
  extend 
  their 
  range 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  widely 
  scattered 
  

   islands. 
  In 
  the 
  Marquesas, 
  which 
  rival 
  Tahiti 
  in 
  beauty 
  and 
  

   tropical 
  luxuriance, 
  the 
  universal 
  Danaida 
  and 
  Hypoliinnas 
  

   were 
  the 
  only 
  butterflies 
  that 
  were 
  taken 
  during 
  my 
  visit, 
  

   though 
  an 
  Atella 
  ? 
  and 
  the 
  problematical 
  Hesperid 
  previously 
  

   mentioned, 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  Nuka-hiva 
  and 
  0-Hiva-oa, 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  

   larger 
  islands. 
  

  

  