410 



THE BUGONG. 



mate, except that the base of the upper wings is boldly striped with rusty red, and the 

 radiating streaks on the lower wings are of the same warm tint. In both sexes the under 

 surface is brown, with pale yellow spots on the upper wings, and narrow streaks of pale red 

 on the lower wings. The spread of wings is about three inches. 



One species of this genus (Helic(mia charitonia) is very gregarious in its habits, great 

 numbers gathering in some particular spot, and playing about like the gnat assemblies that 

 are so common in the summer time. So plentiful are they, that when tired they can hardly 



find a place to rest upon, as crowds are con- 

 tinually settling upon the neighboring trees, 

 and as continually driving off the crowds 

 which have just sat down to rest. 



The last figure represents the MAKSJEUS, 

 a very elegantly shaped butterfly, a native of 

 tropical America. The ground color of the 

 wings is black, diversified with many bold 

 stripes and patches of orange, and a large 

 golden-yellow mark across the extremity of 

 each upper wing. In the illustration, the 

 white patch on the upper wings represents 

 the golden-yellow of the insect. 



In the upper left-hand corner of the 

 engraving on page 405 is another example of 

 this genus. The upper wings of the LYSIMNIA 

 are chestnut at the base, and thence black to 

 the tip, with the exception of two bold patches 

 of nearly transparent membrane. The under 

 wings are chestnut, edged with black, and 

 having a jagged black streak across them, 

 above which is a transparent stripe. The 

 under surface is colored in nearly the same 

 manner, except that a row of white spots 

 runs around the edge. 



To the same elegant family belong the 

 butterflies of the genus Euplosa, a good 

 example of which is the MIDAMUS. This 

 insect strongly reminds the British entomolo- 

 gist of the purple emperor, the sober brown 

 of the wings changing to rich shining purple 

 when the light falls at a particular angle. At first sight, the butterfly appears to 

 be quite a dull and inconspicuous insect, its colors being hardly more attractive than the 

 simple black and white of the engraving. But if it be moved so that the light falls diag- 

 onally on its wings, the dull brown suddenly changes as if by magic into imperial purple 

 of a richness exceeding the power of man to imitate, and more than realizes the metamor- 

 phosis achieved by the fairy god-mother's wand. This transformation is confined to the 

 upper wings, the lower retaining their simple brown hue. The upper wings are sprinkled 

 with some pale spots. The under side is grayish-brown, marked with spots similar to those 

 on the upper surface. 



PERHAPS fae most interesting of these butterflies is the now celebi-ated BUGONG (Euplcea 

 hamdta), the so-called " moth," on which the aborigines of New South Wales are in the habit 

 of feeding. 



The Bugong 5s found chiefly upon a range of granite hills called the Bugong Mountains, 

 and it is rather remarkable that the insects congregate upon the outcropping granite masses 



MIDAMTTS. Euplaca mldamus. 



