34 RIO DE JANEIRO. [CHAP. n. 



which are so common on every side of Rio. At this elevation the land- 

 scape attains its most brilliant tint ; and every form, every shade, so 

 completely surpasses in magnificence all that the European has ever 

 beheld in his own country, that he knows not how to express his feel- 

 ings. The general effect frequently recalled to my mind the gayest 

 scenery of the Opera house or the great theatres. I never returned 

 from these excursions empty handed. This day I found a specimen of 

 a curious fungus, called Hymenophallus. Most people know the 

 English Phallus, which in autumn taints the air with its odious smell : 

 this, however, as the entomologist is aware, is to some of our beetles a 

 delightful fragrance. So was it here ; for a Strongylus, attracted by 

 the odour, alighted on the fungus as I carried it in my hand. We here 

 see in two distant countries a similar relation between plants and 

 insects of the same families, though the species of both are different 

 When man is the agent in introducing into a country a new species, 

 this relation is often broken : as one instance of this I may mention, 

 that the leaves of the cabbages and lettuces, which in England afford 

 food to such a multitude of slugs and caterpillars, in the gardens near 

 Rio are untouched. 



During our stay at Brazil I made a large collection of insects. A few 

 general observations on the comparative importance of the different 

 orders may be interesting to the English entomologist. The large and 

 brilliantly-coloured Lepidoptera bespeak the zone they inhabit far 

 more plainly than any other race of animals. I allude only to the 

 butterflies ; for the moths, contrary to what might have been expected 

 from the rankness of the vegetation, certainly appeared in much tewer 

 numbers than in our own temperate regions. I was much surprised at 

 the habits of Papilio feronia. This butterfly is not uncommon, and 

 generally frequents the orange-groves. Although a high flier, yet it 

 very frequently alights on the trunks of trees. On these occasions its 

 head is invariably placed downwards ; and its wings are expanded in 

 a horizontal plane, instead of being folded vertically, as is commonly 

 the case. This is the only butterfly which I have ever seen, that uses 

 its legs for running. Not being aware of this fact, the insect, more than 

 once, as I cautiously approached with my forceps, shuffled on one side 

 just as the instrument was on the point of closing, and thus escaped. 

 But a far more singular fact is the power which this species possesses 

 of making a noise.* Several times when a pair, probably male and 

 female, were chasing each other in an irregular course, they passed 

 within a few yards of me ; and I distinctly heard a clicking noise, 



* Mr. Doubleday has lately described (before the Entomological Society, 

 March 3rd, 1845) a peculiar structure in the wings of this butterfly, which 

 seems to be the means of its making its noise. He says, " It is remarkable 

 for having a sort of drum at the base of the fore wings, between the costal 

 nervure and the subcostal. These two nervures, moreover, have a peculiar 

 screw-like diaphragm or vessel in the interior." I find in Langsdorffs 

 travels (in the years 1803-7, p. 74) it is said, that in the island of St. Cathe- 

 rine's on the coast of Brazil, a butterfly called Februa Hoffmanseggi, makes 

 a noise, when flying away, like a rattle. 



