G14 



IXsi'.ri's ABROAD. 



Below, like our own species, it is comparatively plain, being 

 simply buff, with profuse mottlings and blotches of brown and 

 dun. The female is plain, and very much resembles that of onr 

 own species. 



This is not only the most magnificent, but one of the very 

 rarest of the Apaturas. There are only two specimens in the 

 British Museum, fortunately one of either sex, and for more 

 than twenty years no specimen has been added to the collec- 

 tion. So unrivalled is it in its beauty, that as soon as the 

 drawer is opened its dazzling hues Hash on the eye in spite of 

 its splendid congeners around. It is a native of Peru. 



THE accompanying illustration represents another of these 

 splendid insects, called Apatura Laura. It is a native of 

 Nicaragua. 



Fig. :).">!. Apatura Laura. 

 (Purple-brown and dun.) 



Although not so fiercely brilliant as the preceding insect, it 

 is a most beautiful creature. At the base of the upper wings it 

 is brown, edged with a streak of black. Then comes a rather 

 broad band of dun, tending to yellow on the lower wings, and 

 the outer edge of both wings is rich blue or purple, according to 

 the light in which the insect is viewed. The base of the lower 



