ARCHONIAS. 163 



This Butterfly expands about two inches across the wings, 

 which are blackish above, with a transverse row of greyish- 

 white spots running across the wings, and a row of smaller 

 ones between these and the hind-margin ; there is also a large 

 white spot at the end of the cell of the fore-wings. On the 

 under side the wings are of a more brownish-black, with the 

 white spots on the fore -wings much extended and confluent; 

 on the hind-wings they are nearly obsolete. 



The larvae and pupae live gregariously in a large bag-like nest 

 of very strong silk, which is suspended to the branches of trees, 

 and from which the caterpillars must make excursions in search 

 of food, as in the case of Moths with similar habits. These 

 cases appear more to resemble the nests formed by the 

 gregarious larvae of the African genus Anaphe, Walker (one of 

 the Bombyces) than any others which have been described. 



GENUS ARCHONIAS. 



ArchonlaSy Hiibner, Zutr. Ex. Schmett. iii. p. 19 (1825); 



Schatz, Exot. Schmett. ii. p. 63 (1886). 

 Euterpe, Swainson, Zool. 111. Ins. ii. p. 74 (1831); Boisduval, 



Spec. Gdn. Ldpid. i. p. 404 (1836) ; Doubleday, Gen 



Diurn. Lepid. p. 33 (1847); Butler, Cist. Ent. i. pp. 34, 



42 (1870). 



Body hairy ; palpi and antennae slender, the latter termi- 

 nating in a flattened club ; wings moderately broad and long, 

 sub-costal nervure four-branched, the second branch emitted 

 beyond the cell ; cells long, rather narrow ; disco-cellular 

 nervules nearly straight. 



The species of this genus are not very numerous. They 

 inhabit tropical America, and mimic the genus of Equitidce 

 called Priamides, by Hiibner, which inhabits the same coun- 

 tries. The type is Arckonias tereas (Godart). The species, 



M 2 



