284 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



and their lazy flight, large size, and beautiful colors make them a promi- 

 nent feature in all descriptions of the tropics. 



Another group of tropical forms 

 (one of which just enters the United 

 States — into Florida) is the Heleco- 

 nias. The outlines are shown in the 

 plate opposite page 158, and one has 

 only to imagine the black of the cut 

 to be a deep velvety black, and the 

 lighter spots either green, red, yellow, 

 or white, to see how beautiful they are. 

 The Vanessa butterflies are beau- 

 tiful forms occurring in the temperate 

 regions of both Europe and America. 

 Our cut shows a deep red form occur- 

 ring in Europe, the eye-spots on the 

 wings being marked with yellow, pur- 

 ple, black, and rose. Another species, 

 which has an almost world-wide dis- 

 tribution, is the ' Camberwell beauty.' 

 It is a deep purple, or purplish brown, 

 the wings being margined with a yel- 

 low or cream-colored band. This is 

 our earliest butterfly, appearing in the 

 warm days of spring, sometimes when 

 the snow is hardly off the ground, 

 much to the astonishment of most people. This early appearance is to be 

 attributed, not to any early escape from the chrysalis, but to the fact that 



the individuals have spent the winter in 

 some sheltered spot. 



The Graptas are also very beautiful, 

 especially when we consider the rich 

 brown and gray marblings of the under 

 side of the wings (shown at the right of 

 our cut), and in the centre of the hind 

 wing there is a gold or silver mark, vary- 

 ing in shape with the different species, 

 and giving rise to the names comma, 

 interrogationis, c-album, and the like, as 

 specific designations. The species of Argynnis have one or two silver spots 

 on the under side of the hind w r ings which adds greatly to their beauty. 



Fig. 283. — Io butterfly (Vanessa io), above; 

 Janira butterfly (Epinephile janira) , below. 



Fig. 284. — Progne butterfly (Grapta progne) ; 

 the right side shows the lower surface of 

 the wiug. 



