40 NATURAL HISTORY. 



The genus Perisama much resembles Callicore in size and shape, but the band of the fore wings 

 is frequently incomplete, and combined with more distinct basal stripes. The fore Avings are black 

 beneath, generally spotted with blue, with the tip pale, and intersected by a black line, and the basal 

 portion is frequently more or less broadly red or yellow. The under side of the hind wings is yellow, 

 silvery white, or buff, and is nearly always crossed by two black lines, widest apart in the middle, 

 between which runs a row of black dots. 



The genus Catagramma, resembles the last two genera, but the eyes are naked instead of hairy. 

 There are a great number of species, differing very much in colour and markings, and the name 

 alludes to the elegant markings of the under surface, meaning " written beneath." These Butterflies 

 are of a deep black, adorned with rich shades of crimson or orange on the upper side, and are frequently 

 glossed with purple over the black, and sometimes over the crimson. In some species the sexes differ 

 little ; in others, the males are crimson and the females orange, or even, occasionally, black above. 

 But the sexes differ much in their habits. The females generally live a retired life in the forests, and 

 are often very rare, even when the males are abundant. There are a great number of species, all with 

 a strong family likeness, though more varied in colour above and in patterns below than either of the 

 two preceding genera. The pattern of the under side of the hind wings varies very much in different 

 species. Sometimes they may be striped with black and yellow, or the centre may be black with an 

 irregular row of blue spots, or the centre may be yellow, enclosing two large black spots, each marked 

 with a variable number of eyes. 



Callithea, the most splendid genus of the Catagramma group, contains larger species, found 

 towards the west of South America. In C. sapphira the male is of the richest blue, while the 

 female is blue only at the base, followed by a broad transverse orange band in the fore wings, while 

 the hind wings are bordered with dull green. Some of the other species are similarly marked, while 

 others are bluish-black towards the base ; and a pale bluish band runs round the borders of all the 

 wings. The under side of all the species is green, sometimes more or less broadly orange at the base, 

 and marked with transverse rows of black spots or lines. 



Batesia hypochlora, and its allies or varieties, are also large and splendid insects, from the Upper 

 Amazons and Ecuador. The fore wings are black, with the basal third blue, and a very large red 

 oval transverse spot or band running nearly across them. The hind wings are blue above, with a 

 rather narrow black band near the border ; and beneath they are olive-yellow, or greenish. 



The genus Ageronia contains many common and well-known insects from Tropical America. 

 These Butterflies frequent forests, and their habits were studied by Mr. Darwin. He met with 

 A. feronia in the orange groves of Brazil, and describes it as a high flyer, but fond of alighting on the 

 trunks of trees with its head downwards. It is remarkable for using its legs for running, but still more 

 so for the clicking or crackling sound produced by the wings during flight. Mr. Darwin's observations 

 have been subsequently verified by other naturalists, and the stridulation proves to be common to both 

 sexes. It has not yet been ascertained whether the sound is produced at rest as well as when flying. 

 Although several other Butterflies are now known to stridulate, yet this species is interesting as being 

 the first on which this observation was made. 



The species of Ageronia expand from two to three inches. A. feronia and its allies are mottled 

 with black, bluish, and white, and are sometimes marked with dull reddish spots; and there is generally 

 a submarginal row of black eyes with white pupils on the hind wings. Other species are velvety-black 

 above, spotted with blue, or very deep blue, spotted with paler, and with an oblique white band in 

 the fore wings in the females. The under surface of the hind wings may be pale silvery-grey, with a 

 row of submarginal brown rings, bordered on each side with a brown line, or may be yellow, red, 

 brown, or steel-blue spotted with red, in various species. 



Cyrestis includes several delicate Butterflies confined to Tropical Asia and Africa. The hind 

 wings are generally produced into a lobe at the anal angle, and there is a shoi-t projection or tail at 

 the lower part of the hind margin, where the wing is angulated. Some of the species are white, 

 marked with transverse dark or yellow lines towards the base ; others are tawny, with dark lines, or 

 dark brown, with a transverse band of white. 



Cyrestis is represented in South America by the genus Megalura, which is remarkable for the 

 superficial resemblance which the species bear to the true Pajnlioninw, or Swallow-tailed Butterflies, 



