THE MARS^US. S u 



of which is bright yellow traversed by black nervures, and which are adorned by six 

 large oval spots of orange-red. Our well-known Orange-tip Butterfly is a familiar 

 example of a similar gathering of the color upon the under surface of the lower wings. 



There is a pretty butterfly, called the 

 SPIO, which also belongs to this large 

 family, and may be distinguished from 

 the succeeding group by the angulated 

 front wings. It is a native of tropical 

 America, Java, and India, in all of 

 which countries it is tolerably plentiful. 

 The colors of the upper surface are deep 

 black, largely mottled with yellow and 

 orange. The under surface is washed 

 with pale yellow, purple, and brown of 

 various depths. 



ON the accompanying illustration are 

 seen some specimens of a beautiful 

 group of butterflies placed in the family 

 Heliconia, because their graceful forms 

 and elegantly disposed tints are pre- 

 sumed to render them worthy of the com- 

 panionship of Apollo and the Muses. 

 No British species belongs to this pretty 

 family. 



The uppermost figure represents the 

 Phono, a native of Jamaica, Brazil, and 

 the neighboring parts. The wings of 

 this curious insect are almost wholly EPiCHARis.-/>ter/s Eplcharis. 



transparent, the opaque and colored por- 

 tions being confined to a narrow band round the edge, and a few spots and streaks 

 upon the wings. All these markings are blackish brown, except on the under side 

 where the edge of the hinder pair of wings is tinged with yellow, and sometimes marked 

 with a series of little white spots. An allied butterfly, the Transparent Heliconia 

 (Heliconia liiaphana), so closely resembles this species, that the two are often con- 

 founded together. 



The lowermost figure at the right hand is the ERATO, a native of Surinam. In this 

 insect there is always some variation in color, and the sexes are so different that they 

 might easily be supposed to belong to separate species. In the male the upper wings 

 are rich brownish black with large spots of yellow, and the lower wings are also black- 

 ish brown, streaked in a radiating manner with blue, and edged with little oval spots 

 of pure white. The female has the ground color of the same hues as her mate, except 

 that the base of the upper wings is boldly striped with rusty red, and the radiating 

 streaks on the lower wings are of the same warm tint. In both sexes the under sur- 

 face is brown, with pale yellow spots on the upper wings, and narrow streaks of pale red 

 on the lower wings. The spread of wings is about three inches. 



One species of this genus (Heliconia Charitbnia) is very gregarious in its habits, great 

 numbers gathering in some particular spot, and playing about like the gnat assemblies 

 that are so common in the summer time. So plentiful are they, that when tired they 

 can hardly find a place to rest upon, as crowds are continually settling upon the neigh- 

 boring trees, and as continually driving off the crowds which have just sat down to rest. 



The last figure represents the MARS^EUS, a very elegantly shaped butterfly, a native 

 of tropical America. The ground color of the wings is black, diversified with many bold 

 stripes and patches of orange, and a large golden yellow mark across the extremity of 

 each upper wing. In the illustration, the white patch on the upper wings represents 

 the golden yellow of the insect. 



