5 2o THE HELICOPS. 



I was very busy, you may imagine, at first, in securing a supply of specimens ; I 

 caught perhaps 150, two-thirds of which fell to pieces in the bottom of the net, so fragile 

 is their texture. I then paused to look around the locality, and endeavor to find the 

 larvse and pupae. I walked through the thicket in all directions, and found the space 

 peopled by the species was not more than from twenty to thirty square yards in extent, 

 but within this space they were innumerable. Up the trees, as far as the eye could reach, 

 the leaves were peopled with them. It is possible the brood belonged to some one tree. 

 The only two pupaa I could find were, it is true, on two distinct kinds of trees, but this 

 is no proof that the larva may not have fed on one tree only. I was disappointed at not 

 finding the larva, although I searched well during this and the three following days. On 

 the second day the butterflies were still coming out ; on the third day they were much 

 fewer and nearly all worn ; and on the fourth day I did not see a single perfect speci- 

 men, and not a dozen altogether." 



The white portions of the wings are membranous and transparent, and the dark por- 

 tions are nearly all black, except that the base of the projecting portions of the lower 

 wings is deep blue. The light-colored bar is rich scarlet. This specimen represents 

 a male ; the hinder wings of the female are closer together, and the tails are nearly 

 straight. 



THE central upper figure represents the Erycina Julia, a native of tropical America. 

 This insect, though not so peculiar as the preceding, is nevertheless a handsome and 

 even striking creature. The upper surface of both wings is deep sooty black, over 

 which are drawn two bars of flaming scarlet, of that fiery tint so familiar in the flower of 

 the scarlet verbena. The under side is even more splendid than the upper. Appear- 

 ing at a first glance to be simple dark brown, with a little scarlet patch on the inner 

 edge of the lower wings, it only needs a side-light to flash into dazzling azure, which 

 again changes to equally dazzling green, not unlike the gorget of the humming bird. 

 The place occupied by the scarlet bands of the upper surface are black below, and serve 

 to add to the richness of effect. 



ON the extreme right of the illustration is the small but elegant Calydna calamita 

 The upper surface of this insect is black, diversified with numerous blue and white 

 spots. Below, the ground color is brown, spotted profusely with black and white, and 

 having some short transverse lines of yellow. This insect inhabits the regions about 

 the Amazon. 



The central lower figure represents a butterfly of simple, but extremely beautiful, 

 coloring. Unless held in a favorable light, the insect seems to be of a simple orange 

 color, but if held with its head towards the observer's eyes, and the sun being behind 

 his back, its wings glow with a golden effulgence that surpasses all power of descrip- 

 tion. As the insect is gently turned or held so as to communicate a quivering motion, 

 all the tints of the rainbow play over the trembling wings, and the glory reflected from 

 its surface is almost intolerable to the eye. As is the case with all the butterflies, this 

 insect is represented of its natural size. 



ON the illustration at page 505, two more examples of this family may be seen. The 

 first is placed in the centre of the left-hand side, and immediately under the tip of the 

 left wing of the great Thoas butterfly. This is the Hdicopis eupido, an insect which if only 

 viewed on its upper surface seems, except for the long and slender projections of the hind- 

 er wings, to be hardly worthy of much observation, the color being pale and dull brown, 

 changing to pale rusty red towards the base of the wings, and having a rather large whitish 

 spot in the centre of the upper wings. But on turning it over, so as to bring the under sur- 

 face into view, it proves to be a really wonderful insect. The upper wings have little 

 remarkable about them, their color being brown, becoming paler towards the edge, and 

 having a sharply-defined whitish yellow mark in the centre. But it is on the lower wings 

 that the chief interest is concentrated. On a ground of ochreous yellow are a number 

 of large spots which look exactly as if they were made of gold-leaf artificially affixed 



