224 
Mrs. T. Vernon Wollaston on 
which seems to have a great partiality for the common garden 
pea, is of a green hue, short as well as very thick, and some¬ 
what fusiform in outline, much resembling in shape the 
common woodlouse. However, we never succeeded in ob¬ 
taining many of the caterpillars, though in Madeira we have 
often met with it. 
The section Rhopalocera is very poorly represented at St. 
Helena, only four species having as yet been brought to light, 
whilst not one of even these can be looked upon as possessing 
the slightest claim to being indigenous. Indeed they happen 
all of them to possess an extremely wide geographical range; 
and it is interesting to know that the whole four occur in 
Africa. Pyrameis cardui may well-nigh be said to be the 
butterfly, par excellence , of all countries ; and even Danais 
chrysippus goes far to emulate it in its roving propensities. 
Where the latter is found, too, it is, in most cases, accompanied 
by its mimic, nypolimnas bolina , though, at the same time, 
I believe it to be true that H. bolina has been discovered in 
some parts of America where D. chrysippus has not yet been 
detected. Neither has H. bolina established itself as a Eu¬ 
ropean insect; but that may, in reality, be due to the mere 
fact of its requiring a higher temperature for its development. 
Cupiclo bceticus too has a very wide acquired range, and is 
remarkable for the little variation of its markings in whatever 
clime it happens to be found. 
It is somewhat strange, perhaps, that with so peculiar and 
wonderful a flora the little island should not produce a single 
butterfly which can be considered, in the least degree, abori¬ 
ginal, more especially when we take into account the large 
number of new and curious forms which are indicated in 
the Heterocera, and which will speak for themselves further 
on. But, whatever be the case with the moths, it is certainly 
very surprising, considering the many facilities that must 
assuredly have arisen, from time to time, when this small 
oceanic rock was the recipient of such vast accumulations of 
plants from all parts of the world, and was in such constant 
use as a place of call under the old East-India Company’s 
rule, that more exponents of the Rhopalocera should not have 
been accidentally introduced; for one would be apt to imagine 
that the self-same circumstances which favoured the trans¬ 
portation of these four would hold good for many other 
species. I believe, however, that this is very much in accord¬ 
ance with what may be observed in the generality of islands 
which are unusually remote. 
