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JOUR NAL OF VARIATION . 



Vol. XI. No. 3. March 15th, 1899. 



Collecting Lepidoptera in Trinidad. 



By W. J. KAYE, F.E.S. 



Having had the rare opporti;nity of a four months' visit to the West 

 Indies and Venezuela, and having seen so much that was altogether 

 new and interesting entomologically as well as in a thousand other 

 ways, I feel that it is my duty to impart something which may he of 

 value to others, although at the same time quite conscious of my in- 

 ability of making the most of it. 



I embarked on May 4th, and landed at Trinidad on the 18th of the 

 same month, fully expecting to come into the rainy season. But 

 instead — brilliant weather, and everything parched. The first few walks 

 in the neighbourhood of Port of Spain showed me that there was some 

 good ground near at home consisting of V-shaped valleys, with streams 

 at the bottom, or beds, which contain streams when the rain comes. 

 From one of these, the Cascade valley, I met, on the first day, with 

 Morpho pelcidcx (the only species of the genus in Trinidad), KnqJianis 

 automedon, a lovely species belonging to the MdrjJtiitidai', spanning 4", 

 and of a rich purple, Tithorcajiavescens, named again only so recently as 

 1889, although the insect was, and is, a common one near Port of 

 Spain. I have just ascertained that the insect was renamed in error by 

 Kirby. Godart called it Heliconiia^ vwr/ara in 1819, considering it a 

 var. of TitJiinra haniiomca, Cr. There were no specimens in the 

 N.H. Museum at the time Kirby renamed the insect, but a full series has 

 since been sent over. Perhaps the insect is confined to Trinidad, as I 

 can find no record outside that island. Virrdla dracnntix — much worn. 

 The habit of this latter insect, which has beautiful ])lue hind wings when 

 fresh, is most odd. It seldom, if ever, flies higher than 2ft. Gin. from 

 the ground, and more often only a few inches. With such a liking to 

 be near the ground, one would expect that its capture was not difficult. 

 But it has another peculiarity — it can alter its course with a rapidity 

 that is astounding, and being fond of damp shady places where plenty 

 of ferns, etc., grow (underneath which it frequently flies), its capture is 

 a most tantalising operation. Besides these more conspicuous species, 

 there were numbers of others less so, the mere names of which would 

 convey httle or nothing to the. majority of your readers. Heliconiiis 

 virlpoviDnc was, however, another conspicuous insect with its bright 

 red bars on the velvety l)lack ground colour. Horticulturists complain 

 bitterly of the ravages the larva of this insect makes among the passi- 



