THE ERATO. 



409 



the 



.surface. All the color is concentrated upon the under surface of the lower wings, 



work of which is bright yellow traversed by black nerv- 



ures, and which are adorned by six large oval spots of 



orange-red. Oar 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 distin- 

 guished 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. 



Ox the accompanying illustration are seen some 

 specimens of a beautiful group of butterflies placed in 

 the family Heliconia, because their graceful forms and 



, ,, ,. , ,. , , , , ,, EPICHAHIS.— JPlerls epicTiaris. 



elegantly disposed tints are presumed to render them 

 worthy of the companionship of Apollo and the Muse 



ground- 



PHONO.— Ithinia phono. 

 TIL&BSMUfi.—Mechanttis marsceus. SPIO.— Leptalin spio. 



ERATO.— Heliconia erato. 



with little oval spots of pure white. The female has the gr 



Vol. HI.— 53. 



The uppermost figure represents 

 the Phono, a native of Jamaica, 

 Brazil, and the neighboring 

 parts. The wings of this curious 

 insect are almost wholly trans- 

 parent, the opaque and colored 

 portions being confined to a nar- 

 row 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 tin- 

 hinder pair of wings is tinged 

 with yellow, and sometimes 

 marked with a series of little 

 white spots. An allied butterfly, 

 the Transparent HelicoDia (Heli- 

 conia diaphana), so closely re- 

 sembles this species, that the two 

 are often confounded together. 



The lowermost figure at the 

 right hand is the Eeato, 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 sup- 

 posed 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 radiat- 

 ing manner with blue, and edged 

 ound color of the same hues as her 



