2716 Insects. 



One circumstance which rather astonished me was, that all insects, 

 but more especially the Lepidoptera, are more numerous and brightly 

 coloured during the wet season than the dry. 



In conclusion, I would observe that his " letters home," being de- 

 signed to entertain, are of course rather desultory, and more amusing 

 than scientific. — Frederick Bates ; King Street, Leicester, January 

 7, 1850. 



"Para, August 16, 1848. 

 " With regard to the insects of this lovely country I cannot hope 

 to give an adequate idea of their interest and beauty : they are not 

 numerous. In a hard day's search I cannot get more (leaving half-a- 

 dozen common species) than about thirty to fifty specimens of Lepi- 

 doptera and twenty Coleoptera ; but nearly all will be different 

 species. I number now 460 different species of butterflies alone, and 

 every time I go out take some new species. They are not found in 

 open places, but in the dense shady pathways of the forest and 

 second-growth woods, flitting across the pathways or settling on the 

 leaves, one at a time. Coleoptera and others are all on the wing like 

 Lepidoptera, all insects being very active and full of life. In open 

 places and gardens the butterflies are chiefly large yellow ones, of the 

 genera Gonepteryx and Callidryas ; a few large swallow-tails, Papilio 

 Thoas, Torquatus, Agavus, &c. ; a few whites, Pieris Monuste, &c. ; and 

 many species of Euterpe and Terias. The splendid Cethosia Dido, a 

 fritillary or two, Danais Archippus, a few orange-coloured species of 

 Cethosia, and several species of long-tailed skippers : all these it is 

 almost impossible to capture. But in the shady coffee shrubberies 

 there are many species of Papilio, — P. Arbatus, Tullus,&c, — and many 

 species of the graceful Heliconii, some with transparent wings, and 

 many other things very easy to take. In the woods of second growth, 

 which are the skirts or beginning of the ' Forest,' where wood has 

 been cut more or less, I get the splendid Papilios, Sesostris, Proteus, 

 and many others velvety black with green and crimson bands and 

 spots. In the ' Forest' there are fewer insects, and all local and rare ; 

 about twenty species of Satyrida? (like our Hipparchiae), some having 

 transparent wings with patches of rosy and blue colours, such as 

 Hectera Piera and Esmeralda. There is also a countless variety of 

 small species, of varied hues and patterns, of the families Erycinidae, 

 Theclidae and Hesperidae. In the marshy parts of the forest, where 

 splendid palm trees, with feathery leaves fifteen and twenty feet long, 

 curve over the pathways, many very glorious insects may be taken : 



