84 Beautiful Butterflies, 



CAMBERWELL BEAUTY. 



PLATE III. — FIG. II. 



APILIO y or Venessa antiopa. This is the 

 crowning glory of the British Butterfly collec- 

 tor's cabinet, and a happy man is he who gets 

 a perfect specimen of an insect which is at once so rare 

 and beautiful. It measures across the expanded wings 

 from a little under to considerably over three inches, 

 and is, therefore, one of the very largest of the native 

 species, from all of which it differs greatly in shape, and 

 still more in colour. Deep purplish-brown, of a rich 

 velvety appearance, is the tint spread over nearly the 

 whole upper surface of these wings ; round the outer 

 edges this colour deepens into a broad black band, 

 which is ornamented with a row of violet blue spots, 

 some of which are oblong, some of a crescent shape ; 

 attached to this band is what looks like a wide silken 

 fringe, of a pale yellow or cream colour, slightly waved 

 on the inner side, and sprinkled with little black dots 

 at the angles; the top edges of the upper pair are 

 slightly mottled with yellow, and on each, near the tip, 

 are two spots of the same. Underneath the wings are 

 a shining ashy brown, with a network of black waved 



