GIGANTIC BUTTERFLIES 167 



and on this are depicted spots and streaks of crimson, 

 white, and bright yellow, in different patterns according 

 to the species. Their elegant shape, showy colours, and 

 slow, sailing mode of flight make them very attractive 

 objects, and their numbers are so great that they form 

 quite a feature in the physiognomy of the forest, com- 

 pensating for the scarcity of flowers. Next to the Heli- 

 conii the Catagrammas (C. astarte and C. peristera) were 

 the most conspicuous. These have a very rapid and 

 short flight, settling frequently and remaining stationary 

 for a long time on the trunks of trees. The colours of 

 their wings are vermilion and black, the surface having 

 a rich velvety appearance. The genus owes its Greek 

 name Catagramma (signifying * a letter beneath ') to the 

 curious markings of the underside of the wings, resembling 

 Arabic numerals. The species and varieties are of almost 

 endless diversity, but the majority inhabit the hot valleys 

 of the eastern parts of the Andes. Another butterfly 

 nearly allied to these, Callithea Leprieurii, was also very 

 abundant here at the marshy head of the pool before 

 mentioned. The wings are of a rich dark-blue colour, 

 with a broad border of silvery green. These two groups 

 of Callithea and Catagramma are found only in tropical 

 America, chiefly near the equator, and are certainly 

 amongst the most beautiful productions of a region where 

 the animals and plants seem to have been fashioned in 

 nature's choicest moulds. A great variety of other beauti- 

 ful and curious insects adorned these pleasant woods. 

 Others were seen only in the sunshine in open places. 

 As the waters retreated from the beach, vast numbers of 

 sulphur-yellow and orange coloured butterflies congre- 

 gated on the moist sand. The greater portion of them 

 belonged to the genus Callidryas ^. They assembled in 

 densely packed masses, sometimes two or three yards in 

 circumference, their wings all held in an upright position, 

 so that the beach looked as though variegated with beds 



^ More than three-fourths of the individuals in these con- 

 gregations of butterflies consisted of a pale sulphur-coloured 

 species, C. Statira : two yellow kinds, C. Eubule and C. Trite, 

 and one orange-coloured, C. Argante, were less numerous. 

 A few of a much larger species (C. Leachiana), sulphur-coloured 

 with orange tips to the wings, now and then occurred amidst 

 the masses. 



