THE ERATO, 
409 
jurface. All the color is concentrated upon the under surface of the lower wings, the ground- 
work of which is bright yellow traversed by black nerv- 
ures, and which are adorned by six large oval spots of 
orange-red. Our 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. 
On the accompanying illustration are seen some 
specimens of a beautiful group of butterflies placed in 
the family Heliconia, because their graceful forms and 
it . -i EPICHARIS.— Pieris epicharis. 
elegantly disposed tints are presumed to render them 
worthy of the companionship of Apollo and the Muses. 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, vdiere the edge of the 
hinder pair of wings is tinged 
w'ith yellow, and sometimes 
marked with a series of little 
white spots. An allied butterfly, 
the Transparent Heliconia (. Hell - 
conia diapTiana ), so closely re- 
sembles this species, that the two 
are often confounded together. 
The lowermost figure at the 
right hand is the Erato, 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 
with little oval spots of pure white. The female has the ground color of the same hues as her 
Vol. HI. — 52. 
PHONO . — lihonia phono. 
MXRSMUS.—Mechanitis marsceus. 
ERATO .—Heliconia erato. 
SPIO —Leptalis spio. 
