204 
LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
already become rather numerous. The upper 
surface is deep orange-tawny, in some males 
almost vermilion, with a few black spots, and the 
nervures dilated into black stripes. But it is in 
the under surface that the superlative glory of this 
most lovely insect is seen. The front wings are 
deep scarlet, with the tip yellowish brown ; the 
hind wings are of this brown tint, and both are 
adorned, but particularly the latter, with many 
large and irregular spots of bright white, which 
have all the lustre of silver; each spot is sur- 
rounded with a black edge, that seems to set off 
its beauty — a beauty of which the silver spots on 
some of our English Fritillaries can give but a 
faint idea. Slight traces of this metallic brilliance 
even appear on the upper surface, as silver pupils 
to the larger black spots of the fore wings. The 
caterpillar of this exquisite creature is said to feed 
on the flesh-coloured Passion flower [Passiflora 
incarnata^. 
A fourth is the Snout Butterfly {Lihythea mo- 
tya)^ remarkable for the great development of the 
palpi, which are lengthened into a snout, as in 
some small moths, projecting nearly half an inch 
from the head. In other respects it is much like 
a little Vanessa. The wings are orange, with brown 
margins ; the tip of the first pair is brown, con- 
taining three large white patches ; beneath, the 
first pair are as above ; the second are dark brown. 
Add to these, two little sable urchins, regular 
chummies in appearance — the Sooty Skipper 
[Hesperia Catullus).^ and the Banded Skipper [H. 
Phyleeus) ; but they are too ugly to be worth any 
other description, than that they are blackish 
brown, with a few white dots. 
