BUTTERFLY. 
345 
Priam Butterfly. Aulent. Misp,, 1 . pi. 45. Jallonsky. Pap.l. 
pi. 1 . f. .1, 2. Shaw Gen. Zool. 6. p. 20/. 
pi. 65. 
On this splendid and very extensive genus, Nature 
seems to have lavished her most radiant treasures. 
We here find a display of colour which nothing can 
exceed, and frequently trace all the varied tints of 
the rainbow upon the wings of a single butterfly. 
As an example of this magnificent tribe of insects 
we have selected the above species, which was con- 
sidered by Linnaeus as the most beautiful of them 
all. 
When the wings of this butterfly are extended 
they measure more than six inches from end to 
end, and the beauty of their surfaces exceeds all de- 
scription. The ground colour of the upper wings 
is a deep velvet black edged with a broad irregular 
border of the most beautiful grass green, which 
has all the softness and lustre of satin. The same 
bright green prevails in the lower wings, which are 
marked with four oval spots of velvet black *, and 
edged with a border of the same colour ; besides 
these they have an orange-coloured spot on the 
upper part of each of the inferior wings. Black 
and gold form the prevailing colours on the body 
of this splendid insect, and that nothing might be 
wanting to render it the most beautiful of its species, 
Nature has decorated the black part with specks of 
the brightest green. 
* In the Linnaean specification six black spots are mentioned, 
but we have not noticed more than four. 
