6o 
THE MUSEUM. 
to the natives and other residents is the 
“ eighty-eights,” from the black marks 
resembling the figures 88, on the silvery 
white ground of the under side of their hind 
wings. On the upper side, in strong con¬ 
trast to the lower, the color is deep velvet 
black, with shining silvery-green bands ; 
the figure shows it of the full size. There 
are many kinds of these butterflies, all 
very beautiful. e 
We now have \f) a representation, in the natural size, of a very rare moth 
from Sierra Leone, in West Africa, which is remarkable for the unparalleled length 
of the tails of the hind wings in the male ; in the 
female they are only half as long. Its color is pink¬ 
ish ; the original of the figure is the only example of 
this insect in any collection in this hemisphere. It 
is called the Argus moth (.Eustera argus). 
To close, for the present, we come, though last, to 
by far the most interesting of anything we have 
touched in this little article—the world-lamed “ dead- 
leaf butterfly,” of China, India, and the Pacific 
Islands (g). In nature it is a third larger than our 
figure. When the wings are expanded the upper 
side discloses a surface of grayish blue, crossed on the 
upper wings by an orange band; but when the wings 
are closed, as is the animal’s wont when at rest, the 
resemblance to a dead leaf is perfect; its mode of sitting 
aids the imitation; the antennae or feelers are thrown back 
against the edge of the wings, the abdomen is enclosed and 
invisible within the fold of the hind wings, the stem-like tail of 
the hind wings touches the twig or branch on which it sits, and 
the whole resemblance to the dead leaf is complete; and to aid 
the deception still more, the color of the under, or leaf side of the 
wings varies in each individual, imitating every shade of a dead leaf, 
from the bleached, worn, dried-out, whitish buff, through all shades of 
yellow, tawny, reddish, brownish, to the dark brown, almost black, of the 
damp, water-sogged leaf. In fact, of several hundred that I have seen I 
do not think any two were of the same shade ; some show marks that 
resemble the fungoid spots, or mildew. The inid-rib and other veins are 
perfect imitations, as shown on the sketch, which is true to nature. But I 
have far exceeded the space first contemplated, and suddenly say good-bye, for 
to-day, promising next time something about butterflies with an extra number 
