Part 12

CALLIDRYAS EUBULE.

PLATE VIII. Fig. 1.

Pap. Eubule, Linn. Cramer, Pl. 120, F, C.--Caterpillar, Stoll’s Supp. to Cramer, Pl. 3, fig. 1, A.--Callidryas Eubule, Boisd. Species general, i. 613.

This insect so closely resembles C. Marcellina that it is possible they would still have continued to be confounded, as they were by the earlier entomologists, had not the different appearance of the caterpillar indicated their essential distinction. In the male the surface of the wings is a fine citron-yellow, with a narrow border of a deeper hue; the fringe of all the wings marked at remote intervals with small rust-coloured spots. Beneath the colour is red, or brownish-yellow; the upper wings with a double ferruginous spot at the extremity of the discoidal cell, and a brownish zig-zag ray towards the outer margin; the under wings likewise with two rounded discoidal spots, silvery in the centre, and surrounded by a rust-coloured ring; there are likewise several undulating brown lines running across the surface more or less distinctly defined. The female is bright yellow inclining to orange, the inferior wings much rounded, and having an orange-coloured fringe interrupted with transverse brown stripes. The position and appearance of the discoidal spots similar to what has been described in the male: the under side deep ochre yellow. Body yellow, with greenish hairs on the thorax; antennæ, and terminal joint of the palpi, rose-colour mixed with brown.

PLATE 8.

1. Callidryus Eubule with Cater. & Chrysalis. Brazil. 4. Terias Mexico. Mexico.

Lizars sc.]

The caterpillar (Pl. VIII. fig. 2) is green, covered with small black granules, and having a yellow line along each side, surmounted by another of a blue colour. It feeds on the different kinds of Cassia. The chrysalis (Pl. VIII. fig. 3) is likewise green, changing ultimately to brown.

The butterfly is very common in Guiana, Brazil, and many other parts of America.

GENUS TERIAS.

We owe the establishment of this genus to Mr. Swainson. It includes a considerable number of species, the greater proportion of which have been but lately discovered. They are small insects, of delicate structure, and usually of a light yellow colour, with the apex of the upper wings deep black. The caterpillars, as far as we are acquainted with them, are attached to leguminous plants, and live between the tropics both of the old and new world. The most important generic characters are the following: antennæ of moderate length, the articulations pretty distinct, terminating in an ovoid or conical club, which is slightly curved downwards, and compressed laterally: palpi very short, the terminal joint half the length of the preceding one, naked, and a little salient; abdomen slender and compressed, nearly as long as the inferior wings; wings of delicate texture, the costal line a good deal arched towards the base. Caterpillars slender, linear, and pubescent; chrysalis a little arched, and somewhat compressed, terminating in a point anteriorly.

TERIAS MEXICANA.

PLATE VIII. Fig. 4.

Boisd. Spec. gen. p. 655. Pl. iii. C, fig. 1.

This insect was discovered not long since in Mexico, and is considered rare. The colour of the surface is very bright citron-yellow, the upper wings with a broad black border externally, which ends in a quadrangular expansion a little before the middle of the internal margin. The under wings have the outer border prolonged into an acute angle, forming a kind of rudimentary tail, and the anterior half is widely bordered with black. The primary wings are pale citron-yellow on the under side, with a central black point, and have the outer border near the fringe tinged with red; the secondary pair yellow, speckled with ferruginous particles, and having a black point in the centre, the extreme angle marked with a ferruginous spot, and the posterior half with four or five other spots of the same colour, having sometimes a tendency to form an irregular transverse band. The above description applies to the male; the female has the surface of the wings whitish-yellow, with the black border broader, and the anterior margin of the secondary wings widely orange-yellow. The expansion varies from twenty to twenty three lines.

GENUS EUPLŒA.

This and several of the following genera may be readily distinguished from any of the preceding by having the anterior legs, in both sexes, short and imperfect, the tarsi not being distinguishable into five joints, but generally consisting of a single piece with several crowded spines at the extremity. In the present genus there is a slight indication of an articulated structure, but very indistinct, and there are scarcely any projecting points in the room of claws. The antennæ, which are placed very close to each other at the base, terminate in a pretty thick club elongated and somewhat curved. The palpi, which stand considerably apart from each other, are short, not rising above the head, densely clothed with hair-like scales which completely conceal the joints: of the latter the terminal one is minute and globular ending in a point, the second long and thick, the radical one about one-third its length. Outline of the upper wings triangular: claws simple. Chrysalis suspended by the tail, and never supported by a band round the middle.

PLATE 9.

1. Euplœa Limniace. E. Asia. 2. ---- Plexippe. China &c.

Lizars sc.]

EUPLŒA LIMNIACE.

PLATE IX. Fig. 1.

Danais Limniace, Godart.--Pap. Limniace, Cramer, Pl. 59, fig. D, E.--Pap. Similis, Fabr.

Expands nearly four inches; surface of the wings deep black, entirely covered with stripes and spots of shining light green, more or less mixed with white: towards the base of the wings the green colour is arranged in longitudinal stripes, externally in rounded spots, becoming smaller at the hinder margin where they form a regular row. The design on the under side is similar, but the ground colour of the under wings and a large space at the apex of the upper are pale brown, and the green marks are usually pale; the sinuosities fringed with white, the projections on the margin of the hinder wings forming a pretty acute angle; thorax and breast black, with numerous white points; abdomen yellowish beneath.

Rather extensively distributed over the eastern countries of Asia, and the adjacent islands.

EUPLŒA PLEXIPPE.

PLATE IX. Fig. 2.

Danais Plexippe, Godart.--Pap. Plexippus, Linn., Fabr.--Pap. Genutia, Cramer, Pl. 206, fig. C, D.