Part 16

NYMPHALIS (CATAGRAMMA) HYDASPES.

Plate XV. fig. 2, 3.

ORDER: Lepidoptera. SECTION: Diurna. FAMILY: Nymphalidæ, Swains.

GENUS. NYMPHALIS, Latr. God. Papilio (Nymphalis), Fabr. SUBGENUS: Catagramma, Boisduval.

NYMPHALIS (CATAGRAMMA) HYDASPES. Alis subdentatis, nigris, basi suprà nitidè cyaneis, anticis utrinque fasciâ chermesinâ abbreviatâ; posticis subtùs annulis duobus flavis punctisque quatuor ocellaribus. (Expans. Alar. 1 unc. 10 lin.)

SYN. Papilio (Pleb. rur.) Hydaspes, Fabr. MSS. cited by Drury, App. vol. 3. (1783.) nec Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 54. No. 167. (1793.)

Nymphalis Hydaspes, Latr. & God. Enc. Méth. ix. p. 424. (nec Cat. Hydaspes, Boisd. Hist. Nat. Lep. 1. pl. 9. f. 2., Donovan Nat. Repos. vol. 2. pl. 60.)

Biblis Hesperia, Perty Delect. Anim. art. Bras. pl. 30. f. 4. a. b.

HABITAT: Brazil.

Upper Side. Antennæ black. Eyes, thorax, and abdomen dark brown, nearly black. Anterior wings black, but of a fine shining blue at the base. A streak of a beautiful red colour crosses these wings from the middle of the anterior edges to the lower corners, stopping at a little distance therefrom. Posterior wings black, with a most beautiful blue patch on them next the body.

Under Side. Palpi black. Mouth white. Tongue and breast black. Abdomen white. Anterior wings nearly coloured as on the upper side, but next the body verged with white. A white streak also crosses them near the tips; and at a small distance from the body is placed a small round spot of a most beautiful red colour. Posterior wings black, with white lines running along the abdominal and outer edges. The centre is adorned with four small round spots, three blue, one white, surrounded by a white line in a oval form. Wings slightly dentated.

{21}Drury referred this insect to the then unpublished Papilio Hydaspes, on the authority of Fabricius's handwriting, (his specimen having most probably been thus labelled by that author.) The authors of the Encyclopédie Méthodique also cite Drury's figure under Hydaspes. Fabricius, however, cites only the Banksian Cabinet, and Mr. Donovan's figure taken from the Banksian specimen, and published in the Naturalist's Repository, Vol. 2. Pl. 60. convinces us that Drury's insect is specifically distinct from that described by Fabricius, although evidently identical with the insect described as Hydaspes in the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Under these circumstances I have considered it most advisable to retain the name of Hydaspes for Drury's insect, under which name it was known for the space of ten years before the publication of the Fabrician Hydaspes, to which a new specific name must be applied. As there are several other nearly allied Brazilian species, it is not impossible that Fabricius, from recollection alone, applied the name of Hydaspes to Drury's specimen, having previously described the insect from the Banksian Cabinet, the under surface of which especially is very different from that figured by Donovan.

PLATE XVI.

NYMPHALIS HIPPONA.

Plate XVI. fig. 1, 2.

ORDER: Lepidoptera. SECTION: Diurna. FAMILY: Nymphalidæ, Swains.

GENUS. NYMPHALIS, Latr. God. Papilio (Nymphalis), Fabr.

NYMPHALIS HIPPONA. Alis suprà nigris, anticis fulvo flavoque variis: posticis caudatis basi fulvo apice nigro strigâ marginali punctorum alborum. (Expans. Alar. 4 unc.)

SYN. Papilio (Nymph.) Hippona, Fabr. Sp. Ins. 2. p. 54. No. 258. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 180. No. 559. Donovan Ins. India, pl. 35. fig. * Encycl. Méth. ix. p. 362.

Papilio (Nymph. Phal.), Cramer, pl. 90. fig. C. D. Stoll Suppl. Cramer, pl. 2. fig. 1. & 1. A. B. C. Drury, App. vol. 3.

HABITAT: Brazil (Drury). Guiana, Antilles (Enc. Méth.).

Upper Side. Antennæ black at the base, but yellow at the extremities. Thorax and abdomen greenish brown. Anterior wings angulated, and black, but orange-brown at the base; posterior edges verged with black. An irregular indented yellow bar crosses them from the middle of the anterior edges to the middle of the external ones; and near the tips are placed two white spots, one large, of an oval shape, and a small round one. Posterior wings with two tails, chiefly of a yellow-brown colour, but having a black circular patch placed along the external edges, and reaching nearly from the abdominal to the upper corners, whereon are placed three white crescents and a small round spot.

Under Side. Palpi yellowish. Tongue dark brown. Legs yellowish. Breast dark brown. Abdomen yellowish. Wings ornamented with such a variety of soft colours, as renders it impossible to describe them minutely.

The transformations of this curious species have been figured by Stoll in his supplementary volume to Cramer. The caterpillar is of a dark green, with a black dorsal line and lateral spots of the same colour. The head is black, with two yellow spots, and furnished with two short obtuse spines. It lives upon a plant called "poirvier," feeding {22}only by night, remaining during the day concealed in a kind of case, which it forms by rolling up a leaf. The chrysalis is short, and thick, without angular prominences, of a grey colour, with black dots. It attaches itself by the tail to the stem of the plant upon which it feeds.

Fabricius erroneously gives India as the habitat of this species, whence Donovan has introduced it into his work upon the insects of that country.

NYMPHALIS ORSIS .

Plate XVI. fig. 3.

ORDER: Lepidoptera. SECTION: Diurna. FAMILY: Nymphalidæ, Swains.