ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE III.
FIGURE I, I.
PAPILIO CODOMANNUS.
CODOMANNUS BUTTERFLY.
Order
LEPIDOPTERA.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennæ thicker towards the tip and generally terminating in a knob: wings erect when at rest. Fly by day.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Wings entire, deep black with sanguineous bands: posterior ones beneath with annular yellow lines and dots of blue.
Papilio Codomannus: alis integerrimis atris sanguineo fasciatis: posticis subtus lineis annularibus flavis punctisque cœruleis. Fabr. Spec. Ins. t. 2. p. 57. n. 253.—Mant. Ins. 2. p. 28. n. 292.—Ent. Syst. t. 3. p. 1. p. 53. n. 165.
Alae anticæ supra atrae basi fasciaque, quæ margines haud attingit, sanguineis. Punctum fulvum transversum versus apicem et margo apicis albo punctatus. Subtus fere concolores fascia tantum flava et striga cœrulea apicis. Posticæ supra atræ vitta abbreviata fulva, subtus atræ lineis annularibus flavis punctisque cœrulescentibus. Pectus albo punctatum. Fabr.
Papilio Codomannus alis integerrimis atris sanguineo fasciatis: posterioribus subtus lineis annularibus flavis punctisque cœruleis. Gmel. Linn. Syst. t. 1. p. 5. 2280. n. 473.
The delineations of the very beautiful butterfly that appears in the annexed plate, are copied from a specimen in the cabinet of the late worthy president of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks.
Fabricius had previously observed and made known throughout Europe the description of this species with many others of the Banksian Cabinet, but the figures of it now submitted to the amateur are the first that have appeared.—When we consider the celebrity which the entomological writings of Fabricius have acquired it may be satisfactory to learn that the delineation now before us is copied from the individual specimen which Fabricius had described, and that no other figure of this very interesting Papilio is extant.
The upper surface of the butterfly is of a dark brown colour of peculiar richness, crossed by stripes of deep scarlet. The insect with expanded wings displayed in a flying position in the lower part of the plate exemplifies this aspect of the upper surface. The lower surface is much more beautiful; the marks and colours on the anterior pair possess nearly the same character as those of the upper surface; the posterior pair are very different, being marked with large annular bands of bright yellow upon a fuscous ground, and inclosing a number of distinct spots of cœrulean blue, which in beauty emulate the brilliancy of the finest ultra marine: three of these blue spots are placed in the dark ground upon the disk, the remainder are disposed in a semi-circle upon a band of black towards the posterior extremity of the wings. This appearance is best perceived when the insect appears in a resting position as it is seen on one of the branches of the mimosa in the upper part of the plate.
This insect is a native of Brazil.
FIGURE II.
PAPILIO PYRAMUS.
PYRAMUS BUTTERFLY.
Order
LEPIDOPTERA.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Antennæ thicker towards the tip, and generally terminating in a knob; wings erect when at rest. Fly by day.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER
AND
SYNONYMS.
Wings entire, fuscous glossed with blue, and marked with a fulvous spot; lower wings beneath grey.
Plebeji Rurales, Fabr. Sp. Ins.
Hesperia Rurales, Fabr. Ent. Syst.
Papilio Pyramus: alis integerrimis fuscis cœruleo micantibus, macula fulva, posticis subtus griseis. Fabr. Spec. Ins. 2 p. 130. n. 590.—Mant. Ins. 2 p. 83. n. 755.
Hesperia Pyramus: Fabr. Ent. Syst. t. 3. p. 1. 323. n. 223. Alæ omnes fuscæ, cœruleo micantibus: macula magna, in medio fulva. Anticæ, subtus concolores, posticæ griseæ sive cinereo fuscoque variæ. Fabr.
Fabricius describes Papilio Pyramus as a new species of the genus from the drawings of the late Mr. Jones, of Chelsea, a gentleman of fortune who had long devoted his attention to this peculiar tribe of insects, the Papiliones, and whose labours tended in a very eminent degree to aid those of Fabricius. In return for this assistance, Fabricius affixed to each of those insects the names under which they were destined afterwards to appear before the world, a circumstance that may explain sufficiently the frequent references of the Fabrician writings to those drawings, first in his Species Insectorum, and subsequently in his Entomologia Systematica. It may be further added, that the whole of these drawings, together with the manuscripts in the hand-writing of Fabricius were long in our own possession, during the life-time of the very amiable proprietor, Mr. Jones, for the very liberal purpose of copying and making known to the public whatever might appear likely to us to promote the interest and advantage of the Science of Nature; and that the insect now before us is one of those very rare species copied for this purpose.
The specimen from which the painting of Mr. Jones was taken formed originally part of the collection of the lamented Mr. Yates, the ingenious author of an English translation of the Linnæan Fundamenta Entomologia, that appeared about forty years ago, and who lost his life by bathing in the river some short time afterwards.
There was a variety of this insect, pretty nearly but not exactly according with this in the collection of an old and well-known entomologist, the late Mr. Drury, a figure of which appeared shortly after the publication of the Fabrician writings as the true Papilio Pyramus. It was not precisely the same as it appeared to us from an inspection of the specimen in the cabinet of Mr. Drury. This insect is to be found represented in the 23rd plate of the third volume of the Exotic Insects of that author, published in the year 1782.