ENTOMOLOGY.
PLATE XXIV.
PAPILIO THERSITES
THERSITES BUTTERFLY.
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 tailed and yellow: border black: lower ones with yellow lunules.
Papilio Thersites: alis caudatis flavis: limbo nigro, posticis lunulis flavis. Fabr. Ent. Syst. T. 3. p. 1. 88.
We may venture to affirm, with every degree of certainty, that there is no figure of this very beautiful species, extant, in the work of any previous author. Fabricius described it as a new species, under the name of Papilio Thersites; his description refers to a specimen in the cabinet of Dr. Hunter, but he has omitted to insert his usual reference to the drawings of Mr. Jones, among which that specimen was delineated, and from which we are well aware the Fabrician description of the species is derived. It is from those drawings, also, that we have been enabled to determine the species with perfect accuracy.
The magnitude of this Papilio renders it an object of peculiar interest; it is one of the most conspicuous insects of its tribe, and in point of elegance cannot assuredly be considered inferior to any of its numerous species. In the plate accompanying this description, the Papilio is represented in its natural size: the whole disk is of a fine yellow colour, with a deep black border: the posterior wings are marked with a series of yellow lunules, and another of brilliant blue spots, composed of little shining dots, of which the brightest are in the centre. Beneath, the breast, abdomen, and wings, are yellow: margin of the anterior pair black with a yellow streak, and a black streak of spots on the lower pair.