Lacinia — Part 2

Synchloe lacinia

Images coming soon.

The Ethiopian Region is rich in beautiful butterflies of the genus Callosune, which are white or yellow, having the tips of the anterior wings marked with crimson or purple. There are many scores of species of these which are found on the grassy park-like lands of southeastern Africa, and they range northward through Abyssinia into Arabia, and a few species even invade the hot lands of the Indian peninsula. In the great forests of the Congo, and in fact throughout tropical Africa, the genus Acraea, composed of beautiful insects with long, narrow wings like the genus Heliconius, but for the most part yellow, rich brown, and red, spotted with black, abound. And here, too, are found some of the noblest species belonging to the great genus Papilio, among them that most singular and, until recently, rarest of the genus, Papilio antimachus of Drury, one specimen of which, among a dozen or more in the author's possession, has wings which exceed in expanse even those of Ornithoptera victoria, though this butterfly, which seems to mimic the genus Acraea, has comparatively narrow wings, and they, therefore, do not cover so large an area as is covered in the case of the genus Ornithoptera.

In the Neotropical Region we are confronted by swarms of butterflies belonging to the Ithomiinae, the Heliconiinae, and the Acraeinae, all of which are known to be protected species, and which are mimicked by other species among the butterflies and moths of the region which they frequent. A naturalist familiar with the characteristics of the butterfly fauna of South America can at a glance determine whether a collection placed before him is from that country or not, merely by his knowledge of the peculiar coloration which is characteristic of the lepidoptera of the region. The most brilliant butterflies of the neotropical fauna are the Morphos, glorious insects, the under side of their wings marked with eye-like spots, the upper side resplendent in varying tints of iridescent blue.

In the Nearctic Region there is a remarkable development of the genera Argynnis, Melitaea, and Phyciodes. There are also a great many species of the Satyrinae? and of the Hesperiidae, or "skippers." The genus Colias is also well represented. The Nearctic Region extends southwardly into northern Mexico, at high elevations, and is even continued along the chain of the Andes, and there are species which are found in the vicinity of San Francisco which occur in Chili and Patagonia. In fact, when we get to the southern extremity both of Africa and Of South America we find certain genera characteristic of the north temperate zone, or closely allied to them, well represented.