Plate XXIII. fig. 1, 2.
ORDER: Lepidoptera. SECTION: Crepuscularia? FAMILY: Uraniidæ.
GENUS. URANIA, _Fabr._ (Syst. Gloss.) _Latr._ Cydimon, _Dalm._ (Prodr.
Mon. Castniæ.) Leilus & Rhipheus, _Swainson Zool. Illustr._
URANIA RHIPHEUS. Alis nigris, anticis utrinque lineolis transversis
fasciâque mediâ bifidâ aureo viridibus, posticis areâ anali cupreâ
violaceo micanti nigroque maculatâ. (Expans. Alar. 4 unc. 9 lin.)
SYN. Papilio (Eq. Troj.) Rhipheus, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2. _Esper. Pap.
Exot. t._ 21. _f._ 1. 2.
Rhipheus dasycephalus, _Swainson Zool. Illust. N. Ser. pl._ 131.
HABITAT: China (_Drury_). Bengal (_Cramer_). Coromandel (Fabricius).
Madagascar (_Enc. Méth._).
_Upper Side._ "The antennæ are black, and knobbed at their extremities."
Eyes dark brown. Thorax and abdomen black. The ground of the anterior
wings is a lovely deep green, marked or striped all over with irregular
streaks of a deep black, almost all of which run in a direction from the
anterior to the posterior edges. Posterior wings, next the body, black;
but towards the anterior edges are of a fine light blue green, clouded
with black. The other parts, next the abdominal and external edges, are
of a curious, deep, blood-red, shining with gold, and spotted with black.
_Under Side._ Palpi grey. Breast and abdomen ash-coloured. Wings light
sea-green, clouded or marked as on the upper side with black. Posterior
wings, next the body, of a most brilliant golden green, with small spots
of black, which green softens into a fine purple, from that into a
crimson, then into a blood-red, and lastly to an orange; which colours
occupy the greater part of these wings: that part which lies next the
upper corners being of a fine blue green, clouded with black; all the
colours on this side have a rich glow of gold, and appear changeable,
according to the position in which the light strikes on them; from the
abdominal corner runs a narrow black border along the external edge, the
width of three membranes, stopping at the angle, and communicating with a
large black spot situated near the abdominal edge. "The whole exhibiting
the most beautiful colours I ever saw united in one insect."
The splendid insect, from which these figures were taken, has been
considered by most Lepidopterists to have been in a mutilated and mended
state; having the head, concealed palpi, and clavate antennæ of a true
Papilio, and the posterior wings nearly truncated at the lower part. These
authors have supposed that the insect was a specimen of the Papilio
Rhipheus of Cramer (pl. 385. fig. A. B. Leilus orientalis, Swainson Zool.
Illustr. N. Ser. pl. 130.), in which the head and antennæ are similar to
those of Nyctalemon Orontes, figured in the first volume of this work, and
the posterior wings are terminated by three tails. Mr. Swainson has however
adopted a different opinion, figuring Drury's insect under the name of
Rhipheus Dasycephalus, and Cramer's under that of Leilus Orientalis;
considering that this view of the subject "will clear up one of the most
intricate and perplexing questions that has hitherto impeded the natural
arrangement of the Linnæan Papiliones and even the entire Lepidoptera."
Drury's insect exhibiting the nervures of Urania, and the head, &c. of
Papilio, is thus considered as establishing as close an affinity as can
possibly be imagined between Papilio and Leilus (i. e. the Rhipheus of
Cramer). It is true that there are many Lepidopterous insects which, on a
{43}casual glance, appear identical, but which belong to distinct groups,
especially distinguished by the neuration of their wings, but when we
consider the almost perfect identity, in the very peculiar markings and
colours, of these two supposed distinct insects, the identity in the nerves
of their wings;[4] the slight scruple which the old collectors had in
patching up their insects, and the truncation of the hind wings in Drury's
figure, which may be exactly imitated by placing a slip of paper over the
tails of perfect tailed specimens of Rhipheus, I think we are authorised in
rejecting, without hesitation, the views of Mr. Swainson.
That this group of insects is one of the most interesting amongst the
Lepidoptera, and at the same time exceedingly difficult, with respect to
its natural relations, cannot be denied. Modern authors, Mr. Swainson
observes, have been unfortunate in their location of this group, of course
alluding to its being placed by Latreille in the family Hesperiidæ. Mr.
Swainson, however, is not less unfortunate in his introduction of it into
the family Papilionidæ, with which the structure of the fore legs is said
peculiarly to rank it. This character, nevertheless, together with its
day-flying habits and brilliant colours, are the only points in which an
affinity can be traced between the Papilionidæ and Uraniidæ. But the
structure of the hind legs (having spurs in the middle, as well as at the
tips of the tibiæ), and of the nerves of the wings, antennæ, and palpi, all
exhibit a very slight degree of relationship with Papilio. Mr. Swainson
has, indeed, endeavoured to make the affinity more evident by introducing
Papilio Curius, Fabr. as a subgenus (Leptocircus) in the genus Leilus (or
Urania), but the relationship between these is of the slightest and most
unsatisfactory kind. Mr. Newman has suggested another view of the
affinities of this group. In his sketch of the circular distribution of the
Lepidoptera,[5] he has introduced into the Butterfly circle, the genera
Coronis and Urania, the last forming the connecting link with the
Geometridæ, by Leach's genus Ourapteryx, or the Swallow-tail Moth. The
whole structure of the latter insect indicates, however, most clearly that
the relation is but an analogical one. Had, indeed, the observations of M.
Sganzin,[6] relative to the transformations of Urania Rhipheus been
confirmed, this would certainly have been its more appropriate locality,
its caterpillar being said by him to be a semi-looper, and its chrysalis to
be naked, suspended by the tail, and girt round the centre. But the
elaborate memoir of Mr. MacLeay,[7] upon the habits and changes of Urania
Fernandinæ, prove most clearly that the larva closely resembles that of
Agarista;[8] and that the pupa, as in that genus, is inclosed in a cocoon.
Now this latter character exists in some species of Hesperia. In these,
however, the chrysalis is still attached by its tail. Mr. MacLeay does not
mention whether such is the case in Urania; but since his return from Cuba
he has had the kindness to shew me the cocoon, and to inform me that the
chrysalis is loose. This character, {44}therefore, with the entire
structure of the imago, removes it from the Diurnal Lepidoptera, and
associates it most satisfactorily with the Hesperi-sphinges of Latreille,
especially Agarista and Coronis, which last is very near Urania Lunus. Thus
the situation proposed for these insects by Latreille, between Hesperia and
Agarista, &c. is found to be most fortunate; Mr. Swainson himself admitting
a relationship with the Hesperiidæ, by calling them the "Hesperian" type of
the Papilionidæ. They also appear to have some relation with Erebus. The
original specimen here figured is stated by Mr. Drury to have been in the
possession of Captain May, of Hammersmith, when the drawing was made. It is
now in all probability destroyed, and cannot be traced.