Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Foreign Butterflies.djvu/266

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204
URANIA LEILUS.

been noticed by any competent observer since the time of Madam Merian, at least no notice of it has been published since. It was long suspected that her figure of it was unworthy of credit, but from what has been recently observed in relation to the larvæ of kindred species (particularly that of T. Rhipheus), it now appears probable that her information was correct. Anomalies similar to those which characterise the perfect insects, likewise attend them in their previous state. They are covered with spines, as is the case among many of the Nymphalidæ, and they are provided with a retractile tentaculum as in Papilio. In the present instance the spines are remarkable for their length and rigidity, particularly those on the anterior and posterior segments.