Zoological Illustrations Volume Iii Part 5

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_T. alis supra fuscis; anticis ad basin caeruleis, infra ferrugineis, punctis 2 mediis nigris ornatis; posticis infra castaneis, antice pallidioribus, maculo nigro ad basin ornatis._

Wings above brown; anterior blue at the base, beneath ferruginous, with two central black spots; posterior beneath chesnut, paler on the fore part, with a black spot near the base.

I have selected this insect as one of the rarest among a vast number of species of this elegant tribe, collected during my travels in Brazil. Two specimens of the male, and one of the female insect, were captured in the woods near Pernambuco, in lat. 8 12' S.

The male insects, in the majority of the _Hair-Streaks_, have either a velvet or eye-like spot in the middle of the anterior wings, adjoining their outer margin; these spots are without l.u.s.tre, and frequently appear as if caused by being rubbed: the colours, likewise, on the upper surface of the wings in the males, generally differ from those of the females.

Wings brown; anterior, with the half next the base blue; central spot blackish, enclosing an obscure eye-like spot margined with grey, the pupil black with a white dot. Posterior wings two-tailed; exterior tail very short, interior lengthened; a.n.a.l angle two-lobed, margin whitish. Anterior wings beneath, pale chesnut brown, tips chesnut; in the middle are two black dots, one of which is small; above these are three others, which form a short transverse line united to the margin. Posterior wings beneath, dark chesnut; with two central blackish dots in the middle; below are two undulated brown lines, parallel to the posterior margin; the anterior margin pale, with a large black dot near the base; a.n.a.l angle, clouded with grey and tipt with a black spot: another spot is also at the base of the exterior tail. In the female, all the wings above are brown, with a pale blue base; but the under surface, except in being paler, resembles that of the male.

Pl. 134

[Ill.u.s.tration]

STROMBUS exustus,

_Burnt, or Purple-mouthed Strombus_--(_Upper figure_.)

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 10.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

_S. testa nodosa; labio interiore albo, laevi; labii exterioris inflexi, supra sinuati, intus purpureo-atri, striati; lobo basali edentulo._

Sh.e.l.l nodulous; inner lip smooth, whitish; outer lip inflected, above sinuated, within striated, blackish purple; basal lobe not toothed.

_Young._ S. papilio. _Chem._ x. _t._ 158. _f._ 1510, 11. _Dillw._ 661.

120. 11.

_Adult._ Strombus exustus. _Humphreys in Mus. Cal._ _p._ 38. _n._ 714.

S. lentiginosus. _Martini_, iii. _t._ 80. _f._ 825, 826. _Gmelin._ 3510. (_var._ [beta].) _Dillwyn._ 660.

_Seba_, _t._ 52. _f._ 17. 18. _Knorr._ 3. _t._ 26. _f._ 2. 3?

Specimens now before me prove that the _S. papilio_ of Chemnitz is a young sh.e.l.l of _S. exustus_, a species named by Mr. Humphreys in the Calonne Catalogue, and described in his own ma.n.u.scripts. In a young state, the aperture is smooth and nearly white, but when full grown, the outer lip is strongly striated, and the aperture reddish purple, dark red, or reddish chesnut: the outer lip is but slightly sinuated above, and the basal lobe never toothed, as in the next species. Inhabits the island of Haynam, in the East Indies, and is very rare.

Described by Lamarck (_Syst._ 7. _p._ 211) under the name of _S. Papilio_.

The first of these names, however, has the right of priority. (See _Mus.

Cal._ 1797.) The figures of Martini, tom. 3. tab. 8. f. 825, 826, clearly represent this species; although Lamarck has quoted them for _S.

lentiginosus_.

STROMBUS lentiginosus,

_Tuberculated Strombus_

_S. testa nodosa; labii exterioris supra rotundati ad spiram annexi, profunde bilobati, margine cra.s.so inflexo, sub-nodoso; lobo basali dentato; apertura laevi._

Sh.e.l.l nodulous, outer lip above rounded, attached to the spire, deeply bilobated, margin thick, inflexed, slightly nodulous; basal lobe toothed; aperture smooth.

_Young._ _Seba_, _t._ 62. _f._ 37. 40. _optime_. _Martini_, 3. _t._ 89.

_f._ 871. _t._ 91. _f._ 891. 892? _Lister_, 893. 12?

_Adult._ S. lentiginosus. _Gmelin_, 3510. _Dillwyn._ 660. _Martini_, 3.

_t._ 81. _f._ 827, 828.

_Seba_, 62. _f._ 11. 30. (_optime_.) _Lister_, 861. 18. _Gualt._ 32.

_f._ A.

_Lam. Syst._ 7. _p._ 203. _Knorr_, 3. _tab._ 13, _f._ 2. Lamarck has omitted to quote any of the figures representing the young sh.e.l.ls of this and the following species.

This common sh.e.l.l requires little description, and is only introduced to contrast more fully the difference between these two species: the upper part of the lip has two deep notches, which form three prominent lobes; the basal lobe is toothed, similar to the _Pterocerae_: the aperture (in those sh.e.l.ls from the East Indies) is light pink inside. A large and fine variety comes from the Mauritia islands, having the mouth within pale golden yellow.

Pl. 135

[Ill.u.s.tration]

STROMBUS tricornis,

_Horned Strombus._

GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 10.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.