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 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.