Under Side. Palpi white. Breast and abdomen grey. Wings are exactly the same as on the upper side. Margins of the wings entire.
HELICONIA SAPPHO.
Plate [XXXVIII]. fig. 4.
Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Diurna. Family: Heliconiidæ, Swainson.
Genus. Heliconia, Latr. God. Papilio (Helicon.), Fabr.
Heliconia Sappho. Alis oblongis, supra atro cœruleis infrà nigris; anticis utrinque fasciâ transversâ bifidâ; posticis margine exteriori albis, his subtùs basi sanguineo radiatis. (Expans. Alar. 3 unc. 3 lin.)
Syn. Papilio (Hel. Parn.) Sapho, Drury, App. vol. 3. Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 165. No. 511. Stoll Suppl. Cramer, pl. 30. 2. & 2. B. Herbst. Pap. tab. 75. f. 7.
Habitat: "Jamaica, Mr. Shakespear, 1779" (Drury's MSS.).
Upper Side. Antennæ black. Eyes brown. Thorax and abdomen black. Wings mazarine blue; the anterior ones having a white band crossing them from the middle of the anterior edges to the lower corners; the posterior edged with a white border, intersected by the blue tendons of the wings.
Under Side. Palpi grey. Breast and abdomen black, streaked with white. Wings black where they are blue on the upper side, with the same white markings; but next the body are adorned with beautiful red streaks, ending in points resembling rays issuing from it. Margins of the wings entire.