The locality given by our author is evidently correct, because he was furnished with information respecting its habits by Mr. Smeathman, who stated that it breeds chiefly near open and cultivated spots, or in recent plantations, and sports in the sun like the Acrææ.
PLATE XV.
MORPHO LAERTES.
Plate [XV]. fig. 1.
Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Diurna. Family: Nymphalidæ, Swains.
Genus. Morpho, Fabr. Latr. God. Papilio (Equit. Achiv.), Drury.
Morpho Laertes. Alis subdentatis, utrinque margaritaceo-albis, anticarum fasciâ costali nigrâ, posticis subtus strigâ ocellorum lunulisque marginalibus. (Expans. Alar. 6 unc. 3 lin.)
Syn. Papilio (Eq. Achiv.) Laertes, Drury, App. vol. 3. Esper Pap. Exot. tab. 43. f. 2. Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. p. 84. No. 262. Enc. Méth. ix. p. 444. (Morpho L.)
Papilio Epistrophus, Fabr. Ind. Alphab. to Ent. Syst. p. 124. Donovan Nat. Repos. 4. 143.