Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Foreign Butterflies.djvu/251

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193

POLYOMMATUS VENUS.

PLATE XXVII. Figs. 1, 2.


Pap. P. R. Venus, Fabr. Mantissa.—Hesperia R. Venus, Fabr. Systema.—Pap. Venus, Herbst. Pap. Pl. 294, fig. 1, 2. Pap. Imperialis, Cramer, Pl. 76, fig. E, F.

This beautiful little insect is not unlike the preceding both in its form and colours. It belongs to a section of Polyommatus, in which the upper wings of the male are marked with an orbicular spot, of a cottony appearance, and frequently a good deal impressed. The expansion of the wings does not exceed an inch and a half. The colour of the surface is brilliant blue, the costa and outer margin of the wings black, and the disk of each marked with two ferruginous points in the male. Beneath, the colour is likewise green, richly glossed with golden yellow, the anterior portion of the under wings transversely streaked with narrow black marks. The tails are wholly black.

All the examples hitherto brought to Europe seem to be from Surinam.