Volume 18, Plate XXVI / Entomology (Insects)

Polyommatus Marsyas & P. Endymion

1. Polyom­matus Marsyas. Of a group with arched forewing costa and two narrow linear hindwing tails, this is native to Brazil, Guiana, and other parts of South America. It is greenish-blue above changing to violet, the forewing costa and apex widely black; beneath it is glossy lilac with seven or eight white-circled black spots scattered over each wing, the anal angle bluish-green with white streaks and black spots, the black tails white-tipped, the body blue above and whitish beneath.
2. Polyom­matus Endymion. Corresponding in outline to the preceding except for a scarcely concave forewing margin, this richly ornamented insect has a brilliant blue disk tinged green, bordered black, wide in the female and narrow in the male, and expands about two inches. The anal angle of each hindwing bears a large blood-red mark and the tails are black tipped white, while beneath the green predominates, powdered as with gold dust and crossed by a black line and a broad red band.