The case was furnished by certain kinds of handsome butterflies belonging to the genus Heliconius,[1] a group peculiar to Tropical America, abounding in individuals everywhere in the shades of its luxuriant forests, and presenting clusters of varieties and closely allied species, as well as many distinct, better marked forms. The closely allied species and varieties are a great puzzle to classifiers; in fact, the group is one of those wherein great changes seem to be now going on. A conspicuous mem-
ber of the group is the H. Melpomene of Linnæus. This elegant form is found throughout Guiana, Venezuela, and some parts of New Granada. It is very common at Obydos, and reappears on the south side of the river in the dry forests behind Santarem, at the mouth of the Tapajos. In all other parts of the Amazons valley, east-
- ↑ This genus has long been known under the name of Heliconia: a most inconvenient term, as a botanical genus bears the same name. An author has lately proposed to revert to the masculine termination of the words as first employed by Linnæus (Felder, in the "Wiener Entomologische Monatschrift," March, 1862), and, as I think the correction a good one, I adopt it.
