The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

VII.] JAVA. 87are peculiar to the Javanese fauna. Large and handsomebutterflies were also tolerably abundant. In dark ravines, andoccasionally on the roadside, I captured the superb Papilioarjuna, whose wings seem powdered with grains of golden green,condensed into bands and moon-shajDed spots ; while the elegantly-formedPapilio coon was sometimes to be found flutteringslowly along the shady pathways (see figure at page 99). Oneday a boy brought me a butterfly between his fingers, perfectlyunhurt. He had caught it as it was sitting with wings erectCALLIPER BUTTERFLY.sucking up the liquid from a muddy spot by the roadside,^lany of the finest tropical butterflies have this habit, and theyare generally so intent upon their meal that they can be easilyapproached and cajotured. It proved to be the rare and curiousCharaxes kadenii, remarkable for having on each liind wingtwo curved tails like a pair of callipers. It was the only specimenI ever saw, and is still the only representative of its kindin English collections.In the east of Java I had suflered from tlie intense heat anddrought of the dry season, which had been very inimical to