86 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS-. [March, '03 



tinct and strong in the variety luna} a faint spot between the two dis" 

 coidal nervules, representing the four- ringed ocellus of polyphemus; 

 space between lower discoidal and upper median nervules bare (here 

 polyphemus usually has an ocellus) ; the two ocelli between upper and 

 middle, and middle and lower median nervules are small, only three 

 millimetres in diameter (in polyphemus they are about six millimetres), 

 and consist of a white centre surrounded by black with faint trace of a 

 yellow surrounding wing ; in polyphemus the large distinct ocelli con 

 sist of a white centre (often a strong bar) deeply surrounded by black 

 enclosed in a yellow ring strongly circled by a black, sharp-edged ring. 

 I have never seen polyphemus with less than three well-marked ocelli in 

 forewing, and there are Usually four. 



Inferior wings show faintly the shadow of the submarginal dark spots> 

 and the anal angle has three marginal lunules surmounted by a faint sub* 

 marginal line extending over only two spaces ; only three ocelli in each 

 wing, namely, between the two sub-costal nervules and between upper 

 and middle, and middle and inner median nervules ; anal ocellus totally 

 wanting. Polyphemus has six, and rarely seven ocelli, beginning with 

 space between subcostal nervules and ending with space between inner 

 jnedian nervule and submedian nervure at anal angle, in which latter 

 space there are occasionally two ocelli. The largest ocelli in thoosa 

 are about half the size of largest in polyphemus, contain less black and 

 are less distinct. Rest of hind wing immaculate, lacking all trace of the 

 numerous faint lines found in polyphemus and which are so suffused and 

 marked in var. luna. 



I have compared one hundred and twenty-six specimens of 

 MorpJw polyphemus, mostly from Cuernavaca, Mexico, of 

 which fifteen are var. luna ; among these were twenty-one 

 females. In only four of the whole number was there any 

 obsolescence, and never an absence, of the two middle ocelli 

 wanting in hind wings of thoosa, and the anal ocellus was in 

 all large and distinct and occasionally accompanied by an addi- 

 tional small ocellus ; a few specimens of polyphemus showed 

 double pupils, indicating an increase of ocelli, and where 

 polyphemus shows an}' obsolescence of ocelli in hind wings 

 the lower two in fore wings are especially large and full; 

 no specimen showed any transition to the deep black border 

 of apex so pronounced in thoosa, though each had a few 

 dark lines in apex, not shown in Doubleday-Hewitson's 

 figure. 



The maximum extent of the polyphemus and J\f. var. luna 

 compare \vith M. var. thoosa as follows (in inches) : 



'. 



M. polyphemus, 



var. luna, 4% 



var. t/wosa, 5fV 



