464 



bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



Ameiva ameiva bilineata, subsp. nov. 



Description: — Adult male; Type Mus. of Zool., Univ. Mich. 46142. 

 Dunoon, Demerara River, British Guiana; August 24, 1914; A. G, 

 Ruthven. 



Similar to Ameiva a. ameiva in scutation but between A. a. i^eiersii and 

 A. a. melanocephala in coloration; ground color of dorsal surface dark 

 olive-blue; a few indistinct black blotches on the head forming on the 

 body two parallel rows from the shoulders to the thighs; on each side 

 of the body a broad stripe of dark brown, the lower margin of which 

 is indistinct because of the dark flanks; a series of white spots more 

 or less regularly arranged in ventral rows covering the sides of the body 

 and the outer ventrals; similar but bluish spots covering the sides of 

 the thighs ; under surface pale blue of a low intensity ; throat sprinkled 

 with a few black spots extending partly over the sides of the head. 



Variation: — Females, for example U. of M. 46150 (same data as 

 above), are readily distinguishable from the males by their browner 

 tonality, by a distinct lateral band of dark brown and by the absence 

 of white spots on the lower flanks. Instead of the spots there is a 

 series of indistinct milky bars somewhat confluent especially just 

 below the broad lateral band where they form a white margin for a 

 part of its length. About the anal region and on the femoral pores 

 there is a delicate salmon blush, a distinctive character in two of the 

 three females examined. 



