29 



the last during my absence from home on the 9th or loth; this latter 

 specimen was unable to fully expand, and was aborted on one secon- 

 dary wing. In all five of these specimens the silver spot is much re- 

 stricted, and in two examples is divided by the ground color of the 

 wings about two-thirds of the way from the lower end, leaving much 

 the largest portion towards the anal angle. In another specimen the 

 silver is confined to a narrow streak slightly broken in two places. 

 This latter specimen is closely allied to one in my collection received 

 from Mr. Herman Strecker, and labeled '' Etidamns Tmolis, Buettos 

 Aj'res" (see Kirby's Catalogue, p. 816, No. 54). These specimens 

 make an excellent "missing link" between T/(yr/ts and Zestos. Above 

 they have the confluent and less opaque yellow spots of Tityrus, and 

 the almost unicolorous fringes of Zestos; beneath they have pruinose 

 atoms as in Tityrus, and the purplish reflections of Zestos; the speci- 

 men from Buenos Ayres ( Tmolis) has the silver spot a mere streak, 

 much less than half the area of that of typical Tityrus, and the one 

 from Philadelphia has it but slightly more than half that of Tityrus. 

 In both of these specimens, and in another of the starved ones, the 

 restricted silver patch is bordered, largely on the outer side, by a dense 

 sprinkling of scales slightly lighter than the ground color. This has 

 its counterpart in Zestos, where there is, to quote Mr. Worthington, 

 " a faintly indicated paler median band extending two-thirds across the 

 wings. ' ' 



In several specimens of Zestos this median band has exactly the gen- 

 eral outline of the silver spot of typical Tityrus, broad centrally, ob- 

 tuse below, produced more narrowly above, dentate towards outer mar- 

 gin, deeply emarginate within. Another specimen of Tityrus before 

 me, labeled " Upper Amazons," is differentiated from typical Tityrus 

 in an exactly reverse manner from Zestos. This specimen has the silver 

 area extended, by a dense clouding of silver atoms, to the margin, so 

 that the whole outer half of the wing, except that portion immediately 

 over the anal projection, is overcast with a silvery shade. Neverthe- 

 less the oudine of the typical patch is indicated, and conforms most 

 nearly to specimens of Tityrus from Yucatan. 



From the above facts, and bearing in mind the strong tendency to 

 vary found among their congeners, I am convinced that Zestos should 

 be catalogued hereafter as a variety of Tityrus. 



Having seen how starvation for but a few days towards the close of 

 their larval period will change Tityrus, and cause them to apjjroach 

 Zestos in every particular, it is easy for us to imagine Tityrus larvae 

 constantly under just such conditions as will account for Zestos as one 

 of the broods of the former. My correspondent in Yucatan has on 

 several occasions complained to me of the excessive drouth which dried 

 up the grasses, etc., on which the Hesperid larvae fed, and which con- 

 sequendy made it very difficult for him to obtain them during that 



