338 



MORPHO. By H. Frxjhstorfer. 



very large, triangular grey-yellow median spots. Underside of the liindwing predominantly red-brown, -nath 

 violet sheen. MecUan Imnd grey-violet. Length of the forewing 58 mm. 



M. hecuba is the largest known Morpho and one may also call it the most interesting, on account 

 of its habits, its susceptibility to climatic influences and its tendency to develop polychromatic forms in both 

 sexes. We are indebted to Dr. Hahnel for the most detailed information of its habits of flight. Hahnel 

 calls it the king of the forest, and says that it traverses a wider area than any other butterfly, travelling 

 perhaps 30 km. or more in two or three hours, continuous flight in quest of its mate, which it follows persis- 

 tently for whole days, quite alone, over woods and water-courses. In the distance the flight of Morpho he- 

 cuba looks quiet and slow, but nevertheless it moves quickly enough to evade the collector and newly emerged 

 insects in particular adopt an impetuous pace during their first hours of flight. Sometines it happens that 

 one of these apparently quietly hovering forms suddenly darts head downwards, and in this event it seems 

 only to rise again with difficulty. They are driven tothess violent erratic movements by dragon-flies, which lie 

 in wait for them espeoially in marshy places and molest them from the tijjs of dry tvvigs, apparently more 

 hecuba. out of wantonness than from a desire to catch them. — ■ hecuba L., the name-type, is distinguished by the 

 contrast between the reddish brown forewing and the nearly black hindwing, which is only basally relieved with 

 yellowish white. Forewing with yellowish, hindwing with white cilia. The under surface is remarkable for 

 the silvery bands, which in nature are even clearer and more brilliant than in our figui'e (67 c). hecuba is 

 one of the rarest butterflies and exclusively inhabits Surinam. What is labelled as hecuba in collections and 

 sold as such by English dealers is a very similar local form but differing considerably, especially beneath, 

 obidonus. namely obidoiius FnihM., which only occurs on the north bank of the Lower Amazon. Of the numerous dif- 

 ferences from hecuba hecuba L. the following may be mentioned: The distal black border of the forewing is 

 broader, the proximal (inner) submarginal row of yellow spots consists of roiuided instead of elongate patch- 

 es. The basal area of botli forewing and liindwing is not yellowish but chalk-wliite. Abdomen conformably 

 with the basal colour pure, white, not yellowish as in hecuba. The reddish submarginal spots of the hindwing 

 absent; all the cilia of the hindwing pure white, while the upper cilia of hecuba are yellowish. The colo- 

 ration of obidonus beneath is still further removed from the type, the ground-colour of the former being predo- 

 minantly black, that of hecuba red-brown, obidonus is further characterized beneath by the absence of the 

 ultracellular red-brown triangles between the median veins of the forewing. The ocelli of the hindwing are 

 smaller, with reduced black iris, but still as complete as those of hecuba, and not posteriorly open as on our 



heracles. figure; the latter belongs to a hitherto imnamed race from the Middle Amazon, heracles subsp. nov. (67 c), 

 in which the bordering of the ocelli is not rounded but horseshoe-shaped, heracles, however, agrees with 

 hecuba in the double row of reddish submarginal patches on the iq^perside of the liindwing. Dr. Hahnel only 

 three or four times saw obidonus floating high up through the branches and over the tops of the trees, and 

 did not catch any. Dr. Staudinger only received his first hecuba J, which probably belonged to the form 

 heracles, through the artist Otto Michael from the Rio Negro and my experienced collector Julius Michaelis 

 sent me about 30 or 40 examples, which he captured in July and August with the help of a stick 4 or 5 m. 

 in length, on which an miusually large net was fastened. The $ of hecuba and hecuba obidonus is considerably 

 larger and has somewhat romider wings than the ^, with more strongly marked yellow and reddish submargi- 

 nal patches on both ^vings, somewhat paler black distal area on the upperside of both «dngs and lighter yellow- 

 brown under surface. According to Michael (Iris 1894, p. 197) obidonus has a short season of flight (June 

 and July, once observed also in December). Fresh examples appear after every thmider-shower, but they 

 already become less numerous on the second and tlurd day, and the fourth one only sees a specimen here 

 and there, and afterwards only worn examples are seen; $$ nearly always sit still where ^^ will be passing, 

 cisseis. in any case they only occasionally fly a short distance in the morning. — cisseis Fldr. (= egyptus Deyr.), 

 from the south side of the Lower Amazon, is distinguished in the (^ by dark, in the $ by lighter blue and 

 rather narrow bands on the forewing. On the hindwing the basal area is somewhat more extended than in he- 

 cuba and obidonus heracles, according to the sex lighter or darker blue, the blue with slight mother-of-pearl 

 gloss and the submarginal area adorned wdth blue-white lunulate spots. At Itaituba on the Tapajos occur 

 more commonly light blue, more rarely dark blue, or even dark violet $$. In Ecuador and even in Bolivia 

 the colour-scheme oi cisseis is retained, yet in these countries the ^^, and occasionally also the $$, sometimes 



cisseides. assume a brownish colour. — ■ cisseides Fruhst. The black which occupies the cell of the forewing extends some- 

 what beyond its apex, and in addition the blue spot before the apex of the cell is obsolescent, being only 

 indicated by a little dusting. Of cisseis Bates writes that the butterflies present a magnificent spectacle 

 as they sail along by twos or threes at a great height in the still air of a tropical morning. But according 

 to Dr. Hahnel cisseis only awakes when the high-flying perseus have already long been floating over the clear- 

 ings, in the distance looking like black spots, when the sun has begun to beat down with full power on 

 the leafy dome of the forest and Jf. menelaus has finished its flight, cisseis then moves slightly forward 

 on the leaf on which it passed the night, and opening the wings it slips with a bound into the air, rising 

 lightly to the tops of the trees, among which it takes its flight until the clearing of the road appears, wliich 



