Publ. 5. VI. 1913. ACTINOTE. By Dr. K. Jordan. 361 



the fore wing stalked with the subcostals, rarely from the upper angle of tiie cell, abdomen for the most part red 

 or yellow (cf. also A. caUianthe). 



A. neleus Lair. (= nelea Godt. ; '^ = are Heir., edulis Wei/m.) (Sl b, c). Abthjuien red. ISexes very similar, neleus. 

 ^ blue-blaek, very strongly glossy above, the eostal margin and the distal half of the forewing as well as the 

 distal margin of the hindwing slightly glossy; under siu'face brow)v-black, base of the hindwing pale yellow. 

 In some q,^ from Zamora (]<]cuador) the forewing bears a red cell-spot on the under surface: o f'b- haemera Imemem. 

 ab. nov. The $, which in "Stubels Reise" was erroneously described and figured as cj under tlie name 

 edulis. has only a slight l)lue gloss and bears on the forewing a broad yellowish white median band, which 

 is placed proximally to the end of the cell and runs obliquely to the hinder angle. Beneath the apex of the 

 forewing and the entire hindwing are striped m ith yellowish grey and the forewing bears a distinct black, 

 oblique discal band, which reaches neither the costal nor the iinier margin and is placed distaUy to the me- 

 dian band. — A pupa-case of this species sent to us by Fassl is grey-yellow, not chalk-white; the black 

 subdorsal spines of the abdomen are only about half as long as the distance between the two spines of a 

 single segment ; the black markings are very extended on the dorsum of abdominal segments 2 and 3 and the 

 following segments bear an interrupted black median line; the lateral markings are numerous and more or less 

 regularly divided, not united into a longitudinal stripe. — ^. wf/e«s is one of the commoner species. It occurs 

 both in the east and west of Colombia and Ecuador and ajiparently, unlike the following species, does not vary 

 geographically. 



A. alcione. Wnigs above black, in some forms uniformly tinged with blue, in others entirely without 

 blue, never strongly glossy; with or without yeUow or orange area on the forewing. The abdomen usually 

 red, occasionally grey-yellow, in some dark, smoky forms more or less extended black above. The $ is similar 

 to the cJ. Distributed from Colombia to Bolivia in numi'rous geographical forms. The extremes are so diffe- 

 rent in appearance that one might take them to be specifically separated. Yet the forms appear strictly to 

 represent one another geographically, and moreover they shade so gradually into one another that for the 

 present I can only regard them as forms of one species. Possibly, however, theophila occurs independently 

 together with alcione. in which case it must rank as a species. We are not yet well informed as to the 

 distribution of the butterfly in North Peru; the material from those parts is very small in collections, and more- 

 over the physiographical conditions seem often to vary there even at short distances and corresponding differen- 

 ces to appear in the clothing of the butterflies. The earlier stages of A. alcione are not known. — varians varUms. 

 Jord., from Central and West Colombia, occurs in three forms which fly together: f. cyanea form. nov. Upper cyanm. 

 surface of both wings uniform blue, without a trace of markings. This common form probably only occurs in 

 the male. It resembles A. neleus, but lacks the strong gloss of that species. In f. varians .Jord. the forewing 

 above bears a washed-out, oblique yellowish flesh-coloured band in the basal half; the $ is larger than the 

 (J and the band is somewhat less reddish in tone. In f. extensa form. nov. the band is widened, more sharply extensa. 

 defined and occupies ^o or ^/s of the basal half of the wing, but also remains distant from the base; rest of 

 the upper surface as blue as in f. varians and f. cyanea. Intergrades between the 3 forms are of common 

 occurrence; on the underside examples of f. cyanea also often bear a flesh-coloured stripe liefore the hind- 

 margin and f. varians and f. e.vtensa have a similarly coloured narrow discal band. This band is usually 

 indicated in f. cyanea also and distinct traces of it are visible in exceptional cases on the upper surface of f. 

 e.vtensa. — elatus Druce flies at Parandja in West Ecuador. The upper surface nuich less distinctly blue than ehins. 

 in the different forms of varians. The foi'ewing always has a pale orange median area on the upperside, 

 reaching from the lower angle of the cell to about halfway to the base, but varying somewhat in extent ; 

 beneath the area is mostly much paler, almost straw-coloured, and nearly reaches the base and the hinder 

 angle; a narrow discal band of the same colour is at least indicated and traces of it are occasionally found on 

 the upper surface also. Abdomen paler red than in fresh specimens of varians. Rosenberg took numerous 

 specimens of this subspecies during his stay in Paramba in March, April and May, at elevations of somewhat 

 over 1000 m. — sarsanda Druce (82 d). The yellow area is so densely covered with smoke-colour above and be- sarsanda. 

 neath that only a few scales have retained a pure yellow colour, though individual examples incline towards 

 elatus; the discal band is indicated beneath or may be entirely absent. Abdomen broadly black. Chimbo, 

 West Ecuador, met with by Rosenberg in large numbers at 300 m. in August. — subelatus subsp. nov. (81 c). suhelaius. 

 Only two or three ^JcJ are known to me: Los Llanos (type) and Balsabamba, Ecuador. These specimens 

 form the transition from elatus to melina. The yellow area is somewhat deeper coloured than in elatus and as in 

 that subspecies is placed at a distance from the base, but there is always a distinct stripe immediately 

 before the hindmargin of the wing, while in elatus this is at most merely indicated; a short discal macular 

 band present. Beneath the hindwing and the distal margin and apex of the forewing are still more sti'ongly 

 striped with grey-yellow than in sarsanda and hence the black discal band of the forewing stands out sharply. 

 The under surface of our figure is somewhat too reddish and the black discal band too near the distal 

 margiu. — melina .Jord. The pale orange area is more sharply defined than in subelatus, extends nearly to the melina. 

 base and is cut off sharply at the anterior margin of the cell ; discal band more distinct. Hindwing and apex 

 of forewing darker beneath than in subelatus and alcione. Rio Negro in North-East Peru (not to be confused 



V 46 



