390 HELICONIUS. By Dr. A. Seitz. 



totally obscured. Neglecting these latter melanisins, the forewing nearly always shows a tapering, discal 

 band of bone-colour, and a smaller siibapical streak composed of dull yellowish-white dashes. The oldest 

 doris. described form is doris L. (= quirina Cr., erato Salv. and Gochn.) (77 b). The discal band of the forewing ends 

 clean at the lower median nervule. In the hindwing the cell is filled with blue, sending out very short blue 

 rays which hardly reach the middle of the wing; before the termen a more of less extended row of white dots. 

 methar In ab. methamiina Stg-r. (= doris nigra Stgr.) {11 c) the basal blue of the hindwing has disappeared, gi- 



mina. ying it p, likentss to metharm.e (76 f) and, less superficially, also to the forms of the rhea- and sarra-groups. 

 Also the fore wings may be obscured with black, both in the red and the blue forms. If quite black, or at the 

 obscura. most only adorned by a few subapical dots, we have ab. obscura Weijm. (lie); if the discal spot is still 

 ieda. distinct, being only dusted over with black, we have tecta Miff. (77 c). doris is, together with its subforms, 

 distributed over the entire northern part South of America, but does not go farther south than North-Brazil and in 

 the West to Peru and Bolivia. In Colombia and Ecuador it is replaced by various local forms, but it must be 

 said that the mentioned aberrations are not confined to the nianr form, but may occur also in all the sub- 

 forms. Thus the figured ab. ofescwra is a melanism of the Colombian eratowm; iecto (77 c) a dark form of aristo- 

 mache. — Regarding first the green forms, we have one, with yellow -green rays on the lu'ndwing, known for 



viridis. a long time as doris viridis Stgr. (11 c); from this Riffakth has separated the form luinijiosus, cUstinguishtd by 

 the rays having the points "whitish". Equally unnecessary was the separation by Stichel of "viridana", with 

 deep green instead of yellow-or blue-green base of the hindwings. If we would consider all such, often purely 

 individual deviations, we could have at least 50 names for the forms of doris alone; one would have to separate 

 above all the "blue-green forms" from the "yellow-green", of which Statjdingek gave us a figure. There are 

 specimens of viridis which have the tips of the green rays very feebly yellow, and others having the entire inner 

 half of the cell scaled with yellow. On the forewing the yellow median streak may be entirely or almost absent, 

 the terminal dots of the hindwing may varj' in number and intensity, and all this may be the case in the green 

 as well as the blue and red forms. — Therefore we mention only the named forms with short characteristic 



delila. notes : Besides the green forms there are also red ones ; delila Hbn. (= erato CI. nee L., doris Bhmch., mars Stgr.) 

 (lie), from Guayana throughout northern Brazil as far as Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia; forewings with a 

 eratonius. short blunt semi-band and. like the hindwing, with heavy red basal rays. — eratonius Stgr. (= erato Btlr.) 

 (11 d). Ranges from Central America to Venezuela and Colombia. On the hindwings the red basal rays reach 

 iransiens. within 4 — 5 mm. to the termen; — transiens Stgr. (11 d) very closely resembles eratonius, but the rays are shorter, 

 .separated by black, not reddish veins a,s in the preceding. This is the most northerly form, ranging from 

 amathusia. Colombia to Mexico, and altogether one of the most northerly Heliconius. ■ — amatliusia Cr. {= crenis Hbn.). 

 a most striking form, having on the hindwing the red rays partly suffused and edged with blue; also their 

 terminal continuation is blue. Ecuador; taken by Haensch at an elevation of about 2000 ft.; mentioned eJso 

 aristomache. from elsewhere, but apparently nowhere common. — aristomache Riff. (= doris Weym.) (11 d), ranging 

 from southern Central America southward to Ecuador, is much more blue than typical doris. Like the colour of 

 the hindwing, thus also the bone-yellow discal band of the forewing may vary, from being very broad, to being 

 obscured to such a.n extent that it disappears almost completely. The material before me shows such a degree 

 of variation in this that among over 40 specimens I can hardly find two that are alike. For that reason it 

 is a mistake to separate the narrow-banded blue specimens passing in commerce as doris, under the name 

 of ''caeruleata" Stick., simply because the width of the band does not coincide with that of Linne's tj^pe. 

 To base new forms on the difference in the width or shape of the bone-yellow discal band would, if applied 

 to the forms already established, add at least 100 further names. — Nearly all the forms of doris are, whe- 

 reever they occur, exceedingly common; flying throughout the year, they are in the dry period when but few 

 Lepidoptera are seen, beside the Catopsilia frequently the only strildng butterflies enlivening Nature by their 

 numerous appearance. 



hicrax. H. hierax Heio. (11 d) from Ecuador resembles transiens, one of the red doris-iormm. but has the yellow 



discal band steeper a^nd, like the apical spots, differently arranged than in doris; the basal half of the hind- 

 wings is also purplish-brown, but of a clearer tone, and irregularly bounded by the darker outer half, but 

 not drawn out into ray-like streaks. 



clyiia. H. clytia Cr. (— antiocha Hbst.). Upper surface deep black, largely suffused with an intense blue irides- 



cence. Hindwings without any mp.rkings, forewings with two bands, one oblique through the middle, the other 

 n3,rrow, often partially obsolescent, before the apex. Typical specimens have these bands white. From Guayana 

 flavescens through Amazonas to Peru. — flavescens Weym. (= clytia Stgr., sara Godt.) (11 d) has the bands brillant pale 

 ivallacei yellow; likewise from Guayana, North-Brazil and Peru. — In Wallace! Beak. (77 e) the oblique discal spot is 

 contracted into a band, the subapical fascia relatively broad; from the very similar .sprucei etc. it may be 

 distinguished by having on the under surface of the iiindwings a red costal stripe and pale radiating subter- 



