VICTORINA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 463 



A. lytrea Godt. (= chrysopelleia Hhn.) (lU e). Only laiown from Cuba and in a similar form also on lytrm. 

 others of the Antilles. The Cuban lytren has a broad, straight white band on the forewhig and an oval white 

 discal spot on the hmdwing, so that it is unraistakeable. — eurytis FrnJisf., from Antigua and perhaps also eunjtis. 

 some of the Greater Antilles, inasmuch as it possibly approximates to dominica Skinn. from Haiti, has the dominica. 

 oval discal spot of the hindwing produced into more of a band and the band of the forewing is iiarrowcr 

 on the under surface. The species is not rare where it occurs. 



A. amathea L. (= amalthea aucf.) (!t-te). The typical form of this species, Avhich is easily recognized amalhea. 

 by the blood-red disc of the hindwing, comes from ({uiana and is distributed over the whole north of South 

 America and the greater part of Central America. The forewing has the disc blac'k-brown with scattered red 

 spots varying in number and across the middle as well as before the distal area nin chains of disconnected 

 white spots, which are sometimes continued on the hindwing also. The under surface similar to the upper, 

 only paler. — sticheli Fruhsf., from Bolivia, seems to be a very local form with tlie white and red markings stichclL 

 much reduced; but transitions also occur, particularly to the preceding form. — roeselia Eschh. (04 f) is the roesclia. 

 South Brazilian form, and is extraordinarily abundant at Santos in Sao Paulo; it may be recognized by the 

 much broader white spots of the forewing, which are united into an oblique band. — thyamis Fruhsf. is said thyamis. 

 to occur in Santa Catharina and Sao Paulo (where I, however, only found the preceding form); the $ is said 

 to have darker red margins, the submarginal spots of the hindwing narrower, more curved and the upper 

 ones darkened. All the iipical and median spots and dots of the forewing reduced. The median dots in the 

 9 scarcely recognizable. — The adult larva is black with moderately strong black spines and has been found 

 on various species of Acanthaceae. The pupa resembles that of Victorina in shape and colouring, but has no 

 points on the head nor on the 2nd, 6th and 7tli segments. In place of these points there are sometimes dots. 



A. fatima F. (94 f), allied to the preceding; distinguishable by the moi'e strongly produced apex of fatima. 

 the forewmg, the broader oblicpie band of the forewing, which is continued as a broad, straight strijie on the 

 hindwing, and the reduction of the red, which on the forewing is entirely suppressed, on the hindwing only 

 represented by a small, narrow, dull band behind and below the cell. Only known from Central America, where 

 it occurs from Honduras to Costa Rica. — Whilst in typical fathna the oblicpie band of the forewing above is 

 distinctly tinged with bone-yellow, in the form venusta Fruhsf. it is white and the hght band of the hindwing vemista. 

 only extends to the lower radial. The red discal patches of the hindwing are somewhat broader and darker in 

 venusta. Mexico, Guatemala. 



16. Genus : Victorina Blch. 



Rather large butterflies of extremely striking coloui'ing with rather long, broad wings, sometimes angled 

 or tailed, rather large head with strong palpus, somewhat curved inw ards at the tip. The antenna more than 

 half the length of the costa, strong, with flat club. The legs long and strong, the thorax powerful, the \vings 

 broad with dentate distal margin. Tiie cell broad, open on both wings. On the forewing the first subcostal vein 

 arises close before the eiid of the cell, the 2nd at the end, the 3rd behind it and the 4th shortly before the apex. 

 On the hindwing the 1st and 2nd subcostal veins arise before the end of the cell, the 3rd, 4th and 5th are 

 stallied. The hindwing is strongly dentate, the tooth on the upper median often prolonged into a tail. The 

 larva is only known of one species. 



V. steneles L. is dark black-brown above with green oblique band and spots of the same sleneles. 

 colour; beneath the green is more extended, traversed by silver-white bands margined with orange, steneles L. 

 is the form from Guiana and the Amazons, and is distributed westwards to Ecuador and southwards over the 

 whole of Brazil. In it the green obli([ue stripe is broad, there is only one spot in the cell and the under surface 

 is very hghtly marked. — pallida Fruhst., from Texas, Florida and Mexico to Honduras, has in the cell of the pallida. 

 forewing two large light green spots, of which the anterior is almost triangular. — bipunctata Fruhsf. (= meri- Mpunctala. 

 dionalis Fruhsf.) (95 a), from Espirito Santo and Rio Grande do Sul, has two small dots in tlie cell of the fore- 

 wing and on the under surface of the hindwing a narrower silver-grey distal border. — SOpliene Fruhst., from sophcne. 

 Ecuador, has m the cell of the forewing only one small yellow-grey dot, the light markings are much narrowed 

 and the median band is reduced. — lavinia F.. from the Antilles, has only one spot in the cell of the forewing, lavinia. 

 but a distinct orange-yellow anal spot on the upi^erside of the hindwing. — biplagiata Fruhst. (95 a) has two hiplafjiata. 

 quadrate cell-spots on the forewing and the bands of the under surface, which separate the green spots, are 

 very broadly margined with deep orange. — An interesting aberration is stygiaiia Schaus (95 a), in which on dygiana. 

 the forewing the green band only reaches from the inner margin to the lower mediaji vein, all the rest of the 

 wmg being black-brown without markings. — The butterfly is very common, but its early stages are not yet 

 known. It shows a renuxrkable similarity to forms of Metamorpha dido (84 a), which extends not only to the 

 colouring and markings, but also to the flight and habits, so that it is sometimes difficult to separate the two 

 species, which I have seen flying together round the same bush. When restmg, however, V. steneles mostly 

 closes its wings over its back, Avliile M. dido, Uke its red relatives, conmmonly keeps them spread out. 



