ACiEUUNlA. r>\ Jl. I'ltriLSTuuiaiic. o:(!> 



nide of the trunk. According to my observations in Santa C'atharina, the butterflies are fond of flying on sunii\- 

 afternoons, and while playing in their flight, they create that peculiar crackling noise which has often been 

 described and has given them the denomination of ,,Rasselchen", according to Dr. Seitz. The English call 

 them ,,tric-tracs", the Americans ..Calicoes", and according to an account of v.\n ^'oLKEM communicated by 

 Chapeonnier Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. July 1873 p, 21, both the sexes produce a noise comparable to the; .,(rej)i- 

 tation de garments en combustion." 



Dr. Hahnel thougJit the rattling noise of the Ageronies. being heard the most intensely and fiecpiently 

 in belladonna, to be created by clashing their wings togetiier. But this presumption he once found disjjroved 

 when holding together one pair of wings, \\hile the .sound was nevertheless created by the other pair of wings 

 quite ad libitum. The sound of the rattling in belladonnu reminds us of the rustling of thick jjaper. 



Tlie Ageronies obstiiuitely remain at their fixed place, from which, according to my experiences, they 

 never fly far off; neither do they fear the neighbourhood of the settlements, and I met them on biidle-jjatlis 

 with great traffic. They also like so-called .,Waldschanken" where they pilfer from the intoxicant juice emana- 

 ting from the borings of Coleopteni. They are met there together with OpaiplKincs and even gigantic Caligo. 

 The Ageronin are the most vigilant, rising the first in order to secure themselves; but they most certainly leturn 

 again after a longer interval. 



Near Sao Paulo Dr. Hahnel observed A. velutiii'i, (irinome and bcllniloiui/i at j)laces for washing, the 

 basins of which were constructed in the thicket of foliage-plants, and the spring-water conducted there entici'd 

 also the Ageronia, together with Adelpha, down from the high trees to the sunny ground. 



The Ageronia are lively animals to be found in the dense woods as well as at the borders of tlu' woods 

 and in open spaces. On the Lower Amazon the grey .4(/ero»/r/-species, such as feronia and U'rentimi. are 

 the most common butterflies, being found at every sunny wall of the huts and on every isolated tree. They 

 most frequently use to gather there under the mango-trees during the season when the fruit is ripening, and 

 then also nmphinoine arrives which otherwise prefers more to live in the forest. When resting on the light-grey 

 mango-trees, these grey butterflies are hardly any more noticeable. All the Ageronia (also some of the 9$) 

 agree in being fond of resting especially with their wings spread out on smooth truidvs of trees, but mostly 

 with the head turned downwards. They seem not to intend making them.selves invisible to eventual enemies 

 by this behaviour (and most of all only the light-grey species would succeed in it, while the dark .species are 

 even visible already from afar), but they probably love amusing themselves in this way; for as soon as an ani- 

 mal of the same species or genus comes near them, there commences an interesting sport in the air in which 

 the rattling is distinctly to be heard. The rattling-apparatus seems to be uniformly developed in all the species 

 with the exception of velutina, arethusa, chloe and alicia, which I never heard rattling, but up to this day one 

 seems not yet to have been able to ascertain by what these puzzling sounds are produced. Contrary to the 

 grey species living only in open spaces, on the banks of rivers, or at the borders of forests etc.. the darker 

 species, such as velutina, arethusa, arinome, amphinome and belladonna, abide mostly in the woods, though at 

 sunny places, whereas alicia and cJiloe are even only found in the very midst of the dark woods. 



The Ageronia are distributed in the whole neotroi^ieal district, from the Peninsula of Yucatan and 

 Mexico to the south as far as Paraguay and the northern part of Argentina. Single straying specimens are some- 

 times even met in South Texas. The most frequently they occur in the Amazon Valley, where nearly all the 

 species are found together and among them those forms that are ornamented with the richest colours. Most 

 of them are extremely common, but on the other hand, there are only quite few specimens known of some 

 species. 



Near Pebas on the Upjjcr .Vniazon. \Jv. H.vhneIj has found (i species of Ageronia together on exciemen- 

 titial bait spread on leaves; the more common belladomia, vehitina and arinome, as well as the rare alicia. chloe 

 and albicornis. Little is known al)out the vertical distribution of the Ageronia. I met them in Southern Brazil 

 u}) to 800 m. 



A. Species of the Ageronia-CJroup. 



A. februa may be considered the most multiform species of the genus being the most widely sjMead. 

 .4. februa differs from A. feronia with which it always flies together, by the red crescent-spots in the proximal 

 part of the two last ocelli of the hijidwings. On the under surface the black window-grates are finer than in 

 epinonie and iphthime, the brown abdominal zone is absent or exists only in the shape of narrow bands; besides, 

 all the larger ocelli are decorated with reddish-brown crescents, februa Hbn. (105 d), the nomenclatural iovm.^ irbnia. 

 might originate, according to the figure of its author, from the Amazon district or the northern part of Brazil. 

 It is joined by specimens from \'enezuela, (blombia, Panama and according to the material in the Coll. Stau- 

 dinger, februa goes to the south as far as Pernambuco. The largest specimens originate from Colima and Fortim 

 in Colombia, the most richly coloured in blue are the Venezuelan specimens. A large .series from Obidos, Para 

 and Santarem of my collection are distinguished by a bright violet lustre on the u}){)er surface. 2 ^JJ from 

 Tarapoto bear the purest white subapical maculae of the forewings. — By the name of gudula subsp. nov. (105 d), ymlnta. 



