MESOSEMIA. By Dr. A. Seitz. fi39 



the species of messeis. In junta-^ the hindwing is not traversed by a. stripe, but tlicre is only the beginninu; 

 of a transverse stripe at tlie apex of the liindwing; the $ has a bUie basal part of tlie wings and a broad \\hite 

 band. — lapilla SHch. exhibits also in the (^ a faint white band on the upper surface of the forewings. — battis luiiUla. 

 Stick, has the transverse stripe of the hindwing like tosca and atroculis, but on the forewing the exterior one '"'""'• 

 of the two black transverse stripes is indistinct between the central eye-spot and the distal margin. The 9$ 

 of all these forms are broad-banded. The whole range of these very closely allied forms extends from the Ama- 

 zon to Ecuador. Bolivia and Peru, and the butterflies are not rare, wherever they occur. 



M. loruhania Heir. (124g) greatly approximates the former species, hut it differs in the (J by a white loruhama. 

 oblique band on the under surface of the forewing. occurring also above, though much narrower; the $ has 

 only on the forewing a white band overlapping in ty])ical spctimens on the apex of the hindwing at most 

 with a very small tip; only in the more strongly banded form candara Drc. it winds gradually disappearing, ruiidam. 

 through the greater part of the hindwing (aesthelica Stick.), while in the forewing it exhibits double the width, 

 as in our figiu-e of hmkcmia-^. If the (J lacks the white oblique band of the upper smface (= syntrepka Stick.), 

 candara is nevertheless distinguishable from the white- banded ^(^ of junta and their allies by the absence 

 of a tiansverse shade between the central eye-spot ring and the marginal band ,so that its appearance approxi- 

 mates adelphina Stick. (124 g) in which the (J has an entirely bluish-green upper surface without white or black ci/diilihin. 

 transverse stripes; only the central eye-spot, an arcuate line around this, and the bordcis of the wings are black; 

 Ecuador and Peru. Moreover, all the denominations of these sideforms are of no account, because there occur 

 all the transitions from one form to another. From the same district (from the Pozuzo) there are quite blue 

 (J(J before me, furthermore such where only few, hardly perceptible, white small scales indicate the oblique 

 ))and in the forewing. and such possessing the latter in different widths (only as a streak or as a real band). 

 Of a similar variability are the $$; but even those with little or without any blue in the disc are alwaj's distin- 

 guishable from the white-banded species of the fhytnetiis-, ama- or wiamdia-group by the absence of a number 

 of cUirk parallel lines before the white band of the hindwing. The habitat of the species is Peru, particularly 

 the river-basins of the Ucayali and of the Huallaga, and Ecuador; the butterfly is locally common. 



M. mevania Hew. (~ meletia Fldr.) (124 h) is, to a certain degree, an enlarged edition of loruhavia, nifi-aiiia. 

 in which, however, the apex of the forewing and the distal margin are broader black. Like there, the white 

 t)blique band may be only a light shading (typical ,J",^, from Colombia), or a white streak (forma munda Stick., imuida. 

 124 h). a curved band blackened i^owards the proximal margin (fa. mimallonis Stick. [124 h] from Ecuadoi'). nihiiallonis. 

 or a broad white band (fa. magnesia SticJi. [124 h], from SouthPeru). — In mamilia Hew. (124 h) it has tui-ned magnesUi. 

 an oblique oval spot in the $, in the place of which the (^ exhibits a narrow, curved, blue stripe (Stichel); '"""""'"■ 

 this form replaces ■mevania in some places of Ecuador and it is hardly to be considered a separate species, but 

 only a subspecies, as there occur transitions to all the differences in the marking. — Probably also mancia nKiiiciii. 

 Hew. (125 a) is nothing but a strongly deviating form of mevania from the Chimborasso. Here the band has 

 turned a large white spot reaching even the eye-spot which it even sometimes distorts or flattens out. The 

 width of the band increases also in the other Mieya win-forms with the altitude of the habitat, and the original 

 of our )W(7.«.c«'a-figure was captured at an altitude of mo>'e than 3000 m at the bank of the Chimbo River, mevania. 

 are generally common in their range; they fly in the dark foi'est where the sun passes through open spaces 

 (Fa SSL). 



IV. Group. [TenitopJitkdh/iii Stick.). 



V e n t r a 1 c y e - s j) o t large, e n c i r c 1 e d b y a red ring, of t e n c o r n e r e d ; shape of 

 wings s i m i 1 a i' to f h e p r e c e d i n g g r o u ]). o '^ t") t b 1 u e. 



M. axilla Drc. (125 a, as albiflua). Blackish-brown with a broad white band and a large, somewhat (i.ri!l<i. 

 cornered eye-spot of the forewing with a yellowish-red ring around it. Beneath there is always an interrupted 

 row of small white spots before the border, which may also appear above (= vegeta Stick.). Beneath there are 

 also in the cell reddish-yellow markings, which may likewise as often show through above, as not. The banil 

 varies consideiably in width, but it always traverses the middle in a bow. Bolivia and Peru; common. 



M. marsidia Heic. replaces a.riUa in Eciui-dor and is easily distinguishable by the banil of the forewing iimrsidia. 

 being narrow and stretched (as an oblique macular Itand) and the band of the hindwing traversing the wing 

 as a narrow or entirely indistinct band (as a small blind band). — In lactifusa Stick, the band of the hindwing lar/iii,.--ii. 

 is absent beneath, while it is present above. — In marigeniina Slicli. it is only yet preserved above in the costal )ii<irii/i-iiii- 

 part, while it is extinct at the bac'k. Ecuador. — Of all the //;r//-.s/r/(V(-specimens before me there are not two ""■ 



that are quite alike, and none resembles exactly one of the two (likewise differing) figures of Hlwitson. 



M. maenades Hew. (125 a) is also veiy nearly allied to the preceding; here the band of the forewing is maniadp.'i. 

 placed more obliquely and more distinctly divided into oviform s])ots by the veins, mostly also more hyaline: 

 from ('.olombia. — bacche mhsp. hoc. I call a gigantic form of this species, with broadei- wings, a very bright harrh-. 



