lis. 



LEMONTAS. By Dr. A Seitz. 703 



of whic'li fxhiliits a woniUM'ful ulti'a-iuarine hlue lustre and often also orange-red. small distal spots. — xan- .nuiilnii ri:.-<- 

 Ihocraspeduni Stir/i. (137*0 which we figure from Caehabe, are $$ with a faintly olive-brown tinge on the /"■'/".». 



upper surface and a broadly yellowish-lirown dista' band of the hindwing. — Xot rare. 



M. regalis Btlr. ($ = auria Drc.) (137 b) has the upjiei' surface similarly coloured as ridri.r: but the rriiiili.-<. 

 (J is beneath similarly coloured as the 9 '"i both surfaces, i. e. red-brown, with black spots, whereas the 

 (^ of victrix looks blackish-blue beneath. Venezuela (Suapure), Colombia (\'illavicencio) to Bolivia and Peru. 

 Colombian specimens are beneath lighter red-brown than Peruvians. — indissimilis Weekv (137d) is a. form 'Diili^ahiii- 

 being above olive-brown, froin Colombia, with a. rusty-yellow {nihufaiKi Stic/i.) or ochreous-yellow diffuse 

 spot ii\ front of the aytex of the forevving. 



M. ptolomaeus F. (= agrius Ddhn., sylvestra Men.) (137 b, misprinted in ptolemaeus). Here both i,u>i<nnii,'iis. 

 sexes are above red-brown, the under surface, however, in the ,^ black, with a blue reflection, the basal 

 part of the wings powdered with a whitish blue, ptolomiteus-o if* coloured contrarily to the preceding species, 

 since the upper surface of ■ptolomaeus resembles the under surface of regalis, and the unrler sulfate of ptolo- 

 maeus-,^ the upper surface of regalis-$. From the Amazon to South Brazil. Common. 



M. lucius F. (= nicaste H.-Schajf., batesi Btlr.) (137b). Above coloured and narked almo.st like liiriii.i. 

 nigrellu, but nuich smaller, the forewings posteriorly broader and tlie border of the hindwing almost straight. 

 ;^ beneath grey-blue, with a lilac reflection, $ beneath rusty-yellow, similar to that of ptolomaeus, but the 

 base of the wings not powdered with white as there. Guiana to Brazil. Common. 



M. chia Hbn. Smaller than Incins, the pencil-streaks of the veins thicker and shorter, the upper cliia. 

 surface deep dark-brown, but at the lower distal end of the disc of the forewing is a small orange spot. 

 The under surface is light yellowish-brown, the wings dotted in black and broadly margined in dark. 1 

 only known Htebners figure which was inserted here by reason of the pencil streaks, but which otherwise 

 resembles a Crocoxona. Guiana. 



M. exigua Bat. is said not to be the $ of the preceding species, but closely allierl to it. Above ci-iiiKu. 

 brown with small, cornered darker brown spots, and with less numerous, small orange spots between them; 

 in front of the border a series of darker orange-brown bordered spots. Beneath brownish-yellow, spotted 

 like above. Size of lucius; described according to 1 $ from the Tapajoz; unknown to me. 



M. erotylus Sticfi. (137 k). Blackish, hindwings in the basal part covered with red-brown; recognizable cnihiins. 

 by the orange spot of the forewing, the base of which occupies the whole inner margin, and which then extends 

 anteriorly, twists inwardly and grows narrower, in order to end taperingly at the middle of the costa. On 

 the under surface the forewing is similar as above, but the hindwings are dusted greyish-brown and covered 

 with dark commastreaks. The pencil-streaks on the ends of the veins are in the ,^ distinct only on the 

 hindwings above; in the dark-brown, yellow-spotted $ they are on both wings. Peru, Bolivia. 



M. erythronielas Sepp (137 d). The $ already greatly resembles some $$ of the next genus (e. g. Le- n-uitiroiin 

 monias emylius). Daik, with an ochreous-yellow. irregular oblique band of the forewing. Behind this oblique 

 band there are 3 to 5 small white diffuse spots, which occur also in the (^, though only beneath. The J is 

 above black, only the basal half of the forewing (except the costa) and a slight flush at the base and inner 

 margin of the hindwing are miniate, at least I myself consider such butterflies from Guiana to be the typical 

 ^(J of erythromelas. — In the form erythraea Stirh. from Espiritu Santo, iniknow n to me, the I'cd is more (ri/tlinira. 

 extensive, and the description mentions a yellow I'ing-spot near the apex. 



M. poeciloptera G. and S. (137d) has in the ,^ somewhat more red than the preceding species, so porriloplr- 

 that the proximal half of the wings may be called red, the distal one black. — melusina Stgr. (137d) differs . /"• 



scarcely from it. The q lias the greatest part of the hindwing black. — Larva w hite, fluffily haired in white, 

 on Viscum verticellatum ; the pujia. brown, fluffily haired in white {Sepp). 



/».v 



<S4. Genus: l^eiuoiiias !('«•. 



This adopted name is to be preferred to the Poli/stichtis, as no other genus of animals is called so, 

 and it can by rights not pass as such. Neither the veins, nor the legs nor antennae call for a divisi(ni into 

 further genera; nor does the formation of the palpi give sufficient reason for a separation; according to 

 Stichel an examination of the copulation-organs resulted in ,, insufficient conclusions". There remain, there- 

 fore, merely exterior differences of the habitus to which we attach little importance. Thus the genus remains 

 on the whole in the limits assigned by Westwood and the older authors, such as Bate.s and Kirby. — Hereto 

 belong graceful, mostly brightly coloured, rather small butterflies with a, long, slender body, mostly rather 

 glaring colours of the upper surface and a one-coloured, often white under surface decorated with tiny 

 dots and streaks. The $9 mostly greatly deviate from the (^(J, freciueutly with an oblique band of the fore- 

 wing. The under surface and still more the shape and colouring of some $9 exhibit a close alliance to Echenais-. 

 sometimes to such an extent that one might be inclined to regard the se|iaration of the two genera to be 

 not quite natural. 



