( 119 ) 



X. A List of Diurnal Lepicloptera collected in the 

 Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Colombia, and 

 the Vicinity. By F. Du Cane Godman and Osbert 

 Salvin. 



(Plates III. and IV.) 



[Read July 7th, 1880.] 



There are few parts of South America the zoology of 

 Avhich has been less studied than the group of mountains 

 in the extreme north of Colombia, known as the Sierra 

 Nevada of Santa Marta. Though visited at rare intervals 

 by botanical travellers, this district was comparatively un- 

 touched by any zoologist until Mr. F. A. A. Simons under- 

 took its exploration ; and reaching his destination early in 

 1878, is still at work in the country. Of the butterflies he 

 has sent us from time to time we now proceed to give a list, 

 with descriptions of such species as appear to us to be new, 

 adding a few notes on the more interesting known ones. 

 In the Proceedings of the Geographical Society for 1879 

 (pp. 689 — 694), Mr. Simons has published a description of 

 the various places visited by him, all of which are shown on 

 a map accompanying his paper. 



The Sierra Nevada itself is a group of mountains attain- 

 ing an elevation of about 18,000 feet above the sea level, 

 and, as its name implies, has its summit covered with per- 

 petual snow. The connection between this mountain mass 

 and the northern spur of the Andes, which passes to the 

 eastward of it, is made by a range of hills, the height of 

 which probably does not exceed 1,000 feet, so that the 

 Nevada itself, and all the higher slopes of the mountain, 

 are completely isolated from the rest of the Andes, and 

 therefore highland forms of species allied to those of the 

 Andes might be expected to exist in this district. This 

 Mr. Simons's collections have proved to be the case, though 

 we are certainly surprised to find the butterfly fauna so 

 comparatively poor. Still, of the eighty species collected 

 in the mountain nine appear to be new and undescribed, 

 most of which are probably peculiar to this restricted area. 

 Mr. Simons describes the greater part of the country as 



trans, ent. soc. 1880. — part hi. (oct.) k 



