( clxxvili ) 
than usual. The brand on the secondaries seems to me to 
be in process of formation; it is marked on the wing by a 
small, raised, almost circular area; when examined it is seen 
that the scales are not erect but that they are at a different 
angle to the others; it is composed of brown longish scales, 
and mixed with them are a large number of long blue scales 
that only differ from the other blue ones in that they are 
narrower, paler and longer; except for the angle at which 
they are inserted there are little differences in these and the 
ordinary ones, and this makes me think the brand is to-day 
in a state of development and that it has by no means reached 
the final stage as we know it at the present time. 
In the Neotropical region the Ruralinae, in its strict sense, 
attain their highest development, the species being of the 
utmost beauty with marvellous development of blues and 
greens, at the same time the sex brands likewise have developed 
greatly; though various genera have been raised they are 
at present generally classed under the old omnibus name of 
Thecla and in the absence of any revision of the group I will 
use that generic name here. 
In Thecla orgia the sex mark is fairly simple, being round 
and composed of closely packed longish greyish androconia 
of moderate width, they are almost erect and have strongly 
arched apices. Thecla triquetra has a different brand; it is 
composed of two sections, that nearer the base is irregularly 
a narrow oblong and composed of very pale ochreous brown 
androconia by no means erect but placed at an angle of less 
than 45°; they are long and narrow with apices evenly but 
slightly arched; the second section is large and roughly quad- 
rangular, but with the front side slightly curved; the andro- 
conia are at rather a greater angle than the others, they are 
shorter and much broader, having strongly curved apices; 
the two sections are separated from each other by a narrow 
band of blue scales; at the top it consists of three or four 
layers of scales but tapers down to one blue one; these double 
section brands are not uncommon in South America, and as 
we shall see are developed into two large sex marks. Before 
however dealing with one or two typical specimens of these, 
I would refer to one rather beautiful one found in Thecla 
