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XXIII. Ona Collection of Butterjlics formed by Tuomas 
Butt, Hsq.,in the interior of the Province of Maran- 
ham, Brazil. By H. W. Barss, F.Z.S. 
(Read 6th May, 1867. | 
Tue collection on which these observations are founded 
is the first of the kind, so far as I am aware, that has been 
made im the Province of Maranham, and Lepidopterists 
will be glad to learn what light it may throw on the dis- 
tribution and local variation of species in Northern Brazil, 
especially as we are so well acquainted with the produc- 
tions of the adjoming country of Paré. The collection 
was made by Mr. Thomas Belt, who spent three months 
of the year 1866 at the gold mines of Montes Aureos, in 
the interior of the province. It may give some idea of 
the Lepidopterous riches of the country to state, that Mr. 
Belt obtained m this short time, during the hours of 
leisure he was able to spare from other duties, no less 
than 364 species of butterflies. | am indebted to Mr. 
Belt for the following short account of the geographical 
position and physical features of the locality :— 
“The gold mines of Montes Aureos are situated about 
midway between the rivers Gurupy and Maracassumé, 
(2° 8. of the Equator, and 160 miles in a straight line 
E.S.E. of Para) about fifty miles from the sea-coast. 
They he m the midst of the dense equatorial forest, 
which extends unbroken, as far as has been explored, on 
every side. The rocks of the district are soft decompos- 
ing granite, gneiss, and ferruginous slates, traversed by 
quartz veins, and forming low rounded hills. The hills 
are often capped with beds of conglomerate, and clays 
and gravels occupy the valleys. From the banks of the 
rivers already mentioned, roads were cut to the mines 
through the forest, and it was along these paths that the 
butterflies were taken. Itis necessary to state that some 
portion of the collection was formed at a place called 
Vizeu, near the mouth of the Gurupy, on the Atlantic 
coast, about half-way between the city of Maranham and 
the mouth of the Para river.” 
~ Having been favoured by Mr. Belt with an opportunity 
of examining the whole of his collection, and comparmg 
the species with those I collected in the neighbourhood of 
Para, and on the Amazons,,1 find that with very few 
exceptions (about ten) the species are the same as those 
TR. ENT, SOC, THIRD SERIES, VOL. V. PART VII.—DEC, 1867. 
