AGANISTHUS. 175 



So far, however, Ancea has never been considered very 

 closely allied to Charaxes, and whether future investigations 

 will establish a closer affinity between them than outer re- 

 semblance, remains to be seen. 



Hypna, Hiibner, is a genus closely allied to Ancea, and, 

 like it, is widely distributed through Tropical America, though 

 it does not contain many species. The latter are closely 

 allied, and were formerly all regarded as varieties of one and 

 the same species. They expand three inches or more across 

 the wings, which are of a glossy brown above, with a slight 

 greenish shade ; sometimes the hind-wings are reddish above. 

 The fore-wings are falcate, though not very strongly so, and 

 the hind-margin is slightly concave beneath. The hind-wings 

 are long, angulated, and strongly dentated, with a moderately 

 long spatulate tail at the outer angle. The lower part of the 

 inner-margin is concave. There is a broad pale-yellow band 

 running from before the middle of the costa of the fore- 

 wings to the hinder angle, as in Gynaria, which Hypna 

 much resembles in general coloration above, though not in 

 shape. 



On the under side the wings are mottled with purplish-brown 

 and dull green, and marked with metallic silvery spots. Bates 

 describes these Butterflies as frequenting the borders of the 

 forest, and settling on projecting branches of trees. 



THE GENUS AGANISTHUS AND ITS ALLIES. 



The species belonging to this group are not numerous, and 

 are all Tropical American. They are large and robust in form 

 and were formerly placed near Char axes ; but the discovery of 

 the transformations of Aganisthus shows that they have strong 

 affinities with the typical Nymphalincz. They are probably 

 an intermediate group, connecting the Nymphalina with the 

 Apaturind 



