GENUS CASTNIA AND SOME ALLIED GROUPS. 107 



ft 3. C. pelasgus, Fab. 



4. C. unifasciata, Felder (Voy. No vara). 



5. O. augias, Bdv. (Herr.-Sch.). 



6. O. nexa, n. sp., regarded as tlie probable female of 0. augias. 

 Tbe genus Orthia, as constructed by Dr. Boisduval, is quite untenable. C. therapon 



and acrceoides have long fore wings, with a small front costal cell, the discoidal cell 

 closed as above described ; whilst the hind wings have the discoidal cell open ; that is, 

 there is no junction between the branches b 2 and c 3*, the small cell near the base of 

 the wing noticed by Boisduval being tbe cell which I have termed premedian. This ' 

 cell, indeed, exists in C. pelasgus, the first of Boisduval's second section of Orthia ; but 

 the fore wings have no postcostal cell, the second and third postcostal branches arising 

 from a single base ; and the 4th, 5th, and 6th branches also arising from a single basal 

 portion of the vein; the discoidal cell itself is quite open, there being no connexion 

 between the branches b 5* and c 3*. The very broadly triangular wings of C. pelasgus 

 will also remove it from the two preceding, and indeed from O. augias, which possesses 

 a small postcostal cell, a closed discoidal cell, and a closed discoidal cell in the hind 

 wings. I do not hesitate therefore to reject the genus Orthia. 



4. Gazera, n. g., characterized by the " Antennes en massue allongee, terminees par une 

 petite houppe soyeuse a peine visible. Palpes courts arrivant a peine au milieu du 

 front, de trois articles, le troisieme tres-distinct, nu et pointu. Tete assez petite. 

 Ailes allongees Heliconiformes, a ecailles moins grossieres que dans les Castnia pro- 

 prement dites ; les inferieures ayant la cellule disco'idale 6troite fermee en angle 

 aigu. Abdomen un peu plus long que les ailes inferieures." Containing 



1. C. Units, F. 4. C. columbina, Bdv. 



2. C. heliconioides, Bdv. 5. C. zagrcea, Feld. 



3. C. personata, Web. 6. C. simulans, Bdv. 



The elongate ovate form of the fore wings of the species of this group (to which, how- 

 ever, C. therapon and acrceoides must be added) is scarcely sufficient to separate them 

 generically (seeing the variable form of the wings in the other species) from the rest. 

 The other characters proposed by Boisduval are too variable in the different species to 

 possess generic value. 



Finding it impracticable to carry out a distribution of the species of Castnia founded on 

 the form of the wings, as partially proposed by Mr. Walker, and rejecting Boisduval's genera 

 for the reasons given above, I prefer to regard the species as constituting a single genus, 

 and shall content myself by dividing them into two sections : — 1 st. Those with the fore 

 wings more or less broad and triangular. 2nd. Those with the fore wings more or less 

 elongate-ovate, the latter nearly corresponding with Boisduval's genus Gasera. 



Genus I. Castnia. 

 Sect. I. Species with the fore wings more or less broad and triangular. 

 1. Castnia d^daltis. C. alis fuscis metallico nitentibus, anticis fascia media angusta, 

 obliqua lateribus parallelis fere ad angulum internum extensa alteraque subapicali 



