MAYER: COLOR AND COLOR-PATTERNS. 205 



may be grouped into two very closely related types. To the one of 

 these I have given the name " Melinaea type,'''' for it is characteristic 

 of most of the species of the genus Melinaea. It is well represented 

 by Figs. 46, 48, 49, 61, and 55-57 (Plate 4) . The insects which 

 belong to this type possess wings colored with rufous, black, and 

 yelloic. 



The other type I designate as the " Ithomia type^'' for it is very 

 characteristic of most of the species of the genus Ithomia. Figs. 47 

 and 52 (Plate 4) afford examples of it. This type differs from the 

 Melinaea in that the rufous and yellow areas upon the wings have 

 become transparent. 



There are, also, many species, found in numerous genera, which 

 fall between these two types of coloration, for the yellow and rufous 

 spots upon their mngs have become translucent, so that one may 

 speak of them as "translucent yellow" and "translucent rufous." 

 These spots are, so to speak, in process of becoming transparent, but 

 a few yellow or rufous scales still remain dusted over the otherwise 

 clear spaces. Most of the Dircennas are good examples of this type 

 (Fig. 54, Plate 4) . 



Of the 400 species of the Danaoid Heliconidae, about 125 belong 

 to the " Melinaea type." It is well represented by most of the 

 species of the genera Lycorea, Athyrtis, Ceratinia, Mechanitis, and 

 Melinaea. About 30 Ithomias and half a dozen Napeogenes also 

 belong to it. About 160 species belong to the " Ithomia type," and 

 of this number fully 120 belong to the genus Ithomia. The others 

 are found in the genera Ceratinia, Napeogenes, Ituna, and Thyridia, 

 and many of them resemble the Ithomias so closely that they are 

 said to mimic them. About 100 species, some of which are found in 

 almost all of the genera, are intermediate in their color-patterns 

 between the Melinaea and the Ithomia types. The 15 remaining 

 species are represented by Melinaea gazoria (Fig. 53, Plate 4), 

 Ceratinia eupompe, and a few Ithomias, such as Ithomia hemixantho. 

 In these forms almost all color has disappeared, so that the whole 

 wing has become of a uniform dull translucent yellow, bordered on 

 the outer edges by a grayish black. 



(2) Detailed Description of the Melinaea Type of Coloratio)i. 

 Figs. 46, 48, 49, 51, and 55-57 (Plate 4) afford examples of this type 

 of coloration. In these insects we find the proximal half of the 

 central cell of the fore wing occupied by a rufous-colored area, which 

 I call the "inner rufous." It is marked I in all of the figures. 



