OF THE AMAZON VALLEY. 559 



Var. 7. H. Uclalrica, Cramer, I. c. t. 297. f. B. 



" Para " (Cramer). Taken probably somewhere on the banks of the Lower Amazons, 

 as no trace of any of these forms exists at Para. 



These three varieties (5-7) seem to be intermediate between H. Melpomene and H. Vesta. 

 I once took a ? Erytlircsa in copula with a S Ifelpomene. H. Vesta would appear, from 

 this, to be descended from the same stock as H. Thelxiope. It has, however, receded, 

 as a form, further from the common parent than H. Thelxiope, and has acquired a 

 much wider range. 



Yar. 8. H. Tyche, nob. 



Fore wing as in var. 2, viz., black, with the basal third and a broad belt across the 

 middle rosy red, leaving a narrow black intermediate space. The hind wing above and 

 beneath is precisely as in H. Thelxiope. 



Taken at Serpa. 



Var. 9. H. Hippolyte, nob. 



Fore wing black; the basal fourth and a narrow oblique belt crossing the wing 

 beyond the cell, from the costa nearly to the hind angle, rosy red ; there is also a yellow 

 spot on the costa, on the inner side of the red belt, and another obscure one within the 

 cell. Beneath, the same. Hind wiag, above and beneath, as in H. Thelxiope. 



Serpa and banks of the Tapajos. 



The approximation towards H. Thelxiope in this and the preceding variety is very 

 considerable. 



Var. 10. H. Cybele, Cramer, Pap. Exot. t. 188, f. A. 



Serpa. In this beautiful variety the fore wing has the arrangement of yellow spots 

 very similar to that of H. Thelxiope ; but the hind wing is black, as in H. Melpomene, 

 with the exception that there is a red spot at the base. 



13. Heliconius Thelxiope, Hiibner. 



Nereis /estiva Thelxiope, Hiibn. Samml. Exot. Schmett. 



Very abundant at Para and on the banks of the Tocantins, also on the Upper Amazons, 

 from the mouth of the Madeira to Peru. The geographical position of the complete 

 chain of transition-forms just enumerated seems to show that H. Thelxiope originated 

 in a variety of H. Melpomene, which was naturally selected out of the many that arose 

 in the species on its descending into moist areas, as being better adapted to the humid 

 forests of the Amazon plains than the parent form. It varies much in the shape and 

 position of the yellow spots of the fore wing, but the most general form is that figured 

 by Hiibner. The following are the more important varieties. 



Var. 1. S. Aglaope, Felder, Wiener Entomologische Monatsschrift, 1862, p. 79. 



Diifers from S. Thelxiope, Hiibner, in having simply a narrow, oblique, sHghtly curved, 

 yellow macular belt, consisting of seven spots, wliich crosses the fore wing considerably 

 beyond the cell. 



VOL. XXIII. 4 p 



