Additions: AGRIAS. By A. H. Fassl. 



1039 



forewuig never touching the costal margin in a riglit angle but extending in a flat bow along the costa into 

 the base of the wing, and by the blue colour of the hindwing extending to the distal margin; besides all the 

 southern narcissus are much larger, and often the cornflower-blue also covers the red areas which produces 

 a coloristic effect excelling even that of the most variegated sardanapalus; all the following coloristic varieties 

 (except the yellow form) are common to both sexes; the under surface of all the forms is marked and co- 

 loured as the tj'pical narcissus. — The form tapajonus Fassl (113 B b $) is the southern race being the most 

 closely allied to the type. In the form dubiosa ( 1 13 B b cj) — ■ which I took to be a form of clav/lia according to 

 the quite old specimen taken first on the Tapajoz — the red bow is downwards widened as far as the submedian. 

 A couple of ditbiosa from the Rio Xingu besides exhibits a red pupil in the hindwing in the shape of a car- 

 mine transcellular spot. The form porphyrionis Fassl (113 Be) represents the transition for which I had 

 long been searching to the most variegated form narcissus illustrissimus Fassl (113 Be ^J) which almost en- 

 tirely resembles above a claudia michaeli, whilst another specimen resembles sardanapalus belsazar. On the Rio 

 Maures I finally captured beside the typical narcissus tapajonus- 9 also a magnificent aberration with a golden 

 yellow band of the forewmg — ab. icterica Fassl being in the colouring analogous to the northern form chrysotaenia 

 from which, however, the Maues-insect differs considerably by exhibiting the characteristica of the southern 

 races, the flat bow of the forewing and the blue colovu' being spread across the whole surface of the hindwing. 



Of the forms of A. amydon the following are to be ranged in the species pericles as they have in com- 

 mon with it a rust -coloured yellow or red body, a similar base of the hindwing and the inclination to a blue 

 preapical embedment in the forewing which blue colouring is in variegated specimens like the blue of the hindwing 

 distally besides bordered with green festoons. Thereby the ^senc/es-group differs from the purely Andine forms 

 of amydon in which these marks are ahvays absent; the races of pericles are besides almost invariably much 

 smaller, the very long apical strigae of the forewing always show through above also in the (JrJ as 2 or 3 

 very large yellowish-white dots. 



In case my present expedition *) should be successfully completed, probably all the non-Andine forms 

 having hitherto been combined with amydon will have to be rearranged in pericles by the discovery of the 

 very rare variegated transitions to the latter species, so that the eastern foot of the CordUleras would then 

 form the natural frontier between the range of A. amydon and pericles, as is also the case with many other 

 closely allied species of lepidoptera, e. g. Papilio harmodius and ariarathes the range of which is divided by 

 the same line. 



It has hitherto been proved for certain that the northern forms A. aurantiaca and trajanus belong 

 to pericles, the former representing merely a coloristic variety of the latter, since both forms fly at the same 

 time and place near Obidos as well as to the north of Manaos. Beside a ,5* of trajanus from Obidos with 

 a faint dark blue preapical reflection of the forewing, I possess a cj of aurantiaca from Manaos with a blue 

 embedment at the same place but also already a dark blue disc of the hindwing. Still more than these speci- 

 mens do, the figured form praxiteles (113 Be ^) proves the relationship to pericles, representing nothing else 

 but a cJ of trajanus, in which the preapical spot of the forewing already exhibits a tendency to a green bor- 

 dering as in pericles; I took the insect near Manaos. 



The typical trajanus shows the same orange-red colour as the figured praxiteles. By Feithstoefer 

 speaking in his description of trajanus on p. 573 of a purple spot of the forewing and dark red powdering 

 on the hindwing it happened that I described trajanus once more as pericles hiedermanni which name has now 

 to be placed as synonymous to trajanus, since also Mr. Lathy (Paris) has indisputably identified the types 

 of trajanus in an English collection. The white wedge-shaped streaks of the hindwing on which Frthstoefee 

 in his diagnose lays such great stress, are moreover sometimes absent in specimens from Obidos, almost in- 

 variably in those from Manaos. 



Of the pericles-ioviws from the South Amazon the Rio Tapajoz unites the most shades at the same place. 

 Here we meet with variegated red-banded specimens allied to the typical pericles of the Solimoes, and in 

 which the distal bordering of the blue areas exhibits bright gTeen festoons, as well as all the transitions 

 to quite scantily coloured specimens showing but minute traces of blue and green; the very same gi-adation 

 is exhibited by the cell-banded forms there (xanthippus Stgr.), in one of the specimens I captured there we 

 even notice no trace whatever of blue and green, and this plain blackish-yellow specimen recallmg the ^-co- 

 loiu:ing is at any rate and presumably the most poorly coloured of all the ^(^ of Agrias, which I denominate 

 pericles ^ ab. tristis. 



WTiereas formerly only a $-form of pericles being similarly colom^ed like this was known, I succeeded 

 in taking besides several $$ being alike, in which the black preapical zone of the forewuig is profusely strewn 

 with golden green scales; sometimes the veins traversing this green area are besides hued dark blue — $ ab. 

 chlorotaenia Fassl. Still more singular is a ? which I at first mistook for phalcidon-anaxagoras, before I knew 

 the legitimate $ of the latter, which, however, certainly also only represents a variegated $ form of pericles: 

 mirabilis Fassl (113 B d $); it exhibits a subapical embedment similar to chlorotaenia, though of a blue colour 

 in which on the contrary the veins are hued green. In the hindwing the orange-powdered base is followed 



tapajonif-'i. 

 dubiosa. 



porphyrio- 



ni-f. 

 illustrissi- 

 mus. 



icterica. 



praxiteles. 



tristis. 



chlorotae- 

 nia. 



tnirabilis. 



*) The author of these lines, A. H. Fassl,' has unfortunately died in the meantime at Manaos. 



