638 MESOSEMIA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 



II. Group, (eitme^ie- Group). 



Distal half of the wings with 3 parallel transverse stripes. 



nesH. M. nesti Hew. Differing from acuta by the characteristic mark of the group and the forewing being 



in the ^ only slightly stretched forward, but not ending into a curved point. Beneath exactly as in the folio w- 



sieli. ing species, but in this the point of the wing is not anymore bent forward. Guiana. — steli (124 d). The 



central eye-spot is above distinct only on the forewing, oblong-triangular with 2 or 3 white pupils. Amazon 



gigantea. and Orinoco. Stichel calls large Amazonas-specimens of steli gigantea. Rare. 



-pidli. M. putli sf. nov. (124 d). Border of the forewing round, the shadowy sti-ipes parallel to the border 



are, therefore, in the distal part of the wings also curved, not straight like in steli and nesti; eye-spot of the 

 forewing round, otherwise like the latter. From Huancabamba ; type in the Tring Museum. 

 macella. M. itiacella Hevj. (= marcella Meng.) (124 d). Very similar to putli, smaller, more distinctly striped, 



the 4 stripes at equal distances from each other, not unequal as in putli. The round ej^e-spot of the forewing 

 is more distinctly prominent. From Teffe (Ega) on the Amazon; before me also from Guiana. 

 eumene. M. euniene Cr. (= hiphia Hbn.) (124 d,e). ^ above blackish, $ greyish-brown, with a three-dotted 



central eye-spot, in the distal half of the wings 3 transverse bands the one of which at the border is mostly split 

 in two by an enclosed light line. Beneath there is mostly under the central eye-spot on each wing another 

 eye-spot showing sometimes througli above as a shade. From Guiana the range extends over the Amazon 

 District as far as Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, at some places not rare, often flying together with similar Eup- 

 tychia (coelesfis-, herse-gvomp) . In typical eumene (from Guiana) the very intense, steel-blue reflection of the 

 furia. forewing extends as far as the median vein; in furia Stick. (124 e) from the Amazon it extends behind the cell 

 atfalus. of the forewing almost as far as up to the costal margin, in attalus form. nov. flying in the same countries as 

 the preceding, but at other places (Guiana: Nouveau Chantier; Amazon etc.), the blue reflection does not 

 erinnya. reach the median. — erinnya Stick. (124 e) from Peru and Bolivia is larger, paler, the distal bands more remote; 

 eurythmia. the reflection like in the preceding; ■ — in eurythmia Stick, it is absent nearly altogether, so that the (J of it 

 looks above like steli; Amazon. The form attalus was denominated here only because also the other devia- 

 tions in the extent of the blue reflection have been denominated, what we would otherwise have had to cancel. 



III. Group, (ulrici formes, mevaniiformes Stick.). 



^ above blue, $ brown o !■ blue, the latter always w h i t e - b a n d e d ; beneath 



always b r o w n. 



Ulrica. M. Ulrica Cr. (= renatus F., ulricella Hbst., ultio Hbn., tisis Goclt. rosina Cr. [^], lamprosa Stick., 



loruhama Stgr. [$]) (124 e). cj above black, with a blue reflection and a central eye-spot hardly noticeable 

 in the dark ground. $ brown with a distinct eye-spot of the forewing and a white median band. The (J varies 

 in size and blue lustre (in specimens from Villavicencio more steel-blue, in those from Cayenne more ultra- 

 marine), furthermore, the transverse stripes of the greyish-brown under sm'face may be closer together or 



messala. farther away from each other, they may be more faded or more distinct. In the form messala Hew. (124 e) 

 a whitish oblique band appears, being above sometimes more distinct, almost like in lorukama, sometimes 

 scarcely in marks of whitish dispersed small scales, beneath, however, always distinct. In the $ the white 

 band may be only half as broad as in the figured specimen (as for instance, in Cayenne), sometimes still broader 

 {lamprosa Stick.). The butterfly inhabits the whole northern part of South America from Guiana and Colombia 

 to Peru and Bolivia, but it occurs only sparsely and very locally. 

 asa. M. asa Heic. (124 e, f). ^ black, above with a blue reflection, but the distal margin of the wings and 



the apical part of the forewings broad black. The $ (= frequens Btlr.) has only on the forewings a white oblique 



mycene. band. Nicaragua as far as Colombia. — mycene Hew. (124 f) is hardly separable from asa; according to its 

 author, it is more greenish-blue and the eye-spot of the forewing stands more in the blue part of the wing, 

 while in typical asa in the black part. On our figure, however, it is just the greenish-blue animal (from Cachabe 

 in Colombia) which has the position of the eye-spot of asa, wh'le the violettish-blue one has that of mycene 

 which ought to be ,, green'" according to Hewitson. The differentiation is, therefore, untenable. Stichel inserts 

 yet between the two forms another one, asopis, from Panama, with a more copious black colour of the forewing, 

 the hmdwing with a discal transverse streak; $ larger, lighter tlian asa $. The butterflies fly in the dense 

 forest and are in some districts common. 



vicsseis. M. messeis Heiv. (124 f). To the figured $ belongs a ^J looking almost like atroculis of which we figure 



the o (124 f): but here also the distal stripe of the forewing extends with a short part into the hindwing, like 



atroculis. in the much larger tosca. — atroculis Btlr. is of course only an insignificant deviation, while tosca Stgr. (124f) 



exhibiting besides stronger black markings, may quite well be specially denominated. Typical messeis originate 



amona. from the Amazon, tosca from the Upper Amazon (Pebas and Sao Paulo do 011iven9a). — atnona Hew. has in 



the (J not the black dot below the eye-spot of the forcuing, as tosca has, and amona comes from Bolivia, not 



junta, from Pebas. — junta Stick. (.124 g) forms the transition to the foUomng species which might very well fit into 



