746 THECLA. By Dr. M. Draudt. 



-or absent in one and the same species (e. g. Th. irus); they are, therefore, in our opinion unable to comply with 

 the development of the race which we would consider to be obviously the most correct method of division. This 

 is proved, for instance, by very remote and certainly not in the least allied groups exhibiting entirely convergently 

 developed scent-spots; on the other hand, closely allied groups would undoubtedly be inserted in remote groups. 



Best to make use of the affinities of the tribe and the most steady and oldest character is by all means 

 the principle of the marking of the under surface which repeats itself again and again in long series. In order 

 to arrange somehow the chaos of species, we therefore thought it to be the most correct way and, at the same 

 time, the most facilitating for the searching diagnoser, to undertake, according to this plan, a division into 

 120 groups corresponding substantially to the groups assumed by Godman and Salvin in their Biologia. Cer- 

 tainly the division must be somewhat altered by including North and South Araeiica, whereby a great number 

 of new elements are added. 



Many attempts have already been made to divide the Thecla into genera according to the most various 

 principles, as for instance by Htjbner, Sctddee, Ka\e according to the shape of the wings, the influencing 

 of the veins by the scent-organs, the number of the tails etc., but neither of them is entirely satisfactory. Many 

 of these denominations of subgenera coincide with certain names of our groups and may then be applied so; 

 conformably to this we have made notes to them in the respective groups. Other names, however, must be 

 split into various groups, as for instance the genus Eupsyche Scudder containing the species m-album, telea, 

 marf.ialis, hugon and jada, species which we were forced to place in just as many different groups and which, 

 in a philogenetic respect, have certainly very little in common with each other. 



One of the greatest difficulties was offered by the fact that many small and insignificant, but also some 

 remarkable species are partly extremely rare and were often described according to single specimens some 

 of which hav^e never been discovered anymore since; many of the t3^es cannot be found, so that several species 

 are no more to be identified. We have mostly placed such cases at the end of groups to which they are pre- 

 sumably allied. 



1. Imperialis-Group {Theritas Hbn.). 



mpcrialis. Th. imperialis Cr. (= venus F., ? actaeon F.) (146 c) is above of a dazzling metallic greenish-blue, 



on the forewings with a broad black apex and in the (J with a blackish-brown scent-spot at the cell-end and 

 behind it, which is parted by the transverse vein and is more red-browTi in the posterior half. The 2 is some- 

 what duller blue. Under surface golden-green, on the hindwings with a fine black transverse striation, without 

 ducalis. any distinct transverse lines, only at the anal angle short beginnings are noticeable. • — In the form ducalis 

 Dbl. (? = oakesii Butt.) (146 c) the disc of the hindwing is of a metallic carmine colour. The species is widely 

 distributed from Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Guiana, Brazil to South Peru. 



cypria. Th. cyptia Hbn. (146 d) is above more green than the preceding, beneath with a broad, black, proxi- 



mally whitebordered transverse-stripe on the hindwing, bending outwards below the cell. — The name of 

 paphia. paphia Fldr. may, according to the figure, be maintained for the specimens with a fiery copper-red to carmine 

 disc of the hindwing. From Mexico through the whole of Central America to Colombia. 



tuneia. Th. tuneta Heic. (146 d) has broader, shorter wings than the preceding and the transverse stripe 



of the hindwing forms a regular, outwards concave bow shortly before the anal angle, bending then round almost 



rectangularly to the proximal margin. The scent-spot of the ^ is small and lies behind the cell. Colombia, 



splendor. Brazil. — Splendor Drc (146 d) is probably only a form of this species M'ith a submarginal dark transverse band 



on the forewing beneath, being also indicated on the hindwing. Described according to 1 specimen from Colombia. 



2. Gabriela-Group. 



coronala. Th. coronata Hew. (146 d, e) rather forms a group for itself by the forehead being in the ^ crowned 



with a golden-lustrous cone. Above metallic-blue, the (J without any red anal spots which are very large and 

 double in the $. On the golden-green under surface the black transverse band is proximally bordered by a 

 light grey and touches the red band on the hindwing. From Guatemala to Colombia and Ecuador. 



:inymedes. Th. ganymedes Cr. (= teresma Heu\) (146 e, f as teresina) is above blue with a narrow black distal 



margin, being faded towards the surface of the wings, in the (J M-ithout the scent-spot; beneath golden-green, 

 in the proximal half of the forewing blue; the inner broad black, distally white-bordered transverse stripe of 

 the forewing extends from the costal margin to the upper median vein; on the hindwings the black and the 

 red bands are about of the same width, the latter, however, grows somewhat broader beneath the subcostal 

 vein and strangulates here somewhat the black one; in an anal direction the red band usually exhibits no black 

 spots. Widely distributed from Mexico to Colombia. 



