336 " MORPHO, By H. Fruhstorfer. 



on the head, the much darker green ground-colour, the absence of the white abdominal ring and the presence 

 of whitish yellow lines before the margin of the wing-cases. The collective species splits up into two local races : 

 hereides. hercules Dahn., originally described from Rio de Janeiro, but also occurring in Minas Geraes and Espiritu Santo. 

 Upper surface more grey-gTeen than in examples from more southern localities. Upperside of the forewing with 

 two rows of submarginal yellow dots, of which the proximal are considerably broader than the antemarginal. 

 Patch before the apex of the cell narrow, dark green, subobsolete. Cell black-green. Discal area glossy dark 

 green. Distal border broad, deep black. Base of the forewing dark, of the liindwing somewhat lighter sea- 

 green. Under surface: forewing bearing two very large rounded ocelli betweeii the medians and two much 

 smaller ones between the upper radial and the upper median. The proximal median spots narrow, irregular. 

 Discal spot black. Cell with two very broad white longitudinal bands, posteriorlj^ confluent. Hindwing predo- 

 minantly red-brown with silver-wliite median band about 3 mm. in breadth. 3 anal ocelli with black iris. 

 diadema. Lengtli of the forewing 90 mm. and upwards. Espiritu Santo to Rio de Janeiro. ■ — diadema Fruhst. (69 a). 

 Upperside of the forewing with two rows of submarginal yellow dots, the proximal row only in the $ essen- 

 tially broader than the antemarginal. Patch before the apex of the cell very broad, sharply defined, yellow- 

 green. Cell dark olive-green. Discal area dull olive-green. Distal border broadly brown-black. Under surface: 

 forewing with only two, very large, circular ocelli between the medians, the upper sometimes wanting. A 

 third, small diffuse ocellus between the radials is sometimes present. The proximal, triangular median spots 

 somewhat smaller than in M. richardus (p. 337), larger than in hercules. Cell with 2 isolated white, posteriorly 

 pointed spots. Hindwing in the (^ predominantly wliitish grey witli the basal part light brown, in the 9 grey- 

 white, marbled with light brown. Median band 5 — 6 mm. in breadth. 3 anal ocelli, of which the distal, with 

 light brown iris, is occasionally obliterated. Length of the forewing: 75 mm. or above. Larva according to Dr. 

 WiLHELM MtJLLBR On SL Mcnispermea, gregarious, in the last stadium occasionally resting in masses of over 

 a hmidred individuals, one beside another, on the trunk of the trees up which the food-plant climbs. They 

 remain quiescent during the day, only feeding at night. Gromid-colour somewhat brown-red with a lighter red- 

 yellow dorsal stripe and numerous spots of the same coloiu-, almost fused into a lateral stripe. Head yellowish, 

 with long bristles. Pupa with weak edges to the wing-case, green, not transparent, partially marked with 

 white and covered with a white mealy coating which can be rubbed off. 



M. theseus af)parently replaces hercules in Central America and the Andean region. It is less constant 

 than hercules, inchning to geographical and probably also to climatic variation, has somewhat narrower wings 

 than hercules and is distinguished from all other Morpliids by the long, pointed teeth of the hindwing. • — 

 aratos. aratos Fruhst. (66 c), the most northerly subspecies, inhabits Honduras and like all its Central American allies 

 is among the greatest rarities of the fauna of their region. I have only received one example, which Wittkugbl 

 foimd during about 10 years' collecting near San Pedro. Sula in Hondm'as. Ground-colour of both wings 

 above and beneath paler than in its nearest ally, M. jtistitiae Godm. & Salv. from Guatemala. On the upper- 

 side of the forewing tlie third imier (proximal) submarginal row of dots (which is especially strongly expressed 



justitiae. in fustitiae) is obsolete. — justitiae Godm. <& Salv. has the yellow transcellular spot on the forewing more than 

 three times as broad. The submarginal crescents of the hindwing are more elongated; the black colouring of 

 the distal part of the liindwing extends to beyond the middle of the \ving. Under surface red-brown instead 

 of grey-yellow as in aratos. Ocelli of the hindwing more filled in with black. The locality "Mexico", which 



aguarius. GoDMAN and Salvin recorded from an old example from coll. Druce, has not been confirmed recently. — aqua- 

 rius Btlr. designates a well differentiated form, which occurs from Costa Rica to Panama as a subspecies, but in 

 Colombia is still found as an accidental or seasonal variety together with the name-type theseus at Muzo, 

 400 — 800 m. aquarius has the basal area on the upperside of both wings chalky or milk-white, the original 

 brown ground-colour confined to the submarginal region. The tliird (proximal) row of spots on the forewing, 

 which stands on a light brown ground, assumes a blue-grey colouring. On the hindwing the pronounced yellow 

 patches of aratos and justitiae disappear almost completely. The under surface is distinguished by a whi- 

 tish violet postmedian area proximally to the ocelli, which is absent in theseus. Transitions to theseus are not 

 tJieseits. rare in Colombia. — theseus Deyr. is the Colombian typical form, found in Muzo and in so-called Bogota con- 

 signments, which it is well-known really come from the low-tying country, just as the so-called Darjeehng 

 collections were Ukewise not made at Darjeehng, but in the hot valleys of the Testa. Ground-colour brown 

 inclinmg to oHve-green, base only quite faintly suffused with whitish. Cell black-browni at the extremity and 

 with an inconspicuous wliitish spot before the apex. Forewing with only two distinct rows of yellowish patches. 

 ihiasus. Under surface red-brown with purple gloss, in places reddish ochre-yellow. — thiasus subsp. nov. is based 

 on examples from coll. Staudixger with the upper surface darkened tliroughout, brown-black. Colombia, more 

 amphitrion. exact locality not ascertainable. — ■ amphitrion St{;ir., from Chanchamayo, South Peru, has the forewing much 

 elongated, Mdth the cell blue-grey, oo also occur with the upper surface suffused with blue-white throughout. — 



stisarion. susarioti subsp. not: is the most southern Andean branch-race, with somewhat darkened upper surface and of smaller 



yariianus. size than tlie Peru race. Bolivia, apparently not rare. — yaritanus subsp. nov. constitutes the transition from 



theseus to aratos and aquarius. It agrees with aquarius in the extended milky blue basal tinge on the upper surface 



