3.48 MORPHO. By H. Fruhstoefek. 



wing there are only traces of small reddish spots. The under surface is dark mahogany -brown, on the hindwing 

 someAvhat lighter about the veins, the light markings are in shape almost like those of deidamia, but are 

 much less developed (nai'rower) and of the submarginal brick-red spots of the hindwing only slight traces are 

 present. Type probably from the Cauca Valley. Fassl discovered the $ at Villavicencio, East Colombia; 

 it does not differ materially from the $ of the preceeding subspecies, but the blue band extends towards the 

 apex beyond the cell of the forewing and in the anal angle of the hindwing. On the under surface the red sub- 

 marginal patches are nearly suiDpressed and the silver-white bands are somewhat more delicate than in the 



hriseis. neo-ptolemus $. • — briseis Fldr. {= pyrrhus Stgr.) describes a further, much darkened local race from the Chan- 

 chamayo and Hillapani in Peru, which likewise lacks the blue gloss on the black basal area of both wings, but 

 differs from the $$ of neoptolemus in having a more extended blue median area. Very rare, only kirown in the cJ. 



eleclra. — -electra i?d&. is a highly specialized local form from Bolivia with the hindwing decidedly more rounded and the 

 forewing shorter. The. upper surface is brilliant light blue, in certain lights with greenish gloss. The black 

 distal margin very narrow, at the hinder angle of the forewing only about 2 mm. and at the apex about 10 mm., 

 in the middle of the hindwing about 3 mm. in breadth. In the apex of the forewing are placed 2 white spots; 

 the costal margin of the forewing is brown-black from the base to the discocellular, the white costal spot 

 which follows about 10 mm. in length. The base of the wing only very slightly darkened. Under siirface dark 

 red-brown; the form of the light markings quite similar to those of deidamia, but the eye-spots much smaller, 

 margined with red-yellow (as in M. granadensis Fldr., but the subapical eye-spot of the hindwing is considerably 

 larger in the latter), the distal-marginal markings are white (not yellow as in deidamia), the proximal silver- 

 white markings reduced, less continuous, and at the distal margin of the hindwing there are only small, narrow 

 red longitudinal spots (no transverse band). 



M. portis is the oldest name for a pretty species, which has generally found its way into collections 

 under the name cytheris Godt. portis may be regarded as the type of a small group which embraces species 

 with the sexes alike, in contrast to the forms of the aioTiis group with highly differentiated, heterochromatic $$. 



portis. Two subspecies can be separated with certainty. — portis Hhn. (68 a) according to von Bonninghaitsek is 

 never found in the plains, but only at higher elevations of the Sierra Geral, as at Petropolis and Novo Friburgo 

 in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where it is by no means common. The upper surface differs from that of the southern 

 branch-race in its unusually delicate light blue colour, shot throughout with glossy reflections, and which 



sidera. only distally darkens somewhat towards violet, sidera Fruhst. demotes a form mthout apical ocellus on the 

 underside of the hindwing, which bears pale yellow instead of reddish brown longitudmal bands on an unusually 

 thamyris. light ground and in addition has the silver bands nearly twice as broad as in normal portis. ■ — ■ thamyris Fldr., 

 sufficiently characterized by the broader black border of the forewing and the darker blue gloss of the upper 

 surface, bears beneath somewhat larger and more uniform ocelli, broader and more intensively red-brown 

 longitudinal bands and consequently reduced silver stripes. The $ is rather rare, larger than the ^, adorned 

 with larger anteterminal and submarginal white crescents and small longitudinal stripes and with the wings more 

 rounded. This elegant Morphid is very local in Sta. Catharina, but common in suitable localities (timber- 

 forests overgrown with bamboo and intersected by large rivers), thamyris flies chiefly in the afternoon from 

 3 — 4 o'clock, when Morpho anaxibia is ah'eady disappearing iiito the shade of the woods. The butterflies, 

 fly slowly, scarcely 1 — 1 mm. above the ground, and are fond of resting with closed wings on bamboo-twigs. 

 Also on the highlying country of Lages I met Avith thamyris in the damp woods of the valleys and the prime- 

 val forests on the Alto Uruguay. Flies principally in March. In Rio Grande according to RIabilde two genera- 

 tions occur, the first flying for 15 — 20 days in the spring, the second for nearly a month in the autunm. — 



psyche, psyche Fldr., of which I have the type before me through the kindness of the directors of the Tring Museum, 

 seems to be due to discoloration. Upper surface darker blue than in portis ; distal border of the forewing broader, 

 more uniform. Under surface : ocelli as in portis, but the silvery longitudinal band suppressed, the wings them- 

 selves faded into a lighter brown. BrazU. 



lympharis. M. lyiTipharis Btlr. replaces M. portis in the Andean region, but has hitherto only been found in Peru 



and A\'as described from Pucartambo. cj above somewhat darker bhie than 31. aega and with subapical white 

 punctiform spots on the forewing. Underside of both wings with three ocelli, of which the apical and the two in- 

 termediate ones are elongate-oval in shape. Other^vise as 31. portis Hhn. 



M. sulkowskyi agrees -nith portis in its preference for the mountains and it is said to occur principally 

 in the "tierra templada" of Colombia and Peru, where it ascends to 1 — 2000 m., and in Colombia is also met 

 with on the tablelands, sulkowskyi is a notable species -ndth strikingly thin scales, delicate light blue but 

 with such a brUUant reflection that it is only surpassed by ilf . rhetenor and M. cypris. When viewed from the 

 side the forewing shows further a violet tinge over the blire reflections. Three local races have hitherto been made 

 sulkowskyi. known: sulkowskyi Koll. (68 a), from Colombia. ^ onlj^ blackened at the apex of the fore^ndng and the anal 

 angle of the hmdwing, $ on both wings with black or brown distal border, which on the hindwing is divided 

 by a pale yeUow band. In the black anal spot of the hindwing in both sexes three dull bordeaux-red patches. 



