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I. Forbes, Our Knowledge of the Butterflies of Northern Venezuela

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I. Forbes, Our Knowledge of the Butterflies of Northern Venezuela NOTE ON THE BUTTERFLIES OF VENEZUELAN GUIANA By \Vm. T. :\I. Forbes, Cornell Cniversity, Ithaca, :'\ew York, C. S. A. Our knowledge of the butterflies of Northern Venezuela, as based on published records and more recent collections is adequate; we are beginning to get a picture of the fauna of the Orinoco Valley and some smaller special areas, but so far the great southern highlands, sometimes called Venezuelan Guiana, have been almost wholly neglected. Only from two places, on and close to the Orinoco have we had a little more. From the vicinity of Ciudad Bolivar there has come a trickle of material for many years, and t:;o me of these are of high­ land rather than Orinoco Valley types, but more interesting are the collections from the lower part of the Suapure River, now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Havard), from the \Veeks Collection. \Vhile this is only the edge of the great highlands, the long list (about 500 butterflies) includes a number of speciallies, and more will doubtless be recognized when that material is carefully studied for racial differences. This collection was published by \Veeks as vol. 2 of his "lllus­ trations of Diurnal Lepidoptera", with colored figures and descriptions of the new species and a complete list of species on pp. xi to xv. The present lot, while not large, is from the very heart of the highland area; and as to be expected the sensitive species take the forms found in British Guiana and further 26 B OL ET I !\ DE E KTOM OLOG I A V ENEZOLA~ A . VOL. I. N ? 2. - 30 DE ABRIL DE 19·12 east fa1 more than those from northern Venezuela. The ma­ terial in m~ · hands includes the Nymphalidae in the broadest sense, including Danainae, Satyrinae, e tc., and a few Papilios. \Ve trust that others will report on the remaining families, which doubtless show similar types. The material comes from two localities (besides a few fron'l Ciudad Bolivar on the edge of the area): Akuriman or Acurima on the Caroni River at about latitude N. 5° 20', and the Surukum or Surucun Basin. about 180 km. further upstream (ESE). The latter area is located on the "Millionth Map" at about -1° 30' ~. 61 o 30' 'vV. The majority of the latter specimens were not labelled in­ dividually, but a number were taken on Paraitepui (Paurai­ tepui of the Millionth Map). All were collected by Pablo Anduze in 1940-41. In the following list if there is a difference between the present material and specimes from northern Venezuela I note it, in mos t other cases I merely Jist the species. These lalle r are wide- spread forms that might have been taken almost anywhere in northern South America. Future collect­ ing will doubtless increase the number of forms characteristic of the Guianas further east, but more interesting, when the higher mountains are explored we will certainly get still another fauna of subtropical types now known from the Andes, and perhaps peculiar endemic kinds corresponding to the plants already reported from the summits of Horaima and Duida. lllelinaea eratosthenes Hall. Akuriman, Oct. The only specimen we have seen of this distinctive species, which was described from French Guiana. It difers from all other known Melinaeas in having a single submarginal series of large white spots on both wings, not homologous to the usual series of double spots, but corresponding to the series of spots across the apex in other Melinaeas. In structure it is closest to M. comma: friction area on under side of fore wing of male clothed with firmly attached lanceolate scales as in commo (linear deciduous hair-scales in the rest of the genus) ; fore .tibia-- and tarsus ·3/ 5 as ·· long as femur -plus h:ochantel"'; male genitalia as in comma, with the thin flange at apex of DOLETIN DE ENTO M OLOG I A VENEZOLA:SA. VOL. I sQ 2. -30 DE ABRIL DE 1942 27 valve on outer side (unlike egina), but no conical pit between it and the pair of apical teeth (unlike the rest of the genus). Right apical tooth much larger than the subapical (as in cumma, unlike most of the genus). M clinaea mnem e. 'Ve have no specimens of this species from Yenezuelan Guiana, but it was reported from Suapure by " ' eeks. I take opportunity to put on record an extremely slriking race from the Lower Orinoco, all our specimens coming from Caripito. Vve have seen no form of the species from the northern hill and mountain zone. M elinaea mnem e cwrantia, n ew race. Structure and essential pattern of the more typical species of Melinaea, and in particular M. mnem e, but with the black much reduced and most of the wings bright orange tawny. Fore wing with apical as well as basal portions mostly orange, with a narrow irregular yellow postmedial band from costa at end of cell to Cu1o near outer margin, about half as wide on posterior as on costal part, bounded on outer side by a narrow zigzag and ragged black band and on inner side with two large round black spots at end of cell and the "comma-mark" which lakes the form of a black question mark resting on the black border. Two similar black spots obliquely placed in middlt" of cell and one (sometimes weak and diffuse) in fork of Cu. A series of yellow black-outlined yellow sub­ terminal spots across the apex, usually four with the two middle ones larger, and one at anal angle, the latter ont out­ lined on the inner side. Outer border narrowly black, rarely extending in to the subterminal yellow spots, and neve1· further. Hind wing tawny, with black costal area, a post­ medial series composed on one transverse sport in cell l\1~> and three elongate spots below it, the two last often suffused; black border narrow or vestigial at apex, becoming a broad band on hind margin, deeply cut with tawny about the veins. Under side much as above; two pairs of white st. spots distinct in cells M3 and Cu1. Hind wing below mostly as above, but costa tawny .with . a black wedge from base to 1/ 3 way out below costa, an oblique oval patch over middle of costal side 28 DOLETlN DE E~TO M OLOG IA V ENEZO LA~A. VOL. I. N9 2.-30 DE AB R I L DE 19 · ~2 of cell and a black streak along Mh the two latter often fused. Paired white st. sports small and variable in number. the more costal ones sometimes in the form of minute black­ ringed ocelli. Caripito, Monagas, Venezuela, 7 specimens. \Ve also have two specimens from the Neumoegen collection before us labelled Colombia. but we strongly suspect this is an error. If present at all in Colombia, so variable a species as this would certainly lake another form. Types will be distributed in Cornell University, the Museo de Historia Natural at Caracas and other important collections. In m y key (Proc. N. Y. Ent. Soc. 35 p. 25, 1927) this form can be made to run to mnem e if the tawny base of inner margin of the fore wing is given greater weight than the hind wing pattern. The forms of mnem e we now know may be keyed as follows. 1. Hind wing without separate postmedial and mar­ ginal black. 2 Hind wing with separate postmedial and marginal black markings. 3 2. Hind wing black, with tawny stripe along cell and apical spot (Guiana) ...... ..... m. mnem e. Hind wing dull reddish, with broad black border (Bolivia) . m . satevis. ~- Apical half of fore wing black with yellow spotting (Upper Amazon) . m. agricola. ·whole fore wing dominantly tawny, with limited black markings (Venezuela) . m. aurantia. I place agricola here with some doubt, as I have not seen it. The original figure suggests close connection with aurantia. I;QLETIN DE E="'TOl\IOLOGIA \" E:SEZOLA~A. VOL. I, ~~ 2.- JQ D.l!. ABRIL DE. 1~·12 29 Mechanitis polymnia. Three members of this group re­ place each other locally in Venezuela. At Akuriman Anduze took typical polymnia, with the middle of the fore wing boadly yellow and the apex practically solid black. The northern range and Trinidad have M. doryssus veritabilis, with much less yellow, and the antennae mostly black; while at Caripito there is a third form that seems to belong to mazaeus; it has far more orange and yellow in the apical part of the fore wing, especially belo·w and in eastern Peru runs into Jf. mazaeus williamsi. Aprotopus psidii. Surukum District. Occurs in both Guiana and Colombia, so should be found the whole width of southern Yenez uela. All the Aprofopus we have from northern Venezuela are aedesia. Ceratinia ninonia forbesi Fox. Surukum District, June 1941; Sua pure, type, La Pinta (para type). Common in British Guiana. C. mulilla. Surukum District. Quite variable in details but easily recognized from the last by its larger size and opaque wings. C. euclea fenestella, from northern Venezuela looks about half \vay between these two, with thin wings approaching ninonia, but brilliant coloring. Napeogenes catamelas, new species. (He~d lost). Collar tawny, black on sides, basal two thirds of tegulae tawny, apex whitish, edges and a bar be­ tween the tawny and the white, black; disc of thorax black with white mid-dorsal line and much white shading behind; beneath black, with broad yellow stripes on sides of meso-and metathorax and white on coxae and sterna, as well as legs; abdomen black above, with short subdorsal yellow bars on second segment, yellow-white beneath.
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