458 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



*>ide of a bamboo-leaf; the larvre are gregarious at first and keep 

 together until the last moult when they separate for good-, each one 

 going its own way. The pupse are attached in the same way as that 

 of M, ismene. The egg-laiTa has a shiny black head without any 

 horns, these appearing with the first moult. A batch of 22 were 

 found on the 6th of September before the first moult. These 

 moulted all on the 8th ; again on the 13th ; again on the 18th and 

 for the last time on the 24th to the 28th irregularly, some earlier 

 than others. The first of these larvae pupated on the night of the 3rd 

 of October, the last of the batch on the 9th. Hix butterflies came out 

 on the 17th and the rest between that and the 22nd ; of these half were 

 females, half males. The habits of the butterfly are exactly the same 

 as for M. ismene except that it is only found in jungle country. 

 Foodplant : bamboo. 



21. Melanitis zitenius, ^«rZ)s^. — Male and female: forewing with the 

 costa strongly arched, the apex acute ; termen immediately below apex in male 

 being angulate, in female falcate. Ujwerside resembles M, ismene, but the 

 ground-colour on the whole somewhat warmer brown, a very broad patch of 

 ochraceous yellow, above and beyond the subapical black spots, larger in the 

 female than in the male. Underside closely irrorated with dark-brown strisc ; 

 the ocelli subequal, very much smaller and less clearlj' defined than in M. ismene, 

 Exp. 82-90 mm. 



In the dry-season form the costa of the foreAving is less strongly arched in 

 both sexes and the apex is very falcate. It has much more ochraceous on the 

 forewing than the wet-season form : this forms a very broad band passing fiom 

 the costa above and beyond the subapical black spots, spreading below and en- 

 circling them except for a narrow band which joins them to a large black mark 

 Ijeyond apex of cell. Hind wing with two or three subterminal white spots 

 posteriorly. Underside as in M. ismene but not quite so variable, the ocelli 

 often entirely obsolete. 



Habits. — The range of the insect is South India, Sikhim, Assam to 

 Burma and Malay, It is a forest species and seems to be confined to* 

 the hills. The larva and pupa are unknown. 



32. Melanitis bethami, de Niccmlle.^-'MsXe and female have the shape 

 of the wings as in M. zitenius. Upperside very dark blackish-brown, paler along 

 the terminal margins, the subapical black spots wanting ; a tolerably large 

 preapical orange yellow patch on the forewing, larger and generally extended 

 to the termen in the female, bearing in interspace ,3 a round, white-centred 

 black ocellus. Underside purplish -brown, somewhat closely and evenly irrorat- 

 ed with short transverse dark-brown striae ; forewing with four obscure, bind- 

 wing with six, postdiscal small ocelli. Exp. 72-84mra. 



