THE COMMON RUTTKliFLlES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 431 



Hind winjjj : terminal niiirlvinfiS niodilitHl as on tho fore wing ; the spot in 

 interspaco 8 of the subterniinal series larger and more prominent than 

 the others, the larger, subcostal, black spot often broken by an anterior 

 and a posterior silvery spot superposed on it. Antenn:o, head thorax and 

 abdomen as in specimens of the wet-season brood but slightly darker above. 

 Expanse : male and female, 1^3-33 mm. 



Larra. — Of the tailless form thwaiten in Ceylon, as described by Moore 

 in his Lepidoptera of Ceylon, ho gives the description as •' light green, 

 vermi-form, middle segments swollen." Not very lucid.** 



Pupa. — "Thick, blunt at the ends." From the same author. 



Ilahifft. — The butterily is very similar to Neopithecoj^s zalmora 

 and is very difficult to distinguish from that species when on the 

 wing, frequenting as it does similar localities in the evergreen 

 jungles and their outskirts, flying low near the ground amongst 

 vegetation and having the white undersides which make that 

 species so easy to see when flying. The ilight is, perhaps, more 

 rapid than that of ;V. zalmora and the insect is, certainly, far less 

 common. The larva is said by Moore to feed upon Sapindacecv, 

 (probably Bemigyrosu, Erioglossum, Schleichera, Har^ndlia; all, with 

 the exception of £>io;//oss2wn, common trees of the Ghats in Bombay). 

 The butterfly has a wide distribution which Colonel Bingham 

 gives as " the Hymalaj'as from Kumaon to Sikkim ; Peninsular 

 India ; Calcutta, Orissa, Ganjam, Poona, the Nilgiris, Travancore ; 

 Ceylon; Assam; Burma; Tenasserim ; Andamans ; Nicobars ; 

 extending far into the Alalaj^an Sub-region." To this may be added, 

 under Peninsular India, the Districts of Belgaum and Kanara along 

 the Western Ghats in the Bombay Presidenc}^ 



4. Genus — Lyc^exopsis. 



This genus was formerly known as Cf/aniris. It is nearly allied to the 

 genus Li/Cfsna, the largest in the whole family of Li/ecenida- and more or 

 less palsearetic. Some 20 species of Ci/aniris occur within Indian limits if 

 we include under that term Cejdon, the Nicobars, the Adamans and Burma. 

 Onlj'^ four of these are noticed here. The Holly Blue of England is Ctjaniria 

 argiolus, the only representative of the genus to be found there. 



130. Lycsenopsis akasa, Horsfield. — Male. Upj^crside -. fore wing: black; 

 a medial triangular area that extends from base outwards to the disc 

 white, suffused at base and anteriorly with iridescent blue that spreads 

 upwards on to the black of the costa ; along the dorsum the black ground- 

 colour is much paler, in most specimens dilluse fuscous. Hind wing : white, 

 basal third and costal margin broadly sufl'used with fuscous, the fuscous at 

 base posteriorly overlaid with iridescent blue ; a subterniinal series of 

 fuscous-black dots and a distinct but very slender, black anticiliary line. 

 Underside : white, very slightly tinged with bluish ; markings all fuscous- 

 black, minute and very slender. Fore wing: a short, discocellular line 

 followed by an anteriorly strongly curved, discal series of very short, 

 detached lines and a more or less obsolescent, transverse series of subter- 

 minal dots. Hind wing : three subbasal dots in transverse order ; a short 



•• Note : — Since writing- this, three specimens of the butterfly have been 

 bred from larva; found in Kanara on flower-spikes of Allophylhts lobba in company 

 with those of Nacaduba ardatcs from which, however, they were unfortunately 

 not distinguished. 



