1885.] -1^29 



Aulocera Padma, ^, I first took near Eajaori in the Kashmir 

 territory in July, 1864, at but little over 3000 feet, and have in June, 

 1888, taken the same sex at Barkli in the Mundi State in a deodar 

 forest on the banks of the Beas, at barely 3000 feet. Tor some reason 

 that I cannot explain, the females never appear to descend as low as 

 the males do, and it is a very curious circumstance, that as far as my 

 experience goes, the June and July broods seem to consist almost 

 entirely of males ; it was not until 1880 that I succeeded in obtaining 

 a female in June, whereas, in October, the females are in a great 

 majority, some faded, as though they had come out at the higher 

 levels in the summer, and been driven down by the cold, whilst the 

 greater number, to judge from their fresh condition, had but just 

 emerged from the pupa. I never took but one worn and battered 

 male along with this autumnal brood, which seems a true Amazonian 

 one, all females, and appears in October between 3500 and 4500 feet. 



The two low-level species of Aulocera, Pad??ia and Saraswati, 

 which latter I have taken (August 21st, 1885) at 3600 feet, seem 

 wonderfully constant to the types ; whilst, on the contrary, A. Swaha, 

 which comes next in the order of ascension (7000 — 9000 feet) varies 

 greatly in the colouring of its bands : before I knew much about this 

 species, I made at least three beautiful brand-new species, but an in- 

 creased knowledge of the genus obliged me to suppress their names. 



The last remaining species, A. hrahminus, which I have found 

 between 8000 and 13,000 feet, is the most variable of all. Those ex- 

 amples which occur on the outer ranges at 8000 feet or so, are constant 

 enough to the type ; but as we go north, and ascend higher, it begins 

 to vary, and once fairly across the great snowy range and in the true 

 Palaearctic zone, it is simply Satyrid variation run "mad," all sorts 

 and conditions of hrahminus varying in every possible direction, some 

 towards Scylla, others towards weranga, with a dozen intermediate 

 forms, which, luckily for us poor perplexed field entomologists, have 

 never yet fallen into the clutches of the species-mongers, who 

 would incontinently have enriched our nomenclature with many new 

 synonyms. 



In the upper Chandra Valley, all these varieties go flying about, 

 cheek by jowl, in the most amicable way, and worse still, intermarrying 

 in the most unconcerned manner, as if there were no such beings as 

 species-mongers in existence ! No one who has, as I have, observed 

 SOME THOUSANDS of hraliminus in their native wilds, can possibly admit 

 the so-called A. Scylla to be anything more than one of the many 

 varieties of A. hrahminus. 



