r 193 ^ 



inti'vantennal crest. Spurs unequal, short ones more tliiin half tlie length of the 

 long ones, longer apieal one of hindtibia more than half the lensith of the first tarsal 

 segment. Apex of forewing acuminate, not excised ; R- of hinilwing in or below 

 centre of cell, D' as long as, or longer than D'. Scales at laleral edije of eighth 

 tergite of <S prolonged to a triangular crest. 



liarva : head triangular; white obliqui' sidi'-baiids ; horn long, — liisullicicntlv 

 known. 



( 'hrysalis not suffici(ntl\' known : the tigures too vague. 



Ifoi. Indo-Austrnlian Region, as far north as Japan, eastwards to the Solomon 

 Islands. 



Sixteen species. 



The head has a sharjily dclim^d transverse band bciweiMi the antennae. The 

 liand on the thorax does not occupy the whole of the distal two-thirds of the 

 mesothoracic tegula, tlie tip and sides remaining of the colour of the disc of 

 the thorax. The mid- and hindtibia bear a white basal spot as in Amplt/pterus. 

 The submarginal line of the forewing begins at the very tip of the wing : the line 

 in the apex of the cell is more or less oblique, often horizontal. The hindwing 

 has a band 1)eyond cell and one or two dentate lines in outer half: the distal line 

 is often absent or vestigial. TIk^ ]iatch of luoditie.l scales on the clasj)er is more 

 or less ovate. 



The species fall into three groups: sttlistrif/i/is-gronii (J2 species), funeticens- 

 group (one species), ae mi/err en s-gm\\Yt (three species). The harpe is of a different 

 type in the three groups. The species of the first group bear all a rather close 

 resemblance to each other, and are easily confounded. They required a closer 

 examination and more careful study than had hitherto been bestowed upon them. 

 The differences in jiattern, as pointed out in the key here appended, are corroborated 

 by dii1:erences in structure in lioth sexes, so far as both sexes are known to us. 

 No notice has been taken of the great dissimilarity between the larvae oilitia-ata 

 and fililiMrifjilis by those authors who put the whole lot of species allied to stibstriqilix 

 together under one name. The statement maile here and there that s>ihstriqil>.-< is 

 very variable individually is based upon the assumption that the different individuals 

 called s/ihtr/ffih'.'^ belonged all to the same species, which assumption is quite 

 incorrect. In F<n///// lirif. Ind., .}fflf//s there are six species mixed together under 

 .'iiihxtriflilis. They are not mere geographical forms, but species of the same countrx', 

 constantly differing in colour and structure. It was not carelessness which misled 

 llampsou to treat so many distinct sjiecies as synonymous, and misled also one of 

 the authors of the present jiaper to suggest that anriprnnis, sericeippnnis, etc., were 

 subspecies or ])erhaps only aberrations of one species, but the reason underlying 

 tiiose opinions was of quite a different kind. Butler, and also Moore, had deiscribed 

 as distinct in several instances cither the sexes or geographical races (subspecies). 

 When this was noticed, reaction carried me (Rothschild) too far, and I united also 

 forms which are really distinct, because I fonnd that the characters by whicii the 

 respective authors separated the species did not hold good. Though I was right in 

 this latter respect, I was wrong in assuming, with Hampson and others, that there 

 were no constant differences, the actual distinguishing characters of the various 

 species not having been known until we studied the insects fu- the purpose of the 

 present Revision. 



Mo.st of the species are confined to the Himalayas ; their range will doubtless 

 be found to be less restricted than it appears to be at present, when the Sphinuid 



