MELIT^A 11. 



MELIT^A RUBICUNDA, 1-5. 

 Melitcea Rubicunda, Henry Edwards, Papilio, I., p. 52. 1882. 



Male. — Expands 1.7 to 2 inches. 



Upper side black, spotted witli deep red and ochrey - yellow, pale or deep, 

 mostly in common transverse bands ; the spots of the marginal rows small, well- 

 separated, red ; of the second row, either red or yellow, or the red is partly re- 

 placed by yellow, always small, often altogether wanting, in which case there is 

 a broad, black, common band, as shown in Fig. 5 ; of the third row, yellow on 

 primaries, red on secondaries, the latter large ; the fourth row, on primaries, is 

 bifid from median nervule to costa, the outer branch and main row usually 

 wholly red, but sometimes the spots are more or less edged yellow on basal side, 

 the inner branch yellow ; in cell four transverse bars, red and yellow alternately 

 from arc to base ; also a yellow bar below cell ; secondaries have a red stripe 

 from costa to median across end of cell, red, sometimes macular or wanting, 

 though usually a small spot is left rft outer end of cell ; four yellow spots near 

 base, three in straight row from costa to sub-median, the fourth outside in cell ; 

 fringes of primaries mostly black, white or pale yellow in the median interspaces, 

 of secondaries, a little black at the ends of the nervules, the rest light. 



Under side red, of nearly the same shade as above ; the yellow spots repeated 

 on primaries, enlarged and distinct ; on secondaries all spots are repeated, en- 

 larged ; the red ones of third row each lightly edged yellow, except on marginal 

 side; above this is a bit of the black ground, and next a narrow red stripe from 

 costa to sub-median, separated by a black line from the fourth or discal band of 

 yellow ; (in many of the allied species this stripe is yellow and is in part con- 

 fluent with the discal band ;) on the basal area a fifth spot on costa ; shoulder 

 and inner margin yellow. 



Body black, brown above, the collar red ; beneath, the thorax covered with 

 long yellow hairs, which within are gray, the abdomen red ventrally, on the 

 sides red ; legs red ; palpi red, yellow at base ; antennae red on upper side, witli 

 fine rings of black, black below; club black, tip ferruginous. (Figs. 1, 2, 5.) 



