CEYLON BUTTERFLIES. 49 
They both fly together all the year round, but the males 
are most often seen when the roads are wet. In habits they 
resemble atrata, but both sexes seem particularly fond of the 
blossom of acacia czesia, which is, I believe, also the food 
plant of the larve. The tailed form is far the commonest, 
though both are very abundant. 
They both vary much in the markings on the under side, and 
specimens can be taken of both in which the basal strige fail 
to reach vein 1. 
T have seen a few specimens in Galle, Colombo, Jatina, 
Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, &c., but they seem commonest 
in the hills. Common at Ratnapura. 
98. NACADUBA NOREIA.—This name is usually given to the 
tailless form of ardates, but both De Niceville and Bingham 
point out that this does not at all agree with Felder’s descrip- 
tion. The two main distinctions are :— 
(1) The external margin is less convex. 
(2) The basal strigze on the under side of the fore wing do 
not extend below the median vein. 
I have four males and two females which seem to answer 
this description. The males are a much brighter purple than 
ardates, and have a fairly broad purple-brown border. The 
females have a very bright blue patch on both wings, as bright 
on the lower wings as the upper; this I have never seen in 
ardates. In both sexes the fore wings are distinctly pointed, 
though not so much as in viola. The marginal spots on the 
lower wing of the female are obsolete, except in interspace 2, 
as Felder says ; and the under side agrees with his description 
in every particular. : 
It is so rare that I do not care to express a decided opinion 
as to whether it is a distinct species, or merely a variety of 
ardates, but the few specimens I have seem to be quite as 
worthy of specific rank as dana, and I have seen no signs of 
gradation. 
All my specimens are from the Haldummulla district, 
Felder described it from a specimen taken at Nuwara 
Eliya. 
fd 
7 6(2)18 
