16 



ARMANDIA; SERICINUS. By Dr. A. Seitz. 



from mid April till July; they frequent at Wladiwostock the gardens of the town, being conunon, and show 

 a predilection for a yellow kind of violet , on which they often settle (Graeser). The tlight is feeble and 

 slow, the insect being easj^ to catch. 



3. Genus: Armandia Blanch. 



Large black-brown butterflies, with thin yellow bands and three tails. Antenna rather short; palpus 

 long, strongly projecting; abdomen dorsally spotted with yellow. The hindwing bears a conspicuous red 

 subanal band, beyond which there are blue spots on a black ground. Two species are known, one inhabit- 

 ing the South-East of the Palaearctic Region, the other being found in North India. — The butterflies appear 

 to produce only one brood in a season, at least in the Palaearctic Region; they fly in summer, the flight 

 being slow and undulating; as they let themselves be carried by the wind, they "resemble more a falhng 

 leaf than a hve insect" (Doheety). However, they are not easj- to catch, since they tly generally about 

 the tops of trees. — The larva, which is not known, lives doubtless on Aristolochia , probably on climbing 

 species, judging from the high flight of the insect. 



thaidina. A. thaidina Bhnirli. (8d). Forewing rather acutely tiiangular: the long tails of the hindwing spatul- 



ate. — At the upper Yang-tse-kiang, in Se-tchuen, common in many localities, for instance at Ta-tchien-lu, 

 Huang-mu-tchang, Tchia-ku-ho, etc., in June and July. 



4. Genus: Sericiuiis Westw. 



Rather large buttei-flies, with long slender bodies, very short antennae which are apically only 

 slighth' incrassate, and long, strongly projecting palpi. The hindwing bears a long, curved, sabre-shaped 

 tail. The colours are chiefly yellow and black, there being on the hindwing a submarginal camiine band, 

 which is especially conspicuous in the ?. Only one species is known, which is exclusively Palaearctic, being 

 so variable according to season and locality that there are 7 or 8 well distinguished forms. — Larva of 

 the same shape and nearly the same size as the Thais-larvae, the first segment bearing on each side two 

 conical projections, which are covered with rather long hairs. On the back there are rows of fleshy tuberc- 

 les, which are prolonged on the thoracical segments, all bearing tufts of stiff hairs. Behind the head there 

 is the reversible fleshy fork (osmateria). — Pupa slender, with two short projection on the head; some rows 

 of pointed, thorn-like tubercles on the back. The pupa is very lively (Staudinger) , being fastened by the 

 sharply truncate cremaster and by a thread about the middle of the body. — The butterflies occur in spring, 

 and again , as a larger form, in Julj-. They do not i\y fast ; thej' visit flowers , and are extremelj' common 

 in places where the foodplants (Aristolochia) occur. 



telamon. S. telamon Dow. (¥ ^ fasciatus Brem. (k Grey) (cf 9a, ? 9b). This is the palest of aU forms. 



The cf has only sparse and small shadowy spots, while in the ? the yellow and black colours are about 

 evenly balanced. In both sexes there is a distinct red spot on a dark ground on the hindwing Ijeyond the 

 middle of the costa. This is the summer- form as it occurs in July in Pe-tchili, especially near Peking. In 

 the northern districts of the area inhabited, namely in Shantung and the district south of the Amur, the 

 summer-form is very similar to Donovan's telamon, but the costal spot of the hindwing has no red centre 

 in the cT, and the ? is altogether darker; this form is named amurensis Stgr. {& 9a, ? 9b). — montela 

 Gray (cf 9a, ? 9b), from the mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang, is in the o" much more extended black, this colour 

 forming an irregular, hardly interrupted band which runs from the costal margin of the forewing to the 

 anal angle of the hindwing, here including the carmine ornamental band : the ? is especially remarkable for 

 the much enlarged and almost circular cell-patch. — In the cf of koreana Fixs. (o^ 9a, ? 9b) there are in 

 various places additional grey shades in between the black spots ; in the ? the much reduced yellow ground- 

 colour is dusted with brown-black, especially on the disc of the forewing; in Korea. — The spring-forms 

 which belong to these summer-forms are much smaller and have shorter tails: telemachus i^tgr. (9c) bel- 

 ongs to amurensis, occurring from the southside of the Amur to Peking, the red colour being restricted to a 

 subapical spot on the forewing and to the rather narrow band of the hindwing. This form intergrades com- 

 telmona. pletely with the spring-form telmona Gray (= greyi Brem. & Grey) (9 c) which extends from Peking 

 southwards, being the first brood of the true telamon. — The spring- form from Korea, which, like the 

 summer-brood koreana from the same country, shows a more pronounced brown shading on the yellow 

 fixeni. ground, has also received a name, being called fixeni Stgr. (= greyi Fixs.) (9 c), while the spring-specimens 

 from Shanghai (belonging to the summer-form montela) have no name of their own. — Larva black, spotted 

 with brown ; on Aristolochia. Pupa 3 ellowish brown, Avith dark stripes. 



All forms of Sericinus are restricted to certain stations. They are generally caught in numbers on 

 account of their slow flight. The entire area extends from a little south of Wladiwostock southward beyond 



amurensis. 

 montela. 



koreana. 



telemachus. 



Shanghai, reaching westward as far as Se-tchuen. 



The insect is common at the Yang-tse-kiang. 



