30 PARXASSIUS. By H. Sticuel. 



variabilis, variabilis Stkh., which bears I — 2 feebly red-centred costal spots, is sparsely marked and very little dusted 

 with black; the submarginal band of the forewing sharply dentate, narrower than in rhodins, tiie vitreous 

 margin broader, hindmarginal spot strongly maited; submarginal band of hindwing represented only b\- 

 isolated halfmoons or cunei^ jrm spots, the ocelli small , red , strongly- margined with black , the black basal 

 area very abundantly irrorated with white. In specimens (aberrant) with two complete led costal spots the 



mercurius. pattern is on the whole brighter, being almost as in rubicitmliis. — A further subspecies is mercurius Gr.-Grsh. 

 (15a) from the Sining Mts. (Amdo, Kuku-nor). Much smaller than nibicioKliis, the marginal markings feeble, 

 grey, the costal and hindmarginal spots of the forewing red-centred: hindwing with large, continuous, sub- 

 marginal halfmoons , ocelli bright red , being also below margined with deep black , basal spot vestigial or 

 absent. ? more abundantly dusted with grey, the grey places on the forewing almost vitreous also on disc; 



tibetanus. otherwise verj' similar to the darker specimens of himalui/ctms, but smaller. — tibetanus imhl (Leech M!^.) 

 (lod) is a magnificent, strongh" darkened race which surpasses the previous in size and has the ground of 

 the wings glassy: costal and hindmarginal spots of forewing frequentlj- all red-.centred , submarginal band 

 shai-ply defined, the dark vitreous margin broad, separated from the submarginal band only by a narrow 

 stripe of whitish spots. Hindwing with heavy red ocelli broadly outlined in black and usually bearing a 

 white pupil; generally with a red basal spot and large, triangular, black submarginal spots. The ? as a 

 rule lighter in colour, the pattern therefore more prominent, the cell of the hindwing bearing occasionally 

 a second red spot near the base. South-East Tibet: Junling (Tsang-ku); West China (Hukow). 

 epaphus. P. epaphus Oberth. and allies are a continuous series of forms of lesser average size than the previous 



species , the pouch of the ?? being without carina , but bearing at the broader end transverse folds instead. 

 The narae-tj-pical form is distinguished from the following one essentially only bj- the broader and more 

 sharply defined marginal markings of the a" and the larger costal spots of the forewing, and in the ? by 

 the better developed anal spots of the hindwing, by a feeble shadowj- marginal band situated in between 

 the halfmoons and the wing-edge, and by the purer white ground-colour of the forewing, which, in the next 

 form, is dusted over on the disc in consequence of a shadowy expansion of the submarginal band. The last 

 character taken from the figure of the original specimen appears to be individual. North -West Himalayas: 

 cache- Kashmir (Ladak = Leh, up to 4000 m; Chonging valley, in July- August) ; Pamir. — cachetniriensis Oberth. 



miriensis. (15c) is presumably the dry season form of the previous (Moore), recognizable by the thinner markings, 

 especially in cf ; costal spots of forewing reduced, submarginal spots essentially smaller, the ocelli above and 

 below and the basal spots below yellowish; ? more abundantly dusted with black, there being no further 

 poeta. noteworthy differences from the typical epaphit.s 2. Kashmir. — As poeta Oberth. (15a) a form is designated 

 which is more or less dusted with grey. Forewing with a red pupil in both costal spots and frequently 

 also in the hindmarginal spot ; hindwing with large ocelli which are usually entirely filled in with red, mostly 

 a red spot at base, the submarginal spots well developed; on the underside the ocelli with white centre, 

 the posterior one being continued by a row of anal spots which are mostly ocellus-like, being marked red 

 and white. The red colour of the ocelli occasionally replaced by yellowish. Western China: Ta-tsien-lu, 

 Tsang-ku. — The wings of some specimens are more abundantly powdered black, the black basal area of 

 the hindwing is extended to the ocelli, the marginal Jjand is broadly interrupted by white spots, and tlie 



oberthari. hindmarginal spot of the forewing is strongly centred with red. For these the designation ab. oberthueri 



nov. (? = tatsienluica Verity) may be introduced. The ? of this form bears a great similarity to tibetanus. 



— From North-East Tibet, Xanshan, from an altitude of 4000 m, a very small, on the whole light-coloured 



nan- form is known as nanchanicus Aust. (= nianschana Stgr. i. I.) (15b), in which the submarginal band of the 



chanicus. forewing is only feebly dentate and the ocelli are enlarged ; moreover, the black basal area of the hindwing 



is more extended than in the first-described form; however, the anal spots remain sometimes all black, the 



fringes of the hindwing are less conspicuoush' spotted black, while the red basal spots of the underside are 



enlarged and white-centred. — A similar form , darker in tint, is fnkkimends Eltc, which inhabits the Indian 



tsai- portion of the Himalayas and is therefore outside the scope of this volume. — tsaidamensis Au.-it. is appa- 



damensis. rentlj' restricted to the mountain-chain south of Tsaidam (Marco-Polo), being recorded from an altitude of 



5000 m. Similar to the preceding, the marginal band reduced, consisting on the forewing of a row of small 



isolated spots w^hich hardh' extend dow-n to the middle, while there are on the hindwing only a few vestigial 



spots at the anal angle. Ocelli ven,- large, white-centred; no red basal spot on upperside of hindwing; 



huwei. fringes sharply spotted white and black. — huwei Friihst. (^ aksuensis Sf(/r. i. I.) (i5d) is also similar; the 



limpid marginal band broad, submarginal tand of forewing narrow and abbreviated, but sharply defined; 



costal spots small, the anterior one usually %vith red pupil; the marginal dusting of hindwing faintly grey, 



but rather broad. ? with more extended grey - \itreous wing-area, strong black submarginal bands and 



abundant red filling of the costal spots and ocelli. Southern parts of the Tianshan , near Aksu on the Kia 



altynensis. River, in July. — altynensis nov. xub^y. (Stgr. i. I) , from the Alt}-ntag , is distinguished only by the more 



sharph' marked submarginal spots, more abundanth' red-centred costal spots of forewing, larger red basal 



spot and enlarged ocelli. 



beresowskyi. P. bercsowskyi Stgr. (15 c) deviates so considerably from the epaphus-forms in its superior size and 



in aspect that it may be treated as a distinct species. We place it here on account of the structure of the 



