MELANARGIA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 115 



strono-ly reduced above on both win^s. In South Europe, extendins; northward into the Southern Alps. — 

 ab. vlspardi Jidlie),, whioli I known only from a plain figure, appears to be a slight transitional form with vispardi. 

 the discocellular spot very heavy and the ground-colour somewhat dull. — In turcica Boml. (38 a, b) the turcica. 

 white is strongly reduced also on the disc, the black colour therefore being by far predominant on the 

 upperside. — ab. galene 0. has beneath only dots instead of a row of ocelli , and al). leucomelas %>• f''^"''- 

 (38 a) has tlie hindwing Ijeneath entirely white or creamy, the markings shining through very taintl\ from leucomelas. 

 the upperside. Such specimens with uniformly white underside to the hindwing occur among the name- 

 typical form as well as among pmridn and turcica, but are not plentiful and are without exception ??. — 

 On the southern side of the ftfediterranean Sea there tlies a large form of (laUdhea, lucasi Rhr. {= mauri- lucasi. 

 tanica Oherfh.) (38b). More sharply marked than the name-typical form, but otherwise not different m 

 markings and colour, except perhaps that on the underside of the hindwing the l)ar which connects the 

 costal and distal portions of the grey median jjand is less tliin. — A melanotic variety which is uniformly 

 dark brown on both surfaces and ii/ which the 5 small ocelli are marked as light rings only on the under- lugens. 

 side of the hindwing, has been figured ])y Oberthur as ab. lugens, and ab. melania Oberlh. is the name "^eiania. 

 given to a specimen from the Lozere in which the underside of the hindwing is densely dusted with grey. — 

 In syriaca Oberth. the whole upperside is black, except a white discal band crossing both wings. Thus we 

 have a pattern as in fnuriea h'oh. (39 a, = s!/rlara .S/<//-., named <. syriaca > on the plate) which however 

 belongs to the /wr^s.svr-group. The thin dark marginal line is sometimes missing, such specimens being named 

 by Metzger ab. amarginata; this aberration can appear among the various forms. — It happens also that amarginata. 

 the last (anal) ocellus of the hindwing, instead of only having two pupils, is separated into 2 ocelli, the 

 submarginal row therefore consisting of 6 instead of 5 ocelli, which occurs especially often in procida: this 

 is ab. electra Meig. — Larva hght greenish yellow, a dorsal and a lateral line brown ; in May full-grown electra. 

 on various grasses. The butterfly is on the wing in June and July, in Africa already from the end of 

 May. The cAf flutter slowly as if 'searching on grassy clearings in the woods and in meadows; the ??, which 

 appear somewhat later, are mostly found with the wings closed settled on tliistles and scabious. 



M. lachesis lUu. (= nemausica A'.s/^.) (38b). Lighter than (jahahra, even than the lightest ^orm oUacfiesis. 

 the same. " The black discocellular anguliform spot of the forewing constricted wliere it is bent. Hindwing 

 entirely white, apart from the interrupted submarginal band; the base very sparingly dusted, the markings 

 of the underside however shine through in the 0". In Spain, Portugal and South France. — The specimens 

 with creamy yellow ground-colour, which are somewhat rarer tlian the chalky white ones, are canigulensis canigulensis. 

 Obnih. ; from the Pyrenees. — ab. cataleuca Stgr. (38 !)) is the name for ?? in which the hindwing beneath cataleuca. 

 is so shaded with "white that the markings are hardly visible; everywhere among the name-typical form, 

 but singly. — The species tlies in May and June on slopes and fallow-fields, being plentiful where it occurs. 

 M. titea. Forewing as in hichcsh, the base being sometimes strongly dusted, sometimes not at all. 

 The hindwing above is alw^iys quite white on the disc (or creamy); the main distinction lies in the under- 

 side of the hindwing, on which the edges of the median band are marked by 2 sharp irregular undulate 

 lines, the space between them however'^being the same tint as the ground-colour. — The true titea AV/^</ titea. 

 {= darceti IhijK) (38c) has a broad and deep black border to both wings, the discocellular oblique halfband 

 lieino- of even width and the bases of the wings except in the cell of the forewing strongly dusted with 

 black. Syria, from Bevrut to Antiochia. - In teneates Mhi. (38 c) has the margin of both wings also deep teneates. 

 black but the bases "are white and the discocellular band is narrowed posteriorly. In Armenia and the 

 Taurus — In palaestinensis .SVr/r. (38 c, d) the margin of the wings bears a row of rather large white spots, palaesti- 

 of which there are only vestiges visible in the preceding forms of this group ; on the underside the central «^'««- 

 portion of the proximal discal undulate line is usually obsolete. Palestine. - A truly gigantic form, of 

 which the ? has an expanse of over 6 cm, is wisliOtti Uob. from Persia; the white subapical band of the w.skott,. 

 forewing commences broad at the costa, and the ocelli on the hindwing beneath are much larger than in 

 all the' other ^Vew- forms. The specimens which Mr. RimER has kindly sent me for comparison are from 

 Dorak, not far from the mouth of the Shatt-el-arab. - In titania V«Jb. (38 d), from the Syrian desert t,tanm. 

 (Aleppo, Aintab), the black margin of both wings is strongly reduced, accompanying the very large white 

 submarginal spots but as a macular band composed of triangular shadows. - Htm is ver\- local, being absent 

 from large districts of its native country. The species likes pastures surrounded with oaks and flies in 

 May, not being rare in its flight-places. 



M. japygia. This species never has a broad black margin to the wings, but only a marginal line 

 and before it a lunate one. The forewing is crossed about its middle by a transverse line dentate like a 

 saw. Beyond the cell there runs across both wings a band which is always distinct on the upperside, being 

 irregularly composed of spots and streaks. The species with its local forms is distributed over an enormous 

 area, which extends from Portugal to the Pamir and Altai. - The blackest of all is the small form ab. 

 atropos llbn., which occurs in South Italy amongst the nymotypical form. The latter, japygia Lynlli (38 d), atropos. 

 has especially in the anal area of the hindwing still prominent black dusting bearing the ocelli, which appear Jopyg'"- 

 as large pupillated rings on the underside. South Italy and Sicily. - cleanthe BomL (38 d, e) is the cleantiie. 



