176 XEPTIS. By H. Stichel. 



flying especially in the Himalayas outside the limits of our area , yet penetrates as far as Kashmir in the 



North -West, and therefore is enumerated here. This also occurs in two (seasonal) varieties: a) during the 



astola. dry-season as astola Moore, small as a rule, but rather variable in size, length of forewing 21 — 27 mm; it 



has a pale ochre-vellow underside and indistinct black edges to the white bands; b) during the rainy season 



emodes. as emodes Moore (53 c as hy las) , larger (up to 30 mm length of forewing), with bright reddish brown to 

 deep yellow -ochre ground-colour on the underside, bands edged with black, the white submarginal spots 

 on the upperside of the fore^ving rather sharply defined; similar to sangaica, and not only appears to be 

 a rainy season form, but on the whole a form from higher altitudes (up to 3000 m), while astola is found 

 more in the lower southern parts of the distribution-area of the subspecies. Quite outside the Palaearctic 

 territory there exists southward another transitional form, adara Moore, and on the Sunda Islands there are 

 intermedia, a number of other geographical races, which will be dealt with among the Exotics. — intermedia Pryer. from 

 Japan, Corea and ^Ajnurland, also appears in 3 forms in Japan: a) a large principal form, apparently a mountain- 

 or summer-form (53d), which is scarcely different from sangaica except in the rather smaller extent of the while 

 spots and in the reduction of the submarginal lunules on the underside of the hindwing to thin or obsolescent 

 oda. whitish linear arcs; b) oda Fruhst. (53d) has more rounded wings, the white markings are more reduced, being 

 grey on the forewing and slightly darkened, the submarginal band on the hindwing obsolescent, the ground- 

 passerculus. colour of the underside yellow or reddish brown; Yesso; c) passerculus Fruhst. is quite a small form with a dark 

 underside and entirely reduced markings. Tsushima, Island of Iki. September and October. 2 broods have 

 been observed in the .\mur district by GrIser ; the second is a little smaller and has ver\- reduced white markings, 

 therefore belonging to oda. — In districts to the west of .Ajonurland no distinguishing characters can be fixed 

 upon with sufficient certainty, and specimens of Siberian origin and from Central Asia are therefore best classified 



sappho. together with intermedia. — In Southern Russia (Volga district), on the other hand, appears a subspecies sappho 

 Pall. (53e), which is rather well characterized by a conspicuous broadening of the white markings. In thi.-^ 

 form the wedge-shaped spot at the apex of the cell is broader and larger, occasionally so much that its apex 

 reaches as far as the space between the row of spots lying outside the cell. The latter spots larger, the sub- 

 marginal spots on the forewing sharply marked in white, occasionally without interruption; transverse band 

 of the hindwing verj- broad, the outer row of spots almost developed into a band; ground-colour of the underside 

 reddish brown, but very restricted. This form flies with almost unchanged or similar character in the Bukovina, 

 Bulgaria, and neighbouring countries, partly together with and in transitions to the following subspecies, espe- 

 aceris. cially to the latter's summer form. — aceris F. (not Pap. acerisTatarici Lep.) {= lucilla Schrk., plautilla //6n.) 

 (53e), for which special characteristics are difficult to fix. It is perhaps on an average somewhat smaller and 

 bears less highly developed white markings, the small sharply defined spots present in the Asiatic races at the 

 margin of the forewing especially incline towards becoming obsolete, being often only found in the shape of 

 indistinct smears; the spots of the outer row of the hindwing also appear less sharply defined, obsolescent in 

 front. Underside like that of intermedia, with which it agrees in facies more closely than the neighboiu"ing 

 form sappho; the latter erroneously is usually called intermedia. Austria-Hungary as far as Transsylvania, 

 Roumania, in 2 broods (May and August), the second bearing broader bands and larger spots than the first. 

 Egg greenish, thimble-shaped, covered with regular hexagonal cells. Lar%a on Orobus vernus, brownish when 

 young, with inconspicuous w-arts, the head with two projections; later (after the 2. moidt) the body bears 3 pairs 

 of thorny processes, the last pair inclining backwards, on the back a greyish green saddle-patch from the second 

 pair of processes to the anal segment, and two short fleshy conical processes on the 5. segment. The adult 

 lar\-a rests with the upper half of the body erect in a Sphinx-like attitude, the head being so held downwards 

 that the pair of spiky processes on the 3. segment projects conspicuously. It crawls slowly and in jerks, and 

 spins an uninterrupted path, from whicii it can only be turned away by force; it hibernates when almost fuU- 

 grown. Pupa suspended, short, with broad, prominent wing-cases; of a yellowish colour, with darker veins 

 and shining metallic spots on the back; head with two projections. Diu-ation of pupal stage 14 days, butterfly 

 in May. Larvae which have emerged very early produce the butterfly already again in August (Ruhl). 



mahendra. N. mahendra Moore is a larger species, very similar to the preceding. Forewing with a broad cellular 



stripe and a large triangular spot at the apex of the cell, further with a shortened subapical band, which is 

 continued posteriorly by two large spots interrupted by the ground-colour, the second spot placed at the hind 

 margin; near the distal margin there is a row of small white spots. Hindwing with a broad median band and 

 an almost continuous submarginal row of spots , between them and again near the margin another band of 

 spots, which are, however, indistinct. Underside reddish brown, spots and bands broader, in the forewing 

 some white marginal spots, in the hindwing a grey stripe between the median and distal bands and two white 

 hues at the margin, which are sometimes indistinct. Appears in two broods, the dry season form is larger 

 and more abundantly marked with white, the rainy season form has smaller spots, the submarginal spots of 

 the forewing are partly obsolescent, the outer band of the hindwing broken up into spots, and the underside 

 darker. — Xorth-Western Himalayas, Kashmir. 



yerhuryi. N. yerburyi Btlr. (53e) is likewise similar. It is distinguished from hylas especially by the transverse 



band on the hindwing being rather more oblique and on the underside almost reaching the outer band of spots 



