MELITAEA. By Dr. A. Seitz. 217 



is again strongly darkened, the ^ being dark l)ro\vn above, the $ ahnosl l)lack: IVoni the Sajan district. — 

 caucasica Stgr., from the Caucasus and Armenia, is likewise a large race with the ? strongly blackened, the light caiicasica. 

 spots beyond the centre of the wing, however, are absent, the colour on the whole very bright, particularly 

 beneath. — Greek specimens are paler yellow and more delicately s]iott(tl; ogygia Fruhst. — tungusa Herz ogygia. 

 is considerably smaller, being likewise strongly darkened in the basal area of the wing, but pale-spotted beyond tungusa. 

 the centre of the wing; intermediate between the preceding form and the following one; from the ^^■itu and 

 Vilui Rivers in North-East Siberia. — ornata Christ., from the Ural, is one of the brightly variegated forms, onuUa. 

 the white markings alternating with the reddish yellow ground-colour. — aetherea iic. (= aetheria Diip., aet/ierea. 

 melaina H.-Schdff.) (66a) is a rather large form with very thin black markings, occurring from the mouth of the 

 Danube through Anterior Asia to Turkestan, apparently particularly in the flat steppes, also in Algeria, for 

 instance on the parade grounds at Constantine, at Batna, on the hills lying towards Festis, and in other places 

 of Xorth Africa. The upperside is almost uniformly bright reddish yellow, only the median band and the 

 lunate spot between the 1. and 2. median veins being somewhat paler. — In telona Fruhst. the ground-colour telona. 

 is lighter, the black markings being thinner, more broken up, the underside paler yellow; Jerusalem. — 

 SCOtosia Btlr. (65h) closely agrees with the preceding form in colour, but the $ as a rule — not always — has scotosia. 

 the black markings larger and more diffuse. Especially, however, is this form larger than all European ones; 

 from Amurland, .North and Central China, Corea and .lapan. — Very large specimens, by far the largest known 

 Melitaea of the Old World, have been separated as tnandarina Stgr. (65h) ; from Mongolia. — The form changaica mandarina. 

 Bang-H. i. litt. (65h), from the Changai Mts. in .Mongolia, agrees with the previous in size, being of a deep diangaica. 

 colour, the 9 brightly variegated. — Larva grey, with red-brown, obtuse, soft, branched thorns, blackish dorsal 

 lines and numerous small white granules; head black; otherwise similar to the larva of didyrna. From the 

 autumn until May on Centaurea. Pupa dull yellowish, with dark yellow and black markings. The butterflies 

 are on the wing from June until August (in .\orth .\frica and the most southern districts of Europe already 

 from April); they are fond of meadows and sunny slopes, but also occur frequently in stony places. They 

 bask in the sun with the wings spread out, reposing on warm stones or on roads, and show a jireference for 

 thistles and scabious, on which latter they often sleep with closed wings at night and in dull weather. In 

 Europe and the adjacent districts of Asia they are usually alnindant thougli local; the large forms of Eastern 

 Asia occur more singly. 



M. sibina Alph. (66a, b). As large as nymotypical phoebe; above fiery red-yellow, recognizalile h\ the sibmn. 

 central area being completely without markings and forming a magnificent contrast with the heavy black distal 

 margin with its silvery white fringes. In this black distal margin there are on the liindwing of typical individuals 

 lunules of the ground-colour, which are quite absent or but vestigial in other specimens: ab. delunata Schultz. delunata. 

 If the central area has no traces of black markings whatever, we have ab. neglecta Schultz (locally more abundant neglecta. 

 than the nymotypical form). Underside of sibina similar to that of phoebe, with which it has also in common 

 that the yellowish red marginal lunule between the median veins projects basad. In Ferghana, the Pamir to 

 Kuldja, and in Turkestan up to 7000 ft. — In aulicana Bang-H. i. litt. (66a) the broad dark distal margin is auUcana. 

 scaled with gold and therefore has a metallic brown gloss; from the foot of tlie Alexander Mts. — dschungarica dsdmngarica. 

 Gr.-Grsh. has small yellow spots before the margin of both wings; Cenli'al Asia. — The butterflies appear in 

 May in a larger form and again in the summer in a considerably smaller one and are extremely common, for 

 instance in the Koksu Pass. 



M. saxatilis. This species is recognized by the fiery red upperside, which is as vividly coloured as in the 

 ^3 of didyrna and has sometimes a golden sheen as in the ^ of Chrysophanus virgaureae. A number of races 

 have been distinguished according to the development of the spots, which are on the whole fewer in number 

 than in the various preceding sjiecies, being sometimes even absent, as well as on account of differences in 

 the undersides. — maracandica ^igr. (66b), from Bokhara, is entirely without s|iots above and lieneath; the mamcandica. 

 upperside vividly brick-red with black distal margin; underneath dull whitish grey, with a reddish tint, the 

 disc of the forewing ochreous. — lunulata Stgr. (66b), from the mountains of Turkestan, is similar, Init the Innnlata. 

 hindwing bears small black lunules before the margin and is proximally of a glossy black, which is much deeper 

 than in the preceding form. — fergana Stgr. (66b) is all golden red above, bearing only traces of dark discal fergana. 

 spots or being entirely without them, only the distal margin being black. The hindwing beneath bears small 

 red and black striae and thin transverse lines, forming a kind of pattern, by which fcrganai^Ai once distinguisiied 

 from the otherwise similar maracandica, which is unicolorous beneath. Fergliana. — Also infernalis Gr.- infemalis. 

 Grsh. is almost exactly like maracandica, J)ut while in the latter the black distal marginal band is proximally 

 dentate, this border is even in infernalis. From the Tianshan. — In athene Stgr., from Saisa7i , the more atlicne. 

 yellowish red upperside bears already stronger l)lack markings, also the underside showing a greater contrast 

 between the colours and distinct black markings, so that there is a superficial resemblance to didyrna neera, 

 the black markings of the upperside, however, remaining much sparser than in the lightest coloured neera. 



