-274 ARHOPALA. By Dr. A. Sf.itz. 



crassa. veins. Ongodai. — crassa Leech (74 g) is much larger even than large European specimens (ab. major 

 Tutf), the tail being longer, and sometimes (not alwaj'sj the colour of the underside darker. West China. — 



elwesi. elwesi Leecli (74 g) has the upperside of the ? (here figured) entirely orange except for the distal margin of 

 the forewing and the sooty base of the hindwing, the cT bearing brownish orange spots beyond the cell of 

 the forewing. Central and West China. — Egg white, depressed, rough. Larva adult in June, clothed 

 with short thin hairs, green with a yellow line on back and sides, yellow subdorsal oblique spots and 

 a brown retractile head; on certain Prunus and Amygdalus, more rarely on birch, hazel and cherry. Pupa 

 very smooth, rounded everywhere, pale brown, with thin lighter and darker markings; although fastened 

 only by the cremaster, not by a girth, it is closeU' applied with its underside to its support The butterflies 

 occur from July until late in October near woods, in avenues and gardens. They rest concealed among 

 the foliage, and can fly rather fast and without interruption. They visit flowers, particularly umbellifers, 

 and have also been observed at bait. They are plentiful wherever they occur, being very abundant in 

 some years. In opposition to other observers I have sometimes seen 3 or 4 cfo"^ resting together on a leaf. 



lietnlina. Z. betuHna ^f(ir. Similar to befu/ar, more thinly scaled, so that the bands of the underside shine 



through above. The cf has an inconspicuous pale patch beyond the discocellular halfmoon and the ? a 

 greyish diffuse band. The underside is more grey-brown in the cf, red-brown in the ?. There are no 

 traces of orange spots in the anal area of the hindwing above. — Amurland. Larva without markings, 

 light green, until July on Pyrus. 



15. (ienus: Arliopala Bsd. 



This genus, which mcludes some of the most beautiful Lycaenids, is widely distributed in the Indo- 

 Australian Region, there being hardly any place in tropical India and Australia where the intensely blue 

 species of Arhopcda, which sometimes appear as if glazed with metal or motiier-of-pearl . do not arrest the 

 attention of the visitor of these countries. 



Head rather small, narrower than the thorax; frons broad. Eyes naked. Antennae short, almost 

 less than half the length of the forewing. gradually incrassate, without an abrujjt club. Palpi of medium 

 size, porrect. Thorax broad, strong; the scales and hairs of the whole body above often glossy metallic. 

 Wings broad. The apex of the forewing often produced in the cf, the outer margin being always convex 

 and often undulate, the hindmargin always very long and slightly incurved, the rounded hind angle there- 

 fore being far distant from the base. Hindwing sometimes with a short tail, sometimes with a hardly 

 visible tooth in the anal region , its distal margin even or feebly undulate. Larva onisciform , flat . with 

 short bristles, the anterior segments shield-like, on the back longitudinal lines, laterally to which there are 

 transverse and oblicjue spots. Pupa with long wing-cases and short, strongly arched abdomen. 



More than 100 Arhopcda are known, which are confined to India and the neighbouring countries 

 and are partly ver\ closel}' related to each other. Mooke, in order to facilitate a survey, has divided 

 ArJwpala into 7 genera. We need not follow him. since only 6 forms extend into the Palaearctic territor\- 

 at its extreme southern boundary. Some of the species appear here in abundance, for instance Arh. japonka 

 at Nagasaki, where I caught sometimes more than a dozen in one day. But that is an exception. ^lany 

 species are even ver}- rare, being so difficult to obtain as they keep high above the ground out of reach. 

 They are easiest to get on hot days, when they gather on the banks of brooks and on damp places on 

 roads to drink. In such weather also the amorous plays may be observed, sometimes 3 — 4 cTcf sitting 

 close together on a bush holding the wings half open in the sun, while they are generally kept closed 

 when at rest, as in Thcchi. Occasionally such a bush appears as if covered with flowers of a magnificent 

 bright blue. The Arhopahi are not sh}' as a rule and are apparently no persistent fliers. When settling 

 on projecting twigs of bushes or on branches, they face downward: on dry branches they generally take 

 such a position that the closed wings are directed towards the ground, not upwards. 



japonka. A. japoilica Murr. (75 b). Above deep blue with black border, which is broader in the ? than in 



the cf. Beneath dark earth-brown, almost without markings, there only being a band before the outer 

 third which is more distinct on account <^ its thin blackish borders than for its darker colour. — In Central 

 and South Japan and Corea, common, in the spring and again from August. I caught even in November 

 numerous fresh o"cf on flowering fields, and Pkvek states that the species hibernates in Japan. 



rama. A. rama Koll. (= querceti Moore). Somewhat resembhng the previous species, but easily distinguished 



by the tailed hindwing. The underside, moreover, has a more variegated pattern, the band before the 

 outer third being darker, more prominent and straighter. and there being on the hindwing more rings and 

 spots between the band and the base than in japonica. The cf is larger than the ? and has narrower 

 black borders to the upperside. — In May and again from July onward, in oak-woods, in Kashmir, on the 

 northern slopes of the Himalayas, eastwards to Central China. Also in India (Sikkini), where this species 

 appears to rare, though it is common on Palaearctic territory. It goes up to 9000 ft. in the mountains, and 



