THESTOR. By Dr. A. Seitz. 279 



C. acamas King (= epargyros Ev.) (75 i). The wings pointed, particularly in the ^, above rod- acanias. 

 yellow, traversed by rows of more or less deep black spots. The underside is chalky white in places, 

 bearing continuous rows of beads. Very widely distributed in Asia, occurring from the Kirghiz steppes 

 through Turkestan to the Gobi desert and southward to Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan and North-West India. 

 — The form from the last country has been separated by Butler as hypargyrus, the following differences hyiiargijms. 

 being mentioned: hypargyrus is larger, the hindwing longer, the costal area of the forewing lighter in the 

 ^, the black macular half-band before the margin of the hindwing not curved. However, all these details 

 are so very variable that a form based on them is hardly maintainable. — Further, the specimens from the 

 neighbourhood of Nuchur in Turkestan, which are darkened above and beneath, having a brown upperside 

 and broad black markings, have been described as transcaspica Stgr., and those from Hadjin with the ^^^^{^^ 

 upperside almost black as obscurata Stgr. — The larva is not known to ine, but probably feeds on Astra- ohscurciki. 

 galus. The butterflies are plentiful, flying on dry slopes and steppes in May and June and again in Sep- 

 tember, presumably all through the year in hot districts. 



C. cilissa Led. (75 i). Smaller, the hindwing of the ^ anally less pointed; all the spots separated. cUissa. 

 Also on the underside, which is red-yellow in the ^ and dull isabella-colour in the ?, the spots except a 

 few in the centre of the hindwing are isolated, bearing very large metallic pupils. — In Syria; according to 

 Lederer the specimens from Mersina are more abundantly dusted with black than those from Antiochia. 

 The individuals from Kurdistan and Mesopotamia are especially large according to Staudinger, while those 

 from Hadjin are only half the size of normal Syrian ones, the latter being called by him maxima, and 

 the Hadjin ones minima. 



C. zohra Donz. (? = massinissa Luc.) (75 i). Above darker red-yellow than the preceding forms, zohra. 

 especially the S'> tbe hindwing has only short conical projections instead of long thin tails. The chalky 

 white underside of the hindwing abundantly ornamented with bluish silvery beads. In Algeria, sporadic- 

 ally. — jugurtha Oberth. (75 h, i), Hkewise from Algeria, but occurring in other localities (Saida), has the jugurtha. 

 upperside less spotted with black and the oceUi of the underside are so large and confluent that the 

 ground-colour is more strongly restricted. — In May and again in July on stony slopes with scanty veget- 

 ation, plentifitl. 



C. siphax Luc. (76 a). The smallest species; the wings above traversed by heavy black veins, the sipJiax. 

 ground-colour of the underside dull ochreous and the pupils of the ocelli only very feebly metallic. In 

 Tunis and eastern Algeria, ab. erythraea Stgr. has the hindwing beneath washed with violet, among the erythraea. 

 ordinary form. — The species fhes in spring (March to May) and again from the end of June onward. It 

 is very local, but not rare on the flight-places, which are often but the size of a few square yards. The 

 specimens fly low and fast, but not for long stretches. I found the insect near Philippeville on hills in 

 places widely separate from one another. 



21. Genus: TliestorHtn. 



A few more than a dozen small tailless species of Coppers are united in this genus. They inhabit 

 hot countries with a long dry season and scanty vegetation. Although the genus is purely Palearctic, 

 only three of the forms are found in Europe. 



Small, but of strong build, the body in comparison with the wings much larger than in the pre- 

 vious genera. Head narrower than the thorax, but appearing broad on account of the dense and long 

 hairs. The frons of medium width, with a dense brush of rather long bristles, in which the palpi are 

 entirely concealed. The latter small and like the eyes densely covered with long hairs. Thorax of medium 

 size, shaggy. Abdomen of many species reaching beyond the anal angle of the hindwing. Wings 

 regular in shape, the forewing sometimes with acute apex, the hindwing always without tails, both entire, 

 rather thick, with long fringes. The forewing of many species is very broad close to the base, so that 

 there is a wide interspace between costal and subcostal, the edge forming sometimes a basal lobe which curves 

 somewhat downward in the specimen at rest. The upperside is yellow-red; this colour occupying the 

 whole surface except the black margin ; the latter however is sometimes so enlarged that the wmgs are black- 

 brown except some very small vestiges of yellow-red. The underside already closely resembles that of 

 Chrysophanus, the hindwing and the apex of the forewing agree in colour and are often of a neutral tint, 

 while the disc of the forewing, which is concealed at rest, mostly shews the bright colour of the upper- 

 side. In other species the underside bears small bright spots. The insects fly in spring, often already 

 before the snow and the cold wintery weather have entirely gone. They occur on stony hills with scanty 

 vegetation and appear to avoid a long flight. At rest they keep the wings usually half open and settle 

 on the bare ground or on boulders. The larvae are onisciform, bearing thin short hairs and being often 

 brightly coloured. As far as known they feed on Papilionaceae, of which they eat the pods, and pupate 



