46 NYMPHALID^. DANAIN^ DANAIS. 



D. gautama, to judge from the recorded instances of its capture, seems to be very local. 

 It has hitherto only been reported from a limited portion of British Burma. Captain 

 C. T. Bingham took a single specimen in the Meplay Valley in February, and Captain 

 C. H. E. Adamson has sent a single male specimen from Moulmein, where it was captured on 

 the 1 2th June, and Dr. Anderson took it commonly in the Mergui Archipelago in December. 

 It is probably not uncommon, but overlooked owing to its great superficial resemblance to the 

 common D. septentrionis, though when once recognised it is a well-marked and easily distin- 

 guished species. 



25. Danais melissa, Cramer. 



Papilio melissa, Cramer, Pap. Ex., vol. iv, pi. ccclxxvii, figs. C, D (1781) ; Herbst, Pap., pi. cxxv, figs. 

 3, 4 (1793) ; Danais melissa, Godart, Enc. Meth., vol. ix, p. 192, n. 50 (1819). 



Habitat : (N. India?, Singapore ?) ; Java. 



Expanse : $ , yo to 3*5 inches. 



Description : Male : Forewing black ; a narrow streak in the cell from the base, and 

 an irregular spot beyond it ; one subcostal spot beyond the end of the cell, immediately 

 below which are three elongate spots between the nervules ; a round spot touching the cell 

 below the third median nervule ; a larger, somewhat elongate, spot below the second ; and a 

 large spot above an elongate basal streak with a small separate rounded spot beyond them, 

 below the third median nervule ; a sinuate submarginal series of nine spots, the apical four, 

 one between each pair of nervules, the next four in pairs in the median interspaces ; and a 

 marginal series of smaller spots — subhyaline bluish-white. Hindwing with the entire cell ; 

 a spot at the base of the wing ; a slightly larger on eabove the costal nervure at its base ; a 

 streak below it with a spot beyond ; a spot between the subcostal branches touching the cell ; 

 two streaks filling the base of the interspaces on either side of the discoidal nervule ; two 

 short narrow streaks joined at the base in each of the two median interspaces, the outer pair 

 much the smaller; the whole space between the median and submedian nervures from the 

 base to the sexual mark ; and three lengthened abdominal streaks, the two below the sub- 

 median nervure joined at the base ; a very irregular submarginal series of small somewhat 

 elongate spots — subhyaline bluish-white. A marginal row, equally irregular, of very small 

 spots, white at the apex and anal angle, those between them brown. Underside : Forewing 

 black; hindwing somewhat cupreous; the markings identical with those of the upperside, 

 except that the marginal and submarginal spots are much more prominent, especially on the 

 hindwing ; both series are complete and all the spots are whitish with no brown tint. Cilia 

 black, spotted with white. Described from Cramer's figures. 



D. melissa is quoted by Westwood, Moore, and Butler as occurring in India, 

 and on the strength of these authorities it is retained in the Indian list ; but we have 

 never seen a specimen taken in India, and we have great doubts as to whether it really does 

 occur here. It is a Javan insect, and differs from the common D. limniace of India, which 

 also occurs in Java, notably in having the basal area of the hindwing almost entirely hyaline 

 leaving a prominent dark outer border, — in other words in D. tnelissa the hyaline spots on the 

 outer half of the wing are reduced, and towards the margin evanescent, while those towards 

 the base are enlarged greatly. Both tliese species vary much, and some specimens of the Indian 

 D. limniace show an approach to D. melissa in the style of their markings, but none that we 

 have seen could be separated from the Indian species or united with the Javan. The speci- 

 mens of D. melissa from Java in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, differ from Cramer's figures on 

 the forewing in having the three markings below the median nervure entirely coalescing, and 

 on the hindwing in having a small dark streak in the cell, the hyaline streaks below it 

 coalescing, making the abdominal area much paler, and the marginal spots bluish-white not 

 brown, thus showing that this species is as liable to variation as is D. limniace. 



