NYMPHALID^. SATYRIN.^.. AMECERA. 179 



to rank as distinct specifically has been opposed by liigli authorities, and all three are 

 comparatively rare and local. In this genus the males usually, but not universally, have a 

 broad oblique stripe of raised scales on the forewing from the apex of the cell to the middle 

 of the submedian nervure — a feature which they have in common with some of the Uipparchias 

 and Epiiu-phdcs. 



Eey to tho Indian species of Amccora. 



A. With the wings smoky brown, with a prominent subapical ocellus on the forewing, and two or more 

 on the hindwing, ringed with fulvous on the upperside ; all with six perfect ocelli on the 

 underside of the hindwing. 



a. Males with a broad oblique stripe of densely packed scales on the upperside of 



the forewing. 

 /»'. With a submarginal series of fulvous streaks diminishing from the costa (much 

 wider in the female) on the upperside of the forewing ; the male sexual 

 streak narrow, and outwardly dentate along the nervules. Hindwing 

 with two to five submarginal ocelli. 



172. A. SCHAKRA, Himalayas. 



*'. Male with two fulvous streaks below the ocellus on the forewing ; hindwing 

 with four ocelli. 



173. A. M>ERULA, Western Himalayas. 



f'. Male with the submarginal streaks on forewing more or less obsolete ; the sexual 

 streak very wide, not outwardly dentate ; female with a prominent 

 triangular fulvous patch divided by the dark nervules only ; hindwing 

 with only two ocelli in both sexes. 



174. A. MENAVA, Western Himalayas. 



b. Males with no stripe of densely packed scales on the upperside of the forewing. 



a'. Forewing with the outer dark zone of the ocellus on the underside of the 

 forewing diffused and incomplete. 



175. A. M^ROIDES, Western Himalayas. 



172- Amecera schakra, KoUar. (Plate xv, figs. 45 <? , 46 9 .) 



Saiyrus sckakra, Y^o\\?^r in Hugel's Kaschmir, vol. iv, pt. ii, p. 446, n. 4, pi. xv, figs. 3, 4(1848), w«rt/^ ; 

 Lasiotntnata schakt-a, Westwood, Gen. D. L., p. 387, n. 12 (1851); Aiiiecera sckakra, Yi\it\Qr, Ann. and 

 Mag. of Nat. Hist., third series, vol. xix, p. 163, n. 7 (1867). 



Habitat : The Himalayas. 



Expanse : z'o to 2^ inches. 



Description : Male : " Upperside fuscous, with an interrupted marginal fulvous band. 

 Fornuing \v\ih one ocellu-;. B i ihhuing w'lih three ocelli, black, pupilled with white. UNDER- 

 SIDE grey. Fore^viug with a large fulvous patch near the hinder angle, with a large apical 

 ocellus, and a smaller obsolete one adjacent, /i^/w^fov;/^ with six ocelli, each with two rings, 

 and obscure angulate streaks." (K'ollar, \. c.) Female paler, with an additional fidvous 

 marginal band beyond the ocellus, and the fulvous streaks merging into a pale yellow band 

 between the ocellus and the cell extending nearly to the costa. 



Though fairly constant in the markings of the underside A. schakra presents consider- 

 able variation on the upperside. Besides the difference in tone of the groimd-colour due 

 to climate, the male shows in the /cr^ww^ differences in the width and prominence of the 

 fulvous marginal band ; and in the hindwing in the number and prominence of the ocelli. 

 The commonest form has three ocelli, one or more of which are blind, others have two ocelli 

 with a fulvous spot above. Others again have three ocelli with a fulvous spot above. Others 

 have four ocelli, the uppermost blind, and some have five, the uppermost smallest, and well 

 separated. The female shows the same variation in the ocelli of the hindwing. 



A. schakra is one of the commonest butterflies of the Western Himalayas, extending 

 eastwards as far as Sikkim ; in the north-west " to be seen at all seasons flitting about the 

 rocky road-side, and pitching on the rocks or banks ; more abundant on the outer ranges 

 on bare grassy slopes." (Colonel A. M. Lang'm Ent. Month. Mag., vol. i, p. 182, 1865.) 

 Mr. A. Graham Young states that in Kulu it is very common, appearing in July, and again 

 in September and October. 



