200 NYMPHALID^. SATYRIN^. ^ AULOCERA. 



Colonel Lang .It " 12,000 feet elevation, about i,ooo feet below the bleak and bare summit 

 of the Werang pass, amidst the rocky, grassy ground just clear of the forests of Phiiis 

 ggranfiana and Cedtus deoJara ;" in Lahoul, at Patseo, 11,000 feet elevation, specimens were 

 taken in July by the Reverend A. Heyde, which differ from the usual form in the great 

 predominance of the grey irrorations. In Pangi on the Sach pass Mr. R. Ellis took at 

 an elevation of 13,000 feet in August and September some beautifully marked examples in 

 which the prevailing ochreous is beautifully contrasted with the grey markings, and dark brown 

 stride; the veins in these are powdered with white as in /5f. j^y/Zij; and finally a large series 

 taken by Mrs. Bazett at Goolmurg in Kashmir in July at from 9,000 to 10,000 feet elevation, 

 showed every gradation between typical A. brahininus and typical A. iveraitga. 



The figure (erroneously named A. weranga on the plate) shows the upper and undersides 

 of a male in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, taken in the Kulu Valley ; of the typical 

 A. brahininus form. 



190. Aulocera saraswati, Koiiar. 



Saiyriis sarasw.Jti, KoUar in Hiigel's Kaschmir, vol. iv, pt. ii, p. 445, n. 2, pi. xiv, figs. 3, 4 (1844) ; 

 Aulocera saras7tiati, Duller, Eiit. Munth. Mag., vol. iv, p. 121, n. 2 (1867) ; idem, id.. Cat. Lep. B. M., Satytidcr, 

 p. 49, n. z (t868). 



H.\BITAT : Himalayas. 



Expanse: ^,27102-85; ?, 2*9 to 3-5 inches. 



Description : " Upperside obscure fuscous, glossed with greenish, with a common 

 whitish fascia, in the forrwhig macular, with one ocellus, the ocellus blind. Underside 

 yellowish, undulated with fuscous, the fascia whitish in the foi-im/ing, yellowish in the 

 hindiuing ; the ocellus pupilled with white ; the cilia varied with fuscous and white." 

 (Kollar, 1. c.) 



The white fascia in this species is broader and more regular than in any other. On the 

 upperside in the male the inner white spot beyond the cell is small and in some specimens 

 evanescent, as in A. padma, male ; but the narrow white streak below the costa which is often 

 present in A. padma, male, is altogether wanting in A. saraswali. The sexual mark varies 

 much in prominence, being quite obsolete in some specimens. In the female the inner white 

 spot is conspicuous, and in some specimens the oval black spot beyond it has a minute white 

 pupil. The UNDERSIDE is very distinct, the basal half is very pale ochreous, fading to greyish 

 white on the inner margin of thehindwing, marked throughout with dark brown striae, the inner 

 edf^e of the broad white fascia, which is almost equally whitish on both wings, is defined by a 

 narrow dark brown lunular line, almost straight on the hindwing; beyond the fascia the ground- 

 colour is ociireous marbled with brownish, merging into a diffused dark brown subniarginal band, 

 darker and broader on the forewing ; the margin is pure grey along the nervules, ochreous in the 

 middle of each interspace, and more or less marked throughout with fine brown strice. The 

 FE.MALE is larger than the male and paler in colour, the markings on the underside similar, 

 but less prominent. 



According to Colonel Lang, " A. saraswali is not quite so widely spread, appears later, 

 and disappears earlier than A. swaha ; in August it swarms in the localities affected by it, 

 amongst the luxuriant grass pastures on the less wooded slopes of the hills." In Simla it is 

 not uncommon on the grassy slopes in the neighbourhood in the autumn months. In Pangi 

 Mr. Robert Ellis and Ur. Hutchison took numerous specimens of both sexes in July and 

 August. In KuUi, according to Mr. A. Graham Voung, " it appears in July, and remains on 

 the wing until the middle of October : it is common from 4,000 feet and upwards, and greatly 

 affects the thistle flowers, upon which numbers may be captured in their peculiar haunts." 

 There are speciiuens in the Indian Museum both from Kumaou and Sikkim, so that the range 

 of this species is much wider than was thought when Colonel Lang wrote the note quoted 

 above, fourteen years ago. 



