NYMPIIALID.^. 



MORPIIINyE. 



AMATIIUSIA. 293 



278. Amathusia portheus, FeUier. 



A. poriheus, Felder, Rcise Novrra, Lep., vol. iii, p. 461. n, 780 (1865) ; id , Duller, Ent- Month. Mng. , vol. 

 vi, p. 55 (1S69). 



Habitat : North India. 



Expanse: <?,4'8to5'o; ?, 53 inches. 



Description : "Male : Upperside as in A. a?}iyfhaon, but i\\Qfo!ewtng with the fascia 

 narrower towards the costa, and much wider hindward than in that species [evidently A, 

 iveslwoodii is here referred to]. Hindwing \vith a patch of raised blackish scales filling almost 

 the entire cell as in Discophora, and with similar scales below the median nervure and a tuft 

 of brown hairs. Underside as in /^. /wY/^^w;;* [from Java], but with the streaks of the 

 hindwing including the ocelli more divergent. Female : Upperside as in A. amythaon, but 

 the yellow fascia of the forewing less excised, not at all interrupted, the hinder end divided by 

 a streak of the ground-colour ; a yellowish spot below it between the first and second median 

 nervules. Underside as in the male, but with the streaks a little wider." QFelJer, I. c.) 



Butler remarks (1. c.) : — " Felder's Indian species is probably the true male A. amythaon 

 of Doubleday." It is impossible for us to settle the point without seeing the type of the 

 latter species, but the descriptions apparently apply to different insects. 



The underside is almost exactly similar in all these species ; we have one male specimen of 

 A. porlheus however from Sikkim which entirely lacks the upper ocellus on the underside of 

 the hindwing. A. porlheus \s a. v^^xe: insect: Captain C. T. Bingham took a few specimens of 

 both sexes in the autumn and winter months in the Thoungyeen forests in Upper Tenasserim, 

 and the Indian Museum, Calcutta, has specimens from Sibsagar in Assam, from Sikkim, and 

 from Cachar taken by Mr. Wood-Mason in August. 



The figure shows the upper and undersides of a male specimen in the Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, from Sibsagar in Upper Assam. 



* A. porthaoK,Y(t\d&r. Habitat : Java. Expanse : not given. Description :" Male : Upperside as 

 in A. amythaon, but they(7?-(r7w"«^ with the fascia pale plumbeous-blue, a little wider, but much less dilated 

 at the costa. Hindwing with the internal gutter whitish, the interno-anal margin beyond the first median nervule 

 irrorated with violet. Underside as in A. amythaon, but the forewing with the two discal strigs more 

 divergent. Hindwins with the outer one directed tg higher up the inner margin, the ocelli larger " IFelder, 

 Reise Novara, Lep., vol. iii, p, 461, n. 779, 1867), 



