126 LYCAINIDA. ORTHOMIELLA, 
before the lower end of the discoidal cell; submedian nervure following the inner margin, 
slightly bent downwards towards its extremity. IZINDWING, costa arched at base, then 
slightly concave to apex, afex acute, outer margin at first straight, then convex ; anal angle 
rounded ; costal mervure very long, sinuous, following the outline of the wing, ending on the 
margin at the apex of the wing; first sedcostal nervule originating some distance before 
the apex of the discoidal cell ; disco-ce//ular nervules nearly erect, concave ; second median 
nervule originating immediately before the lower end of the cell ; sedmedian and internal 
servures straight. Antenne short, less than half the length of the costa of the forewing, 
with a large flattened spatulate club. a/fz long, porrect, second joint furnished with very 
long bristly hairs beneath, third joint naked, acicular. yes hairy. Head with a tuft of 
long hairs between the bases of the antennze. Male with no secondary sexual characters, 
Female with the outer margin of the forewing more convex than in the male, otherwise similar. 
Type, Chilades ? pontis, Elwes. 
Orthomiella belongs to the group of genera (42anus, Moore, Everes, Hiibner, Talicada, 
Moore, and Macaduba, Moore) which have the first subcostal nervule of the forewing for some 
distance anastomosed completely with the costal nervure, then again becoming free and 
reaching the margin. It is perhaps nearest to Azanus, as that genus, like Orthomiella, has 
no tail to the hindwing. The outline of the hindwing in Orthomiella is however quite unique 
amongst Indian Zycenide ; the costa instead of being slightly convex is slightly concave, 
and the apex instead of being rounded is acute, reminding one very much of the outline 
of Argynnis pales, Wiener Verzeichniss, and its Indian local race A. s¢fora, Moore ; only in 
those butterflies the costa of the hindwing is gently convex, while in Orthomélla it is 
slightly concave. The spatulate club to the antennz in the type species of Orthomiella 
is larger than in any other Indian species of Zycenide. The genus contains two species only. 
O. pontis, Elwes, is known from Sikkim only, and O. séenszs, Elwes, which I have not seen, is 
described from China. The former is deep shining purple, of the same shade as in WVacaduba 
avdates, Moore, and allies on the upperside in the male ; the female is rich bright steel- 
blue, the colour more restricted to the middle of the wings than in the male, The underside 
of both sexes is marked somewhat similarly to the dry-season form of Ché/ades laius, Cramer. 
710, Orthomiclla pontis, Elwes. (PLATE XXVI, Fic. 177 ¢). 
Chilades ? pontis, Elwes, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1887, p. 446; idem, id., Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1888, 
Pp. 384, n. 259, pl. viii, fig. 5, sale. 
HasitaT: Sikkim. 
ExpansE: &, ‘9 inch (Z/wes) ; my specimens are g, I'1; 9, I'oto £°r5 inches, 
DESCRIPTION : ‘f MALE. UPPERSIDE, oth wings dull purplish-black with faint green or 
(in some lights) purple reflection, darker towards the body. Cz/éa alternated with black and 
white. UNDERSIDE, doth wings dull grey, with irregular darker markings, which on the /znd- 
wing coalesce into a blackish patch, powdered with grey on the inner half of the wing. Body, 
black, with grey hairs. Palpé grey. Antenne faintly ringed, with a short distinct club.” 
FEMALE. UPPERSIDE, doth wings rich shining steel blue. forewzxzg with the costa narrowly 
the outer margin broadly and evenly black. AHwdwing with costa and outer margin 
broadly black, abdominal margin broadly pale. UNDERSIDE, doth wings as in the male. 
The shape of the wings is nearly the same in both sexes, 
‘* The shape of the hindwing is very peculiar, the costal margin, which is straight, forming 
almost a right angle with the outer margin. I know of no other species in which the character 
is so well-marked, Described from three males (a fourth exists in Godman’s collection ex coll. 
Lidderdale) taken by me on May 27th, 1886, on the bridge crossing the Rangbi river on the 
way from Darjiling to Mongpo, at about 6,000 feet elevation, in dense dripping evergreen- 
forest. This curious little insect is unlike anything found in India on the Himalayas, but has 
a very near ally in China, C. sinensis, Elwes,” (AZwes. a. .c:) 
In Mr. Otto Méller’s collection are about a dozen males taken in Sikkim of this very 
distinct and pretty little butterfly, and Mr, A. V, Knyvett has taken three females, On the 
