LYCENIDA. MAHATHALA. 283 
rather deeply excised, leaving a distinct anal lobe beyond. The antennz are very short, just 
one-third the length of the costa of the forewing, and practically without a club. 
M, ameria, Hewitson, the type of this genus, is quite unique amongst this group of 
butterflies (the old genus 4 m/yfodia of authors) in having the tail distinctly spatulate ; it is per- 
haps even more remarkable on account of the great prolongation of the outer margin of the 
hindwing, which causes the apex to be extremely acute, the costa being deeply cut out just 
before the apex. As far as I am aware, this character occurs in no other species of the group 
except ganesa, Moore, the type of the genus Panchala of Moore, but in that species this feature 
is very greatly reduced, and to a still greater extent in the genus <Acesiva, Moore; also 
_P. [Arhopala] ganesa possesses no tail whatever, while the tail in Aceséna is long and filiform. 
M. ameria has a very wide range, occurring in Bengal, Assam, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, 
Mergui, the Malay peninsula, Siam, and Hainan Island off the coast of China, but appears 
to be nowhere common. 
848. Mahathala ameria, Hewitson. (PLarz XXVII, Fic. 200 2). 
Amblypodia ameria, Hewitson, Cat. Lycenide B. M., p. 14, n. 64, pl. viii, figs. 85, 86, female (1862); 
Mahathala ameria, Moore, Proc. Z ol. Soc. Lond., 1878, p. 703; id., Rothney, Ent. Month. Mag., vol. xix, 
Pp. 35 (1882); Navathura ameria, Distant, Rhop. Malay., p. 268, n. 13, pl. xxi, fig. 30, female (1885). 
Hasitat: Northern India, Siam (/Zéwitsoz), Hainan, China (AZoore), Barrackpore (Roth- 
ney), Mergui (Doherty), Perak (Distant), Beerbhoom District, Calcutta, Goalpara, Sibsagar, 
Chittagong Hill Tracts. 
EXPANSE: 6, 2, 1'5 to 1'8 inches. 
DESCRIPTION: FEMALE. ‘‘ UPPERSIDE, doth wings brown. Forewing dark brown, with a 
large spot of lilac-blue from the base to the middle. Aindwing rufous-brown, with a small narrow 
spot of blue near the base. Zaz broader than usual. UNDERSIDE, forewing rufous-brown, the 
apex grey, three small white spots within the cell, two spots at the end of the cell margined 
with white, the transverse band broad, of nearly equal width, curved near the apex. Hindwing 
rufous- or grey-brown, ¢he costal margin near the apex protruded outwards to an acute point, the 
base and an ill-defined medial band rufous-brown,.” (Hewitson, 1. c.) © FEMALE. UPPERSIDE, 
both wings dark violaceous-blue, costal and outer margins broadly dark fuscous. Hindwing with 
the abdominal margin broadly dark fuscous. UNDERSIDE, forewing somewhat rufous-brown, 
discoidal cell containing a whitish line near the base, two near the middle, and two at the 
termination, some obscure whitish linear marks above the cell ; beneath the cell the colour is 
paler, containing a conical brownish spot between the second and first median nervules and 
a broad brown spot between the first median nervule and the submedian nervure; a curved 
transverse fascia bordered with greyish between the end of the cell and the outer margin, 
dislocated at the upper discoidal and median nervules, and with a submarginal row of lunulate 
spots bordered with greyish. Azndwing brownish with a steely tinge, the basal third with 
reticulated dark brown fasciz, followed by a transverse, discal, angulated fascia of the same 
colour, and with a submarginal series of dark brown spots. Aody above and beneath with legs 
more or less concolorous with the wings.” (Dz¢stant, 1. c.) MALE. UPPERSIDE, doth wings of 
a rich deep blue, not purple as in the female, the outer margins narrowly black, UNDERSIDE, 
both wings as in the female. 
M. amerta is very variable in the extent of the purple coloration of the female on the 
upperside. Calcutta specimens have about one-third less purple than those from the Malay 
peninsula, the purple not nearly reaching the costa of the forewing. The female appears to 
be far more often met with than the male, of which sex I have seen two specimens only, 
M. amerta is a rare species, with a wide range, occurring in the plains of Bengal 
(Beerbhoom, Barrackpore and Calcutta), in Assam (Goalpara and Sibsagar), in the Chittagong 
Hill Tracts, Mergui, Perak, and Hainan. 
The figure shews both sides of a female specimen from Calcutta in the collection of the 
Indian Museum, Calcutta. 
