“LYCANIDA, APHNAUS. 351 
the male by its larger size, broader wings, all the bands on the upperside much more prominent, 
and sometimes to the number of six, the marginal band on the hindwing very broad at the anal 
angle, and extending decreasingly almost to the apex of the wing. 
It is unnecessary to give particular localities for this species. as it occurs almost everywhere. 
In the Western Himalayas it is rare on the outer ranges; it does not occur in the Eastern 
Himalayas or in Assam or Burma, but it is found almost throughout continental and peninsular 
India, except the desert tracts, and in Ceylon. 
In Ceylon this species appears to be commoner than any other, judging from the large 
number of specimens (over eighty) Messrs. Fairlie and Green have sent me, Both Messrs. Butler 
and Hewitson record 4, vulcanus from Ceylon, but Mr. Moore does not include it in his 
“* Lepidoptera of Ceylon.” Variation seems to have simply run riot in this species as exempli- 
fied by Ceylon examples. There are males entirely black above with no orange bands, and 
others with as many as five on the forewing. Some males are glossed slightly with iridescent 
blue on the hindwing, a very unusual feature in this species,* but the markings of the un- 
derside undoubtedly proclaim them to be 4. vulcanus; lastly the markings of the underside 
vary from broad almost confluent deep red bands to narrow ochreous ones ; the two short 
discal bands on the forewing are sometimes free, sometimes joined to the third and sixth bands 
respectively, likewise the fourth band on the hindwing is sometimes free, sometimes joined 
to the fifth band. Ihave entirely failed to split up these varying forms into distinct species, 
as they run one into another in every direction. 
904. Aphneaus fusca, Moore. 
A, fusca, Moore, Lep, Cey,, vol. i, p. 106, pl. xh, figs. 2, 25, sale; 2a, female (1881). 
HasiraT : Ceylon. 
EXPANSE: @, 1°03 9, 1'2 inches. 
DESCRIPTION: ‘MALE. UPPERSIDE, doh wings uniform purplish violet-brown. Fores 
wing with two slender indistinct orange-red streaks [these streaks vary in number from two 
to five]. Azxdwing with a narrow orange-red anal patch spotted with black, [normally with 
avery small patch of iridescent blue seen in some lights only towards the anal angle, some- 
times with the patch as large as in A, schistacea, Moore]. UNDERSIDE, both wings pale 
yellow, crossed by black-bordered silver-streaked red bands (similar to those in A. schistacea), 
but these are comparatively broader and more confluent. FEMALE. UPPERSIDE, forewing with 
three or four slender indistinct orange-red streaks.’’ Otherwise as in the male. (/oore, l. c.) 
This too is a variable species, as I find from a considerable series lent me by Mr. 
Fairlie from Ceylon. Normally the blue patch on the upperside of the male on the hindwing 
** The position of this species is between A. vulcanus and A. actis” [2 A. ictis, Hewitson]. (Bxéler,l. c.) 
‘© Fairly common here [Mhow] from October to February.” (Swz#hoe.) 
In Colonel Swinhoe’s collection are seven specimens of this species from Mhow. The upperside of 
these specimens is very variable, some of the males are not more heavily marked with tawny than are typical 
A. vulcanus. The undersides are equally variable both in coloration and the position of the bands ; the fifth 
band in the forewing is only free in two specimens, the orange anal patch on the hindwing is present but 
small in some specimens, and the fourth band is barely free in two specimens, inall the rest it is joined to 
the fifth band. A typical example of 4. drvacteatus is quite distinct, doubtless, from a typical A. vulcanus, 
but the two species run together by innumerable gradations, and not being confined to restricted geographical 
regions, they cannot be kept separate. 
Aphneus tigrinus, Moore. Hasirat: Lower Bengal ; Calcutta; Manbhoom ; Orissa (Moore) ; Poona, 
October, December, May, and June (Szwixhoe). Expanst : Male, female, Vooto 125 inches. DeEscrIPTION ? 
Mace and FeMAce. “* UpprkSIDE, forewing differs from typical 4. vudcanus, Fabricius, in the more prominent 
red bands, which, in the female, are conspicuously broader ; there is also a slender marginal band, more. or less 
indistinct in the male, but very distinct in the female. Azxdwing has a red marginal band extending from 
above the anal lobe partly up the exterior margin, this band in the female being curved and reaching the 
subcostal nervure. Unpersipe, doth wings, the bands are similar, but of a brighter red and with more 
clearly defined black borders.” (Moore, 1. c.) 
*“ Mr. Moore has identified some Calcutta specimens of Sfindasis [=Aphneus] as this species. He 
has also queried other specimens of this and S. vz/canus, Fabricius, which, taken with the fact that S. vadcanus 
is very variable and the differences given between it and S. ¢7grina are very slight, suggests the suspicion 
that the latter species is at best but a doubtfully good one.” (de Nicéville, 1. c.) 
_ Further investigation and much larger materials have convinced me that this species cannot be main- 
tained as distinct from A. vulcanus, 
* Colonel Swinhoe possesses a male from Mhow, which is similarly glossed, and I have one from Simla, 
one from Barrackpur, and two from Bangalore, 
