84 NYMPIIALID.E. NYMPHALTN.E. MELIT^A. 



somewhat stoutest in the middle, twice the length of the first ; third joint slender, almost 

 acicular, about the same length as the first. Antenti^E, short, scarcely half the length of the 

 costal margin of the wing, rather slender, terminating in a short, pyriform, large club. Thorax, 

 moderately stout, elongate oval, clothed with long hairs. Abdomen, moderately stout, arched, 

 not much shorter than the inner margin of the hindwing. FOREWING, nearly triangular ; the 

 costal margin scarcely, or not at all, rounded ; outer margin two-thirds the length of the 

 costal, rounded, often but slightly ; inner margin nearly straight, longer than the outer. Costal 

 nervure rather stout, scarcely extending beyond the middle of the costal margin. Subcostal 

 nervure slender ; its first nervule thrown off before the end of the cell ; its second beyond the 

 cell, opposite, or nearly so, to the termination of the costal nervure ; the third nearer 

 to the second than to the fourth ; fourth nearer to the third than to the apex. Upper 

 disco-cellular nervule very short ; middle disco-cellular curved inwards, about half the 

 length of the lower, which is but little curved, and anastomoses with the third median 

 nervule not far from its origin. Internal nervure wanting. Hindwing, obovate ; the 

 shoulder very prominent ; the costal margin nearly straight, equal in length to the inner ; 

 outer margin much rounded, but little more than half the length of the other margins. Prcecostal 

 nervure simple. Discoidal nervule appearing to be a third subcostal nervule, arising from 

 the" second subcostal nervule soon after its origin. Cell open. Third median nervule h\xt 

 little curved. Inner margin entirely embracing the abdomen. Forelegs, of the ?nale 

 hairy and scaly ; the femur and tibia of about equal length, unarmed. Tarsus ?,mQoih., sub- 

 cylindric, slightly tapering at the base and apex ; one-jointed, but sometimes showing slight 

 indications of articulations ; shorter than the tibia. Of the female with the tibice shorter 

 than the femora, unarmed, rather stouter towards the apex. Tarsus five-jointed ; the first 

 joint cylindric, elongate, equal or more than equal to the rest combined, mostly armed at 

 the apex, as are the three following joints always, with a spine on each side ; second joint 

 much shorter ; rest transverse ; fifth sometimes very small. Middle and hindlegs, with 

 \}xQ femora about equal in length to the tibise, rather robust. Tibiae and tarsi AensQly clothed 

 with scales, the former rather longer than the latter, smooth externally, spiny laterally and 

 internally ; the lateral spines long, the internal ones very short. Tarsi with all the joints 

 nearly cylindric, slightly tapering to the claw, spiny laterally and below, not above ; the 

 spines on the lower surface of all the joints arranged in a double series ; lateral spines long. 

 First joint not equal to the rest combined ; second joint nearly half the length of the first ; 

 third and fourth progressively shorter ; fifth equal to the third. Claws curved, grooved below. 

 Paronychia bilaciniate ; the outer lacinia slender, nearly strap-shaped, longer than the claw ; 

 inner lacinia about half the length of the outer, subtriangular, pointed. Pulvillus two-jointed, 

 nearly as long as the claw." 



'* Larva subcylindric, rather tapering to the extremities, tuberculate ; the tubercules 

 covered with short setse ; or spiny, the spines set round with hairs. Pupa short, obovate, not 

 angular, tuberculate, with the head rounded ; or angular, with the head bifid." 



"This genus is difficult to characterise in the perfect state, so as readily to distinguish it 

 from Argynnis ; but there is one important distinctive character, namely, that the tarsi of the 

 middle and hindlegs are not spiny on the under surface, whilst they are so invariably in 

 Argynnis.''' (Doubleday, 1. c.) But for the single character given above there seems to be 

 nothing to distinguish the species of the two genera, some species of Argynnis, like all the 

 species of Melitaa, have the second subcostal nervule of the forewing emitted after the apex of 

 the cell, and in both genera there are species with or without silvery markings on the underside. 

 The genus Melitcea is of very large extent, and inhabits the temperate zones of both the 

 Old and New Worlds. In Asia it is found in Siberia, Amurland, the Caucasus, Altai Moun- 

 tains, Persia, the Mountains of Afghanistan and Biluchistan, and the Himalayas at considerable 

 elevations. They are all small insects, some very small, having the uppersideYerruginous 

 with several series of black spots ; they are usually abundant in individuals where they occur, 

 and frequent sunny spots in the openings of woods and forests, the banks of streams, and 

 the beds of flowers just below the snow line, except in the case of M- robertsi, which is found 

 on bare stony hill sides in Afghanistan and almost in the plains of the Punjab. 



