6 
Mr. J. O. Westwood on a Species 
tarsus of the female, and when covered with scales might easily be 
regarded as similarly articulated. Hence we find Mr. Curtis de- 
scribing - the legs of Theda alike in both sexes. The remarkable 
tooth near the extremity of the intermediate thigh on the under- 
side, and the corresponding notch in the tibia, represented in my 
figure, were also first pointed out by Dr. Horsfield. In its perfect 
state this butterfly presents some curious points of relationship ; 
the rich purple tint on the wings of the male calls to mind our 
Theda quercus , but in that species it is the female, which (by a de- 
parture from the general rules of insect colouring) puts on the 
“ imperial purple.” On the other hand, the fulvous patch on the 
fore-wing of the female is also exhibited by the female of Theda 
Betulce, but the male of that species is not adorned with purple 
tint. The greater development of the tails and the anal appendage 
of the lower wings is also exhibited in several Indian and Javanese 
species, as Theda Jarhas and Xenophon, and some others nearly 
allied. I have, however, only seen a single species in which the 
decided parallel row of lines beyond the centre of the wings runs 
through the whole extent. This is an East Indian species, con- 
tained in the museum of the East India Company, differing from 
mine in several particulars. 
The genus Theda exhibits in the pupa state several distinct vari- 
ations of form. 
In Th. Pruni and some allied species, as also in Theda ( Ambly - 
podia ) Longinus, the back of the abdomen is furnished with tuber- 
cles ; these are wanting in Theda Xenophon (or Jarhas), and in 
Theda (Ambly podia), Narada, and Appidanus ;* but in these species 
the abdomen is conical. In my species, and also in a species of 
Thecla, figured by Sepp, (Vol. ii. No. 2, pi. 1,) and misnamed by 
him Th. Betulce, (to which species it is however allied,) the pupa is 
smooth, and the abdomen obtuse. 
It only remains for me to notice, in illustration of the remarkable 
peculiarity in the economy of Theda Isocrates, 1st, the habits of 
other species of this genus, all of which disagree with the former ; 
and 2d, the economy of such species of butterflies as afford an 
analogy in this respect with this Thecla. Hitherto the larvae of 
Thecla have only been observed to feed upon the leaves of different 
plants, and this is also the case with the nearly allied species Thecla 
Xenophon. The pupae simply attach themselves to the twigs, or the 
leaves of the plants upon which they have been reared. Sometimes, 
however, the metamorphosis of some of the P olyommalidce is effected 
partially in the ground.^ 
* Horsfiel !, Lep. Jav. Pl.iv. t Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat, vol. 27, p.482. 
