MELANTHIA. By L. B. Prott. 291 



E. triphragma iMcyr. (= siris Hawthorne) (28 1). Erratic in sliape. but provisionally retained in this Iriphragnm. 

 geims. The markings are also characteiistic and appaiently very constant. New Zealaiid. the ty])e i'iom lilen- 

 heini; tlie recorded localities aie Cape Terawhiti (ncar Wellington) and on tlie Otago IVninsula. 



E. expolita Philpoit (28 1). Near Iriphrayina. includiiig the irregulär sliai)e. •.'id mm. Wliitish-grey witli >.r,ioliUi. 

 i'aint piirplish tinge; markings dark pur])lish-fu,scoiis; basal line tliick. evenly curvcd. projecting angularly in 

 middle"; antemedian nearly as in ^np/iajf/H«; postmedian "from -;; c o s t a to % d o r s ii m [iiindmarginj. 

 w i t h s t r o n g b r o a d a p i c a 1 1 y i n d e n t e d j) r o j e e t i o n a t m i d d I c ; an oblique l'ascia iVom 

 apex". Hindwing with basal half darkened, limited by a median l'ascia ))arallel witli tcniicn. (Abridged fVom 

 Philpott.) Broken River. Cantcibury. New Zealand. 7 or 8 ,^J. Latei' iound on .Mount (;rey. 



27. Gemis: Melaiithia />/(/;. 



(Sri. V(il. 1. p. 20:^: Siip])l.-V<)l. 1. |>. ir>7.) 



Venation and some other cliararters mm-Ii as in Kiiphi/id. but 1 ha\e long Ix'en couvinced that its ical 

 affinities are with Hori.sme or in any case with the Eupitheeiid tribe oi'the Larentiinae. Vnvv rounded-prominent. 

 Palpus Short. Antenna sim|)le. Thorax witli double, glossy posterior crest: abdomen with rudimentary crests. 

 Genitalia oi'the o with laliides develo|>ed, 7th segment witlioiit coremata. Essentially Palaearctie. .\ few little- 

 kno\\n Himalayan and Chinese forms are tentativeiy ])]aeed here. but Ihe typica! sjiecies (or superspecies), 

 proccUald Schiff., has also Tndo-Anstralian i'e|)rcsentatives. 



M. procelldla Srliiff. (Vol. 4. ]il. I(i c. as jiroeellaria) szechuanensis Wi/iiii (Su])])l.-\'oi. 4. ]>!. 14 b) . Larger .s::ecliuanen- 

 than /(. inquinata (Japan) and chilJinitfi. \mvev white, costai s|)ot larger. at the costa broader. postmedian band *'*• 



warm bro^\^^, rarely whitish. the white median area t'or the most part weakly marked. mucli niorc wcakly than 

 in clcilhnila. the brownish-oehreous distal area enclosing 2 isolated white s])ots. W . China. — catenaria Moore cutenaria. 

 (28 1). Sexual dimorphism pronounced. White ground-colour very pure, ])articulai'ly in the 5; ferruginous sub- 

 eostal vein very eons])ieu(.)us; lines in median area varialjle, never so massed as in chithntUi. in the '^ ob.solescent ; 

 spots on hindmargin well developed. at least the antemedian; jiostmedian white band bioad. only in the o 

 suft'iised; borders in the V not very binad. but ot' a very bright rust-colour: a stmng white lilutch at tornus. 

 Hindwing white, strongly marked o n I y a t in n e r m a r g i n a I and t o r n a I are a. Abdomen doi-sally 

 fuscous, the black dots tracealile. Sikkim. — clathrata Wart. (28 I). I'r(ii]ably a lurther race of procclhita imt clathmia. 

 its general constancy and considerable difference froni catenaria make this somewhat uncertain. >Sexual 

 dimorphism rather strong. White ground-colour rarely very pure (I have only seen it so in a few 5?) ; ferruginous 

 colour on subcostal vein obsolete; lines in median area in the ,^ very strong. largely connected on the veins. 

 even in the $ sometimes faiily conspicuous; spots on hindmargin generally well developed. at least the ante- 

 median; border. except in a few ^^C'- broad. bright lust-colour, connected by some suffusion with the median 

 half-band, the spots on it b I u i s h - white, the tornal one well developed. though variaiile in size. Hindwing 

 and underside partly or wholly suff'used. in the J strongly lined, nearly as in the Jajianese inquinata Bllr. Ab- 

 domen with distinct black dorsal dots. Khasis. — mesozona siiljsp. vor. Hindwing and xuiderside, besides distal me.io^ona. 

 area of forewing. closely as in //. clathrata. from which. indeed. some white $9 can hardly be distinguished; 

 forewing in most 3,3 and in some 9$ with the median area almost solidly darkened. Formosa: Kanshirei (the 

 type series), Arisan. Rantaizan. etc.; type in Biitish .Museum. — Occasional aberrations in this s))ecies assume 

 the characters of some other race. Perhaps ab. infumata RIjI. (see Vol. 4, p. 2.")3. on jt. procetJata) can finiiish infumata. 

 a nom. coli, for the inqvinata -Wke aberrations which can develop among catenaria (e. g. a Darjiling V in the Tring 

 Museum). Conversely 1 have seen I or 2 ,j clatlirata with very white hinihving. almost like catenaria. 



M. exserens Wehrti (.Su]>pl.-\'ol. 4. |i|. 14 c). Likewise related to jirocdtatn. \n\\ deviating so sti'ongly in crscrcns. 

 coloui- and markings that it must be treated as a s])ecies. Ui)])eisi(lc with tlic dark parts uniform dark grey- 

 brown, not ochreous. the light bands glossy white; basal patch laiger than in the aliies. a ng I ed; the suc- 

 oeeding white band broad; the large midcostal spot very broad. C]uadrate. jxisteriorly irrcgulai'l_\- concave. costally 

 with some small wliite spots; posterior jtart of median area heavily lined; distal m a r g i n o f m e il i a n 

 area very c li a r a e t e r i s t i c , w ith 2 s h a r ]) t e e t h in the ni i d dl c pro j e c t i n g d i s t a d. 

 W. China: Siao-lu and Ta-tsien-lu. 



M. postalbaria Leecli (Vol. 4. pl. lli n). Much more glossy than procellala. forewing ])rcdominant ly dark. postalbaria. 

 subterminal line reduced to a few dots, the one behind the 3rd radial the best developed, the hindwing glossy 

 white, with some posterior .shading and incomplete lines. Central and West China, tyjie from l'u-tsu-fong. 



M. dentistrigata Warr. (2!la). .Strongly glossy, the dark forewing somewhat brightened by a narrow dcnlUlru/ala. 

 ferruginous sluuk- pidximally to the subterminal and a similar shade close to the base; the very strong outward 

 curve of the anterior i)ait of the antemedian lines also very characterist ic. Foundcd on a few 30 fi""'" Tonglo, 



