MKUI7EA. 177 



Genus XIII. MELITvEA Boisd. 



Boisd. hid. Meih. 16. (1829). 



Melit^ea Ochs., Dup., fyc. 



MELIT^EA, SCHCENIS, ClNCLIDIA, PhYCIODES, 11 lib n. 



Argynnis God'. $c. 



Head rather small, clothed with hair ; forehead narrow. 



Byes oval, not prominent. 



Maxilla? rather longer than the thorax. 



Labial Palpi divergent, porrect, slightly ascending, projecting considerably beyond the forehead ; 

 all the joints hairy. First joint stout, curved ; second joint subcylindric, rather compressed, 

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

 acicular, about the same length as the first. 



Antennae short, scarcely half the length of the anterior margin of the wing, rather slender, 

 terminating in a short, pyriform, large club. 

 Thorax moderately stout, elongate oval, clothed with long hairs. 



Anterior Wings nearly triangular ; the anterior margin scarcely, or not at all, rounded ; outer 

 margin two thirds the length of the anterior, rounded, often but slightly ; inner margin nearly 

 straight, longer than the outer. Costal nervure rather stout, scarcely extending beyond the 

 middle of the anterior 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 nervule wanting. 



Posterior Wings obovate ; the shoulder very prominent ; the anterior margin nearly straight, equal 

 in length to the inner ; outer margin much rounded, but little more than half the length of the 

 other margins. Precostal nervure simple. Discoidal nervure appearing to be a third subcostal 

 nervule, arising from the second subcostal nervule soon after its origin. Cell open. Third 

 median nervule but little curved. Inner margin entirely embracing the abdomen. 



Anterior Legs of the male hairy and scaly ; the femur and tibia of about equal length, unarmed. 

 Tarsus smooth, subcylindric, slightly tapering at the base and apex ; one-jointed, but 

 sometimes showing slight indications of articulations ; shorter than the tibia. Anterior Legs of the 

 female with the tibias 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 



July, 1848. 3 B 



