PcupilionidcB. 91 



This species belongs to the group of which P. Nox 

 is the type, and I should probably not have erred 

 in uniting as sexes of the same species, the male in- 

 sects above described under the name of P. Noctula 

 from Borneo, remarkable for the large size of the fore- 

 wings, glossed with rich raven-purple on the upper 

 side; and the fine female specimens described below, 

 under the name of P. 8trix, also from Borneo, in the 

 collection of Mr. Hewitson. 



As, however, we possess no certain information as to the 

 specific identity of these two insects, and as it may prove, 

 ultimately, that P. Noctula may be the male form of P. 

 Erebus of Wallace, also from Borneo and Malacca, the 

 hind-wings of the females of which are glossed with steel- 

 blue, of which there is no trace in P. 8trix, I have 

 thought it best, provisionally, to describe the two sexes 

 as distinct. If P. Strix should ultimately be found to be 

 the genuine partner of P. Noctula, the latter name, in 

 accordance with the established usage for retaining the 

 name given to the males must be employed, and that of 

 P. 8trix abandoned. 



For the purpose of comparison with the only known 

 males of this group hitherto described, namely, that of 

 P. Noctis, of Hewitson, also published as such from Borneo, 

 by Mr. Wallace, in the Trans. Linn. Soc. (XXV. PI. 

 V. f. 1), I have given a careful outline of the typical 

 specimen of this male now in Mr. Hewitson's collection 

 on pi. IV. fig. 2, from which it will be at once seen that, 

 although having much more rounded and broader fore- 

 wings than the male of P. Nox (of which a figure is now, 

 for the first time, represented on pi. IV. fig. 1, also from 

 the collection of Mr. Hewitson, from Java, formerly in 

 coll. Wallace, and in the British Museum, from Pulo 

 Penang) . The male of P. Noctula has still larger and 

 broader fore-wings, whilst the hind-wings are more 

 slightly sinuated on the hind-margin than in P. Nox, 

 male, but more decidedly so than in P. Noctis, male. 



The three males are also well distinguished by the 

 colour of their wings, that of P. Nox being black with a 

 slight brownish tinge, the apex of the fore-wing beyond 

 the cell, extending about half-way along the apical mar- 

 gin being paler, and gradually faded off to black-brown, 

 with black veins, and slender black lines between the 

 veins. 



