NACADUBA. 389 



diffuse dusky band, and enclosed between it and the black edging 

 three somewhat prominent spots of the white ground-colour. Hind 

 wing : costal margin above a longitudinal line through the middle 

 of the cell dusky black ; posterior portion of the wing dusky bluish, 

 veins prominently black ; a comparatively well-defined transverse 

 postdiscal series of black lunules edged inwardly and outwardly by 

 similar series of white lunules, followed by a subterminal series of 

 black spots with an outer edging of white and an anticiliary jet - 

 black line ; the subterminal spots decrease in size anteriorly, those 

 in interspaces 2 and 3 the largest, the two spots in interspace 1 

 minute and geminate ; tail black tipped with white. Underside : 

 similar to that of the cf but the ground-colour grey with a slight 

 tint of brown, the transverse white strigse much broader, somewhat 

 diffuse ; on the fore wing the band formed by the medial pair of 

 strigae much more broken than in the $ , the posterior portion 

 below vein 3 shifted well outwards ; on the hind wing the sub- 

 terminal black spot in interspace 2 comparatively very large and 

 prominent. Antennae as in the rf ; head, thorax and abdomen 

 brown ; beneath : the palpi, thorax and abdomen as in the tf . 



Exp. c? $ 30-32 mm. (M8-1-27"). 



Hob. Sikhim ; Bhutan ; Southern India : the Nilgiri and 

 Shevaroy Hills ; Ceylon ; Assam ; Cachar ; Burma ; Tenasserim ; 

 the Nicobars ; extending to the Malay Peninsula and Java. 



I have a single specimen from the JS T icobars which is very much 

 larger (expanse 37 mm.). This has the ground-colour considerably 

 darker on the upperside, with the frosted silvery-blue sheen more 

 prominent than in typical atrata, which latter it closely resembles 

 on the underside. 



Larva. " Feeds on Embelia robusta .... the back elevated and 

 the segments most distinctly denned ; the anal segment is 

 flattened ; the back forms a distinct ridge, the colour is green but 

 there is a purple line along the ridge of the back ; the other seg- 

 ments are also edged with the same colour. The head is small, 

 amber coloured, with a darker border." (Davidson, Bell $ Aitken.) 



Pupa. " Short and stout, constricted slightly between the thorax 

 and abdomen and has slight traces of a ridge along the back. In 

 colour it is a dingy greenish-brown powdered with black. There 

 is an interrupted dark band along the middle of the back and also 

 spots of blackish on the abdominal segments and just beyond the 

 wing-covers and the sides of the thorax. It is smooth and only 

 fastened at the tail parallel with the leaf to which it is attached." 

 (Davidson, Bell $ Aitken.) 



745. Nacadnba plumbeomicans, Wood-Mason # de N., J. A. S. B. 

 1880, p. 231 ; Moore, Journ. Linn. Sue., Zool. xxi, 1886, p. 40 : 

 de N. Butt, Ind. iii, 1890, p. 150. 



Race nicobarica. 



Nacaduba plumbeomicans, var. nicobaricus, Wood-Mason fy de 

 N., J. A. S. B. 1881, p. 234 ; de N. Butt. Ind. iii, 1890, p. 151. 



J . Upperside : dull purplish-blue, in certain lights with a shining 



