412 



very irregular, transverse, sinuous discal band dark greyish-brow n, 

 edged inwardly and outwardly with white ; beyond these is an 

 inner subtermiual series of greyish-brown lunules followed by an 

 outer subterminal series of similarly coloured spots, the latter 

 encircled with .white, and a black anticiliary slender line. Antennae, 

 head, thorax and abdomen dark brown, a little purplish on the 

 thorax, the shafts of the antennae speckled with white ; beneath : 

 the palpi, thorax and abdomen white. $ . Upperside, fore wing : 

 costa, apex and termen broadly brownish -black, rest of the wing 

 whitish, flushed and overlaid especially at base with metallic blue. 

 Hind wing : costa and termen broadly fuscous or brownish black, 

 the rest of the wing whitish flushed with metallic blue as on the 

 fore wing which, however, does not spread to the dorsal margin ; 

 a discal curved medial series of fuscous spots ; a transverse, 

 incomplete, postdiscal series of white sagittate lunules followed 

 by a subterminul series of spots as follows, superposed on 

 the brownish-black terminal border : two black geminate dots 

 margined inwardly and outwardly with white, a large black spot 

 crowned broadly with ochraceous inwardly and edged slenderly 

 with white on the outer side in interspace 2, and anterior to that 

 a transversely linear black spot encircled with white in each inter- 

 space. Cilia of fore wing brown, of hind wing white traversed by 

 a transverse medial brown line. Underside : ground-colour and 

 markings as in the g . Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen 

 similar to those of the c? . Eyes in both sexes hairy. 



Exp. c? $ 27-38 mm. (1-08-1-49*). 



Hob, Peninsular India south of the outer ranges of the 

 Himalayas ; Ceylon ; Assam ; Burma ; Tenasserim ; the Andamaus ; 

 Kicobars ; extending through the Malayan Subregion down to 

 Australia. 



An extraordinarily variable form both in the shade of the 

 ground-colour on the upperside and in size. One variety 

 (lithargyrea, Moore), which has the ground-colour on the upperside 

 more blue than purple in the c? , is not uncommon throughout the 

 range of the insect, nor has there any corresponding difference 

 been found among the females, while in the blue males the 

 markings are precisely the same as those of typical males. 



Larva. " Of the usual shape (i. e. onisciform) ; head light yellow 

 margined with brown ; body light rose, covered with tiny star- 

 topped stems so arranged as to make diagonal whitish lines to each 

 segment ; a subdorsal line on the back ; anal segment nearly 

 square, the margin (? margins) of the body clothed with light 

 coloured and longish hair." (Davidson, Bell "<Sf Aitken.) 



Pupa. " Of the usual form, covered with stiff erect hair ; colour 

 light rose with a black patch on the second segment and centre of 

 thorax ; it has also a dark dorsal line and the lower segments are 

 smudged with black." (Davidson, Bell $ Aitlcen.) 



