TARUCUS. 417 



Genus TARUCUS. 



Tarucus, Moore, Lep. CeyL i, 1881, p. 81 ; de N. Suit. 2nd, iii, 1890, 

 p. 186. 



Type, T. theoplirastus^ Fabr. 



Range. Southern Europe, North and "West Africa, Arabia, India, 

 Ceylon, Assam, Burma, China. 



<3 $ . Fore wing: costa slightly arched ; apex bluntly angulate ; 

 termen convex ; tornus well-marked, angulate, slightly obtuse ; 

 dorsum straight, about three-fourths length of costa ; cell about 

 half length of wing ; veins 6 and 7 well separated at base, vein 8 

 absent, vein 9 from beyond middle of 7, vein 10 at base, closer to 

 vein 11 than to base of vein 7 ; veins 11 and 12 bent very closely 

 towards each other, typically anastomosed at one point ; vein 12 

 terminates on costa well before lower apex of cell. Hind wing : 

 ample, broad ; costa arched ; apex and termen curved, convex, apex 

 not well marked ; tornus obtuse ; dorsum straight posteriorly, 

 convex near base ; cell short, not nearly half length of wing; veins 

 3 and 4 very closely approximate at base, from lower apex of cell, 

 vein 7 from apical half of subcostal, vein 8 strongly curved at base. 

 Antennae about half length of wing, club fusiform ; palpi porrect 

 or subporrect, second joint in front clothed densely with compara- 

 tively large scales, not fringed with hairs, third joint naked, acicu- 

 late ; eyes typically smooth, in one form hairy ; body slender. 



This genus, which so far as venation goes cannot be separated 

 from Castalius, contains within our limits only three forms, one of 

 which is doubtfully distinct. The other two are structurally 

 different, and have by some authors been separated generically. 



Key to the forms of Tarucus. 



a. Eyes smooth. 



'. Upperside fore and hind -wings : except 



for an anticiliary dark line con- 



colorous throughout T. theophrastus, p. 417. 



6'. Upperside fore and hind wings : broad 



dark terminal margins, not con- 



colorous throughout T. venosus, p. 419. 



b. Eyes hairy T. plinius, p. 420. 



762. Tarucus theoplirastus (PI. XX, fig. 151 tf), Fabr. (Hesperia) 



Ent. St/st. iii, 1793, p. 281 ; Moore (Lycaena), Cat. Lep. Mus. 



E. I. C. i, 1857, p. 25 ; id. Lep. CeyL i, 1881, p. 81, pi. 36, tig. 3 ; 



de N. Butt. Ind. iii, 1890, p. 187. 

 Lycaena nara, Kollar, in HugeVs Kaschmir, iv, 1848, p. 241 ; Hutler 



(Tarucus), P. Z. S. 1881, p. 606 : de N. (Tarucus) Butt. Ind. iii, 



1890, p. 190. 

 Tarucus alteratus, Moore, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 245, pi. 12, figs. 4, 4a, <$ ; 



de N. Butt. Ind. iii, 1890, p. 192. 

 Tarucus callinara, Butler, A. M. N. H. (5) xviii, 1886, p. 185 ; de N. 



Butt. Ind. iii, 1890, p. 191. 



Tarucus extricatus, Butler, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 366. pi. 35. fig. 2 <fj 

 de N. Butt. Ind. iii, 1890, p. 192. 



cJ. Upperside: pale purple to violet with in certain lights a 



YOL. II. 2E 



