398 MR. H.J. ELWES ON BUTTERFLIES FROM SIKKIM, [May 2 



margin a fine yellow streak as well ; close to it, at the base, a faded 

 yellow spot is found. 



Head black ; j)alpi laterally white ; forehead with two white 

 Btreaks ; top of the head with four white points ; antennae in the 

 female brownish ; prothorax above with two yellow points ; abdo- 

 men below and on the sides spotted yellow. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXIV. 



Fig. L PapUio hahncli, p. 396. 

 2. Hcluonms veims, p. 396. 



Fig. 3. Heliconms godmani, p. 397. 



3. On a Collection of Butterflies from Sikkim. 

 By H. J. Elwes. 



[Eeceived April 24, 1882.] 



(Plate XXV.) 



When at Darjeeling in 1881 with Mr. Godman, I made arrange- 

 ments with a native plant-collector, a Sikkim Bhotea, who had 

 accompanied me on two expeditions into the interior, to visit the 

 Ciiunibi valley, on the Tibetan frontier of Sikkim, to collect seeds 

 and insects. This he did during the months of August and Sep- 

 tember last ; and through tiie kind assistance of my friend Mr. 

 Gammie 1 have received a considerable number of Butterflies in 

 ])apers in tolerable condition. Though I cannot be certain of the 

 exact localities in which they were taken, I have little doubt, from 

 my knowledge of the coiuitry and the jilants which came with 

 them, that a considerable portion of them were taken on the Tibetan 

 side of tlie frontier, which has never been visited by any European, 

 on account of the jealousy of the Tibetan officials. On two occasions 

 I have looked down into this valley from passes 15,000-16,000 feet 

 high on the Chola range, which bounds Sikkiuj on thenoith-east ; and, 

 judging from what I saw and from the information we have obtained 

 through native sources, it is a valley of somewhat different climate 

 and vegetation from the Sikkim valley, though the Machu river, 

 which drains it, flows southwards through Bhotan to the Bay of 

 Bengal. It is said to be much drier in summer and colder in winter 

 than Sikkim valleys of similar elevation ; and as a number of the 

 plants and butterflies I received are not known to occur on our side 

 of the passes, I have no doubt that the collectors passed some part, 

 at any rate, of their time in this valley. 



With the collection came a number of other species which occur 

 at lower elevations in Sikkim, and which were probably taken on 

 the journey up. This part of the expedition is often made to last as 

 long as possible by these native collectors, who infinitely prefer to 

 spend their advance-pay in feasting at some of the villages on their 

 road to hard work in a cold climate on short commons. 



The most interesting species in the collection are Palsearctic forms. 



