356 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII, 



5. In the Calysisme group rama and evansii are easily separated, but the re- 

 mainder afiord one of the most difficult problems in the study of butterflies ; 

 males may be dealt with more or less satisfactorily, but the females in some cases- 

 are almost impossible to separate. An additional complication is that in S. 

 India several species fly in 3 forms — normal dry season, normal wet season, 

 and an intermediate form, with complete, but reduced oceh. I started off by 

 dissectiag the genitaUa of nearly 300 males and then, taking into accoimt the 

 various features and localities, arranged them over labels bearing the names- 

 given in the key. 



(a) perseus occurs throughout the area and I have no difficulty in separating 

 this species in either sex. The Southern form differs as detailed in the key. 



(&) mineus also occurs throughout the area and the Southern race always 

 rims smaller ; the intermediate form occurs in this species in North India as well 

 as in South India. The diffused ring of the ocellus seems to separate this 

 species fairly satisfactorily from everything except igilia, but here the angu- 

 lation of the discal band on the forewing below serves to distinguish the latter 

 species. 



(c) igilia is what Bingham described as a variety of perseoides from Kathle- 

 kan, Mysore, and on the strength of this description Fruhstorfer gave it the name 

 igilia, placing it as a race of perseoides. I have a long series from Coorg and a 

 specimen from Travancore. It has nothing to do with the Burmese perseoides 

 and is a very well defined species with a very restricted locaUty. It fhes with 

 orcha but not apparently with subdita. 



{d) mercea is an isolated species fljdng in Pachmarhi with visala, from which 

 it is easily separated by its smaller size and the tessellated border of the hind- 

 wing. I found it common in October 1910, just when the dry season brood was 

 out in full swing and a few individuals of the wet season form were stiU about ; 

 curiously enough aU the fresh males were of the intermediate form and all the 

 females normal dry season. 



(e) perseoides is an isolated species from Burma and is common in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Rangoon. It is easily recognised in the male, while the pecuhar, 

 dull ochreous tint on the underside of the dry season form is very characteristic, 

 being found also in mystes. 



(J) visala — I have from Pachmarhi, Sikkini to Burma and the Andamans. It 

 is a weU defined species as regards the secondary sexual characters of the male: 

 and the pointed forewing of the dry season female ; wet season females are very 

 difficult to separate from khasia. I do not think that it occurs south of Pachma- 

 rhi, specimens recorded from South India being either subdita or orcha. Fruh- 

 storfer makes a point of the venation of visala differing from that of its alHes,but 

 I cannot find any appreciable constant difference, though individuals differ to 

 a certain extent. The Pachmarhi dry season form differs from N. Indian forms 

 in having the band ©n the underside of the forewing a good deal shorter, while- 

 the discal line on the forewing above is very prominent. It is rare east of Sik- 

 kim, where its place appears to be taken by khasia. From Burma I have very 

 few specimens, but Fruhstorfer's name neovisala seems justifiable. 



(gf) subdita — I have from Ceylon, where it is the only form of this group and 

 from a few locahties in South India, where it seems very rare. The differences 

 between it and orcha are given in the key ; they are not very considerable and^ 

 but for the differences in the male genitaha, I should not have separated them ; 

 had subdita been confined to Ceylon, I would have treated it as a race of orcha. 



(h) khasia and rnxha are very alike and, but for the fact that orcha occurs in. 

 an intermediate form, I would not have separated them as races. 



6. Several authors have hinted that the various species of Mycalesis inter- 

 breed. I do not agree ; races no doubt do, where they meet.butto me the essen- 

 tial definition of a species is that it does not interbreed with another species. It- 



