ERYNNINuaE. 331 



PARNARA VAIKA. 



Plate 834, figs. 2, <J , 2a, ? , 2b, <J , 2c, ? . 



Hesperia vnil-n, Plotz, Berl. ent. Zeit. xlvii. p. 96 (1886), unpublished plate No. 1414, ^ . 



Baoris {Parnara) philotas, de Niceville, Journ. Bo. Nat. Hist. Soc. ix. 1895, p. 402, pi. Q, fig. 60, $. 



Davidson, Bell and Aitken, id. xi. 1897, p. 47. 

 Parnara phUotas, Ehves and Edwards, Trans. Zool. Soc. 1897, p. 285. 



Description. — Male and Female. Upperside, both wings dark Ijrown with a vinous 

 reflection. Cilia cinereous. Forewinj with a quadrate dot at the base of the second 

 median interspace ; a quadrate spot, four times as large as the dot anterior to it, near 

 the middle of the first median inter.space. Hindwing with two hyaline white dots just 

 beyond the discoidal cell divided by the second median nervule ; the base of the wing 

 clothed with long ochreous-greeu .setae. Underside, both wings dark purplish-brown, 

 this ground-colour apjjearing, however, only broadly on the inner margin of the 

 forewing, all the rest of the surface (as seen under a strong magnifying glass) being 

 thickly covered with " old-gold " covered scales ; the pair of spots on each wing as 

 on the upperside. Antenna3, head and body above fuscous ; antennge beneath has the 

 base of the club, palpi, legs and body beneath pale ochreous. 



This distinct little species appears to be nearest to B. hevani, Moore, with 

 which it agrees in size, but instead of from five to eight spots on the forewing and 

 three to five on the hindwing, it has a pair of spots on each wing only. 



Descril)ed from a single example taken in August at Trevandrum, Travancore, 

 by Mr. Harold S. Ferguson, and another in Mr. T. R. Bell's collection taken in 

 North Kanara, Bombay Presidency, (de Niceville.) 



Expanse of wings, ,? ? 1 1% inches. 



Habitat. — South India. 



Distribution. — Davidson, Bell and Aitken bred this insect in North Kanara, 

 their specimen being identified by de Niceville ; they say : " We know little about 

 this skipper. We have bred two specimens of it from larvae feeding on grass or 

 rice, both of which larvse we took to be Baoris hada, Moore ; it is possible there may 

 have been a larva slightly diff'ering from those of the last-named species among the 

 crowd we had, but we did Jiot notice it if this was the case. One specimen was bred 

 in the monsoon below the ghats, the other in the dry weather above the ghats. One 

 specimen was sent to Mr. de Niceville, who identified it for us. jMay it not be 

 possible that Baoris philotas is only a starved individual of B. hada ? The question 

 would be worth investigating. B. bada is easily reared from the egg in a cage in 

 which it is only necessary to plant some rice and, after it has sprouted, to introduce a 

 female P. bada ; a few larvae can be put apart and brought up on short allowance after 



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