XXIX. DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF 



CHARAXES FROM THE BHUTAN 



FRONTIER. 



By G. W. V. deRhe-Phii.ipe. 



Char axes vaidhaka, sp„ no v. 



Closely allied to C. fabius, Fabricius. Termen of fore wing more 

 oblique, and both termen and dorsum shorter than in C. fabius, 

 giving the wing a narrower and more pointed appearance. 



Upper side. —Fore wing, ground colour a deep velvety black, 

 darker generally than in the allied form ; basal area greyish black. 

 Immaculate except for a subterminal series of cream-coloured spots 

 decreasing in size towards the apex ; these spots larger and more 

 marked than in C. fabius, those at the posterior angle being twice 

 as large as in most examples of the latter. Hind wing, discal band 

 as in C. fabius, but generally paler and narrower; subterminal 

 series of light yellow spots complete, terminal markings greenish 

 blue, not yellow. 



Under side. — Ground colour a purplish grey, appreciably differ- 

 ent from the usual ground colour of C. fabius. Markings arranged 

 as in the latter, but the discal white bar on the fore wing obsolete 

 and the sinuous black lines less defined. Ochreous red discal and 

 purple submarginal lunular markings on hind wing large and 

 distinct. 



In regard to the outline of the fore wings, careful measure- 

 ments of several males of C. fabius from different parts of India 

 show the relative lengths of the costa, termen and dorsum to be in 

 the proportions of lOO : 75 : 64 or 65 ; while similar measurements 

 of the new form are in the proportions of 100 : 70 : 60. The dif- 

 ference in outline, though slight, is distinct. 



The species is not represented either in the de Niceville collec- 

 tion or in the Indian Museum collections ; nor is it described in 

 Rothschild's '^Monograph on the Charaxes and allied genera" 

 {Novitates Zoologicce, vols, v, vi and vii). It would appear to ap- 

 proach some of the Malayan forms of the genus ; except for the 

 almost unmarked fore wing, the upper side is not unlike that of 

 C. echo, Butler, as illustrated and described in the above work. 



Expanse 3*16 inches. Described from a single male taken near 

 Jainti on the Raidhak River (Bhutan frontier), 2,000 feet, in June, 

 and now in my collection. 



