1900.] BTJTTEBFLIES OF THE GENUS ZIZERA. 105 



Butterflies inhabiting different geographical areas can well be ; 

 yet I find the decisions arrived at by De Niceville echoed by Leech 

 in his ' Butterflies of China and Japan.' 



The question which naturally occurs to me is : Did these 

 gentlemen ever separate the whole of the specimens before them 

 into geographical forms before deciding that they represented one 

 widespread and variable species ? If they had done so, I cannot 

 avoid the conclusion that they would either have kept them sepa- 

 rate, or have included the whole genus under one widely distributed 

 and still more variable species. 



The genus Zizera consists of small Butterflies with naked eyes : 

 the hind wings rounded, without tail, never ocellated above or below ; 

 the costal and subcostal veins perfectly free (on which account I 

 cannot accept the Lyccena lulu of Matbew as a Zizera, since the 

 costal and first subcostals touch one another in that species and 

 the hind wings usually show a black spot below to represent an 

 ocellus). 



I am not at all sure that Z. labrachis, in which the costal vein 

 and first subcostal branch of the fore wings are closely approximated 

 (though they do not touch or unite), is very nearly related to 

 any of the other species of the genus, the position of the discal 

 series of spots on the fore wings being unique ; still there seems no 

 sufficient reason for rejectiug it from the genus or group known 

 as Zizera. 



Before proceeding to a key to the species of Zizera, I wish to 

 express my conviction that any errors which may have crept into 

 important faunistic works with regard to the clear definition of the 

 species have been largely due to errors of identification published 

 previously, and almost inevitable at a time when the seasonal phases 

 of species were not even guessed at : thus a wet phase from Cal- 

 cutta might somewhat resemble a wet phase from Japan, whilst 

 the dry phase was wholly dissimilar. 



Key to Species of Zizera. 



A. Hind wings with first three spots of discal series below 



forming a tolerably regular oblique line 

 a. Species with well-defined and very dissimilar seasonal 

 forms. 



a. a. Wet phase of male silvery violet above with very broad 

 outer border, of female brown ; both sexes brownish 

 grey below : dry phase, bluish white above, the female 

 with very broad outer border Z. ma ha. 



a. b. Wet phase of male lavender above with much narrower 

 outer border, of female brown ; both sexes greyish 

 stone-colour below : dry phase pale lavender shading 

 into silvery blue above, the female with moderately 

 broad border (as in male of wet phase) Z. diluta. 



a. c. Wet phase of male pearly lilac above, with border as 

 in a. o, but more sharply defined, of female brown; 

 both sexes greyish stone-colour below : dry phase 

 silvery blue, becoming pale lilac and then cream-white, 

 with veins of the latter colour, the female blue with 

 broad border to primaries extending along costa ; a 

 broad costal border to secondaries Z. opa/ina. 



