JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. 



—a^2^=^— 



Part II.— NATURAL SCIENCE, 



No. I.— 1893. 



I. — On Erites, an oriental genus of satyrid butterflies : — By 

 Lionel de Nice'ville, E. E. S„ C. M. Z. S. 



[Eeceived 16th February; — Read 1st March, 1893.] 



The genus Erites at the present date contains five species only, 

 (six if _E7. ochreana is held to he a distinct species, I have not seen it) , 

 found in Assam, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Lahuan, 

 Borneo, and the Philippines. To these I now propose to add a sixth. 

 All are closely allied, and very similar in general aspect. They 

 are extremely delicate butterflies, semi-transparent, of a brownish- 

 ochreous shade, sometimes just tinted with violaceous on the upperside. 

 All possess a suhmarginal series of ocelli to both wings, more or less 

 visible on the upperside. These ocelli vary greatly in size, in some 

 species they are large and prominent, in others quite small and incon- 

 spicuous. On the underside there are usually two discal bands, often 

 more or less angled. These butterflies are found only in virgin forests 

 as far as I am aware, and fly weakly close to the ground amongst the 

 brushwood under the great trees and in open paths through the forests. 

 Their transformations are unknown. The males have no secondary sexual 

 characters. The females differ only from the males in 'the wings 

 being somewhat broader, and in having the apex of the forewing more 

 rounded. 



J. ii. 1 



