98 NEW RACES OF AUSTRALIAN BUTTERFLIES 



nus was picked up on the snow near Edward's hut on the Barring- 

 ton Tops, New South Wales, altitude about 5,000 feet. This speci- 

 men differed considerably from any of the other races of the 

 species, and was described by Waterhouse (3) as Pseudalmenus 

 cJilorinda barringtonensis. 



Whilst at Newcastle during December, 1946, the writer visited 

 the northern end of the Barrington Tops, which has been rather 

 neglected from a collecting point of view. On arrival at Tubra- 

 bucca on December 26, a chance meeting with another entomolog- 

 ist took place, and this coincidence resulted in the discovery of 

 the life history of this hitherto very little known butterfly; Mr. 

 F. J. Dodd, then of Murrurundi, N.S.W., had anticipated the 

 writer by a day or two, and, on December 27, Dodd remarked that 

 he had seen some Lycaenid larvae which he thought were those of 

 another well known and widely distributed butterfly, Ialmenus 

 evagoras evagoras Don., feeding on a wattle tree, at the same time 

 stating that he thought that they looked slightly different from 

 others he had seen. An examination was immediately made of 

 the larvae which were about half grown — these were certainly not 

 larvae of Ialmenus evagoras, but they resembled somewhat larvae 

 of the Victorian race of Pseudalmenus (zepliyrus) . Further 

 searching resulted in the finding of fully grown larvae, and even- 

 tually the writer found a pupa under the bark of one of the food 

 trees, this too resembling the pupa of zephyrus. Actual confirma- 

 tion therefore could not be established until the following spring, 

 when the butterflies normally emerge. 



P. clilorinda chlorinda in Tasmania feeds on Silver Wattle 

 (Acacia dealbata) and Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) , and as 

 far as is at present known favours fairly large trees only. The 

 Victorian race zephyrus feeds on the same two species of wattle, 

 favouring fairly large trees. The Blue Mountains form chloris, 

 feeds on Acacia ovata, and is only to be found on large trees. It 

 was an interesting discovery to find Pseudalmenus larvas on trees 

 varying in height from 18 inches to 25 feet, and as far as was 

 found, on silver wattles only (Acacia dealbata). The same very 

 strong smelling small black ant which occurs with the race 

 zephyrus in Victoria was swarming over the larvae and pupae. 

 The former fed quite openly and singly in full sunlight on the 

 young tips of the foodplant. Pupae were found beneath loose 

 bark on the food trees, under stones at their bases, and even in 

 hollow sticks nearby. In the case of larvae found on trees only a 

 foot or so high, the ants were followed, and in several instances 

 led us to pupae under the bark of eucalypts five feet away, also 

 under leaves and pieces of wood on the ground nearby. 



