104 NEW RECORDS OF LEPIDOPTERA 



and the author near Mt. Hotham, along the road towards Cobun- 

 gra, at an altitude just over 5,000 feet. 



This butterfly is very abundant on Mt. Kosciusko during late 

 February and throughout March. Waterhouse states ' ' The butter- 

 flies there (at Mt. Kosciusko) are so plentiful that at dusk they 

 may be picked from the bushes with the fingers. ' ' In view of this 

 statement, it was reasonable to predict that this butterfly would 

 occur on parts of the Victorian Alps, between 5,000 and 6,000 feet. 



A closely allied species, O. orichora orichora Meyr. which is 

 very similar, but slightly larger, is very plentiful at places of 

 similar altitude on the Alps, also on Mt. Kosciusko. O. orichora 

 is on the wing throughout January, but by the middle of February 

 is nearly over. Its place is then apparently taken by O. latialis, 

 as is the case at Mt. Kosciusko. 



An interesting description of the life history of this butterfly 

 is given by Waterhouse in What Butterfly is Tit at? -p. 115. 



O. latialis was originally described as a subspecies of Oreixenica 

 lathonidla lathoniella "West, which has several well defined geo- 

 graphical races in southern Australia and Tasmania. Since then 

 both species have been collected in the same localities at the 

 same time. This was the case in the above instance. 



Family LYCAENIDAE 



Subfamily Lycaeninae 



('(indalides cyprotus Olliff. 



This butterfly has a fairly wide distribution in Australia, being 

 recorded from Illawarra, N.S.W. to Brisbane, the Blue Moun- 

 tains, South Australia, and the southern coastal portion of West- 

 ern Australia. 



It was not until November 1945, however, that this species was 

 captured in Victoria, when a few specimens were caught on the 

 Little Desert, a few miles south of Kiata. Examples of both sexes 

 were secured, but were in rather wasted condition, showing that 

 it was a little late for the species. In October 1946, another visit 

 was made to the Little Desert, and more specimens were obtained 

 all in much better condition. 



It is surprising that with such a wide range, C. cyprotus does 

 not appear to have developed any geographical races. Specimens 

 from Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria however, 

 are slightly smaller than those from New South Wales and Queens- 

 land. 



Rarely, the central areas of the wings in the female are blue 

 or bluish purple. In the many specimens examined by the author. 



