326 NYMPHALIDjE. 



I have been able to make this careful examination through the 

 kindness of Mr. Gilbert Rogers, Deputy Conservator of Forests 

 in the Andamans, from whom I have received some hundreds of 

 specimens. 



337. Neptis columella (PI. IX, fig. 66), Cramer (Papilio), Pap.Exot. 



iv, 1782, pi. 296, figs. A, B, $ ; Moore (Andrapana), Lep. hid. iii, 



1896-99, p. 218, pi. 271, figs. I, 1 a-\ e, tf $ . 

 Neptis ophiana, Moore, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 561 J ; de N. Putt. Ind, 



ii, 1886, p. 105. 

 Neptis martabana, Moore, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1881, p. 810; de N. 



Butt. Ind. ii, 1886, p. 106. 

 Neptis ophiana, var. nilgirica, Moore, Hampson, J. A. S. B. 1888, 



pt. 2, p. 353. 



S 2 • Upperside black, with white markings. Fore wing : dis- 

 coidal streak widening towards apex, notched preapically on the 

 anterior margin and obliquely truncate at apex ; spot beyond large, 

 broadly triangular, well separated ; discal spots in pairs varying in 

 size, spot of this series in interspace 1 a always elongate ; spots in 

 transverse postdiscal series obscure, not all well denned, margined 

 on both sides with deeper black than that of the ground-colour; 

 the space between the series and the discal spots and also the 

 terminal margin beyond it with obscure transverse pale markings. 

 Hind wing: costal margin broadly greyish brown; subbasal band 

 not extending to the costa, of varying width ; discal and sub- 

 terminal pale transverse lines, the space between them darker than 

 the ground-colour, traversed by a prominent series of postdiscal 

 spots of varying size. Cilia white alternating with black. Under- 

 side ferruginous brown ; white markings as on the upperside 

 but broader ; the pale markings between the discal and postdiscal 

 series of spots, the subterminal markings on the upperside of 

 the fore wing, and the discal and subterminal pale lines on the 

 upperside of the hind wing represented by pale lunular transverse 

 whitish markings. The costal margin of the hind wing above 

 vein 8 very broad, especially in the $ . Antennae dark brown to 

 black ; head, thorax and abdomen dark brownish black ; beneath 

 white. 



Exp. J $ 66-75 mm. (2-59-2-98"). 



Hah. "Western and Southern India, recorded from Mahableshwar 

 near Bombay, and the Nilgiris ; Sikhim, Bhutan, through the hills 

 of Assam, Burma and Tenasserim to the Malay Peninsula, Siam 

 and Sumatra. 



The dry-season form has the white markings generally broader 

 and the ground-colour of the underside brighter. 1 have received 

 a single specimen, a $ , of a Neptis from the Nicobars which I 

 refer provisionally to this form. It differs from typical N. colu- 

 mella as follows : — Upperside : fore wing with only five, not six, 

 spots in the discal series, the small spot in interspace 1 being- 

 absent. Underside dark chocolate-brown, the markings beyond 

 he discal series on the fore wing very broad and diffuse, placed 



