450 ETMPHALIDJE. 



slender lunules, followed by an intervening band of the ground- 

 colour, anteriorly more or less whitish, and a very slender anti- 

 ciliary black line. Hind wing : two or three transversely placed 

 white spots at base, a medial curved transverse series of very 

 irregularly shaped unequal-sized white spots, a postdiscal curved 

 series of small black white-centred spots, and a conspicuous 

 terminal band of much larger, somewhat scutiform, white spots ; 

 all the white spots silvery in certain lights, margined slenderly, on 

 one or on both sides, by black lines ; the interspaces between the 

 series of white markings ochraceous red, with some intervening 

 markings of pale yellow on the outer portions of the wing. 

 Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen dark brownish black; 

 beneath dusky ochraceous. — 2 • Upperside similar : ground-colour 

 paler, markings similar but proportionately larger. Underside also 

 similar, the markings all proportionately broader, the white mark- 

 ings on the hind wing sometimes suffused with very pale blue. 



Exp. S 2 42-50 mm. (1-65-2"). 



Hab. Turkestan ; within our limits this species has been taken 

 in North Ladak, the Hunza Valley, and Chitral. 



Genus MELIT^A. 



Melitaea, Fabr. Illig. Mag. vi, 1807, p. 284; de N. Butt. Ind,\\ f 

 1886, p. 23 ; Moore, Lep. Ind. v, 1901-1903, p. 6. 



Mellicta, Bilberq, Enum. Ins. 1820, p. 77 (fide Scudder) ; Moore,. 

 Lep. Lid. v, 1901-1903, p. 2. 



Type, M. didyma, Esper, from Europe. 



Range. Temperate zones of both hemispheres. Within our 

 limits in the Himalayas at high elevations. 



<S 2 • Eore wing: costa slightly arched, nearly straight; apex 

 rounded ; termen convex, oblique ; tornus rounded ; dorsum 

 straight ; cell closed, slightly less than half length of wing ; disco- 

 cellulars oblique, upper very short, middle slightly concave, lower 

 long, bent angularly inwards in middle, with a short inwardly 

 directed spur ; vein 3 from before lower apex of cell, 4 from apex, 

 9 and 10 out of 7, 11 free. Hind wing oval, costa and dorsum 

 almost straight, termen strongly rounded and curved ; cell open in 

 the Indian, rarely closed in the European and American forms. 

 Antennae about half length of fore wing ; club short, broad, abrupt, 

 spatulate ; palpi erect, set thickly with hairs, third joint slender, 

 acute ; eyes naked. 



The forms in this genus are in an exceedingly plastic condi- 

 tion, varying enormously according to locality, so that it is often 

 impossible to say where one form begins and the other ends. 

 Adjoining localities often give forms distinguishable at a glance, 

 while in other cases widely separated localities like Italy and the 

 Chitral Valley have forms so similar, that it is difficult to separate 

 them without close scrutiny and examination. 



