388 L. de Niceville & Dr. L. Martin — Butterflies of Sumatra. [No. 3, 



and at all seasons of the year, bnt are most plentiful in the rainy-season 

 from October to January in rice-fields, on which the larva feeds, as well 

 as on certain coarse species of grass. It is delightful to a lepidopterist 

 who loves insects alive in their native haunts as well as dead, dried, and 

 pinned in his cabinets to see two males fighting together and flying up 

 very high into the air, then returning with periodical regular move- 

 ments to the spots from whence they started. As this happens mostly 

 after sunset, the silhouettes of the insects are very sharp and clear 

 against the golden evening sky of the tropics. In consequence of the 

 well-known habit of Melanitis to be on the wing before sunrise and after 

 sunset, it sometimes comes into the lighted open verandahs of the 

 houses — quite a stranger amongst a crowd of moths and insects of all 

 orders. 



90. Melanitis bela, Moore. 



Hagen as suyudana. Semper as suyitdana. Decidedly rare, and 

 has nearly the same habits as M. ismcne, Cramer, but prefers small 

 jungle rather than the borders of fields, gardens, &c. Like Neorina 

 loivii, Doubleday and Hewitson, it is exceedingly fond of the sap from 

 certain teees. Dr. Hagen has quite correctly observed that in the early 

 morning hours M. bela is still earlier on the wing than M. ismene, and 

 that it has already retired to rest as that species and some Mycalesis 

 appear, ill. bela occurs under two forms : — the one which corresponds 

 to the wet-season form of the species in India (asiva, Moore), has the 

 upperside of the wings in the male velvety-black, with the apex of the 

 fore wing but very slightly angulated ; the other, which corresponds to 

 the dry-season form of the species in India (time bela), has the upper- 

 side of the wings in the male much paler, of a rusty-brown hue, often 

 with subapical spots in the fore wing on the upperside, with the apex of 

 the wing strongly angulated. The first of these forms equals M. abdullse, 

 Distant, the second M. suyudana, Moore. Mr. Moore in Lep. Ind., vol. 

 ii, p. 137, continues to keep the two last-named species distinct, and 

 records it from Sumatra under the name of 31. suyudana, but as I 

 possess good series of both from the localities whence they were des- 

 cribed, I have no hesitation in sinking them both as synonyms of 

 M. bela. 



91. Melanitis zitenius, Herbst. 



Distant. The rarest species of the genus occurring in Sumatra, 

 and found only at the higher elevations from 500 to 2,000 feet. In 

 thirteen years Dr. Martin has obtained a dozen specimens perhaps. 



