no J. N. ELIOT 



N. thisbe obscurior Oberthiir 



(Text-fig. 84) 



Neptis thisbe thisbe var. obscurior Oberthiir, 1906 : 9, pi. 9, fig. 1. Region of Siao-Lou. ? $ 



type BMNH. 

 Neptis thisbe obscurior Oberthiir ; Stichel, 1909 : 179, pi. 541. 

 Neptis thisbe obscurior Oberthiir ; Fruhstorfer, 1913 : 610. 



A dark form, to which it is clear that Oberthiir intended the name obscurior 

 to apply, occurs with a commoner form which differs from ssp. thisbe only in being 

 rather larger and more richly coloured. Intermediates occur occasionally. The 

 dark form differs from the thisbe-like form in having more narrowly chequered 

 cilia and on the under surface as follows. The fore wing postdiscal spot in space 3 

 is usually more widely separated from the cell streak. On the hind wing the reddish 

 brown areas are richer and darker, the discal spot in space 5 is bluish white instead 

 of pale yellow and is inwardly narrower, so that the pale lavender subbasal spot in 

 space 5 stands well clear of the inner edge of the discal band (in the thisbe-like form 

 this spot is more or less swallowed up in the discal band) and the discal spots in 

 spaces 6 and 7 are usually smaller, that in space 7 often reduced to an oblique streak. 

 The butterfly labelled as the type, bearing an inscription in Oberthiir's handwriting 

 ' Neptis thisbe-obscurior Ch. Obthr. exemplaire ayant servi de modele a la peinture ', 

 is, surprisingly, a thisbe-like example which does not match the figure. There is 

 an example of the dark form labelled, also in Oberthiir's handwriting, ' thisbe 

 obscurior Obthr. Lepid. Comp. II, PI. IX, fig. 1 ', but this example does not 

 match the figure either. The figure itself is an intermediate, though nearer to the 

 dark than to the thisbe-like form, and may possibly be a composite figure intended 

 by the artist to show the average of the subspecies. 



I use the name obscurior to denote the mixed population of Szechwan, and regard 

 the dark form as the typical form in view of Oberthiir's original description and 

 figure. 



Western China (Szechwan), Eastern China (N. Fukien, 1 <$ dark form). 



N. thisbe dilutior Oberthiir 



(Text-fig. 85) 



Neptis thisbe dilutior Oberthiir, 1906 : 9, pi. 9, fig. 2. Tse-Kou. <$ type BMNH. 

 Neptis thisbe dilutior Oberthiir ; Stichel, 1909 : 179, pi. 54f. 

 Neptis thisbe dilutior Oberthiir ; Fruhstorfer, 1913 : 610. 



N.W. Yunnan (Upper Mekong Valley). 



Neptis yunnana Oberthiir 

 N. yunnana tshetverikovi Kurentzov stat. n. 



Neptis thisbe ssp. Nomura, 1935 : 37, fig. 8 <J. North Korea. 



Neptis tshetverikovi Kurentzov, 1936 : 185, text-fig. <J genitalia. Sichote-Alin, also Trans- 

 baikalia. 

 Neptis tshetverikovi Kurentzov ; Shirozu, 1952 : 157. 



