408 LTC.ENID.i:. 
Ilerda epicles. (Plate XXX. fig. 6, j .) 
Pohjommatus epicles, Godart, Enc. Meth. ix. p. 646 (1823). 
Theda epicles, Horsfield, Cat. Lep. E. I. C. p. 92, pi. i. fig. 3, ? (1829). 
Ilerda epicles, Hewitson, 111. Diurn. Lep. p. 58 (1865) ; de Niceville, Butt. Ind. iii. 
p. 325 (1890). 
" AliB supra fuscse, maris violaoeo micantes ; antico} disco, posticu) limbo apicali aurautio-fulvis, iu 
mare ex lunulis approximatis efformato, fimbria alba nigro interrupfa, anticorum obsoletiore ; 
subtiis omncs latt- sulpburea;, limbo apicali sanguineo, posticarum lunulis albis intus margi- 
nato, maculisque cuneatis nigris in serie margin! ate parallels digestis ; posticae insuper puncto 
minute nigro ante diseum. (Exp. alar. lin. 13-15.) 
" Wings above blackish brown, with a violet reflection in the male, which is of a deeper shade 
towards the base, the anterior wing bearing a large irregularly rounded rufous-orange spot 
on the medial areola, the hinder being marked with a posterior border of the same colour ; 
in the male the medial spot is smaller, consisting of a transverse cloud, and in the posterior 
pair the border is narrowed and undulated at the inner edge, being composed of confluent 
luuules ; a narrow undulated black streak passes along the posterior margin ; the fringe is 
white, interrupted with black at the nervurcs, and in the fore wings evanescent towards the 
outer apical angle ; the female has besides a short transverse black stigma before the disk of 
the fore wings, and in the hinder pair, near the middle, a faint orange dash : underneath the 
wings are bright sulphureous yellow : both pair have a sanguineous posterior border, which 
in the anterior wings is narrow and uniform until it approaches the inner apical angle, where 
it is terminated by a short black streak edged on both sides with white ; in the posterior 
wings it is broader and ornamented internally by a series of white arcs delicately edged on 
both sides with black ; a series of small wedge-shaped black spots, bedded in an oblong sub- 
marginal cloud of white irrorations, is arranged parallel with the black marginal thread, 
which is confined by the extreme fringe ; a minute black dot stands between the disk and 
base, and two more obscure ones are distinctly arranged along the inner margin ; the fore 
wings have besides a very faint series of brown liturae, and the hinder pair interrupted 
white streaks parallel with the post-marginal border ; the anal appendage is terminated by a 
black spot and the tails have a white tip. The body is brown above and hoary underneath ; 
the legs are alternately white and black; the antennae are black with delicate white bands to 
the commencement of the club." (Hurgfield, I. c.) 
Males from China agree very well Anth Sikkim examples, but in the female 
the red markings on upper surface are narrower than is usually the case in 
specimens of the same sex from that locality. 
Eeferring to the variation of the species in India, Mr. de Niceville (I. c.) 
observes : — " J. epicles is certainly the commonest and probably the most 
variable species of the genus. In the male on the upperside of the fore Aving 
there is sometimes a faint orange irroration on the disc, this is sometimes 
developed into a moderately sized spot, sometimes the spot is as large as in 
the female ; in this case, however, the male will be at once recognized by the 
beautiful purple colour seen in some lights, which is restricted to a well- 
