Publ. 5. I. 1022. 
MEGISBA. By H. Fruhstorfer. 
857 
and of a rather isolated position. On the other hand, however, the antennal whip greatly resembles again 
the Pithecops, and Moore says that the club is at most somewhat shorter than in N eopithecops. Courvoisier 
has besides proved that neither Megisba nor Pithecops have androconia of the forewings, thus a negative 
characteristic uniting Megisba with the Pithecops. Thus always one characteristic paralyses the other also 
here. If we, however, glance over the essential characteristics, it follows that Megisbct can without hesitation 
be joined to the genuine Lycaeninae, to which also the Lycaenopsis belong *). As a genus, however, Megisba 
must be considered to be of no account, and we may unhesitatingly subordinate it to the large collective 
genus which we know as Cupido or Lycaena already from the older catalogues. Also the early stages are 
entirely Lycaenoidal and void of peculiarities. The existence of temporal forms was first stated by Nice- 
vilee and depicted by Swinhoe. As to the geographical variation, it is Dr. van Eeckes merit to have pointed 
it out **). 
An amusing fact is that Moore founded a special genus ,,Pathalia“ on tailed specimens of the dry 
period of the Indian race and that Niceville and Doherty treated the matter so seriously that both strictly 
registered from where they obtained ,,tailed“ and ,,untailed“ Megisba. 
The genital organs of the Megisba have since 1909 been made known by Dr. Chapman who figured 
them in Proc. Zook Soc. p. 474, f. 120. They belong to that large group of the Lycaenopsis without an apo¬ 
physis lateralis of the tegumen and are also otherwise without any peculiarity, of a clumsy, most primitive 
formation. As we have already noticed in M. malaya nigra from Australia, the contour of the valves differs 
according to the insular habitat, being considerably expanded and more sharply armed in the Australian 
specimens. 
The range of the only species extends from North West Himalaya, Ceylon and the Nicobar Islands 
through the whole Malayan Archipelago as far as New Guinea and New Pomerania. 
M. malaya is often described in the older collections as strong yle, which name, however, only refers 
to the local form of the Moluccas. The collective species is divided into a number of insular rares, the exi¬ 
stence of which was at first correctly ascertained by van Eecke. The butterflies are very easily recogni¬ 
zable by the forewings mostly being very pointed, the blackish-brown or deep brown ground-colour, in con¬ 
trast with which there is on the forewing an oval, more or less darkened spot, its size varying according to 
the habitat. Sometimes this spot extends also to the hindwing, particularly in the most pronounced of all 
the insular forms, the Javanese. Under surface characterized by thick black dots, of which the one in the 
costal area is the most extensive. The other marking recalls that of Tarucus and Lycaenopsis, and above 
there is a certain resemblance with Tar aha, which, however, owing to the prominent oblique stripes on the 
forewings beneath must be added to the Gastaliinae. On the Indian Continent and probably also in some 
islands there are temporal forms, of which the specimens of the rainless period exhibit a much, lighter discal 
region on both wings, contrary to the forms of the rainy period being sometimes entirely darkened. — Larva 
worm-like, light green, the middle segments swollen, pupa at the ends truncate. Food-plants, according to 
Moore, Sapindaceae. The imagines inhabit the plains; they are met with on bushes running along the sea- 
coast, everywhere at the outskirts of forests and hedges, they eagerly visit flowers, and the like to settle 
down on wet places in the forest-roads. The flight is not very hasty, but at any rate more determined than in 
the Pithecops being above very similar. In Java and Celebes I was able to ascertain them occurring yet at 
an altitude of about 1000 m above the sea-level. — sikkima Moore, one of the most prominent geographical sikkima. 
forms, differs from malaya malaya (with which it was always confounded) by the almost unicolorously smoky- 
brown upper surface of both wings, only the forewings exhibiting a faintly lighter discal area. The form of 
the dry period has been denominated albidisca Moore, but even here the whitish spot of the forewing is not albidisca. 
so extensive as the analogous discal spot in the Javanese nomenclatural form. — hampsoni Mr. are specimens hampsoni. 
I have never seen, from South India. Their range extends from North West Himalaya to Burma and from 
Puna to Calcutta. — volubilis Fruhst. was already in 1907 well figured as malaya by Kershaw (in Butt, volubilis. 
Hongkong). Habitus larger than Sikkim and Assam specimens, beneath distinguished from silclcima by a 
purer white ground-colour and more delicate grey festoon-bands. There seems to occur only one form being 
above uniformly darkened, the disc not being lighter. Kwangsi (South China). Type from Formosa where 
the form is rather common. — thwaitesi Mr., the Ceylon race unknown to me, occurs according to Distant thwaUesi. 
also in the Malayan Peninsula, and according to Baker even in Formosa; geographical errors which were 
*) We place the genus here, because we are forced to do so by technical reasons in the arrangement of the tables. 
**) Fauna Simalurensis, Notes Leyd Mus. 1914, p. 248. 
108 
IX 
