LAMPIDES. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
003 
here in both sexes narrower than in purpurata, in the $ scarcely half as broad as there; beneath the brown 
ground-colour appears in lighter and darker bands separated by the light undulations. — carola Sm. from the carola. 
Salomon Islands very much resembles grata and is of a magnificent cyanean blue, but the $ has a much 
narrower black margin of the wings, whilst the $ has better developed marginal eye-spots owing to the marginal 
spots of the hindwing being thicker and more finely encircled. — Allied to this Papuan forms is the Australian 
phaseli Math. (152 a, b) showing a still more intense lilac tint with purple reflection than the forms similar phaseli. 
to purpurata do; we figure both sexes of it; it flies in the whole of North Queensland, to the south as far as 
Brisbane. -— As from the Fidji Islands quite a number of ,,races“ of bochu.s were described, the same 
may be done from the New Hebrids: morphoides Btlr. from the Montagua Island with a more extensive blue viorphoides. 
colour above; presumably the dry period form of it is goodesiovi Btlr. with a reduced blue which, however, goodenovi. 
shows yet an intense metallic lustre, though not the reflection of pukherrima Btlr. which by its magnificent pulcher'i- 
splendour equals candrena , and originates from the Islands of Tanna and Mallicolo (New Hebrids). — The ma ' 
race being farthest removed towards the east is waikeri Drc. from the Cooks Islands (from Aitutaki and Rara- wallceri. 
tonga). Here the upper surface is similar to carissima, the veiw narrow black distal margin but little broader 
than it is there. $ above beautifully sky-blue, the hindwing shows the veins delicately shaded with black. 
The absence of the little tail may only be due to the typical specimen having been damaged, just like the form 
petunia Drc. is presumably attributable to a specimen in which the colouring has been spoiled, according 
to Fruhstoreer by dampness. -— Considering the very vast range of the species the forms of which were in 
many cases regarded as species, we cannot wonder at such a great number of distinguishable local forms. There 
are even still more deviations known that have not yet been denominated. Thus a form flies in the Peninsula 
of Malacca, the °f which exhibit only yet blue at the base of the forewing (thus already transitions to seminiger), 
whereas the 9$ are said not to differ from Indian specimens (Distant). — The adult larva is olive-green, turning 
olive-brownish before the pupation. It is covered with small fine hairs and in its form and marking entirely 
resembles that of Catochrysops pandava (comp. Vol. I, p. 292; food-plants are Xylia dolabriformis <and the 
blossoms of Butea frondosa. The pupa, according to Bingham, is not at all discernible from that of Catochr. 
pandava. — The imagines fly much and rather swiftly in the sunshine and like to rest, with closed wings, on 
blossoms, preferably on that of Lantana hybrida. They are met with particularly in damp districts, in single 
specimens though not rarely. The metallic reflecting surface of the flashes, brightly when flying in the 
sunshine, so that the species is at once discernible from among the Lycaenids of other genera flying in the 
same places, such as Nacaduba, Polyommatus , Lampides and so on. The reflection is the most intensely noticed 
if one turns one’s back towards the emanation of the light and holds the imago with its wings spread turned 
away from the light. Both sexes are met with in about the same frequency. 
21. Genus; I^Jiiiipides Hbn. 
The relationship of this genus to the preceding genus is the very common one among the Lycaenids, 
i. e. the members of these two genera are at first sight so very distinctly separated from each other that no 
one will take a Jamides to be a Lampides or vice-versa. Still there are thorough anatomical differences wanting, 
just like the Zizera , Everes etc., although they are at once recognizable, oppose such great difficulties to a precise 
diagnose that some authors entirely renounce it and for good reasons combine the most heterogeneous elements 
in one gigantic genus ( Cupido) which, however, in order not to lose sight of it, would then have to be divided 
again in numerous groups of species which approximately correspond to the ,,genera“ hitherto applied 
in the literature. The key to this procedure may be found in the Lycaenids seeming to be a very young lepi- 
dopteral race, may-be even the very youngest, in which both the species and genera are still in embryo 
and have not yet consolidated to such an extent as to answer distinctly in all cases the questions whether it 
is a race or species, genus or subgenus. In Jamides we have ascertained but 1 species, of this, however, more 
than 40 forms, and we have referred to the fact that in further comparisons we should find still more partly 
constant partly transitory local races. The same conditions we find in many Lampides. 
This genus in general shows species being above very light blue, sometimes almost uni-coloured whitish 
(rj) or black-margined ($), the under surface being grey, traversed by white undulations. The 200 forms described 
have been subordinated to about 25 species, the distinction of which, according to Doherty, is said to be 
especially facilitated by the examination of the clasping-organs. Fruhstoreer has exhaustively investigated 
these organs *), so that we follow his classification here, although he intended to improve in a short time the 
system established in this work. He was no more able to carry out this project. 
To the Lampides quite a number of very common Lycaenids are reckoned, so that in many tropical 
districts they number among the characteristic lepidoptera. Some, as for instance L. celeno, have an immense 
*) Archiv fur Naturgeschichte, 81. Jahrg. (1915) Heft 6. The main difficulty in dealing with the genus Lam¬ 
pides consists in the various seasonal and local forms of the same species frequently exhibiting greater and more remar¬ 
kable deviations from each other than the corresponding forms of different species, and in the fact that no author has yet 
completely succeeded in indisputably fitting together the homogeneous forms of the single species. 
