MELANITIS. By H. Fruhstorfer. 
363 
since 1863J. Un. s. a. little paler than buruana, otherwise very close to the latter. Batjan, Halmaheira Obi. 
offaka Fruhst. Both sides darker coloured than destitans particularly the $$ which even show a darker red- ojfaka. 
brown colour up. s. than specimens from Molukka. Waigiu, Dutch New Guinea. — destitans Fruhst. (95 a) destitans. 
is most closely allied to moluccarum, being a passage from this form to bnnkia from Australia, d Up. s. a more 
intense brown, un. s. with smaller eyespots, distally less clearly bordered with brown. $ The whole apical 
region of f. w. much paler, almost whitish yellow, ground colour of up. s. more gray-black, un. s. in the 
distal region equally paler. German New Guinea. — kiriwinae Fruhst. A distinct island race, notable larger kiriwinae. 
than any of its relations, with a rounder cut to wings and a much bigger yellowish field around eyes of f. 
w. Kiriwina. — dominans Fruhst. (96 a). I thus described the rainy season form from the Bismarck Archi- dominans. 
pelago, it is nearly as big as kiriwinae, is coloured a more intense red-brown in $ up. s. and bears smaller 
eyespots un. s. on much darker ground. Bismarck Archipelago, type from New Mecklenburg. — salomonis salomonis. 
Fruhst. lip. s. is nearer to destitans but shows a more regular wing form without salient apex. Un. s. easily 
distinguished from any known leda race through its much bigger eyespots with broad yellow rings, especially 
on f. w. Salomon. — solandra F. (Insula Otaheity 1775) (= Cyllo leda v. taitensis Fldr. 1862) Tahiti (I do solandra. 
not possess it). — palliata Fruhst. (95d misprinted pallida). The smallest local race known to me, and so palliata. 
far as ^ is concerned the palest; light gray brown throughout with a somewhat darker narrow brown distal 
border. The un. s. shows sharply outlined bands and a comparatively broad brown margin, rather remin¬ 
ding one thereby of forms of phedima Cr. Eyespots very big, broad, ringed with yellow. Palau, taken by Mr. 
G. Semper. Yap. (Semper). - — levutia Fruhst. is about half way between salomonis and palliata, differing levuna. 
from the latter un. s. by the darker surface of both wings traversed by a broad median band and connected 
with the former up. s. through the pale apical region. The dd are darker than Australian A A and resemble 
buruana Holl. in colour. Viti-Levu. — bankia F. is the only certain name for the Australian local races which bankia. 
seperate into temperature forms much more sharply than does ismene from India. Some of them have recei¬ 
ved names from earlier authors, but not having seen the types in England I could not venture to describe 
them. In any case there is a very considerable difference in specimens from New South Wales, such as there 
are in Staitdinger’s collection in Berlin and those that I have from Queensland. The former belong to a 
spendid rainy season form with a straight cut distal border f. w. and without salient apex. Up. s. a beautiful 
red-brown with relatively small apical eyespot, in the $ there is a pale yellow approach to the first eyespot. 
On un. s. the eyes are not very large. Not far from these is crimisa subsp. nov. from Staudinger’s collection, crimisa. 
a handsome island race with extremely red-brown distal patch f. w., whereby it is easy to distinguish it 
from desperata with its indistinct reddish approach to apical eyespot. — - africana Fruhst. The dry-season form africana. 
of the African race differs but slightly from the analagous Indian form, however the $$ of the African rainy 
season form that I have before me have the yellow of the apical region far broader than any Indian $$ of 
the most extreme dry season type and the eyespots of h. w. up. s. are ringed with a far paler yellow. The 
African leda race deserves a name too, because colour variation occurs in Africa such as we nowhere meet 
with in Indo-Australia, for example, dry season $$ with the f. w. covered with a yellowish red tint (zitenides zitenides. 
Fruhst.) = fulvescens Guen. (Vol. 13, Fig. 26 b). Reunion, Bourbon, Rodriguez, Madagascar. 
M. phedima is the name of a widespread collective species that is even more subject to the influence 
of climate and locality than leda is but having less individual variability than Linne’s butterfly. In the 
oriental region it appears side by side with leda but is wanting in Micromalaya and is not found east of 
Celebes. Decidedly rarer, it haunts the higher parts of the plains and the mountain spurs, occurring there 
rather in the low woods and woodsides than in the fields and gardens as ismene and leda do. These butter¬ 
flies love to settle on split or wounded tree trunks and suck up the flowing sap, so great a love have they 
for it, that forgetting their natural timidity, they allow you to pick them up with your fingers rather than 
abandon the banquet. Larva somewhat shorter and thicker than that of leda, more prettily striped laterally, 
head with red stripe. Pupa rather thicker than leda's. Little difference in generic organs of tips insect and 
leda, valve apparent but distally more bowshaped, less thick and with shorter bristles. — mukata Fruhst., mukata . 
the northern branch, differs from the Indian rainy season form beta forma aswa Moore through its superior 
size, lighter un. s. of both wings and expanded yellowish apical region of f. w. up. s. With mukata exists 
a rather smaller rainy season mountain form described as forma pafra Fruhst. with no apical patch in $ patra . 
and a more distinct chain of eyespots h. w. un. s. $ (extreme rainy season form) The dry season form of 
the Chinese phedima race (forma autumnalis Fruhst. was represented by Leech as ismene $ and $ (figs. 2 and autum - 
5) and by Seitz Vol. I fig. 32 d. This insect differs from the Indian dry weather specimens in being bigger 
with a more bleached red-brown at apex in which is more extended in $; West-China from the lowland 
and Omei-Shan. -— ganapati Fruhst. Specimens from Tonkin, Annam, Tenasserim differ, particularly in the ganapati . 
dry season form, from their Indian and Chinese sisters, through their much smaller size, greatly reduced 
apical red brown colouring and in forms of either season through the small eyespots un. s. h. w. The rainy 
