562 
RHOPALOPSYCHE. Bv Dr. A. Seitz. 
vieehi. 
mitchelli. 
hnperaior. 
phocinum. 
buini. 
buruensis. 
micacea. 
splendens. 
n ycteris. 
bifasciata. 
narrow yellow band which may grow still narrower towards the inner margin. Abdomen slightly spotted. South 
India, across Malacca to Java, and across South China to the Lu-Chu Is. The species is apparently not common 
and presumably occurs chiefly in mountainous districts. 
M. meeki B. <£■ J . (56 C c) is very similar to faro, but the darkened interior area of the forewing contrasts 
still more intensely with the much lighter centre. The dark submarginal area likewise contrasts much with the 
lighter distal area. The yellow band of the hindwing is strongly interrupted by dark. Milne Bay (New Guinea). 
M. mitchelli Men. is the Javanese form of the species imperator Btlr. (65 f) which is distributed over 
the whole of India and Ceylon and is characterized by the distinct median transverse stripe, the light, wood- 
coloured marginal area of the forewing, and the elegant and distinct marking of the body. From the figured 
form, mitchelli differs in the much paler yellow, narrowed yellow band of the hindwing, which is often covered 
in the centre by dark. 
M. phocinum B. J. (64 f) has quite blackish-brown hindwings without any yellow; the abdomen is 
also without yellow spots. On the forewing the 3 transverse bands are expanded into spots; the outermost 
occupies the apex. From the Salomons Is. 
M. buini Oik. Black. Body above quite black excepting a small narrow white band at the margin of 
the penultimate abdominal ring. Forewing quite blackish-brown with very little black transverse lines; hind¬ 
wing the same, only a thin costal-marginal stripe light brownish. Bougainville. Expanse: 46 mm. 
M. buruensis Holl. (56 C d) is somewhat similar to buini, the ground-colour above likewise quite dark 
blackish-brown, but the forewing crossed by 3 jet-black bands, and the dorsum of the second abdominal segment 
is of a golden yellow tint in the middle. 
M. micacea Wkr. (= nox Newm., ethus B.sd.) (64 f) is very similar to buruensis, likewise above black 
except a white ring at the abdominal end and a light stripe at the costa of the hindwing. Queensland, rather 
common; also from the Louisiads. 
M. splendens Btlr. (= nox Btlr. nec Newm.) (64 f) is larger and stouter than micacea, likewise unicoloured 
blackish-brown, but the body and wings with a bright steel-blue metal reflection which is particularly bright 
in the discal and marginal areas of the forewing and on the abdominal dorsum. Queensland to New Guinea, 
New Pomerania etc. as far as the Moluccas (Ceram, Burn), in some places common, particularly in Australia. 
63. Genus: Rliopalopsyche Btlr. 
Shape, colouring and also habits exactly as in Macroglossum. It has been separated merely by the 
differences in the antennal structure; the antennae are more club-like, at the base still thinner, and neither in 
the $ nor $ with prolonged cilia. Hitherto only 2 forms are known, both of which are Indo-Australian; one 
penetrates into the palaearctic region in West China, perhaps also in Cashmir, for which reason it was mentioned 
already in Vol. II. 
Rh. nycteris Roll. (= volucris Wkr.) (Vol. II, pi. 40 f). The marking and colouring of the forewing is 
as in a small Macroglossum saga with which the species is certainly closely allied in spite of the different antennal 
structure. The abdomen is of the same colouring, too, but in the hindwing the black marginal band does not 
extend to the anal angle. From Cashmir through India, West und South China to the Lu-Chu Is. — bifasciata 
Btlr. (65 f) represents nycteris in South India and Ceylon. It may be a distinct species, but it chiefly differs in 
the deeper golden yellow colouring of the band of the hindwing and the lateral spots on the abdomen, and the 
rust-brown under surface. — nycteris is rather common at nearly all its Indian habitats, but apparently much 
rarer in China. 
Choerocampinae. 
This subordinate family derives its name (“pig’s larvae”) from the formation of the larval front portion (in elpenor, 
porcellus ) which was compared with a pig’s head, and Grote’s spelling Chaerocampa is a mistake. This division is occupied 
by the rest of the Sphingidae, the vine-hawk moths and their relations. Most of the lepidoptera are of medium size; 
gigantic or squat forms do not occur in the subfamily, and even the largest Choerocampinae exhibit the graceful, slender exterior 
characterizing the group. The larvae mostly exhibit lateral spots one of which, on the fourth ring, is transformed into a fictitious 
eye, whilst the others are obliterated or, in order not to disturb the scaled exterior of a fictitious reptile, disappear altogether. 
They are mostly monophagans or oligophagans; nearly all the imagines visit blossoms and some, though generally flying in 
