SATYRINJE. 
147 
through Melanitis and Parantirrhoea . The genera are structurally very closely 
related to each other; but in addition to the structural distinctions, each genus 
exhibits a distinctive style of coloration and markings, which though sometimes 
difficult to define, is generally unmistakable to the experienced eye; thus, in 
Mycalesis , the underside almost invariably has a straight transverse band across the 
middle of both wings, with a more or less prominent series of ocellated spots 
beyond it; in Lethe , the basal area on the underside is usually either irregularly or 
not at all variegated ; while in Zophoessa it is usually ornamented with straighter 
transverse lines; in Hipparchia [Eumenis] and the allied groups the upper surface 
is usually brown, variegated with yellowish brown; in Aulocera the upper surface is 
black with a white transverse common stripe; in Erebia [Paralasa] the upper side is 
dark brown, sometimes with ferruginous patches and an ocellus at the apex of the 
forewing; in Ypthima the upper surface is more uniform lighter brown, and the 
ocellus at the apex in it and in Gallerebia is always bipupilled. Many of the genera 
comprise but a single species, such as Anadebis , Orinoma , Gyllogenes , and Paran¬ 
tirrhcea; others again have only one representative within Indian limits, such as 
Z ether a [Euploeamima], Pararge [Lasiommata], Erites , CEneis [Paroeneis], and 
Bagadia , or only two or three, such as Coelites , Neorina , Bhaphicera , and Zipcetis ; 
the genera which contain the greatest number of species, such as Mycalesis , Lethe , 
and Melanitis , have been recently divided off into several groups, some of which 
depend, as in the case of the divisions of [the old genera] Danais and Euplcea, on 
the presence and position of scent-pouches and tufts of hair on the wings of the 
male insect.*’ (de Niceville, Butt. Ind. i. 95.) 
Seasonal Dimorphism :—Mr. de Niceville in Proc. Asiatic Society of Bengal, 
December, 1884, writes, “ During the last nine years I have collected butterflies in 
Calcutta, and have always noted the months in which I met with the different 
species. In this way I became aware that certain closely allied species [of Mycalesis , 
Melanitis , Ypthima, and Junonia ] occurred at particular seasons only, and when 
these species were grouped together according to the time of the year they were met 
with, it became apparent that those which occur in the rains were strongly ocellated 
forms, whilst those occurring at other seasons had the ocelli reduced to mere 
rudiments, or were absent altogether. Why the wet season should beget a genera¬ 
tion of c eyed ’ butterflies, and the dry season a generation of ‘ eyeless ’ forms, I am 
quite unable to offer a conjecture. In addition to the absence or presence of ocelli, 
some of these species present other seasonal differences. In Mycalesis perseus and 
M . mineus , on the underside in the rains generation the discal white line is very 
prominent, it is obsolete in the dry season generation; and on the latter form of 
M. mineus , the forewing is much more produced at the apex, making the outer 
margin straighter. In the dry season form of Melanitis Leda the forewing is more 
falcate, and the underside is not striated.” 
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