388 L. de Niceville & Dr. L. Martin— Butterflies of Sumatra. [No. 3, 
and at all seasons of the year, but are most plentiful in the rainy-season 
from October to January in rice-fields, on which the larva feeds, as well 
as on certain coarse species of grass. It is delightful to a lepidopterist 
who loves insects alive in their native haunts as well as dead, dried, and 
pinned in his cabinets to see two males fighting together and dying up 
very high into the air, then returning with periodical regular move¬ 
ments to the spots from whence they started. As this happens mostly 
after sunset, the silhouettes of the insects are very sharp and clear 
against the golden evening sky of the tropics. In consequence of the 
well-known habit of Melanitis to be on the wing before sunrise and after 
sunset, it sometimes comes into the lighted open verandahs of the 
houses—quite a stranger amongst a crowd of moths and insects of all 
orders. 
90. Melanitis bela, Moore. 
Hagen as suyudana. Semper as suyudana. Decidedly rare, and 
has nearly the same habits as If. isrnene , Cramer, but prefers small 
jungle rather than the borders of fields, gardens, &c. Like Neorina 
loivii , Doubleday and Hewitson, it is exceedingly fond of the sap from 
certain trees. Dr. Hagen has quite correctly observed that in the early 
morning hours If. bela is still earlier on the wing than If. isrnene, and 
that it has already retired to rest as that species and some Mycalesis 
appear. If. bela occurs under two forms :—the one which corresponds 
to the wet-season form of the species in India ( asiva , Moore), has the 
upperside of the wings in the male velvety-black, with the apex of the 
forewing but very slightly angulated ; the other, which corresponds to 
the dry-season form of the species in India (true bela), has the upper- 
side of the wings in the male much paler, of a rusty-brown hue, often 
with subapical spots in the forewing on the upperside, with the apex of 
the wing strongly angulated. The first of these forms equals M. abdullse, 
Distant, the second If. suyudana, Moore. Mr. Moore in Lep. Ind., vol. 
ii, p. 137, continues to keep the two last-named species distinct, and 
records it from Sumatra under the name of If. suyudana , but as I 
possess good series of both from the localities whence they were des¬ 
cribed, I have no hesitation in sinking them both as synonyms of 
M . bela. 
91. Melanit t s zitenius, Herbst. 
Distant. The rarest species of the genus occurring in Sumatra, 
and found only at the higher elevations from 500 to 2,000 feet. In 
thirteen years Dr. Martin has obtained a dozen specimens perhaps. 
