168 
LEP ID OP TK HA IN DIG A. 
Imago. —Male. Upperside deep black. Forewing with the markings less 
defined than in typical Horsfieldii. Hind wing with the discal and outer spots smaller, 
the cell streaks indistinct or quite obsolete, the abdominal margin very dark grey 
scaled, or almost black, and in some anally sprinkled with yellow scales. Underside 
blacker than in Belladonna. Forewing with the markings smaller and less defined. 
Bindwing with the cell mark small and short, the discal and submarginal markings 
smaller, the abdominal margin either uniformly black, or more or less slightly 
anally-speckled with yellow scales. 
Female, Upperside duller black. Forewing with much less defined markings 
than in male. Bind wing also with the markings much less defined, the cell streak 
either elongate or obsolete, the abdominal margin slightly dark grey-scaled. 
Underside vinaceous-black, with similar markings to the male. 
Expanse, 8 to 2J, ? 2J to 2£ inches. 
Habitat. —Sikkim; Khasia, Jaintia, and "Naga Hills, Assam; Chin Hills, 
Upper Burma. 
Distribution and Habits. —Mr. H. J. Elwes writes : “ 1 found the dark form, 
Ithiela , most common in Sikkim from May to August, at low elevations, 2,000 to 
4,000 feet, where it frequents the banks of streams in hot, thoroughly tropical 
valleys, and flies slowly about the water-side, resting sometimes on mud and pebbles 
almost in the water. Some specimens of the variety with yellow on the abdominal 
margin occur here with the pure black one, and some have white or only a yellow 
tinge in the same part of the hindwing. But neither Moller nor I have ever taken 
females with the males in these places, and all the five females I possess of this 
form were procured from native collectors, and vary in the same particulars as the 
males. I never saw a typical Horsfieldii at these low r elevations. In the Khasia 
Hills I was fortunate enough to find Belladonna in its breeding-places, which are 
small patches of natural forest left on the higher parts of the hills at from 4,000 to 
6,400 feet elevation. Here it is in some places abundant, and I found the females 
almost as plentiful as the males. In the wood which crowns the summit of the 
Shillong Peak, I had several opportunities of observing the habits of the insect, 
which are quite different from what 1 saw in Sikkim. They fly on sunny days about 
the tops of the trees, and make little excursions into the open country round, always 
returning to the shelter of the wood, and frequently descending to settle on the 
flowers of a species of Euonymus , and of a large species of Scabiosa which grew on 
its outskirts. The flight is slow, graceful, and soaring, and the butterflies are not 
at all shy. Here I found hardly any variation in the insects, all being true Itliiela , 
excepting two specimens, which were slightly tinted with yellow on the abdominal 
margin. I figure a female of the Khasia form = Berinda , Moore ” (Tr. Ent. Soc. 
1888, 408). We possess males from Sikkim, and the female type of Berinda , from 
