PLUME-MOTHS OF CEYLON. 
19 
Synopsis of the named Forms of Deuterocopus. 
1 
2 
3 
I" Pectus and ventral surface of abdomen 
j whitish .. .. .. 2 
j Pectus and ventral surface of abdomen 
[ yellow .. .. .. 3 
r Apical third of fore wing black .. atrapex 
l Apical third of fore wing not black .. tengstroemi 
Abdomen with a broad transverse pure 
white band . . .. ritsemee 
Band on abdomen (if present) not pure 
white .. .. .. rubrodactylus 
Deuterocopus atrapex, forma nova. 
Distribution. —Galle, Kandy, Maskeliya. 
Size and shape of wings, cilial scale-tufts, antennae, palpi, and 
abdomen the same as in the other three forms (tengstroemi , ritsemce , 
and rubrodactylus). Thorax ferruginous, often suffused with 
black ; pectus and ventral surface of abdomen whitish. Abdomen : 
(see column 3 in Table of Species). Legs ferruginous, often suffused 
with black ; large whorls of ferruginous or black scales on posterior 
tibiae at origin of spurs and smaller whorls on base of tibiae 
and apices of tarsal joints, the last decreasing posteriorly ; spurs 
distinctly thickened with scales, sometimes broadly banded with 
white in centre and towards apex. 
Wings bright ferruginous, sometimes almost wholly suffused 
with blackish or dark fuscous, but the exterior third of the fore wing 
(from just beyond the base of the first segment and including 
the whole of the second and third segments) deep black , with two 
inconspicuous preapical costal suffusions of ferruginous scales. 
Deuterocopus tengstroemi, Zell. 
Zeller, Linn. Entom., VI., 402; Meyr., T. E. S., 1907, 474. 
Distribution. —Madulsima, Hambantota. 
Originally described from Java; this species has also been recorded 
from Assam and the Kei Islands. 
Early Stages. —The larva feeds on the flowers of the square¬ 
stemmed jungle vine ( Vitis quadrangular is) so characteristic of the 
dry districts, and the pupa is attached to a flower, flower-stalk, or 
stem of the food plant, or more rarely to a leaf of the same. A 
description of the early stages is reserved to another occasion. 
The moth is readily disturbed by day from bushes over which 
the vine is climbing, but its flight is then swift, and it is difficult to 
secure, as it often retreats within thorny bushes. In the evening 
it may be taken plentifully around the flowers of its food plant and 
also on those of Capparis , &c. 
