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Show 444 MR. H. J. ELWES ON N E W [May 3, 4. Description of some new Lepidoptera from Sikkim. By H. J. ELWES, F.Z.S. [Eeceived May 3, 1887.] The species described in this short paper are from a large collection made by myself in the rainy season of 1886, whilst waiting at Darjiling for the departure of the Tibet Mission. They will be included in a Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Sikkim, of which I have nearly completed the first part containing the Rhopalocera, and, taken in connection with those now described by Mr. De Niceville, prove that, notwithstanding the great activity which has been shown by Messrs. 0. Mdller, De Niceville, and Knyvett in that country, its very long list of Butterflies is not yet complete. I hope to be able to give figures of the new species in my Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Sikkim. LETHE TRISTIGMATA, n. sp. This very distinct insect, of which the male sex only is known, had been already distinguished by Moller in 1885 as a new species, and was described by Mr. De Niceville in M S . ; but as I found it in 1886 myself and was about to publish it under the present name, Mr. De Niceville has kindly allowed me to transfer the description (which I give below) to m y own paper. I took it on Tonglo, from about 8500 to 9500 feet, in July, when most of the specimens were no longer fresh ; but its time of appearance is in June. It frequents open spots in the bamboo-jungle and low dripping forest, and settles on the path like other species of Lethe. Though I searched carefully I never saw a female: this sex probably remains concealed in the thick foliage, in these forests often too dense to allow one to go off the path; and I found here, as elsewhere, that a good open path is even more essential to success in collecting forest Butterflies than it is for plants or birds. M A L E . U P P E R S I D E : both wings brown, with a golden gloss in certain positions. Fore wing with the bar towards the end of the cell and the dorsal band of the underside showing through by transparency ; a submarginal series of five small round ochreous spots or dots from the costa to the second median interspace ; a diffused and indistinct marginal dark band, its outer edge somewhat sharply defined. Hind wing with a dark bar defining the discocellular nervules, and an obscure discal irregular band; a submarginal series of round, equal-sized, somewhat small, black spots, those towards the anal angle sometimes absent; two fine dark marginal lines enclosing an obscure ochreous line, the inner dark line defined inwardly by a pale line. U N D E R S I D E : both wings paler, being ochreous brown without any gloss. Fore wing with two darker bars crossing the cell beyond |