874 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



It is, like most of the Junonice, fond of visiting flowers and the female 

 oviposits generally on leaves lying on the ground or very close to it 

 or on flower-heads, the foodplants being small, low or procumbent or 

 creeping herbs, some of them with very hard, rough leaves. These 

 plants are all belonging to the family Acanthaceoe as usual for the 

 genus ; and those of them upon which the caterpillar has been found 

 are Justicia procumhens^ Linn.; Justicia micrantha, Heyne and 

 Lepidagathis prostrata, Dalz.; this last growing on bare rocks in 

 extensive patches, the second on paths in fields and open places, 

 slightly taller and less creeping than Lepidagathis and more succulent, 

 with little mauve flowers ; the first somewhat similar, flowers pale 

 violet-pink ; all of them very common in Western India ; Justicia 

 proGiimbens spreads to Ceylon, Malay, and Australia, Lepidagathis occur- 

 ring also in the sub-tropical Himalayas. The distribution of the 

 butterfly is India, Ceylon, Assam, Burma, Tenasserim, extending to 

 China and the Malayan subregion. 



56. Junonia hierta.FaSWcifMs (Plate A., J5g, 2, ^).— Male upperside bright 

 yellow. Forewing : the costa with a broad triangular projection downwards 

 at the discocellulars^ which may be sometimes wanting, the apex broadly, the 

 terminal margin and the dorsum with a triangular projection upwards near 

 the tornus, jet black ; this black margin narrows near the middle of the 

 termen and bears, on the apex, two short, ti-ansverse, preapical white streaks 

 crossed by the black veins, below the inner one, an obscure ocellus which may 

 be sometimes wanting. Hindwing : anterior half, and the terminal margin 

 black, the dorsum broadly shaded with ochraceous brown, the anterior black 

 area with a large brilliant blue central patch. Cilia of both wings, white 

 alternated with brown. Underside : forewing pale yellow ; cell crossed 

 by three black margined orange-yellow bands ; beyond the cell a short, broad, 

 irregular, jet-black (sometimes dusky-brown) oblique band from costa to base 

 of vein 4 ; apex and dorsal margin broadly, termen in the middle narrowly 

 dusky brownish black with some obscure paler markings ; a round jet-black 

 discal spot in intei-space 2 and another smaller one in interspace 5. Hindwing 

 greyish yellow ; in the dry season t'orm strongly irrorated with dusky scales ; 

 a prominent transvei-se brown discal fascia, its margins highly sinuous, a broad 

 brownish shade on the middle of termen ; some obscure lunular marks on the 

 basal area, a postdiscal line of minute dots, in the rains form sometimes 

 becoming ocellus-like, subterminal and terminal zigzag slender lines, pale brown. 

 AntenniB pale, head, thorax and abdomen dark brownish black ; beneath dull 

 ochraceous white. Female similar, the colours duller. Upperside forewing : 

 cell with a more or less complete black fascia and another at the discocellulars ; 

 blue-centred, well-marked ocelli in interspaces 2 and 5 on the disc of the fore- 



