37 



a light ground colour. In a consignment, which I received once from Tegal 

 and which otherwise contained only common Javanese butterflies, amongst them 

 the form of D. Chrysippus L. common in that island, I found also a fresh 

 specimen of the form Petilia, agreeing in every respect with those from North 

 Australia, but which was said to have been captured by Mr. van Bruggen 

 on the northern slope of Mount Selamat, at an altitude between 1 70 and 

 1000 metres. Considering, however, that this is the only specimen from Java 

 known to me and that, moreover, the species most probably is a traveller, I 

 would deem it advisable for the present not to draw any conclusions from 

 this fact. 



The dark form of Java differs very markedly in the shade of its colour 

 from Hypolimnas Misippus L., which, it is alleged, mimics this Danais. 

 Moreover, the flight of the latter, which flies low down over grassy plains, and 

 of a tree frequenting species like this Hypolimnas, is by no means the same 

 and for this reason thev do not occur together except accidentally. 



W. J. Batavia (3 — ^14); Buitenzorg (275); Bidara Tjina (28); Megamen- 

 doung mountains (1480); Soukapoura in the south of the prov. Prayangan. 

 C. J. Prov. Tegal; Magelang (500); Jokjokarta (113). 

 E. J. Kediri (64) ; prov. Madoura. 



According to Moore this butterfly is extremely common on the continent 

 of India; Mr. Aitken, quoted by him, states "with the exception, perhaps, of 

 Terias Hecabe, the commonest and most ubiquitous butterfly on the Bombay 

 Side of India. Up to a level of 7000 feet it may be found anywhere in the 

 Indian Empire". 



This is not so in Java; in the mountains this butterfly occurs indeed but 

 by no means frequently ; on the plains of the low lying country it is, indeed, 

 nowhere rare but very common only in some districts and never equally 

 common as in British India. 



According to Moore the egg is cream coloured, sugar-loaf shaped and 

 deposited singly on the under surface of the leaf. In the caterpillar when 

 hatched the tentacula are barely visible; but in the full grown one the tentacula 

 are long and movable ad libihun by the caterpillar. The latter fact I have never 

 observed in the numerous specimens reared by me. According to my notes 

 the larva, which I also found in July at the height of the dry season, lives son a 

 plant designated at Batavia as rembeo^a and bidoura (Calotropis gigantea Ait.), 

 belonging to the Asclepiadeae. Species of Asclepias are also indicated as its 

 food plant by Semper in the Philippines, by Trimkn in South Africa, and by 



