170 RIIOPALOCERA MALAYANA. 



Genus CETHOSIA. 



Cethosia, Fabricius, 111. Mag. vi. p. 280 (1807); Doubl. Gen. Diuni. Lep. p. 150 (1848); Moore, Lep. Ceyl. 



vol. i. p. 51 (1881). 

 Ala:oniu, Hiibu. Verz. bek. Schmett. p. 40 (18IG). 



Anterior wings subtriangular ; costal margin arched and convex, the apex rounded ; outer margin 

 oblique and dentatcly waved ; inner margin sligbtlj' concave about centre. Costal nervure extending to 

 about two-thii-ds of the costal margin ; first subcostal nervule emitted a little before the termination of the 

 cell, second at a short distance beyond cell, third at about midway between end of cell and apex of wing, 

 fourth and fifth bifurcatmg nearer base of third than apex of wing ; upper disco-cellular nervule very short, 

 middle disco-cellular oblique and concave, lower disco-cellular almost twice the length of the middle and 

 slightly concave ; discoidal nervules emitted beyond basal thu-d of wing ; first and second median nervules 

 with an apparently common origin at end of cell, the first strongly curved near base. Posterior wings 

 broadly subovate, costal margin obliquely convex, outer margin rounded and dentately waved, abdominal 

 margin straight and oblique to bej'ond apex of abdomen and then obliquely excavated at anal angle ; costal 

 nervure extending to apex ; first subcostal nervule emitted at about one-fourth from end of cell ; disco- 

 cellular nervules (the lower disco-cellular present) oblique and concavely bent ; first and second median 

 nervules with an apparently common origin at end of cell, the first strongly curved at base. Body moderately 

 robust ; palpi porrect, raised above the level of the head, strongly villose beneath, third joint small and 

 pointed ; antennre long, with a somewhat slender club. 



Cethosia is a truly eastern geuus, being found in Continental India, Ceylon, Andaman and 

 Nieobar Islands, Burma, Tenasserim, and onwards through the Malay Peninsula, the whole 

 Malayan Archipelago, Papua, and Australia. Most of the species have a common facies, as is 

 shown in those belonging to this fauna, though New Ireland, Timor, and Java produce very 

 distinct, and — as far as colour markings are concerned — somewhat aberrant species. 



The larva of C. cijane, in Southern India, has been deUneated by Mr. S. N. Ward, and 

 l)ublished in Horsfield and Moore's Catalogue,* whilst that of the Ceylon species has been 

 portrayed by the Bros, de Alwis, and published in Moore's ' Lepidoptera of Ceylon.' 



In both cases these larvfe are gaily coloured with red and yellow bands, with dorsal 

 slender and finely branched spines, and with a pair of subercct processes to the head. 



In India Capt. Mortimer J. Slater observed the transformations of "a species of Cethosia, 

 from a larva feeding on the passion-flower," and he describes the spines as " stinging." t 



1. Cethosia logani. I (Tab. VIII., fig. 5 <? .) 



(-'etliiixia Logani, Distant, Ent. Month. Mag. vol. xviii. p. 134 (1881). 



Male. Anterior wings above with the basal third bright red, remainder black with white markings ; 

 cell crossed by three pairs of narrow black fascitc, the last pair somewhat indistinct, owing to the proximity 



* Cat. Lep. Mus. E.I.C. i. p. 155, t. v. f. 8. 



+ Ibid. p. 155. Catei-pillars possessing " stiugiug hairs" or other uneatable qualities are, as a rule, briUiantly marked 

 and coloured so as to be couspicuous even at a considerable distance. Mr. Wallace proposed a very philosophical explanation 

 of this fact: — " Distastelulness alone would, however, be of little service to caterpillars, because their soft and juicy bodies 

 are so delicate, that if seized and rejected by a bird they woirld almost certainly be killed. Some constant and easily 

 perceived signal was therefore necessary to serve as a warning to birds never to touch these uneatable kinds, and a very 

 gaudy and conspicuous colouring, with the habit of fully exposing themselves to view, becomes such a signal, being in strong 

 contrast with the green or brown tints and retiring habits of the eatable kinds" ('Natural Selection,'' p. 188). This view 

 requires to be reconciled with the theory of " experimental knowledge" lately put forward in connection with insectivorous 

 birds and inedible butterflies. 



_ J This species is dedicated to the late J. E. Logan, of Penang, who, by the possession of a vast and varied oriental 

 learning, focussed in himself the whole centre and direction of scientific study m the Straits Settlements, and who, by 

 founding and sustaining the 'Journal of the East Indian Archipelago,' has left no'inconsiderable evidence of the same. 



