﻿2 LEPIBOPTERA INBICA. 



Egg. — " Large. Few. Hardly as high as wide ; ribs low, serrate, rather 

 numerous, not produced at apex " (Doherty). 



" This is a somewhat anomalous or aberrant tribe of the Nymphalinse, showing, 

 at least in its early stages, many marked aflSnities to the Satyringe. The egg, for 

 instance, differs from those of all other Nymphalinge with vertical ribs, in that these 

 ribs are not more elevated in the upper than in the lower half; the caterpillar at 

 birth is clothed like the Buplseinae with comparatively short hairs, but all the papillae 

 upon the surface are of similar character and size ; the mature caterpillar strikingly 

 resembles the Satyrinte in the clothing and general form of the body, and even 

 generally, though not universally, in the bifurcation of the terminal segment, so 

 characteristic of the Satyringe. The chrysalis, again, is unlike that of the Nymphalidi 

 [Limenitina], to which the imago is certainly more nearly allied, in that it possesses 

 no conspicuous discontinuous prominences such as tubercles, and on the other hand 

 sometimes has a medio-dorsal carina like the Libytha^iuse, sometimes a transverse 

 abdominal carina like the Eupteinge or some Mehtieidi " (Scudder, Butt. E.U.S. 

 i. 228), 



Habits or the Imago. — " In the imago the forewings are generally somewhat 

 falcate, indicating a strong and vigorous flight ; many of the species are particularly 

 fond of elevated positions, and as a rule are accustomed to fly higher than most 

 butterflies." Constant, writing of the European species of Apatura (Catal. Lep. 

 Saone et Loire, 31), says — " They seldom leave the grand routes, and the avenues of 

 lofty forests. Ear from seeking flowers like other diurnals, they are particularly 

 fond of the juices which exude from wounded trees, excrement of every kind, and 

 even putrefying carcases of animals. One must hunt them in the morning, for it is 

 only then that they lower themselves sufiiciently in their flight to be taken by the 

 net." " They never meet," says Haworth, " without a battle, flying upwards all 

 the while and combating with each other as much as possible ; after which they will 

 frequently return to the identical sprigs from which they ascended." The flight of 

 Potamis Ilia is described by Meyer Diir, as resembling that of a bird of prey ; it 

 rises to the top of the highest trees, sweeps majestically in the air with occasional 

 movements of the wings, allows itself to descend gradually, flaps its wings again as 

 if spying out danger, and then flies fitfully backward and forward until it alights 

 on the very spot of moist earth which it had left a few minutes before, and where it 

 will finally become a sure prey to its dangerous persecutor, the entomologist " 

 (Scudder, Butt. E.U.S. p. 228). "The typical species, P. Iris, the Purple Emperor 

 butterfly of Europe, is amongst the most beautiful of butterflies, the males being 

 furnished on the upperside with a resplendent purple or blue gloss, but which feature 

 is not present in the females. Of this group P. Ambica is a worthy representative. 

 The females of all the species are rare, the males are more commonly met with in 



