72 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



familiar tawny colouring of Argvnnis, and the species are of 

 about the same size as our English ones, measuring three 

 inches across, or rather less, but the fore-wings are shorter, and 

 the hind-wings are rather long and less rounded. These Butter- 

 flies are tawny above, with brown borders, and with festooned 

 sub-marginal lines, followed by an inner row of spots. On the 

 under surface they are paler, and generally ornamented with 

 one or two straight brown lines, often edged with white. 



The genus Messaras, Doubleday, includes species measuring 

 rather less than three inches in expanse. The fore-wings are 

 longer than the hind-wings, and the latter are rounded and 

 scalloped. The wings are tawny, and the hind-margin of 

 the fore-wings is generally brown, edged within by a broad 

 yellowish band ; the hind-wings are marked with several fes- 

 tooned lines, and an inner row of spots, and on the under side 

 usually with a row of large sub-marginal black spots, more or less 

 bordered with pearly-white lines ; sometimes these markings 

 are reproduced above. Other species are uniform brown, with 

 a broad orange-yellow band across both wings. 



The last genera of this group belonging to these regions 

 which we shall notice are Atella, Doubleday, and Cupha, 

 Billberg. In these genera the fore-wings are longer and 

 more pointed than in Messaras, but the hind-wings are 

 rounded and scalloped. As in so many of the Eastern Argyn- 

 nides, the wings are tawny, often with narrow brown borders, 

 festooned sub-marginal lines, and at least one inner row of 

 black spots. On the under surface the markings are somewhat 

 irregular, purplish-brown and pearly-grey. The largest species 

 measure nearly three inches in expanse, but many of those in- 

 habiting the islands are much smaller. This genus has similar 

 habits to Argynnis, to which it is allied, and the larvae 

 feed on various trees, especially willow. Cupha may be dis- 

 tinguished from Atella by the slightly angulated hind-wings. 



