16 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
27. ELYMNIAS FRATERNA, M.; Hlymnias undularis fraterna 
B., Elymnias hypermnestra fraterna, E.—Peculiar to Ceylon 
but De Niceville thinks it only a local variety of £. wndularis. 
He says the female is identical, and the male only differs 
in the narrower ferruginous border of the hind wing, and 
in having scarcely any traces of the blue marks on the 
fore wing. 
Bingham says the ¢ differs in having the terminal margin 
of hind wing ochraceous, not chestnut. 9 has the oblique 
preapical white band on fore wing narrow, its margins even. 
The males in Ceylon are extremely variable. In those in my 
collection the width of the ferruginous band, taken at the 
widest spot, viz., vein 4, varies from 6 to 10mm. In one the 
fore wing is entirely blackish-brown, with no trace of blue. 
Tn a second the colour is the same, with three very conspicuous 
elongated sub-apical blue spots. In a third there is a terminal 
marginal border of ferruginous, narrowing from the apex to 
the tornus, and two faint sub-apical blue streaks. In a 
fourth there is a complete row of sub-terminal blue spots, 
much elongated at the apex, thus approaching very near to 
undularis, but the terminal border on the hind wing is 
exceptionally pale and wide, and has white sub-terminal 
spots in interspaces 2, 3, and 4. 
The female varies much in the width of the sub-apical white 
band. 
The flight is slow, and it always settles low down, though 
very seldom actually on the ground. The female is a mimic 
of S. plexippus. In most cases of mimicry in Ceylon an 
experienced collector can usually distinguish the mimic by its 
different flight. H. fraterna, however, is far better as a mimic 
on the wing than in the cabinet, and very frequently deceives 
me. Possibly this may be due to the fact that it usually flies 
low, and is seen from above, as a bird would probably see it. 
If seen from below the under side would, of course, destroy the 
illusion. 
Rare at Haldummulla, but very common in the coconut 
districts, especially where the palms are low, in new clearings, 
&c. The larve and pup may often be found on pot palms 
in low-country verandahs. 
