160 APATURA. By H. Stichel. 



A. Subfamily: Nymphalinae. 



Antennae long, straight, gradually incrassate to an elongate-ovate club. Eyes usually naked. Body extremely 

 strong in built, the skeleton rigid and hard, in some Chamxes almost as hard as in beetles. Wings rigid and hard, 

 entire, the hindwing nearly always with the cell open. The larvae spindle-shajjed, shagreened; body without thorns, 

 terminating in two processes ; head with horns. They are usually green, being exactly adapted to the colour of the 

 leaves of the food-plant, and hence difficult to see. The pupae are also difficult to find, being either semitransparent, 

 as if of dull green glass , or resembling some small fruit. The butterflies are on the wing when the sun shines ; 

 they do not feed on the honey of flowers, but suck at the exuding sap of wounded trees, at damp places on roads 

 and strong-smelling decaying matter. They are rather shy and mostly remain at a considerable height above the 

 gi'ound except when they are feeding. Their flight is very powerful and may be extremely swift in the fugitive insect. 



a. Group Apaturidi. 



Medium-sized butterflies, with strong, clubbed antennae, porrect pointed palpi, strong thorax and slender 

 abdomen. The tongue of many genera is not pigmented with black-brown, but rather transparent, pale green in 

 ■ life, later yellowish. The cell in both wings mostly open, being closed only in Dilipa and Thahropis. The larva 

 with 2 horns on the head, which are directed forward when at rest, while they are erect in the feeding insect (slug- 

 caterpillars) ; they live on leaved trees and shrubs , the species which occur in the higher latitudes hibernating as 

 larvae. The butterflies are found in the mountains as well in the low-lands. They are on the wing in midsummer, 

 and have a swimming or rushing flight, during which the wings are kept horizontally expanded and onl_y occasionally 

 moved in a short abrupt stroke. With the excei)tion of the high North they are distributed throughout the Old 

 World north of the Equator, extending but little southwards beyond it. In North America they are represented by 

 Doxocampa, in South America by C/ilonppx- ; they are entirely wanting in North Africa and Australia, being replaced 

 in Ethiopian Africa by the genus Creiiis, containing a dozen forms. 



1. Genus: Apatura F. 



The whole genus is commonly known as ,, Purple Emperors", which name is deiived from tlie o^ of 

 certain species having a purple gloss on the upperside of the wings in a certain light. Tlie eyes are naked; the 

 antennae strong, about half the length of the forewing, clubbed; the palpi project beyond the head, their end- 

 segment is short and pointed, being smoothly scaled. The outline of the wings is simple, the forewing being 

 almost a right-angled triangle with pointed apex; subcostal 5-branched, 2 branches proximally of the cell-end, 

 branch .3 at a considerable distance beyond the apex of the cell; anterior discocellular absent, the middle one 

 joining with a short curve the posterior radial. Cell of both wings open. Hindwing almost triangular, costal 

 margin straight, apex feebly pointed, anal angle acute,, distal margin undulate, posteriorly sometimes dentate; 

 precostal simple and curved outwards or forked. 



We abstain from adopting the , .genera" separated by F. Moore (Lep. Ind. vol. Ill), where there is no nec- 

 essity to do otherwise. Moore divided the genus as follows: Potamis Hbn. (Type: P. iris), Limina Moore (Type: 

 L. subaiha), Mimatlnjma Moore (Type: M. chevatw), Chitoria Moore (Type: C. sordida), Dravira Moore (Type: 

 D. uliipi), Narsenga Moore (Type: A'^. parvata), Rohana Moore (R. parisatis), Eulaeeura Rllr. (Type: E. osteria). 



The species of Apatura iiave a strong and impetuous flight and are fond of coming down to the ground 

 early in the morning in order to drink at wet places or puddles on the forest-roads or at the edge of the woods 

 or at decaying animal matter (excrements, unne and refuse). They rest, wuth the wings spread out, on the 

 leaves of shrubs and trees; the $? are much less often met with flying low than the ^$. — The larva is slug- 

 like with horns on the liead and an anal fork. Pupa suspended, stout, somewhat angular, strongly tapering 

 towards the head, which is divided into two short pointed projections. 



The genus is distributed over Europe and Asia to the northern districts of India, occurring also in North 

 America. 



ambica. A. ambica Koll. (= namouna Dbl.) (50a cj, 55 d $) is a species with white bands, whose ^ is shot with 



blue on the upperside. It is is somewhat variable in the width of the bands and the extension of the blue 

 gloss, which difference in character, however, is not connected with a change in locality, but probably with 

 the season.*) In some specimens from Kutabul, Pangai (Kashmir), the gloss is not sharply limited, being also 

 duller, the bands are widened on account of additional white dusting, especially on the hindwing, all the spots 

 are larger, those standing in the distal marginal area of the hindwing being changed into a continuous row 

 of whitish lunules; on the underside the red-brown band is broader, distally sharply limited, less curved, not 

 bearing a black spot near the anal angle; on the forewing the dark spots in the cell enlarged, sometimes con- 



*) The original specimen of Kollae's ambica came from Masuri (N.W. Himalaya). Should the individuals from there 

 and the adjacent districts of Kashmir prove to belong to a special race, the name namouna Dbl. would have to be employed 

 for the race from the central tlimalaya (see tig. 50 a). Moore's description of the specimens from Kashmir (Kutabul) does not 

 quite agree with the figure given by Kollar, which appears to be due to individual variability. 



