22 NVMPHALID.E, DANAIN^. 



base. HiNDWiNG obovate, the cell closed ; the discoidal nervure always appearing to be 

 a third subcostal nervule ; abdominal fold mostly ample. Legs, (except the forelegs) rather 

 stout and long ; forelegs imperfect, varying in the sexes ; middle and hindlegs with the tibia 

 spiny ; the spines not strikingly developed ; the tarsi with the basal joint long ; second, 

 third, and fourth progressively shorter ; fifth longer than the second ; all spiny at the 

 sides below ; ^/azi/j simple. Abdomkn, rather slender, nearly as long as the abdominal margin 

 of the hindwing. 



Caterpillar. — Stout, cylindrical, smaller towards the head, furnished on one or more of 

 the anterior segments with a pair of long, slender, flexible, fleshy tentacula, not retractile ; and 

 with a similar, but often shorter, pair on the penultimate segment {Wtslivood). The anterior 

 pair of these processes in all Danais, and almost certainly in all Hestia, are articulated and 

 freely moveable at the base and function as antennas {/. Wood-Mason). 



Chrysalis. — Suspended, short, smooth, somewhat ovate, contracted near the middle 

 {Doubleday), often with brilliant metallic colouring. 



The Danaince are insects of large or moderate size, of slow flapping flight when undis- 

 turbed, and of fearless demeanour. They include some of the very commonest of Indian 

 Butterflies, and the commoner species are not only wide-spread, but they occur in most parts 

 in very great numbers. Their fearlessness is evidently the result of the freedom that they 

 enjoy from the attacks of insectivorous birds and reptiles, which they owe to the presence of 

 a pungent semi-aromatic odour pervading the juices of their bodies ; these juices, when exuded 

 by pressure, stain the skin yellow and leave a distinct odour ; their bodies are moreover very 

 tough and leathery, and they have great tenacity of life, so that any individual which might be 

 accidentally seized and afterwards dropped by a bird, has a good chance of escaping with 

 immunity when more delicately framed insects would be killed or hopelessly maimed. 

 The males often bear curious sexual marks on the wings, and have besides the power of 

 extruding and expanding two long brushes of yellow hairs from their anal extremity which 

 have been thought to disseminate the odour with which the insects are furnished. In 

 connection with the immunity from persecution which these insects enjoy, it is worthy of note 

 that many species belonging to widely different genera, such as Elymnias, Hypolitnnas^ 

 some of the Pierincz, Papilionince, &c., which altogether lack this kind of protection, are 

 found to closely resemble in outward appearance and style of colouration certain species of 

 DanaincB which frequent the same localities at the same periods ; such genera are termed 

 " mimetic," with reference to this habit of mimiciy, which is a subject of great interest and 

 importance for investigation. Regarding the gregarious habits of these insects. Dr. Thwaites* 

 writes from Ceylon : " On a fine sunny day, when calm or nearly so, amazing numbers of one 

 or more species of Euploea may often be observed wending their way in one direction, as if 

 floating upon the air a few feet from the ground, with an apparently sluggish movement of their 

 wings, though really making rapid progress." Captain C. H. E. Adamson also writes that, 

 on one occasion near Moulmein, on the I2th June, he found hundreds of Euplcece of numerous 

 species, all congregated round a single flowering tree in tlie jungle, at a time when scarcely a 

 single Euploea was to be found elsewhere in the neighbourhood. Mr. Harold Fergusson 

 has observed much the same habit in Hestia lynceus, and every one who has paid attention to 

 the subject in this country must have observed the swarms of the common Danais chrysippus, 

 D. genutta, and Euplcea core to be found from time to time in various localities. All the 

 Danaina have the costal and subcostal nervures of the forewing rather widely separated ; 

 also the peculiar structure of the internal nervure noted above. They are found in all the four 

 continents and in Australia, though as a rule confined to tropical and sub-tropical regions. 

 The Indo-Malayan region, where the species are very numerous, appears to be the head-quarters 

 of the subfamily. The distinctive characters of the Indian genera are shown in the following 

 table :— 



• " Lepidoptera of Ceylon," by F. Moore, F.Z.S. 



