NYMrilAI.ID/I-:. DANAlN/^v IIESTIA. 23 



Zey to the Qenera of DAITAZITJE. 



A. Antenna? almost filiform, scarcely perceptibly clavale. Of large size ; wings elongate, diaphanous, white 



with black or blackish spots and marks ; no sexual pouch on hindwing of male. Cinws Ju>tiishcdwith 

 pat onychia ami fiiiiviili, 



I. — Hestia. 



B. Antennae distinctly clavntc. 



<?. Claws without paronychia or pulvilli. ..... 



a\ With no sexual sfct on hiudiuins cX vnTsXt. Smaller than //«//«, but similar in form and 

 colouration. 



II. — Idhopsis. 

 *>. Generally with sexual spot or pouch on hindwing of male. Wines yellowish brown, or bluish 

 or greenish white, bordered and more or less streaked with black. 



III.— Danais. 



*. Claws furnished with paronychia and pulvilli. The sexual marks, usually on forewing of male ; 

 wings various sh.ides of velvety-brown or black, often brilliantly glossed and spotted with 

 blue, and often with white spots near the outer margin. 



IV. — EUPLCEA. 



The genera of Danais zn^ Euplcea have been further subdivided into minor groups, based 

 mainly on the form and position of the sexual marks in the males ; these subdivisions are 

 indicated under each generic head, but the generic names, as defined above, are retained, as 

 they alone appear to have full generic value. 



Genus 1.— HESTIA, HUbner. (Plates III & IV). 

 Hestia, Hubner, Verz. bek. Schmett., p. 14 (1816) ; Double., Gen. D. L., p. 94 (1847) ; Butler, Trans. Ent. 

 Soc. Loud., series iii, vol. v, p. 467 (1867) Monograph ; Idea, Fabricius, 111. Mag., vol. vi, p. 283 (1808) ; Latr., 

 Enc. M^th., vol. ix, p. 10 (1819) ; Nom. Spec. Horsfield, Cat. Lep. E. I. C, pi. iii, n. 28 a, b, c, d (1828). 



Antenn/E, more than half the length of the body, slender, almost filiform, scarcely 

 thickened at the apex. Forewing, ample, elongate, somewhat oval ; the outer margin some- 

 times sinuate, especially in the males. Costal nervure and first subcostal nervule anasto- 

 mosing ; upper disco-cellular nervule short but distinct. HiNDWiNG, elongate, obovate ; the 

 abdominal fold almost wanting in the males, distinct in the females. Forelegs, clothed 

 with scales ; \\^q femur and tibia of about equal length ; the tarsus of the males about one- 

 third the length of the tibia, cylindrical, tapering towards the apex, sometimes showing 

 indications of being four-jointed, sometimes constricted near the base, without any signs of 

 articulations. Tarsus of the females clavate, four-jointed, each joint, except the fourth, 

 armed at the apex with a spine on each side. Middle and Hindlegs, of moderate length ; 

 tarsi, long, with the last joint dilated. CLAWS, curved, rather short. PARONYCHIA with 

 the outer lacinia strap-shaped, longer than the claw ; inner lanceolate, more than half as 

 long as the claw. Pulvillus jointed, nearly as long as the claw, the second joint broad 

 and corneous. 



Caterpillar.— Unknown. Chrysalis.— Typical as in the subfamily. A chrysalis of 

 Jiestia belia, Westwood, is figured in Horsfield and Moore's Cat. Lep. E. I. C, vol. i, pi. iv, 

 fig. 12 {1857), fro 111 Java. 



The Hestias are remarkable Butterflies, of large size and with elongate wings ; they are 

 essentially tropical insects. About fifteen species are known, all from the Indian or Indo- 

 Malayan regions. Within our limits they seem to be confined to Ceylon, the south of the 

 peninsula and along the western Ghats to the south Concan, reappearing on the east in 

 Burma and the Andaman Islands. The texture of the wings is delicate, and the colour 

 throughout the group is semi-transparent white or greyish white, sometimes pure, sometimes 

 powdered with blackish scales, with the nervuves and numerous spots and marks black. They 

 fly slowly over the tops of bushes and trees, often at considerable height from the ground, but 

 when within reach are not difficult to capture. They are essentially forest-loving insects, and 

 frequent the neighbourhood of pools and streams. Locally they are known by various trivial 

 names, often very appropriate, such as "floater," or "silver paper fly," or "Sylph," in 

 Ceylon ; "spectre" or " ghost •' in south India ; " widow" in Province Wellesley, &c. 



The Ceylon species, H. jasonta, has been placed by Moore in his recent work on the 

 Lepidoptera of that island under the genus Nectaria, of Dalmann, which embraces a section 



