NYMPHALID^. t)ANAIN^. HESTIA. 2J 



H. lyncetis are from tlie Wynaad, from whence they were sent by Mr. Rhodes Morgan, 

 although numerous specimens in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, from the Kadur District, 

 Mysore, are equally typical as regards the dark-grey ground-colour, though somewhat smaller 

 in expanse. The large Travancore race has been retained for the present as H. lyttceus, but 

 the point requires further investigation. H. hadeni with its very broad pure black border is 

 the most distinct of all the species. 



I. Eestialyaceus, Diury. 



Papilio lyncctis, Drury. Ins., vol. ii, p. 12, pi. vii, fig. i (1773) ; Hcstia lynceus, Doubl. and Hew., Gen. 

 D. L., p. 95 (1847), Hoisfield and Moore, Cat. Lep. E. I. C, vol. i, p. 134(1857). 



Habitat : South-west peninsular India ; and Malayana, 



Expanse : 5-3 to 6-3 inches. 



Description : " Upperside. all the wings appear almost transparent and of a glassy hue, 

 h.iving a great number of black spots like velvet on them, of different shapes and sizes, 

 some being round, some oblong, and others like streaks, there being on each /(^r^Jtw;?^ twenty- 

 eight distinct ones, besides those placed near the anterior edges, which are not easily ascertained 

 from their running into one another; the hindwingh^s thirty-three distinct spots like those 

 on the forewing, whereof some appear double. Underside, exactly similar to the upperside. 

 The edges of both wings plain and even." (Duiry, 1. c.) 



The above somewhat quaint description is taken from the original by Drury ; it is not 

 very definite, but an examination of the plate, though the colouring is overdone, leaves no 

 doubt that the large Hestias from the Wynaad are identical with H. lynceus, Drury, the 

 expanse of which is 6'3 inches. 



The following is a detailed description of the Wynaad species. Forervhtg, with the space 

 between the costal nervure and the margin black for about one-third the length of the wing 

 from the base, then merging into a black spot extending from the margin to the subcostal 

 nervure ; beyond this the costal margin is alternately striped white and black. In the cell are 

 three black streaks, the upper one starting from the subcostal nervure, the two lower united 

 towards the base which they do not quite reach ; beyond the middle of them is an irregu- 

 lar black patch usually not reaching the nervure on either side ; at the end of the cell the 

 disco-cellular nervules are broadly defined with black ; a discal series of seven black spots, of 

 which the three nearest the costa are parallel to the end of the cell, and the next four parallel 

 to the outer margin ; within this row is an irregular black patch on a black stripe between 

 the median and submedian nervures, and a round black spot between the first and second 

 median nervules ; beyond the discal series is a submarginal row consisting of pairs of conical 

 spots placed by the nervules, one on each side of each, and coalescing, and a marginal series, 

 consisting of a conical spot on each nervule with the base outwards and the apex coalescing 

 with the submarginal row, and between each pair of nervules an elongated spot ; a narrow 

 black marginal line extends completely round both wings. On the hindwing, the markings 

 correspond with those on the forewing ; the marginal, submarginal and discal series are 

 similar in style and arrangement, but within the cell there are only two black streaks, the 

 upper one with a short branch near the end. The ground-colour of both wings is semi-trans- 

 parent white, covered with minute black irrorations giving it a greyish tone. The female 

 differs from the male in being somewhat larger, the forewing broader and less emarginate. 

 The Tranvancore specimens correspond entirely with the above in markings, but the ground- 

 colour is purer and more opaque white, the black irrorations being confined to the outer 

 half of the wing, or in some cases entirely wanting. 



Hestia lynceus appears to be fairly common in the hilly districts of Travancore, but is 

 rather local. Mr. Harold Fergusson writes : "On one occasion, on the 1 6th February, in 

 a patch of heavy forest at about 3,500 feet elevation, I saw numbers of this Hestia. There 

 must have been at least a hundred floating about the trees some twenty feet from the ground. 

 I had seen none before this in any of the other forests, so I should think that they must 



5 



