26 NYMPHALID^. DANAIN^. HESTIA. 



be local." * • • " Later on during April they were not uncommon, but seldom numerous 

 • • * and throughout May they were common iu the hills in suitable localities." They seem 

 to occur only on the hills, not lower than i,ooo feet elevation, and to frequent forests. In the 

 Kadur District, Mysore, at about 2,500 feet elevation, it has been found common in 

 Au<just, October, and November, by IMr. G. H, Kearney, a correspondent of the Indian 

 Museum. 



In Malacca, and possibly extending up into Tenasserim, is found a variety of this species 

 figured by Doubleday in the Gen. D. L. (plate xiii, fig. i) as H, lyncetis var. idea \ it is 

 smaller than the typical specimens, of equally grey ground-colour, the wings narrower and 

 more elongated, and all the markings smaller, and with no tendency to confluence at the apex 

 of the forewing. Expanse, 5"6 inches. 



2. Hestia malalsarlca, Moore. 



H. tnalaharica, Moore, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., fourth series, vol. xx, p. 46 (1877). 



Habitat: South Concan, Malabar, South India. 



Expanse : 5 to 5-5 inches {Moore) ; 4-3 to 5*0 inches (Marshall). 



Description : " Allied to H. belia"* [from Java] '* but differs on the forewing va the 

 costa being black-streaked, the cell-spot more compact, there being also a contiguous but 

 distinct spot situated outside the cell nearer the base, and between the costal and subcostal 

 nervures ; the discal series of spots turns to the costa more abruptly and nearer to the end of 

 the cell • these spots are more conical, and have no contiguous patches on the veins. The 

 martrinal series of vein-marks are on long peduncles. On the hindiving the spots are somewhat 

 smaller. Abdomen above with a broad dorsal black band." {Moore, 1. c.) The female differs 

 from the male in being rather larger, Vatfoieiviug less emarginate outwardly, broader and more 

 rounded ; the hindzcing is also rounder. All the markings are larger and a deeper black, 

 and the ground-colour not quite such a pure clear white. As the markings of this species are 

 precisely similar in every detail to those of H. lyncezis, there is no occasion to repeat them. 



'* 'Found in woody places on the western coast, especially on the thick-wooded mountain 

 passes up the Western Ghats and Nilgiris.' " {Moore, 1. c.) The Hestia found in the northern 

 portions of the Western Ghats in the south Concan, and on the Goanese frontier, is much smaller 

 than the dimensions given by Moore. Of nine specimens captured by Mr. G. Vidal, none 

 reached 5 inches in expanse, and the smallest was only 4-3 inches ; but there can be no doubt 

 that they belong to the species described by Moore. Whether or not it is distinct from 

 H. lynceus appears still open to doubt ; but if the two species are distinct, the name //. malabarica 

 would apply to the smaller northern race. It appears to be common towards the end of 

 March on the wooded passes in the south Concan ; a number of them were found on the 

 Onomed and Coessi passes at about 1,600 to 1,700 feet above the sea, in that month. 



Another species of this group, Hestia linteata,"^ Butler, has been recorded from Malacca. 



S'S 



the 



*Hesiia belia, Westwood, Cab. Or. Ent., p. 75, pi. xxxvii, fig. 2 (1848). Hahitat : Java. Expanse : 

 inches Description : " Wings oval, snow-white, with the veins and spots black ; the rather small spot of ...^ 

 discoidal cell scarcely extending into the subcostal area, and with a row of black oval spots beyond the 

 middle of the wings, parallel with the apical margin, which is alternately marked with oblong-oval spots 

 between the nervules, and clavate ones placed on the nervules ; the inner false vein in the discoidal cell of 

 the /!/Ww/«^ is marked in the middle of its outer edge with a black spot ; the apical margin of the wings is 

 rather irregular." (Westwood, 1. c.) 



H. belia differs from all the Indian species by the purer and more opaque ground-colour of the wings, the 

 more rounded outline, the neatly, sharply-defined and rounded character of the spots, and lastly by the discal 

 series on the fofewing being parallel to the outer margin throughout its length, giving a neater and more regular 

 appearance to the style of the markings. The chrysalis is suspended freely by the tail from the back of a leaf 

 as figured in Horsfield and Moore's Cat. Lep E. I. C, vol. i, pi. iv, fig. 12 (1857). 



t //f^i*:*! Afl/i^o/*, Butler, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., second series, vol. i, Zoology, p. 536, pi. ixix, fig. 6. 

 Habitat: Malacca. Expanse: 55 to 6-7 inches. Description: "Nearly allied to A'. ,Jc/za, Westwood, but 

 much larger, the veins less broadly black-bordered ; spots larger, excepting towards the costa of the foreTvitig- 

 at apex ; discoidal spot of hindwing very large ; clavate markings terminating the nervules much longer, 

 more slender in the middle." (Butler, 1. c ) 



This species seems to be the Continental representative of H. belia, which as yet has only been recorded 

 from Java, 



