NYMPHALID^. DANAIN.li. EUPLGiA. 57 



GennS 4.— EUPLCBA, Frxbricius. (Pr.ATES VII-IX). 

 Fabricius, Illiger's Mag., vol. vi, p. 280 (1807) ; Doubleday, Gen. D. L., p. 86 (1847) ; Rutler. Proc. Zool. 

 Soc. Lond., 1866, p. 268, Mo>wfr>aJ<h\\A., Journ. Linn. Soc, Zoolojjy, vol. xiv, p. 290 (1878), ^/^«i)^ra/)A ; 

 Trepsichrois, Crastia, Sa//i/i.>; Hiibner, Verz. bek. Schmett., pp. 16, 17 (i 816). 



" Antenna, ratlier more than half as long ns the whole length of tlie body, gradually 

 clavate. Forelegs, with the femur and tibia about equal in length ; the tarsus shorter ; of 

 the MALE cylindric, rather tapering to a point at the extremity, indistinctly biarticulale ; 

 second joint about one-third the length of the first, both clothed with scales and hairs ; 

 of the FEMALE, clavate, quadriarticulate ; the first joint longer than the rest combined, 

 much broadest at the apex, where it has a stout spine on each side ; second and third 

 short, furnished with a tuft of hair on each side near the base, and a spine at the apex ; the 

 fourth joint minute, furnished with a tuft of hairs. Middle and IIinplegs strong, the claws 

 rather stout, curved. The paronychia divided into two lacinice ; the outer elongate, lance- • 

 olate, hairy, as long as the claw ; the inner not quite equal in length to the outer, more 

 hairy, elongate, lanceolate, the apex curving inward over the base of the pulvillus. Pulvillus 

 not so long as the claws, jointed ; the second joint broad, corneous." {Doubleday). 



Larva, with several pairs of elongate fleshy tentacula, usually on the penultimate, and on 

 two or more of the anterior segments. Pupa, short, obtuse, with the abdomen much rounded. 

 The Eupla-as are of r.ather large size ; usually of a swarthy brown or black colour, some- 

 times rufescent, generally with a veivety appearance, and often with brilliant blue or purple reflec- 

 tions, especially in the forewing ; more or less spotted with white or violet ; sometimes streaked 

 with white on the hindwing ; typically the spots are arranged in a double marginal series on 

 both wings, sometimes with a third discal row, but the extent to which these markings 

 are developed varies greatly, and in many species some or most of them are entirely wanting. 

 The thorax and head are spotted with white, especially below. In the/^;-ca:;/;/o- the inner 

 margin is in the male, usually much rounded outwardly, with a convex outline often covering 

 a large portion of the hindwing even when the wings are extended for flight ; in the female 

 it is usually straight or very slightly convex towards the base, sometimes even emarginate or 

 slightly concave towards the exterior angle. In some of the groups the males have one or 

 two impressed silky streaks on the interno-median area of the forewing, composed of scales 

 diff"erently formed from those on the rest of the wing. These streaks, together with a patch of 

 differently formed and paler scales present in some groups on the anterior portion of the 

 uppersitle of the hindwing, and covered by the forewing, are probably scent-producing organs. 

 The sexes in a few species also differ materially in the colour of the hindwing, the males 

 having the wing nearly uniform dark colour, and the females having it streaked with white ; 

 but as a rule the differences in colour are slight, and the sexes are only to be distinguished by 

 their structure and outline, and by the presence or absence of the sexual marks on the wings. 



About 160 species of Eiiplaa have been described ; it is an eastern- Asiatic genus, most 

 highly developed in the Malay Archipelago, and extending into Australia. Species also 

 are recorded from the islands of Mauritius, Bourbon, and Madagascar. Upwards of forty 

 species are included in the Indian list, but owing to the variations in individuals and the 

 indefiniteness of many of the original descriptions, their identification is often very difficult ; 

 many of the species inhabiting the same locality are so similar in appearance on the wing that 

 some are apt to be overlooked. They affect patches of scrub in cultivation, and the edges 

 of forests, and fly rather slowly and heavily ; they are most abundant in warm, damp, tropical 

 climates, and seem to shun dry places, whether cold or hot. Only a single species, E. core, 

 is found commonly in India proper ; no less than twenty-two species occur in Burma, of which 

 some extend to north-east India ; seventeen species are found in north-east India including 

 those extending from Burma ; seven species are found in the Andamans and Nicobars, all 

 but two of which appear to be confined to those islands ; three only are found in south 

 India, but in Ceylon there are six species, all but one of which occur nowhere else 

 \vithin Indian limits. The foregoing remarks include as species all that have been separately 

 described, although, as in the case of the allies of E. core, — E, asela, E. vc7-mici(hita^ and 

 E, subdita, the different forms are almost certainly only geographical varieties. 



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