NYMPIIALID.'E. ELYMNIIN/E. DYCTIS. 275 



266. Elymnias timandra, Wallace. 



E. timnndra, Wallace, Trans Eiit. Soc. Loud., iSoj, p. 326, n. 13. 



Habitat : Sylhet ; Tenasseiim. 

 Expanse : 30 to 3 7 inches. 



Description : " Like E. lais* ; outline of the winqs moie dentate, especially on the 

 hindwing. MALE. Upperside like E. lais, but the markings broader, and of a rich 

 verditer blue on the /on'-tahio: Underside, the base of the wings is much darker. Female. 

 Wings more elongate ; markings pale ochre, tinged witli bluisli on {.he/o/eioin^, the tooth at 

 the outer angle of the hindwing forming a short tail." 



" Very closely allied to ^. /«iV, but tlie different outline of tl\e wings, and distinct 

 colouring, render it neccessary to separate it." (IVallace, 1. c. ) 



The Indian Museum, Calcutta, contains specimens from Sylhet, and Captain Bingham 

 took a single male in tlie Donat range in Tennasserim in April, and one female was taken 

 at Kanhlete by Captain Adamson in September. Wallace also records it from Moulmein, 

 but it is apparently a rare species. On the upperside the Sylhet males are decidedly marked 

 with green, while the Tenasserim males are equally decidedly blue, and the forewing is 

 somewhat longer proportionally than the Sylhet males. 



E. casiphone has been recorded from Singapore. On the underside it is marked very 

 similarly to E. lais, but the general tone of the ground-colour is more rufous ; on the upperside, 

 however, it is very different. It is intermediate between E. saiicii and E. lais. 



Genus 32.-DT0TIS, Boisduval. (Plate XVII.) 



Dyctis, Boisduval, Voy. de I'Astrolabe, p. 138 (1832) ; id., Westvvood, Gen. D. L., p. 353 (1851) ; id., 

 Butler, Proc Zool. Soc. Lond., 1871, p. 523. 



Differs from Elymnias (restricted) in having the lozoer disco-celhtlar nervule of the hind- 

 wing straight or feebly concave in continuation of the upper disco-cellular nervule. 



The full diagnosis of Dyclis as given by Mr. Butler is appended below ;+ but the sole 

 reliable feature on which the distinction can be maintained is the shape of the discoidal cell 

 in the hindwing as indicated above. The hindwing in Elymnias restricted also has a 

 false prnsdiscoidal cell ; the position of tlie origin of the fust subcostal nervule is inconstant, 

 in most species of Elymnias it is nearer to the base of the wing than to the apex of the 

 cell, and in most species of Dyctis it is nearer to the apex of the cell than to the base of 

 the wing, but no tangible line of separation can be drawn ; the distance between the origin 



• i?/)';«?//<tj /<7/s, Cramer, Pap Ex , vol ii, pi ex, figs A, B (1777I, male; Biblis lais, Godart, Enc. 

 Meth., vol. ix, p. 326, n. 4 (1819) ," Elymnias lais, Wallace, Trans. Ent. Soc. Loud., 1869, p. 325, n. 11 ; id., Dis- 

 tant, Rhop. Mai.iy , p. 62, pi. ix, fig. 2 (1882), jitale. Habitat : Province Wellesley ; Siam ; Malay Archipelago, 

 Expanse: 3 inches. Description: "Malk : Uppkrsiue, both ivings dark chocolate-brown, variegated with 

 greenish markings. Fo>c%uiiig with the costal area (particularly the basal portion) irrorated with numerous greyish 

 spots and strigse ; a large greenish fascia in the cell, narrowest at the base, and widened and somewhat truncate 

 near the apex, and with the following longitudinal fascise of the same colour placed between the nervules : — 

 The upper two are placed above and below the first discoidal nervule, and are very faint and slender, with their 

 apices broad and macular ; the third above the third median nervule is slender, but macular at both ends, and 

 inwardly approaches the disco-cellular fascia ; the following three separated by the median nervules are 

 broadest at base, narrowing at apical portion, but macular at apex, and the last runs along the inner margin. 

 HiudiL'ing with similar longitudinal fascije as on the forewing, and which are also placed between the nervules, 

 but are broken near their apices, which thus appear as a submarginal series of spots ; of these fascia the inner 

 two (placed on each side of the submedian nervure) are longest, and the upper two (placed on each side of the 

 discoidal nervule) are the faintest; there is also a very faint disco-cellular streak. Underside dull greyish, 

 suffused with fuscous, and mottled with dark strigae ; on ihs /orc2vi"g \.\\ese become more or less confluent and 

 dark chocolate in colour, forming an irregular spot in the cell, a larger irregular spot or fascia at the end of 

 the cell, and appearing very prominently towards the outer margin ; on th^ liiudwiiig ihesn darker shadings 

 do not extend beyond the basal half of the wing, but again appear as a more or less well-defined outer sub- 

 marginal fascia. Body and tegs more or less concolourous with the wings. Fbm.\le, somewhat larger than the 

 male, the fascis and spots of the uppkrside being creamy in hue, and with the outer margins of botli iviiigs 

 distinctly and somewhat brightly castaneous. Underside, ^i)/A «/z«^.s much paler, and the numerous shadings 

 are of like pattern but fainter impression." {Distant, 1. c ) 



t Z'jiT/'/V, Butler. " Forewing as in jS'/jwK/rtj; hindwing with a false praediscoidal cell; the first subcostal 

 nervule emitted towards the end of the cell, nearer to the end in the females than in the males ; second and 

 discoidal nervules emitted somewhat near together ; upper disco-cellul.ir nervule more or less oblique, slanting 

 outwards ; lower disco-cellular feebly concave or angulated, and about twice the length of the upper one ; 

 second and third median nervules emitted near together." (Butler, \. c.) 



