290 THK ENTOMOLOGIST. 



INTRODUCTORY PAPERS ON LEPTDOPTERA. 



By \V. F. KiRBY, 



Assist.-Naturalist in the Museum, Eoyal Dublin Society. 



No. V. NYMPHALID^— ELYMNIIN^ and MORPHIN.E. 



The subfamily Elymniince contains but two genera, — 

 Elyrnnias and Dye lis : the cells of all the wings are closed, 

 the costal nervure of the fore wings is much swollen at the 

 base; and the males are furnished with pencils of hairs on 

 the hind wings. The larvae have cephalic spines, forked 

 tails, and a smooth skin. All the species, except two, which 

 are African, are Indo- or Austro-Malayan, and most of them 

 mimic other butterflies — Daiiaus, Euplcea, Tenaris, Delias, 

 and Acrcea ; they may, however, readily be distinguished 

 from all these genera by their dentated, and often angulated, 

 wings. They are generally dark-coloured insects, with the 

 fore wings either plain or spotted with blue or white, and in 

 many species the hind wings are bordered with orange. The 

 female of E. uiidularis mimics Danaus Chrysippus: it is 

 tawny, with broad brown borders spotted with white on all 

 the wings ; towards the tip of the fore wings the spots are 

 confluent, and form a band. The African species — Dyctis 

 Phegea and Bainmakoo — mimic different species of Acrcea: 

 the fore wings are brown, banded with fulvous in the former 

 and white in the latter; the hind wings in both species are 

 brown, paler towards the base, and covered with brown striae. 

 On the under side most of the Eli/nmiin<e are finely striated 

 with brown, and the group has a family likeness, which 

 renders it easy to recognise, in spile of its resemblance to 

 other butterflies. Dyctis Ayondas, of New Guinea, which 

 mimics the genus Tenaris, is dirty white, with brown 

 borders, and two or three large blue spots on the hind 

 wings. 



The Morpliincc are a group of butterflies perhaps only 

 artificially separated frou) the Nyutp/iali/Ks. Some of them 

 approach the Salyritioi in appearance, and probably in 

 habits; but the typical genus Morp/io comprises some of the 

 largest and most splendid butterflies known, and, except a 

 superficial resemblance to the BrassoliiKc, cannot be con- 

 founded with anything else. All the gei>era, except Morpho, 



