NYMPIIALID.E. NYMPIIALIN.E. CYNTHIA. 41 



it'Irlh T""'" 1 ''',•"';"' ''°'''' with scales and a few scattered seL. ;/...„ half as 

 lo,,g as the tibia, nearly cyhndr.c. macronate at the apex. Of the f.ma/e with the /e.u^r and 

 /V^.« of about equal length, rather slender, scaly; the latter also furnishe.l with some scat- 

 tered setje, and with two lateral spines before the apex, which is very obliquely truncate • 

 t^^irsus shorter than the tibia, clavate ; first joint nearly cylindric for about two-thirds of its 

 length, then widening to the apex, which is about double the width of the base ; second 

 joint transverse, about one-sixth the length of the first ; third transverse, shorter than the 

 second ; fourth transverse, about half the length of the first ; all these joints armed with 

 a spine on each side at the apex ; fifth joint very small, shorter than the fourth, armed with 

 two small spines before the apex, and furnished, as are the three preceding joints, with a 

 tuft of hair on each side at the base, covering the spines of the preceding joint. Middle 

 and HINDLEGS, rather robust ; femora of the middle pair rather longer, of the hind pair rather 

 shorter, thin the tibise ; tibu^ spiny all round ; the two lateral series distinctly regular ; spurs 

 strong ; tarsus spiny above, laterally, and below ; fifth joint less spiny below than the others ; 

 the spines below arranged in two tolerably regular series ; second joint fully one-third the' 

 length of the first ; third joint more than two-thirds the length of the second ; fourth joint 

 half the length of the fifth, and more than half the length of the second. Claws strong, sharp, 

 curved, grooved below. Paronychia consisting of one lacinia, bro^d at the basL theii 

 .suddenly narrower, nearly linear, rather more than half the length of the claw, very 'hairy. 

 Pulvillus short ; the second joint broad, hairy. The sexes differ materially in colour ; the' 

 males being fulvous with darker markings ; the females of a light greyish brown, both wings 

 being traversed by a broad white interrupted band." {Doubleday, 1. c.) 



Larva cylindric, head armed with two large erect spiny tubercles, the segments also armed 

 with tubercles from which spring many-branched spines. Pupa irregular-shaped, with 

 numerous projecting processes. 



The genus Cynthia is found in South India, Ceylon, Andaman Isles, the Eastern Himalayas 

 Assam, Sylhet, Cachar, Burma, and thence through the Malay Peninsula and ArchipelasrJ 

 as far eastwards as New Britain. All the species are very closely allied indeed, so much so 



In'i'^T ;^-°,°''''';!'^'.'" "'' ^'"''^ °^ ^'^''""^ Lepidoptera, confined the specie, to one only, 

 and Mr. Kirby in his Synonymic Catalogue to one with a variety. In the case of several of 



h!? I ''v'^f^^^Pf^'^'.^^^^^'^^'^S^'^'^l^^'ween them without having both se.xes. it being 

 the female which bears the chief specific distinctions. ^ 



Three species are found within our limits, while Mr. Distant records two as occurring in the 



Malay Peninsula. The males of the North Indian and Ceylonese species appear to be almost 



indistinguishable, so I have based the key below on the principal points of difference in the 



opposite sex. They are large and handsome insects having the hindwing distinctly tailed in both 



sexes ; the males are bright yellowish-brown, with two macular black lines on the outer margin 



and one transverse one on the disc across both wings. The females are more or less greenirh 



with a prominent white band across the disc, with from two to five ocelli on the hindwing. ' 



Key to the ladiaa species of Oyntliia. 



A. Female with the white discal band of the upperside reaching the submedian nervure of the hindwing. 



322. C. EROTA, North East India, Burma, Andamans. 



^' ^^only.' '''"" '^' ''^'" '"'"' ''""^ °^ "'' "PP^"''!^ '"'^hing the lower subcostal nervule of hindwin,. 



a. Ground-colour of the upperside greenish-olivaceous. 



323. C. SALOMA, South India. 



b. Ground-colour of the upperside dark blue-grey. 



324- C. ASELA, Ceylon. 



322, Cynthia erota, Fabridus. (Plate XXI, Fig. 97 <? ?) 



T ''f ""':'"''' ^"^"^^ ^'"- S>-t , vol. iii, pt. X. p. 76, „ .37 (1793) : Cynthia erota. liutler, Cat Fabr 

 Lep. Brit. Mus , p. 115, n. 2 (1869) ; id , Moore, Proc. Zool. Soc Loud., 1877, p. 584. 



Habitat : North East India, Burma, South Andaman Isles. 



Expanse: <J, 35 to 4-3; ?, yz to 45 inches. 



6 



