2.30 NYMrilALID.'E. NYMPHALIN.-E. VANESSA. 



slender, subcyliiidiic, or nearly acicular, more or less pointed at the apex ; antemiiv, about 

 three-foiuths the lenf^th of the body, with two distinct grooves below ; the club rather short, 

 gradually tapering at its origin ; the last joint minute, pointed ; thorax, moderately stout, 

 clothed with long hairs ; abdomen about two-thirds the length of the inner margin of the hind- 

 wing. FOREWING, subtriangular ; the apex truncate ; fwAz/ ;«^/ri,J7V< but little curved, some- 

 times deeply emarginate at the shoulder ; oiiler margin about three-fourths the length of the 

 costa, sinuate, emarginate ; inner margin nearly straight, slightly longer than the outer ; [in the 

 V, canace and Grapta groups the inner margin is highly sinuous and outwardly excavated] ; 

 costal nervure rather stout, extending about to the middle of the costa ; subcostal nervure not 

 much slenderer than the costal, and separated from it by a short interval ; its first and second 

 branches thrown off close together, and but little before the end of the cell ; the third arising 

 at about two-thirds of the distance from the base to the apex, and terminating close to the 

 apex, the fourth rather nearer to the origin of the third than to the outer margin ; upper 

 disco-cellular nervtde very short, all but wanting ; middle disco-cellular likewise short ; loiuer 

 disco-cellular atrophied, or nearly so, its position indicated by a faint line, sometimes showing 

 the rudiment of a nervule, wliich arises from the second discoidal nervule, not far from 

 its origin, and runs obliquely downwards to the third median nervule. HiNDVViNG, somewhat 

 obovate ; inner margin longest ; costal and outer margins about equal, the former more or 

 less rounded, the latter more or less sinuate, dentate, prolonged into a tooth or short tail at 

 the termination of the third median nervule ; pracostal nervure simple ; discoidal nervule 

 arising from the second subcostal soon after its origin. Forelegs, of the male with iht femur 

 and tibia about equal in length, the latter rather stouter than the former ; tarsus of the 

 same length as the tibia, subcylindric, or slightly tapering towards the apex, sometimes 

 with one or two strangulations near the middle. Oi t\\Q female with the femur dsiA tibia 

 equal in length, the latter unarmed ; tarsus about the same length as the tibia, first joint 

 more than three times the length of the second, spiny below, beyond the middle, this and 

 the three following joints armed at the apex with a stout spine on each side, mostly covered 

 by a tuft of hairs at the base of the next joint ; second joint spiny below ; third and fourth 

 about one-third the length of the second ; the latter shorter than the former, very obliquely 

 truncate at the apex ; fifth joint short, transverse, sometimes scarcely visible from below. 

 Middle and hindlegs, moderately s,io\xt; femora and //(^/c? about equal, the latter spiny 

 without, and laterally v/ithin ; the spurs long, robust ; tarsi about as long as the tibiae, 

 spiny laterally, and, except the fifth joint, below ; the spines of the lower surface arranged 

 in two nearly regular series ; first joint almost four times the length of the second, third 

 and fourth each gradually shorter, fifth longer than the second j claws long, but little curved, 

 grooved below ; paronychia with the inner lacinia wanting, or very short, the outer as long 

 as the claw, and slender, but little hairy ; pidvillus small, short." 



'* Larva cylindric, the head and first thoracic segment unarmed, the rest armed with 

 long spines, set with setoe in whorls. Pupa very angular and tuberculate ; the head deeply 

 bifid, of some shade of brown, sometimes pale green, often bearing brilliant golden spots." 

 {Doubleday, 1. c, p. 198.) 



The genus Vanessa is represented by species occurring throughout North America, the 

 whole of Europe, in Asia as far south as the Malay Peninsula, also in North Africa. It does not 

 appear to occur in South America, Central and Southern Africa, the Malay Archipelago, 

 Australia and New Zealand, in other words, in the Southern Hemisphere. Within our limits it 

 occurs in the Himalayas, Malda, Assam, South India and Ceylon, but it has not been recorded 

 from the Andamans and Nicobars. The species are all very richly coloured, some being blue- 

 black above with a broad blue band, another is rich castaneous with a marginal white or 

 yellow band, others are rich ferruginous marked with black spots and yellow bands and patches, 

 with a submarginal series of blue spots on the hiudwing in some species. The colouration 

 of the underside is far less rich tiian above, being usually black or ochreous, marbled or streaked 

 with dull shades. They are insects of moderate size, have a " rather bold rapid flight, fond of 

 alighting in the sun, and then alternately expanding and closing their wings, producing, by so 

 doing, a faiut rustling sound. Most, if not all, of the species hybernate," {^Doubleday, 1. c.) 



