290 NYMPHALID.E. 



base beneath, and with two rows of short thick spines in all the tibias. Tarsi considerably shorter than tlie 

 tibia, rather thickly clothed at the sides and beneath with very short spines. Claws rather large and very 

 much curved. Paronychia small, bifid. 

 Abdomen variable in size and thickness, according to that of the thorax. 



Caterpillar chilopodomorphous, linear, lengthened, provided on each side with ten long, attenuated, 

 spreading, brachiforra appendages of nearly equal length, consisting of a midrib and lateral beards, 

 decreasing in length towards the extremity, and imitating the structure of a very delicate pliune, being 

 armed with a terminal spike composed of a dense whorl of short robust spines. Feet short, minute, and 

 entirely concealed by the lateral appendages. 



Chrysalis short, angular, attenuated at both ends, with two sides even, and the third or ventral surface 

 gently swelled or rounded ; consisting of unequal pyramidal portions, the abdominal portion being the 

 longest, and provided with two points, whilst the angles are armed with a few short spines, which are 

 more robust at the union of the two pyramids ; the longitudinal and transverse ridges ornamented with a 

 delicate gold streak. 



The characters above described are derived from the typical species, A. Aconthea, and other closely allied Javanese species, amongst 

 whicli, however, there is considerable diversity, both in the shape of the wings, especially of the hind wings of the males, and the 

 robustness of the body ; thus the body of the male of A. Lubentina is as large and thick as in the most robust Hesperia. This species 

 is also remarkable for its rich appearance, produced by the contrast of its vivid carmine spots on a dark olive-green ground ; the female 

 being further distinguished, like the same sex in several other species, by the white, oblique, maculated bar ornamenting the fore wings, 

 and running from the middle of the fore margin to the anal angle. 



The males of other species, such as A. Cocytina, C'ocytus, and Dirtea, are distinguished by a broad band of delicate blue colour, 

 extending along the posterior margin of the hind wings, and running sometimes partly along that of the fore wings. The numerous 

 white spots on the wings of the female of A. Dirtea (PI. XLIV. fig. 1.) are almost entirely wanting in the male, the body of which is 

 also destitute of similar spots. The beautiful A. Nesiniachus of Boisduval is remarkable for the double series of very delicate white 

 zigzag lines along the outer portion of all the wings. With these exceptions, the colours of these insects are generally dull brown, 

 often with a greenish gloss, with slender, dark, irregular lines in the discoidal cell of all the wings, and often with paler and darker 

 arched or waved marks bej'ond the middle of the wing. There is also some difference in the condition of the discoidal cell of the wings 

 of these insects. In the typical species it is entirely open in all the wings. In A. Dirtea, however, it is closed in the fore wings; the 

 lower disco-cellular vein being slender but distinct in the male, whereas in the female it is almost obsolete, and only to be seen on 

 removing the scales from the wings. In A. Xesimachus, Nicea, Evelina, and two large undescribed Chinese species in my collection, 

 the discoidal cell of all the wings is distinctly closed. There is also considerable variation in the outline of the wings of the different 

 species, varying from the rounded apical margin of A. Apatnrina to the hooked and deeply emarginate one of Cocytus and Evelina; 

 whilst the hind wings of the males are almost triangular in A. Lubentina, whereas they are quite rounded in A. Dirtea. 



The very curious structure of the Caterpillar and Chrysalis of the typical species of this genus, observed in India and Java by 

 General Hardwicke and Dr. Horsfield (whose generic description, published in the Zoolof/ical Journal, is partially incorporated in the 

 preceding character), at once removes this group from all the other genera of Nymphalida;. The Larva of Adolias Aconthea is 

 represented in Dr. Ilorsfield's drawings as pale green, with the little whorl of bristles of a black colour at the end of each of the 

 long filamentous processes ; and, in General llardwicke's notes and drawings in the British jMuseum, it is stated that a precisely similar 

 caterpillar was found at Dura-Dum, in the month of July, on the leaves of a Bryonia, and another on Trophis aspera ii* March. The 

 change to the pupa is stated to have taken place in December, and the perfect butterfly appeared on the 30th of that month. In a 

 specimen of the Chrysalis, with which I have been favoured by Dr. Horsfield, I find the surface of the leaf, to which it is attached by 

 the tail, coated for the space of an inch with silk, into which the numerous little spines at the extremity of the body are thrust, whereby 

 the insect is suspended. The head-case is terminated by two short conical horns. Each wing-case has a very acute diverging ridge 

 running along the inner margin of the fore wing, and terminating in a conical point exactly over the anal angle of the fore wings, 

 with a dark spot in the middle of the back, at the extremity of the mesonotum ; and the third abdominal segment is elevated into an 

 acute conical ridge running between the two middle conical protuberances, whilst the terminal segment of the body is furnished with a 

 number of little tubercles symmetrically arranged. 



A peculiarity which is also to be found in other Eastern groups exists in the Geographical Range of these insects, namely, that 

 they occur in the islands of the Indian Ocean and various parts of Northern India, whilst scarcely any are found in Central India; 

 thus I possess specimens of A. Lubentina from Assam, China, and Java, whereas there was not a single individual of the genus in 

 Col. Hcarsey's collection from Central India. Other instances will be seen in the localities of the different species. 



The merit of first determining this highly interesting genus, as well as of clearing up the synonymy of two of its most interesting 

 species, is due to Dr. Horsfield, whose generic name, Aconthea, I should have adopted, had it not been established in opposition to the 

 rule which forbids the alteration of specific names; Dr. Horsfield having in this instance followed the bad example set by Mr. Swainson, 

 of turning the specific name of the typical species into a generic one, and then giving a new specific name to the type. 



Dr. Horsfield, whose views of the analogical relations of animals are in accordance with those of IMr. ISIacLeay, observes that " the 

 metamorphosis of this genus is very remarkable, and strikingly illustrates the analogy which exists between the forms of the individuals 

 of the class Ametabola, and the larva; of Diurnal Lepidoptera. The nearest representative of onr genus among the Ametabola, witli 

 which I am acquainted, is Scutigcra. This annulose animal, although disposed in the Chilopodomorphous, is close to its union with the 

 Thysanuriform Stirps; and Aconthea, in the series of Lepidoptera, follows immediately after Biblis and Limenitis, leading gradually to 

 Apatura." 



The species of this genus are very numerous, there being at least sixty or seventy in our different metropolitan collections. i\Iany of 

 them are very obscure in their markings, and it is only by means of excellent figures that they can be properly determined. It is on 

 this account that many of the Fabrieian species are very difficult, if not impossible, to be ascertained, and hence it is that I have been 

 compelled to add a point of doubt to several of the species at the end of the following list. 



