Rhopalocera from the Australian region. 149 
found to contain some black fluid, and one fat maggot, 
which, in due course, produced a common-looking fly. 
Many of the larve turned to chrysalids during our pas- 
sage to Sydney, but I lost a number of them from want 
of food. ‘The first butterfly emerged at Sydney, on 16th 
September, and I bred altogether about two dozen fine 
specimens. 
Hypolimnas bolina, Linn. 
This is a very elegant butterfly, and its flight is most 
oraceful. The males are fond of congregating in little 
parties of a dozen or more, in some shady nook, where 
there may happen to be any of the large-leaved trees or 
shrubs upon which they delight to sit, and, as one 
passes, they fly out in little flocks. It is then a pretty 
sight to watch them. One or two will go off rapidly as 
if in a great fright, but the remainder wheel backwards 
and forwards slowly in front of the spot from whence 
they started, and, if one keeps perfectly quiet, will 
settle again in the same place. They look very lovely 
as they thus float to and fro in a lazy, airy fashion, 
their dark blue-black velvety wings, with bright violet- 
blue centres, flashing a variety of brilliant rays in the 
bright sun, and making them appear like fairy gems. 
The females are more solitary in their habits, but are to 
be seen more constantly on the wing flying steadily 
along, on the look out for a suitable plant on which to 
deposit their eggs. They vary excessively, scarcely any 
two being alike, and some of the varieties are remark- 
ably beautiful. The males, on the other hand, never 
show the least disposition to vary. The females seem 
to have regular beats, and appear to stick to the same 
spot for days, probably for the whole period of their 
existence. Often, while walking along a path through 
the forest, a female has flown out of a thick bush in 
front of me, and, day after day, as I passed the same 
spot, what I believe to have been the same butterfly 
has appeared. This was constantly occurring. Towards 
sunset the males assemble in large numbers, and 
“roost” together, and I have frequently beaten three or 
four dozen from the same bush. 
The larve are not at all difficult to find, and, in some 
places, were most abundant. When feeding on Sida 
rhombifolia they have a habit of crawling high up 
