HYPOLIMNAS. 12$ 



the Indian and Austro-Malayan Regions. They are generally 

 black, with blue and white markings; and the females are 

 more or less tawny. One of the commonest species is H. 

 misippus (Linn.), in which the male is black, with a white 

 oblique band on the fore-wings, a smaller one at the tip, and 

 a broader band or blotch on the centre of the hind-wings, all 

 bordered on both sides with rich violet-blue. The under side 

 of the fore-wings is paler brown, with a broad white transverse 

 band, having a brown notch in the middle of the costal end. 

 The female is, at first sight, almost indistinguishable from 

 Limnas chrysippus (Linn.), but has a large black spot on the 

 costa of the hind-wings, and no spots in the centre, where the 

 discoidal cell is also quite open. It varies, moreover, in the 

 same way as L. chrysippus. It is common in Tropical Asia 

 and Africa, and has been introduced into the north of South 

 America. In India and the Indian Archipelago there are a 

 great number of closely-allied species, which used to be con- 

 sidered local varieties of H. bolina (Linn.). The males are 

 very similar to those of H. misippus^ but the blue and white 

 spots are smaller, and the white band of the under surface is 

 narrower, duller, and not indented on the costa. The females, 

 however, vary very much ; they are larger than the males, and 

 sometimes resemble them, except in having a sub-marginal 

 row of white dots ; they are sometimes spotted and banded 

 with white, with a large tawny blotch on the costa of the fore- 

 wings, but sometimes they are entirely brown, with a sub-mar- 

 ginal row of white dots, and a few blue spots towards the costa 

 of the fore-wings. 



Among the other Eastern species are some which much re- 

 semble Euplcea in colouring. Others belong to a group found 

 in the Moluccas, &c., of which the largest and best known 

 is H. pandarus (Linn.). This often measures nearly five 

 inches across the wings, which are black, with a violet-blue 



