152 



VANESSA ORITHYA. 



PLATE XV. Fig. 3. 



Godart. — Pap. N. Orithya, Linn. Fcibr. — RoesePs Beslust. In- 

 sect, vol. iv. pi. 6, fig. 2. — Pap. Orithya, Cramer, PI. 1 9, 

 fig. C, D ; PI. 32, fig. E, F ; PI. 281, fig. E, F : PI. 209, 

 fig. A, B, C, D. 



This very elegant species, which is a native of China 

 and the island of Java, is subject to much variation 

 in its colour and markings. In its most ordinary 

 state the colour of the surface is velvet-black in the 

 male and dark brown in the female, with two large 

 ocelli on each wing having a violet-blue pupil and 

 a yellowish-red iris. The costa of the primary wings 

 is generally dull white, and towards the base are 

 two or three transverse stripes alternately blue and 

 tawny-yellow ; towards the apex are three whitish 

 bands, the interior one broadest, the middle one 

 interrupted by the ocellus, the third narrow and ly- 

 ing along the external margin. The secondary wings 

 are surrounded by a white band divided throughout 

 its whole length by a double undulating black line ; 

 the space between this band and the middle of the 

 wing bluish-green in the male, a colour which 

 scarcely appears in the female, and the anterior 

 portion generally black in the former sex. Under 

 side pale, the transverse stripes much elongated and 



