NYMPHALIN^E. (Group NTitPHALIXA.) 65 



and legs, olivescent-brown, palest beueath, antennae black above, pale ochreous 

 beneath. 



Dry-season form. Male and female. Upperside dai'ker olivescent-brown, 

 markings the same ; the series of ocelli on the hindwing more prominent, and more 

 or less ochreous-ringed, most distinctly so in the female. Underside the same. 



Expanse, c? 2 to 2i%, ? 2f*o to 3 inches. 



Larva. — Cylindrical ; dark brown ; head reddish-ochreous ; segments with 

 dorsal and lateral rows of short delicate branched-spines. Feeds on Strohilantlms. 



Pupa. — Short ; pale purplish-grey or fuliginous ; with dorsal rows of small 

 tubercular points ; thorax broad ; head-piece pointed in front. 



Habitat. — India ; Ceylon ; Burma ; Tenasserim ; Malay Peninsula ; Sumatra ; 

 W. and C. China. 



Distribution and Habits. — " This is an exceedingly common species, as a rule, 

 where it occurs ; it has a somewhat bold flight, but not for any great distance, it 

 often, but not always, pitches on the ground, frequently on bushes. Tt occurs 

 throughout the Himalayas, in Assam, Silhet, Cachar, Burma, rarely in Calcutta, but 

 commonly in the Wynaad, Xilgiris, and Ceylon. In the plains of Upper India it 

 is seldom found, and never in the drier parts " (de Niceville, Butt. India, ii. 64). It 

 is also found in Tenasserim, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra. In the W. Himalayas 

 it is " common all the summer and autumn in the beds of streams, and occasionally 

 met with on Hill-tops far away from any water" (de Niceville, Indian Agriculturist, 

 1880). " Taken at Simla, Masuri, and Kashmir, June to October " (Capt. H. B. 

 Hellard, Notes). "In Kumaou it is everywhere common, as high up as Khati, 

 8000 feet elevation. The wet-season brood consists of very pale specimens ; the 

 autumn brood, appearing at the end of September, is much darker " (W. Doherty, 

 J. A. S. Bengal, 1886, 123). "In the Bombay Presidency this butterfly is very 

 plentiful after the rains, and especially among the thorny jungle which covers the 

 little Hills of the Konkan. It is also one of the most familiar species of the GhAts. 

 I have never seen specimens here so large as some which come from the Himalayas. 

 It has all the habits of a Junonia, and its colour seems inappropriate, for it lives in 

 the midst of green foliage, and rarely settles on the ground " (B. T. Aitkeu, 

 J. Bombay N. H. S. 1895, 406). " In the larva of fyJiita the spines seem to be 

 shorter and more closely set than in other Junonias, the colour is dark dull brown. 

 It feeds on the Karvi {Sfrohilanthiis) and doubtless occurs more or less throughout 

 the year. We found few larv«, for though the butterfly is the commonest in Karwar, 

 the plant is still commoner, an unfavourable condition for the larva hunter '* 

 (J. Davidson and B. T. Aitken, id. 1890, 271). "Very common in the low country 

 of Travancore, and in the Hills up to 3000 feet elevation" (H. S. Ferguson, Journ. 

 Bombay N. H. S. 1891, 8). " This is one of the commonest butterflies occurring iu 

 VOL. IV, K 



