NTMPHALIN^. (Groap yrUFHALINA.^ 81 



J. Asterie is the commoner in the wet-season, while ./. almana predominates in the 

 dry-season" (J. A. Bethune, J. Bombay N. H. S. 1890, 279). " Common every- 

 where in the Bombay district, frequenting damp grounds and ditches. The Almana 

 form appears in October, and gives place to Asterie in June " (J. Davidson and 

 E. H. Aitken, J. Bombay N. H. S. 1896, 249). " We have reared Ahaana in 

 Bombay on Asteracantha longifoUa, which grows in wet ditches everywhere during 

 the monsoon and withers soon after. The butterfly appears in October, a little later 

 than Asterie, In Bombay we have reared Asterie on Lipijla nodi'jiora, and once, in 

 company with Almana, on A. longifolia " (id. I.e. 1890, 272). Mr. F. M. Mackwood 

 states that Asterie is " found in Ceylon all the year round, occurring in the 

 Plains and up to 4000 feet. Very abundant about September to November. Capt. 

 Hutchison found it, in the Plains of the Western Provinces, in open and waste land 

 among shrubs. Its habits like those of Orithya, but quicker in flight and more shy. 

 Capt. Wade took it at Galle and Kandy ; sits on roads and paths basking in the 

 sun (Lep. Ceylon i. 43). Mi\ A. Grote, in his Calcutta drawings, states that the 

 larva "feeds on Gloxinia and Osheckia." " In Sikkim it is found at low elevations 

 throughout the year. It is, however, rarer west of the Tista river than it is on 

 the eastern side, and it does not appear to occur in the inner valleys. I do not 

 think there can be any doubt about Almana being the dry-season and Asterie the 

 wet-season form of one and the same species " (de Niceville, Sikkim Gaz. 1894, 135). 

 " Both forms of this insect are very common throughout Burma, the ocellated form 

 (Asterie) appears to be the more abundant, as I have caught it in all the months of 

 the year, while the unocellated form I have only caught in Lower Burma from 

 November till June" (Col. C. H. E. Adamson, List 1897, 18). Dr. J. Anderson 

 records both forms {Asterie and Almana) as being taken in " Minthantoung, Mergui, 

 in December" (J. Linn. Soc. Zool. 1886, 34). Mr. H. Druce records it from 

 " Nahconchaisee, Siam " (P. Z. S. 1874, 105). Mr. J. J. Walker (Tr. Ent. Soc. 

 1895, 453) records it as " common in Hong Kong among long grass, especially in 

 somewhat damp open places, but also found on the flowers of Lantana camera. 

 Those taken in December, January, and February are nearly all of the form Almana, 

 occasionally, however, examples occur in these months with the ocelli of the under- 

 side more or less developed, approaching in this respect to the wet-season form 

 Asterie, which appears at the end of April and in May. I also found Almana com- 

 monly at Hang-chau, Haining, and Shanghai, in October, the specimens being much 

 larger and finer than those taken in Hong Kong." We possess specimens from 

 Java showing that both the dry and ivet-season forms do occur there. The dry-season 

 form, however, has the outline of the wings as in Asterie (wet-season), the under- 

 side being dull brownish-ochreous, with markings and the discal row of small black 

 dots, as in Almana. The Javan wet-season form being normal Asterie. 



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