1899.] li. de Niceville — List of the Butterflies of Ceylon, 175 



The food-plants of the larvao of all these genera are well-known, without 

 this knowledge it would be impossible to do anything in this direction. 

 Growing examples of these plants should be enclosed in a cage of gauze 

 or perforated zinc, the leaves having first been carefully examined to 

 see if they bear any eggs or larvae ; if they do, these should be removed, 

 A fertiale of the species to be experimented with should be let loose in 

 the cage, and it is probable that she will lay eggs. No more than one 

 female should be put into any one cage. On her death, she should be 

 preserved for future reference, as it is important that her identification 

 should be certain, and also for comparison with her offspring. All the 

 resultant butterflies from the eggs laid by one mother should be set and 

 compared with her. It will not improbably be found that these speci- 

 mens will exhibit very great variation, the variations (especially if the 

 experiments are carried out at the change of the seasons from wet to 

 dry or from dry to wet) including distinct seasonal forms and probably 

 intermediate forms between the wet and dry, and very possibly one or 

 more forms which have been considered distinct species. Cabinet 

 naturalists from analogy may make possibly correct guesses as to what 

 are seasonal forms and what are distinct species, but these guesses require 

 confirmation, and certainty can only be arrived at by careful breeding. 



In this paper Major N. Manders is responsible for the notes on 

 occurrence, etc., while Mr. L. de Niceville has revised the nomenclature, 

 bringing it as far as possible up to date. He has followed Dr. F. Moore's 

 "Lepidoptera Indica"as far as published (part xl), the Lycsenidse in 

 vol. iii of de Niceville's " Butterflies of India, Burmah and Ceylon," the 

 PajpilionindQ in the Hon. Walter Rothschild's "Novitafces Zoologies," 

 vol. ii, pp. 167-463 (1895), and the Sesperiidse in Messrs. Elwes and 

 Edward's paper in Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., vol. xiv, pp. 101-324 (1897). 



Family NYMPHALID^. 



Subfamily Danainj:.* 



1. Hestia jasonta, Westwood. 



Moore as Nedaria jasonia. Species of the genus have received 

 many trivial names, such as the Sylph, the Widow, the Floater, the 

 Spectre, and the Silver-paper-fly. It is peculiar to Ceylon, and is found 

 in the low country, as at Labugama, 200 ft., and up to about 5,000 

 ft. ; always in forests and in the neighbourhood of streams. It has a slow 



* The subfamily name should be more correctly Danaididce, as ifc ougbt to be 

 based on the genus Danaida, Latreille first using that name in 1805, Danaus in 

 1809, and Danais inlSld (AnrivilUus, Kongl. Sv. Vet. Akad. Hand., vol. xxxi, 

 p. 30(1898). 



