VANESSA. 363 



Genus VANESSA. 



Vanessa, Fabr. Illig. Mag. vi, 1807, p. 281 ; de N. Butt. Ind. ii, 



1886, p. 229; Moore, Lep. Ind. iv, 1899-1900, p. 102. 

 Aglais, Dalmann, Kongl. Vet.-Akad. Handl. xxxvii, 1816, pp. 54, 



64; Moore, Lep. Ind. iv, 1899-1900, p. 87. 

 Pyrameis, Hiibner, Verz. bek. Schmett. 1816, p. 33 ; de N. Butt. Ind. 



ii, 1886, p. 225. 

 Eugonia et Polygonia, Hiibner, Verz. bek. Schmett. 1816, p. 36 ; 



Moore, Lep. Ind, iv, 1899-1900, pp. 84 & 95. 

 Euvanessa, Seudder, Butt. E. U. States, i, 1889, p. 387 ; Moore, 



Lep. Ind. iv, 1899-1900, p. 82. 

 Kaniska, Moore, Lep. Ind. iv, 1899, p. 91. 



Type, V. atalanta, Linn., from Europe. 



Range. Both hemispheres. 



S 2 • Fore wing : costa slightly arched ; apex produced, 

 rounded ; termen scalloped, concave below vein 5 ; tornus rounded, 

 dorsum straight ; cell about half length of wing ; upper disco- 

 cellular very short, middle oblique, slightly concave, lower long, 

 oblique ; vein 3 from well before lower apex of cell, 4 from apex ; 

 9 from middle of 7, 10 and 11 free. Hind wing irregularly subtri- 

 angular, apex not well-marked ; costa and termen together forming 

 a curve ; tornus somewhat produced, dorsum slightly arched, 

 cell not quite half length of the wing ; discocellulars oblique, upper 

 and middle subequal, lower longer, slightly sinuous ; veins 3 and 4 

 from lower apex of cell. Antennae a little over half length of 

 fore wing, club short, broad, abrupt ; palpi stout, subporrect, 

 third joint short, somewhat blunt at apex ; eyes hairy ; thorax 

 robust. 



The above characters are of those typical Vanessa. The Indian 

 forms can be divided into three sections or groups differing 

 slightly in structure from each other : — 



(1) Typical Vanessa, including the forms placed by Moore 

 under Aglais, and under Polygonia pt. 



(2) Eugonia, Hiibner, including Euvanessa, Seudder, with the 

 costa of fore wing studded with long stiff hairs projecting 

 anteriorly. 



(3) Polygonia, Hiibner, typical, including Kaniska, Moore, 

 characterized by the extremely uneven terminal margins to the 

 wings, the strongly bisinuate dorsum and broadly lobed tornus 

 of the fore wing. 



In venation, in the form of the antennae, in the hairiness of 

 the eyes and in the cryptic coloration of the underside of the 

 wings, the forms arranged under the above subgenera constitute a 

 homogeneous natural group. 



