1895,] L. de Niceville & Dr. L. Martin— Butterflies of Sumatra. 429 



to the Cental Plateau. They like low and small forest, or open places 

 in large forest, and settle on roads and also on the leaves of shrubs and 

 low-growing plants with open wings. Dr. Martin has bred S. Itippoclus 

 on the Rameh plant (JJrticacese) ; the larva? live socially, five or six 

 together, in a single leaf with its edges joined by silk strands so as to 

 make a shelter. The pujja? are somewhat similar to those of Vanessa 

 nrticae, Linnaeus, the "Small Tortoishell Butterfly" of Europe, and like 

 the species of Vanessa and Pyravieis the newly-emerged butterfly emits a 

 pigmented fluid of a red colour. The larvae are common in Novem- 

 ber and December, the butterflies are very plentiful during the first 

 months of the year, but all the remaining months of the year they 

 are only seen sporadically and rarely. It appears possible that 

 S' hippochts is single-brooded, and that some surviving examples live 

 throughout the year and propagate the species the next season. The 

 second (white) form of female which occurs in Java is not found, in 

 Sumatra. All the speeies of Symbreritkia are on the upperside of the 

 wings very similar to the small yellow species of Neptis, which they 

 may perhaps mimic when at rest, but their flight is totally different, 

 being excessively rapid, so that it is almost impossible to follow tliem 

 with the eye. 



240. Rhinopalpa polynice, Cramer. 



Hagen. Semper as polinice [sic]. Kirby. Staudinger. This 

 species was described and figured by Cramer from a male from the west 

 coast of Sumatra. R. fulva, Felder, described from Malacca, is an 

 absolute synonym, specimens from Assam, Burma, and the Malay Pen- 

 insula being indistinguishable from Sumatran ones. The Javan species, 

 R. elpinice, Felder, is quite distinct. R. poly nice is found only in large 

 forest, and occurs all over our area except in the higher mountains and 

 on the Central Plateau. The males are fond of faeces on forest roads ; 

 the females are very rare and seldom seen in collections. Perhaps they 

 escape capture by their coloration being very different from that of the 

 males, as on the wing the female closely resembles a common Cirrhochroa. 



241. Cyeestis nivalis, Felder. 



C. nivea, Zinken-Sommer, var. interrnpta, Snellen, Tijd. voor Ent., vol. xxxiii, 

 p. 217 (1890). 



Grose Smith as nivea. Snellen as recaramis, Westwood ( = nivea 

 Zinken-Sommer, teste Snellen), and as nivea, var. interrupta. Hao-en 

 as nivea. Staudinger as nivea var. nivalis, and nivalis. C. nivalis is a 

 good species, and is found commonly in Burma, the Malay Peninsula, 

 Sumatra aud Borneo, and differs from G. nivea, Ziuken-Sommer, from 



