PRECIS. By Dr. A. Serrz. 461 
H. splendida Rothsch. (94d), from Peru, seems to be a rare species and was only recently discovered. 
In it the brown-yellow is extended over the entire upper surface, which produces a certain similarity to Me- 
galura peleus (= petrea, 96f). This is heightened by the straight, stalk-like tail of the hindwing, the length of 
which is further increased by a sinus in the distal margin near the extremity of the radials. This gives the 
hindwing a somewhat distorted appearance, which renders misidentification impossible. 
13. Genus: Preeis Hon. (Junonia Hbn.) 
The Precis species are characteristic butterflies of the hot regions and like Catopsilia are the first to 
meet the traveller in a tropical country; only Anartia is equally prominent in America. In Africa and East 
India Catopsilia and Precis play much the same role as Pieris, Gonepteryx and Vanessa in the north of Europe. 
The egg is almost spherical, with longitudinal ribs, the larva short and strongly spined; horns on the head may 
be present, but are sometimes wanting. The larvae live free on Labiatae and Acanthaceae, on Justitia, Vitex, 
Antirrhinum, Achyrhantes, etc. The pupae have the anterior part rounded and differ from those of Vanessa in the 
absence of large points on the head; so far as [remember, they have no metallic spots. In the butterfly the distal 
margin of the forewing is feebly angled at the end of the upper radial, the subcostal 5-branched, the branches 
at their origin almost equidistant. The lower discocellular is wanting on the forewing, so that, as the hindwing 
also has no transverse vein, both cells are open; on the hindwing the costal is strongly curved. The shape of 
the wings varies in the Old World species to such an extent that even the course of the veins is somewhat 
moditied by it; with the fall of the leaf the under surface begins to become leaf-like, the large eye-spots dis- 
appear and are replaced by leaf-like markings: the midrib of the leaf is copied by a stripe from the costal 
margin of the forewing to the anal angle of the hindwing, which is produced like a leaf-stalk (cf. figure 
of the underside of P. almana, vol. I, pl. 62a, also many figures in vol. IX, pl. 116—117, as well as vol. 
XII, pl. 51 *). The size of the eye-spots on the upper surface varies quite considerably even in specimens taken 
at the same place and on the same day, and there is also great variability in other directions. The butter- 
flies are without exception common, except at the extreme limits of their range; they migrate, sometimes gre- 
gariously. 175 forms have been described hitherto, of which only 14, which perhaps are all only forms of one 
species, are from America. The former separation of the genus Junonia has not been found tenable. 
P. lavinia. In America it is possible that only one, but very variable, species of Precis occurs, which 
again is merely the western representative of the Old World villida, while villida itself is nearly related to many 
forms of orithya which are distributed over the whole of South Asia (vol. I, pl. 62 b). Of the American forms 
many are geographical, such as a small form with the upper surface entirely orange-yellow, which the dealers 
call livia Stgr. (94d) and in which I think I recognize Frtpur’s vestina; for this no locality is given, but it is 
described as not unlike a small vellida (= villida). This similarity also holds if we compare it with one of 
the villida forms distributed in North Australia and in many of the South Sea Islands, which are likewise 
predominantly yellow-red above. It occurs in Bolivia and seems to be a mountain butterfly. — The North 
American coenia Hbn. (94 e) also is nothing more than a form of lavinia, with the band of the forewing very 
pale, very unevenly forked, and the upper eye-spot of the hindwing unusually enlarged. coenia is a very common 
butterfly in the south of the United States, extends northwards to New England and southwards over the whole 
of Central America and the larger West Indian Islands to Colombia. — lavinia Cr. (94d) has been split up 
into a large number of forms, which, however, for the most part represent nothing more than accidental and 
individual aberrations. The typical lavinia Cr. (= evarete Cr., flirtea F., larinia F’., esra F., cortez Hbst.) is 
characterized by blue-green, but dull reflection on the upperside, particularly in the g, in which the band 
of the forewing shows all degrees of development and which differs constantly from coenia in the smaller 
peacock eye-spot between the radial veins. Out of a swarm of this butterfly which I met with at Palermo, 
on the La Plata, I caught many hundreds of examples, from which the most diverse series of forms can be 
picked out, ranging from those with the upper surface entirely dull brown (= genoveva Cr.) to those with the 
wings almost uniformly blackened above and beneath (= ab. infuscata Pdr.) (94 e). — ab. negra Fidr. is larger 
than the North Brazilian form, occurs as far as Guiana and has the wings broader and more rounded; it is also 
found, however, in the extreme south, where in Uruguay together with small, pointed-winged specimens larger, 
broad-winged examples occur almost at the same season. — ab. zonalis Fldr. has the forewing more produced 
and the reddish submarginal band on the upperside of the hindwing is almost entirely obsolete. — ab. pallens 
Fidr., from Venezuela, is almost exactly like a dull-coloured genoveva, but has more distinct gloss on the upper- 
side of the hindwing, and on the forewing the spots of the band placed in the cell are very much lighter than 
in Surinam lavinia. — ab. divaricata Fidr. is likewise very near to genoveva, especially on the under surface, 
but is there paler, more yellowish in tone, and the band in the distal part is strongly constricted below the 
fork. — ab. inearnata Fidr. is similar, but the band of the forewing, on the contrary, is much widened and 
somewhat reddish in tone. —ab. constricta Fidr. has the forewing grey-brown, the distal band narrowed, con- 
stricted in the middle, the proximal arm of the fork narrower than in genoveva, the lower eye-spot of the 
hindwing enlarged; from Colombia. — hilaris Fldr., from Paraguay, is probably the nearest to typical lavinia, 
*) Concerning the seasonal dimorphism of Precis cf. AURIVILLIUS in vol. XIII, p. 227 of the ‘“‘Macrolepidoptera.‘ 
splendida. 
livia. 
vestina. 
coenia. 
lavinia. 
genoveva. 
infuscata. 
negra. 
zonalis. 
pallens. 
divaricata. 
incarnata. 
constricta. 
hilaris. 
