•218 
HESTIA. By H. Fruhstorfer. 
ribbei. 
iza. 
klassika. 
inuneta. 
hewitsoni. 
the forewing tinged with yellowish, hindwing similar to that of chloris. Hence the forewing of arfakensis 
recalls vitrea, whilst the hindwing has distinctly preserved the chloris- character. Appears to be very rare, 
as I have only received one pair. 
I. ribbei, a very rare species, of which there are only two island races to record. — ribbei Bob., 
from Bangkai, of which apparently only GG have been taken, as the $ is still undescribed. $$ with 
broad black distal border and narrow grey-white longitudinal stripe in the cell of the forewing, otherwise 
like a vitrea in miniature, except that the submarginal hand of the hindwing is also grey-white instead of 
yellow. -— iza Fruhst. (76 c) has the cell-stripe of the forewing almost twice as broad and the submarginal 
patches much larger. On the hindwing the black teeth of the distal border project further into the 
vitreous area than in ribbei. $ with three large subapical stripes on the forewing. Sula Mangoli. Flies 
October—November. 
I. klassika Mart., a sharply differentiated species, has the ground-colour entirely black-brown with 
straw-yellow submarginal, subapical and median patches and is said to recall D. menadensis Moore in the 
arrangement of the markings and to form a sort of transition from Ideopsis to Danais. Only 3 $$ are 
yet known. Ceram. 
I. inuneta Btlr. (76 b), with the black markings even more simplified than in iza, especially the 
distal border of the hindwing only slightly dentate proximally, the submarginal spots of the forewing only 
separated by fine black margins from the median area, which is transparent in the milky white in 
the $$, base of the forewing in both sexes tinged with brilliant yellow. Marginal area of the wings 
beneath black-brown with white submarginal dots and large quadrate white sub marginal spots on the fore¬ 
wing. Abdomen above brown, beneath grey-white. Waigeu, evidently very rare, as only one J is 
taken to about 20 $$. — hewitsoni Kirsch is the only branch race yet known, from the island of Mysore 
in the north of Geelvink Bay in Dutch New Guinea. The yellowish tinge of the forewing is entirely 
absent, as also the brown double line in the cell of the hindwing, and it differs further from inuneta in 
the broadly brown veins of both wings. 
3. Genus: Hestia Hbn. 
All the species which belong here are distinguished by their size and have a heavy, awkward flight, 
the weak muscles being evidently unable to control the enormous wings. Even a moderate breeze drives 
them helplessly hither and thither like pieces of light paper and probably on this account they never leave 
the shelter of the woods. The species of Hestia are among the largest butterflies, and they even attract 
the attention of the natives, who in India call them ,,spectres'* or ,,ghosts“, the Malays on Celebes give 
them the expressive name ,,surat“, i. e. letter, and the Javanese that of „kupo kertas“, i. e. paper- 
butterflv. The butterflies are mostly gregarious, are fond of following the course of small streams, above 
which they float up and down, also frequently gambol round high flowering forest-trees and love to settle 
in the late afternoon on projecting twigs, mostly in pairs, so that one might think they were beginning 
family life. The imagines are large, semitransparent butterflies with long, very thin antennae, scarcely 
thickened at the tip, without clubs or knobs. Claws, unlike Ideopsis, with appendages. The precostal of 
the hindwing arising distally to the subcostal, being bipartite and directed proximad. Forewing with five 
subcostals, of which two arise before the end of the cell, the first being united with the costal as in 
Ideopsis. Hindwing without patches of androconia or other scent-organs. <$<$, however, with two or four 
scent-pencils at the anal extremity. The Hestia differ from all other Danaids in the broad and always 
sharply armed valve, which is coarsely dentate or provided with widely projecting points, and form a 
group by themselves. The uncus is aborted. Larva of only two species yet known, approaching those of 
the Euploeid-group Trepsichrois, long, black, ringed, with lateral variegated patches above the prolegs and 
provided with four pairs of fleshy black tentacles. Pupa more slender than the bell-shaped pupa of the 
Danaids, with projecting points at the head, yellowish, black-dotted, without golden ornamentation. 
The genus Hestia, like Ideopsis, may be separated into two groups: 
a) The second subcostal vein arises near the apex of the cell. Lower discocellular very short. 
Abdomen with four anal pencils of equal length.Hestia Hbn. 
b) The second subcostal vein arises at a great distance before the apex of the cell. Lower dis¬ 
cocellular of the hindwing long. Abdomen with four anal pencils, two of which are much 
abbreviated. Nectaria Halm. 
Group Hestia. 
H. jasonia is the species of the genus which has extended furthest towards the west, with offshoots 
to Ceylon and the Andamans and northwards distributed to Tenasserim and Assam, but only occurring 
