TAENARIS. By H. Frtthstorfer. 
415 
Undersurface: the general white colour is here still less circumscribed by the greyish border of the wings than on 
the upper surface. The ocelli always small, ringed with light ochre-yellow, the periphery only narrowly grey. 
$: the whole basal portion of the underside of hindwing extensively yellow tinted, the anal ocelli on the upper 
surface of the hindwing broadly shaded with dark grey, which gives them a very peculiar appearance. Do¬ 
herty discovered a still paler form on Jobi Island, blandina Frulnst. In this the grey tint on the 
anal margin of the forewing has entirely disappeared and the grey shading of the ocelli is reduced to a mini¬ 
mum. Under surface; anal margin of forewing entirely white, distal border of hindwings very narrow, ocelli 
tiny, still smaller than in the figure of microps 8m. Anal angle on underside of hindwing quite white, scent 
tuft below the submedian in the anal fold on the upper surface of hindwing much more scanty than in humboldti, 
in which again it is much less developed than in zenada and eleusina, Jobi Island. 
staudingeri Hour, is the most varying form of Taenaris ; there are specimens of it in which the upper 
surface of the wings is almost entirely white, and in which only the costal and apical margins are grey bordered 
and the base of the wing slightly tinged with yellow or reddish (= fa. albicans Hag.). Such specimens approach 
barbata Ky. from Rossel Island. Other examples are broadly tinged with grey-brown or dark brown (= nigri¬ 
cans Hag.). Another wonderful aberration has received the distinctive title of 60S Heller. These specimens 
have the hindwing extensively tinged with smoke-brown or reddish both above and beneath. In eos the blackish 
or brown anal margin of the forewing is sometimes so sharply defined, that one could almost fancy they 
were artemis sticheli Frulist. or artemis electra Fruhst. Again, specimens occur, in which the hindwings have 
a narrow, but sharply defined border on both upper and under surface (limbata Fruhst.). Such specimens are 
very common, especially in Finsclihafen, and recall the figure of Taenaris affinis Ky. from Rossel Island. The 
size of the ocelli in the hindwing also fluctuates greatly and varies from small dots to imposing and distinctly 
prominent eye-spots. Sometimes the ocelli stand in a free area, but are also sometimes surrounded by a grey or 
red-brown patch. The yellow tinge on the basal area of the hindwing is also very variable, sometimes scarcely vi¬ 
sible, sometimes almost covering the basal half of the wing, and all shades from light yellow to orange-yellow 
may be found. In some specimens even the shape of the wings is altered, being in some cases roundish, and in 
others the forewings are narrow, with much produced apex. Such specimens, with the greatly extended grey 
scaling of the forewings, which often leaves only a narrow subapical area, approach artemis Voll. (= fa. arte- 
mides Fruhst.). Further, there are specimens in which there is a black patch of scent scales in the anal area 
below the submedian in the hindwings, whereas most specimens have no androconia, but only yellowish or 
reddish scent tufts. In many specimens the scent pencils between the posterior median and the submedian 
are well developed, in others they are either entirely wanting or only very scanty. — simonetta Fruhst. an ex¬ 
treme albinotic form, and a remarkable intermediate state between honrathi Stgr. and wahnesi Heller, simo¬ 
netta, has the same roundish shape of the wings as wahnesi only the apex and a narrower distal border are 
grey-black, the remainder of the wing is white, with a moderate, yellowish tint at the base. The ocelli on the 
hindwing are large, black, white centred, the yellow ring on the underside showing through distinctly above. 
The scent tufts are reddish, the scent hairs in the anal area yellow, those above the submedian white, but the 
anal patch, so characteristic for the dioptrica-wahnesi group is wanting. Abdomen lighter yellow than in the 
typical staudingeri. Under surface: Forewing with narrow grey costal border, hindwing Avith an almost imper¬ 
ceptible blackish border all round. The ocelli yellow ringed, the outer periphery narrowly black. The anal 
area of the forewing slightly greyish. Basal portion of hindwing yellowish tinged. But by far the most wonder¬ 
ful aberration is druentia form. nov. (101 d). It has milk-white forewings, with the grey apical border narro¬ 
wer than in simonetta, but the hindwing entirely smoke-brown, only leaving the basal area still whitish, while 
the splendid black-grey tinted underside recalls eos Heller. This aberration thus combines on'the forewings 
the most albinotic and on the hindwings the most melanistic extremes knoAvn to us in staudingeri. It is only 
to be expected, that the number of the ocelli should vary. There are specimens with a secondary ocellus near 
the apical eye-spot ( lacrimans Fruhst.), and others in which the anal ocellus inclines to duplication ( opulenta 
Stich.). One example has an incomplete black, white centred ocellus on the underside of the forewing ( sidus 
Stick.); again there are specimens which approach rothschildi Sm. and show four ocelli. Asymetrical forma¬ 
tions are also not uncommon, so that the right wing has three, the left only two ocelli etc. A very striking aberra¬ 
tion has been described as monops Fruhst. in which there is no trace of the anal ocelli. Hacien states, that stau¬ 
dingeri flies from October to April. The larva is known, the horns on the head are red-brown and there are 
no dorsal black lines, hence it is easily distinguished from the equally common ivahnesi larva, which has two 
black dorsal lines. ■—- jamesi Btlr. is said to come from Yule Island, a very doubtful locality; the type (in the 
British Museum) differs only from Honrath’s figure of staudingeri in the basal part of the fore wing being yelloAV- 
ish, instead of red-brown. Towards the distal margin famesi is grey-broAvn, and the costal border on the under¬ 
side is yellowish instead of redbrown. -—- sticheli Fruhst. is the form from British New Guinea, as it occurs most espe¬ 
cially in Milne Bay. The local race appears to be less variable than staudingeri, and I have only specimens 
with grey-black anal border to the forewings, which is sharply defined by an absolutely horizontal band on 
blandina. 
staudingeri. 
albicans. 
nigricans. 
eos. 
limbata. 
artemides. 
simonetta. 
druentia. 
monops. 
jamesi. 
sticheli. 
