572 
CYRESTIS. By H. Fruhstorfer, 
periander. 
ating influence of the tropical sun, whereas the $$ which never visit these watering places evidently find a 
sufficiency on the leaves of plants, standing less in need of it on account of living in the shade of the woods. 
Disturbed they rise rapidly, concealing themselves cleverly on the underside of the leaves with wings expan¬ 
ded. Hagen reports, verbally of nivalis: “When flying it has for all the world the appearance of a bit of 
paper, which is suddenly seized by the wind and carried into the air, whence after being whirled about for a 
time it drops just as suddenly to the ground”. About its hiding on the underside of leaves we hear from de Nice- 
ville that this habit is only found in Cyrestis and is really a great protection against following enemies, as 
the butterfly disappears so suddenly that one might think of witchcraft, if one has not actually seen it settle 
on the underside of the leaf. The Rev. J. H. Hocking reports that thyodamas hibernates in the western Hima¬ 
layas, which is not impossible for a Nymphalid species. 
The range of Cyrestis embraces the entire southern part of Asia, from Bombay on the west-coast of 
India to Burmah, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Tonkin, southern and western China, Hainan and Formosa, to the 
Loo-Choo Archipelago and southern Japan, including all the islands from the Andamans in the west to the 
farthest isles of the Solomon Archipelago and the Loyalty-Islands. In Ceylon, however, no Marpesiidi or Sym- 
brentia are found and their occurrence in the Key Islands is questionable. Although for the most part inhabi¬ 
ting the submontane zone, several species are also found in the hot plains along the coast and quite close 
to the sea-shore. In Java two species occur at an elevation of about 3800 ft., and in the Himalayas the com¬ 
mon thyodamas ascends to 6000 or even 8000 ft. 
Subgenus: Apsithra Moore. 
Displaying no structural differences it can only be separated from Marpesia by the somewhat longer fork 
formed by the fourth and fifth subcostals, the steeper direction of the third subcostal on the f. w. and the more 
rounded outline of the wings. Apsithra comprises a number of quite similar species, all very delicate, feebly- 
winged and fragile, having invariably the ground-colour white with blackish or sepia-brown markings. The 
meridional stripes of the white kinds, though rudimentary, can be still recognized or are broken up in the basal 
half into an indefinite number of short streaks; the median area is nearly always white, but varying in form 
and extent. The submarginal bands are very distinct, displaying the rows of ocelli peculiar to the acilia- group; like¬ 
wise reappears the anal ocellus and the dot on the anal projection, and all the species, though not all their sub¬ 
species, have on the upper surface of the h. w. the anal area marked with blue and yellow. The inner margin 
of the f. w. forms nearly a straight line rendering the feeble but constant excavation near the base, which is 
always found in Sykophages, almost imperceptible. As throughout the entire genus Dimorphism is the rule, 
we can distinguish in every species two forms which, according to most authors, are depending on the diffe¬ 
rent seasons in such a way, that the dark forms correspond to the rainy, the light ones to the dry-season. 
But we do neither possess sufficient material with authenticated dates nor exhaustive meteorological observations 
from those localities to be able to judge with absolute certainty. Neither do we know anything about 
the earlier stages or the food-plants. The imagines are nowhere abundant, in many localities very scarce, espe¬ 
cially the $$ of the continental species. Apsithra ranges through southern Asia, the Great Sunda Islands 
with their adjacent islets, the Philippines and Moluccas; in the Papuan Region it is not represented; its range 
of distribution is the same as that of the following genus Chersonesia. 
C. periander is a variable species represented by several well defined and constant subspecies. 
Their range embraces the southern continent of Asia, Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, Tonkin, Sumatra 
with Engano, Java and Sumbawa, whereas in India proper, Nias, Borneo, Bali, Lombok and Sumba periander 
has hitherto not been found. The members of this group are inferior in size to those of the following cocles- 
group and have the apex of the forewing obliquely cut off, in consequence of which the margin from the apex 
of the costa to the projecting apex of the upper radial vein forms an oblique line. The white ground-colour 
is interrupted by three yellowish stripes recalling the meridional stripes of Sykophagus, whereas the marginal 
area is always broadly shaded with blackish or black-brown. On the f. w. the rows of ocelli are reduced to black 
dots, on the h. w. however the round ocelli have assumed a heart-shaped form having in some subspecies 
an almost comical resemblance to the “hearts” seen on playing cards. All the subspecies of periander are true 
denizens of the ivoods. NearPaluaban on the southern coast of Java I caught once a great number in an 
