576 
CYRESTIS. By H. Fruhstorfer, 
to the margin. Although the typical form niveci Zink.-Somm. comes from Java, we will for geographical reasons 
nivalis , enumerate the forms as they occur from west to east, from the mainland towards the Archipelago. — nivalis 
Fldr. The type which is in the Tring Museum was taken by Count de Castelnatt in “Malacca interior”. From 
nivea it is at a glance distinguished by the fact that on the f. w. the white ground-colour reaches, between the 
second meridional stripe and the apically broader marginal band, the costa itself, whereas in nivea and all its 
subspecies the entire costal margin of the f. w. is broadly bordered with black. The very fine meridional stripes 
form a convex curve toward the outer border, keeping the same distance from each other; the chain-pattern 
can hardly be recognized; the C which we find in the thyodamas -group above the yellow spot at the anal angle of 
the f. w., has in nivea and the entire nivea -group taken the form of a reniform patch concave toward the base. 
According to Felder it differs moreover from nivea in having the f. w. shorter, the h. w. more deeply excavated 
at the apex and the anal margin longer. The exceedingly rare $$ (1 $ from Loeboe-Rajah, Sumatra, [Ericson] 
May 1897 in the Tring-Museum), are discriminated from A A by their larger size, the paler black markings and 
increased transparency of all the white portions of the wings. Specimens from Burmah, Tenasserim, from 
various localities on the Malay Peninsula and from Sumatra present no differences whatsoever among themsel¬ 
ves; altogether nivalis is a rather constant species represented by but a few feebly differentiated subspecies. — 
bomecnsis . borneensis Mart. Although very closely resembling the typical nivalis , it differs from it in having on the upper 
surface of the h. w. distally to the submarginal band between the anal projection and the tail a small recumbent 
triangle, which in nivalis is yellow and only marked at the outer margin with a fine white streak growing thinner 
towards the anal angle. In specimens from Borneo we find as rule in this triangle which is more white than 
yellow, a white upward dash between the second and third median nervules. Moreover the Bornean form is 
bangkiva . somewhat larger and-—curious enough-— lighter in colour than those from Sumatra and the mainland.-— bangkiva 
Mart, from the island of Bangka, is distinguished from nivalis by the larger size, the slightly yellowish tone of 
the white ground-colour and the greater extent of the orange-yellow tract in the anal half of the h. w. In the augmen- 
tonkiniana . tation of the yellow colour it forms a transition to the form tonkinianaFru/is£.( 122 a) from Tonkin (Chiem-Hoa). This 
differs from nivalis in the following way: On the f. w. the apex contains a very distinct orange-yellow subapical spot, 
whereas in nivalis it has but a minute white dot; on the h. w. the submarginal band is as far as the apex 
of the wing marked with yellow along the outer edge; the anal half of this band is marked with a very conspic¬ 
uous blue line. That portion of the h. w. located between the outer margin and the inner, broader sub¬ 
marginal line is likewise laved with yellow, whereas in nivalis it is white. Beneath it resembles nivalis, only a 
little more yellow, tonlciniana, although larger than nivalis , does not approach the size of borneensis. According 
fadorensis . to Fruhstorfer it is always found together with thyodamas (Martin). — fadorensis Kheil. On the upper sur¬ 
face of both wings the parts which in nivalis are black are irrorated with brown-yellow, but especially the apex 
of the f. w. and the submarginal band on the h. w. The yellow spot at the anal angle of the f. w. is very 
broad, the reniform patch above it laved with yellow; the meridional stripes are much heavier than in nivalis ; 
the blue ornamental line in the submarginal band is lacking. The underside on which the yellow spots reappear 
is much lighter than in nivalis. Ivheil’s figure made from a photograph does not give a true picture of this form 
superbus . as it does not show the yellow portions. Found in Nias, at the campong of Fadoro, whence the name.— superbus 
Stgr. from Palawan resembles fadorensis. but all the brown-yellow parts are in superbus brillant ochre-yellow, as also 
the basal half of the costal margin of the f. w. which in fadorensis is chiefly blackish; the meridional stripes are as 
fine as in nivalis ; on h. w. the blue stripe in the anal half of the submarginal band is very distinct, but the chain- 
pattern is unrecognizeable. On the under surface the markings are almost throughout yellow. Some fur¬ 
ther still more detailed distinctions may be found in Staudinger’s description who however treats superbus 
as a local form of fadorensis ; but as Nias is separated from Palawan by Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo 
and many other smaller islands, Staudinger meant undoubtedly to say that in Nias as in Palawan, both 
of which are satellites of some larger insular continent, similar climatic conditions have influenced in the same 
nivea . direction the further development of f lic ancestral Cyrestis-iorm. — nivea Zink.-Somm. from eastern and western 
Java, also Madura, was the first form of this group which has been described; the western form nivalis from the 
mainland became known only 35 years later, which is easily understood, if one considers that at the time (1831), 
when Java was already being quite intensely cultivated by Europeans who of course also studied its Fauna and 
Flora, the home of nivalis was still haunted by pirates and, as regards its natural history, a terra incognita. 
It is surprising and quite contrary to what we could expect from our experience, that in Java the continental 
or some closely allied form does not occur. The excellent description given by Zinken-Sommer of nivea holds 
good to the present day, and it appears strange that on the hand of such a description so many mistakes have 
been made. As I have already said above, nivea is at a glance distinguished from nivalis by having on the 
upper surface of the f. w. the broad black costal border continue uninterrupted from the base to the apex; 
