NYMPHALINiE. 
43 
Precis (Junonia) oenone, Linn. 
Also known as P. hierta , Fabr. 
All the species of this genus, represented here, are on the wing more or less throughout 
the year, and have the two seasonal forms well defined ; the ocelli and markings on the underside 
of the wet season forms giving place in the dry season to a more or less uniform ground colour. 
The butterflies of this genus are a conspicuous feature in the entomology of this part of China ; 
they are all lively, most of them brightly-coloured insects, all with much the same flight and 
habits, in which they resemble the Vanessce ; but they are fond of haunting a special locality for 
long periods, and do not, perhaps, fly quite so swiftly as the Vanessce. They are addicted to 
settling on the ground in the sun, especially on rather barren waste land, and are all great flower- 
lovers. The eggs of Precis are remarkably small compared to the size of the butterflies. 
The present sp., P. oenone , is very common, frequenting gardens, sunny open grass 
land and waste ground. Occasionally an individual may be seen which entirely lacks the purple 
blotch in the hindwing, and it is often indistinct. 
Fig. 14, PI. VI is from a $ taken in March, Fig. 13 from a $ of the same month. 
Egg globular, striated axially, greenish. Laid singly, usually on the upperside of leaves 
of the foodplant, Barleria cristata , Linn., Nat. Ord. Acanthacece , a plant widely spread over 
tropical Asia, having a large bell-shaped blue or purplish flower. 
The larvae and pupae of the genus Precis are so much alike, sometimes scarcely 
distinguishable, that I only figure those of P. almana , which will serve as the type. The larvae 
are all spiny, the spines generally black with metallic blue reflections, except for a short time after 
moulting, when they become yellow. The pupae all have rows of small or moderate-sized 
processes down the back of the abdomen, all are variegated with shades of brown, pale pink, 
greenish and ochreous, with markings of very dark brown or black ; and are attached by the tip of 
of the abdomen, without any band. 
The chief points of difference between larvae of P. oenone and P. almana are that the 
spines of the former are rather shorter, and there is an indistinct dorsal band, darker than the body- 
colour and slightly irrorated with whitish. 
Precis almana, Linn . 
The wet season form of this insect was at one time distinguished as P. asteme , Linn. 
It is a very common and showy butterfly, whose seasonal forms differ both in marking and 
outline ; the wing-tip of the d. s. f. being strongly produced, almost hooked, and the hindwings 
developing an anal lobe, almost a “tail”; whilst the ocelli on the underside of the w. s. f. become 
practically obsolete. The d. s. specimens are generally the larger. P. almana has the usual 
habits of the genus, and graces even the smallest town garden with its presence. Most of the 
