Part 31

PLATE XXX.

NYMPHALIS (CHARAXES) POLLUX.

Plate XXX. fig. 1, 2.

ORDER: Lepidoptera, Linn. SECTION: Diurna, Latr. FAMILY: Nymphalidæ, Swains.

GENUS. NYMPHALIS, Latr. Papilio (Nymph. Phal.), Drury. (SUBGENUS: Charaxes, Boisduval.)

NYMPHALIS (CHARAXES) POLLUX. Alis supra fulvis, limbo postico latè nigro, subtus ad basin ferrugineis, annulis fasciâque albis. (Expans. Alar. 3 unc. 9 lin.)

SYN. Papilio Pollux, Cram. pl. 37. fig. C. D. Herbst. Pap. t. 63. f. 3. 4.

Papilio (N.) Castor, Fabr. Gen. Ins. Mant. p. 251. Donovan Nat. Repos. 4. 116.

Papilio (Nymph. Ph.) Camulus, Drury, App. vol. 3.

HABITAT: "Sierra Leone, Mr. Smeathman, 1776" (Drury's MSS.).

Upper Side. Antennae black. Thorax and abdomen red-brown. Anterior wings brown-orange, with a small round black spot near the middle, and another fainter and smaller a little beneath it. Along the anterior edges are several black marks and patches joining together; these wings are bordered with black, having along the external edges some small faint orange-brown spots. Posterior wings corresponding exactly with the anterior, and furnished with four short tails.

{42}Under Side. Palpi yellow, bordered with white. Breast dark brown, with white streaks. Legs brown. Abdomen red-brown. The ground of the anterior wings next the body is a light chocolate, which is separated from a dusky brown border running along the external edges by a white and orange band, which, being the chief colours on this side, are continued along the posterior wings. The base is adorned with black streaks, surrounded with white, placed along the anterior edges, and others of different forms on the middle of the wings. Along the external edges, on the dusky border, is placed a row of black triangular spots, which at the lower corners are doubled. Posterior wings of the same colour as the anterior, the chocolate ground having a number of small black marks and streaks, bordered with white, in a very irregular manner. At the lower corner is placed a dark grey eye, with a black iris and a white longitudinal streak in the centre, two rows of small black spots, some being edged with white, of different forms, are also placed along the dusky border.

We learn, from the observations of Smeathman and Drury, that this is the insect noticed in the observation upon Charaxes Jason, as possessing exceedingly strong powers of flight. Vide Vol. I. Pl. 1. fig. 1.

PLATE XXXI.

NYMPHALIS VARANES.

Plate XXXI. fig. 1, 2.

ORDER: Lepidoptera. SECTION: Diurna. FAMILY: Nymphalidæ, Swains.

GENUS. NYMPHALIS, Latr. Papilio (Nymph. Gemmat.), Drury.

NYMPHALIS VARANES. Alis supra basi albis immaculatis, apice ferrugineis fulvo et fusco punctatis. (Expans. Alar. 3 unc. 9 lin.)

SYN. Papilio (N.) Varanes, Fabr. Sp. Ins. 2. p. 14. No. 55.

Papilio (Nymph. Gemm.) Varanes, Drury, App. vol. 3.

Papilio V., Cramer, pl. 160. D. E. . pl. 388. A. B. [female].

HABITAT: "Sierra Leone, Mr. Smeathman, 1775" (Drury's MSS.). Caffraria (Enc. Méth.). India (Fabr. incorrectly).

Upper Side. Antennæ black. Thorax greenish. Abdomen white, spotted on the upper part with black. Basal half of the wings ash-coloured, and bordered with deep red-brown. Anterior wings having a row of six orange spots along the external edges, and two oval ones near the middle of the anterior edges; two black spots, shaped like the beards of arrows, are situated in the centre. Posterior wings angulated and furnished with two short tails, having a row of five black spots running parallel with the external edges. Wings not indented.

Under Side. Palpi, breast, and legs buff-coloured. Abdomen white. Wings next the body dark ash-coloured, but along the tips and external edges darker. A narrow line of a brown colour rises from the posterior edges of the anterior wings, and, bending towards the tips, is lost in the general colour of that part of the wings. A row of small faint black spots runs parallel with the external edges, being situated between them and the fore-mentioned dark line; the inner divisions of these and the posterior wings have a number of small black marks, like Hebrew characters, regularly dispersed on them. Posterior wings with a dark narrow line rising on the anterior edges, which crosses the wings, meeting below the abdomen. A small black eye, with a white pupil, is placed near the middle of the anterior edges, and a row of faint oval dark spots runs parallel with the external edges, ending at the abdominal corners.

{43}This insect, like the last, flies exceedingly swift, and is observed sometimes to settle upon human excrement, a peculiar habit which is also adopted by other species of insects belonging to different orders.

PLATE XXXII.

PIERIS EUDOXIA.