Plate depicting several Australian Lepidoptera species, including Synemon sophia, numbers 6 and 7
Euschemon rafflesia (MacLeay) = Euschemon rafflesia (W.S.Macleay, 1826) Euschemon rafflesia (MacLeay) = Euschemon rafflesia (W.S.Macleay, 1826) Glaucopis ganymede Doubleday = Euchromia creusa (Linnaeus, 1758) Agarista leonora Doubleday = Idalima leonora (Doubleday, 1846) Synemon sophia (White) = Synemon sophia (White, 1841) Synemon theresa Doubleday = Synemon theresa Doubleday, 1846 ♀ Synemon mopsa Doubleday = Synemon theresa (Linnaeus, 1758) ♂ English: a: Regent Skipper, head from frontal b: Regent Skipper, head from lateral c: Regent Skipper, wing base with frenulum and retinaculum* d: Regent Skipper, forewing venation e: Idalima leonora, forewing venation f: Synemon, palpus g: Synemon, head and antennae of female from dorsal h: Synemon, head and antennae of male from dorsal i: Synemon, head from frontal k: Synemon, head from lateral l: Synemon, wing base with frenulum and retinaculum of male m: Synemon, wing base with frenulum and retinaculum of female n: Synemon, forewing venation* Note: The retinaculum is not correctly represented in figure c, it arises from the anterior side of the sub-costal nervure. The neuration of Synemon is not quite correctly given in figure n. "Genus Euschemon, Doubleday. Maxillae moderately long. Labial Palpi of moderate length, basal joint very short, compressed, curved, clothed with scales and long hairs, second joint about four times as long as the first, subcylindric, clothed with long scales, third joint clothed with small scales, short, elongate-oval, slenderer than the second, the scales of which almost conceal it. Antennae elongate, with a fusiform club much hooked at the extremity. Eyes large, forehead broad. Anterior wings triangular, the outer and inner margins nearly equal, about two-thirds the length of the anterior. Costal nervure two-thirds the entire length of the wing; subcostal nervule slightly deflected towards the end of the cell, throwing off its first nervule at about one-third of its length, the second about the middle of its course, the space between the origins of the second and third nervules not as long as that between the first and second, the fourth arising just before the end of the cell: upper discocellular nervule very short, the second discoidal equidistant from the first discoidal and the third median nervule, the disco-cellular nervules almost atrophied; median nervule throwing off its first nervule not far from the base, the third nervule a little bent where the discocellular joins it, radial nervure running nearly parallel with the inner margin throughout its whole length, reaching the outer margin a little above the anal angle. Posterior wings broad, semi-ovate, costal nervure long, sub-costal terminating in only two nervules, discoidal nervule nearly atrophied; discocellular the same, united with the third median nervule; cell rather large. Base of these wings in the male with a strong bristle passing behind a strong corneous retinaculum, which arises from the anterior side of the sub-costal nervure. Legs rather long; anterior tibiae with a curved spine on the inside, covered by the long scales of the tibiae, anterior tarsi twice the length of the tibiae, basal joint longer than the rest combined, second and third equal; the two combined equal to about two-thirds the length of the first, fourth and fifth very short, together about equal to the third. Second pair with the tibiae about two-thirds as long as the tarsi, with numerous minute spines along their sides and two stout ones at the apex; joints of the tarsi having about the same relative proportions as in the anterior pair. Posterior tibiae and tarsi nearly as in the second pair. Claws of all the tarsi stout, simple. Euschemon rafflesia. Hesp. rafflesia, McLeay, Appendix to King's Survey of Australia, 463. Anterior wings black above, with a transverse macular sulphur-coloured band beyond the middle, and a submarginal one, broadest towards the apex, composed of greenish atoms. Posterior wings with a large oval sulphur-coloured spot in the cell, separated only by the median nervure from a smaller one on the abdominal margin near the base, and followed by a sub-trigonate one divided into three parts by the median nervules. Below, the markings are nearly as above, with the addition of a greenish line along the costa of the anterior wings, bending downwards at its termination. Posterior wings encircled by a marginal band of the same greenish colour. Head black, orbits of the eyes and a line across the vertex white. Palpi bright crimson except the last joint which is black. Antennae black. Thorax black. Abdomen above black, the base and the edges of four of the segments whitish, last segment bright crimson; below, whitish at the base, crimson beyond the middle. Exp. alar. 2 un. 9 lin. Habitat: New Holland. Genus Synemon, Doubleday. Head round, eyes large, forehead broad. Maxillae rather long. Labial palpi short, clothed with dense long scales, first joint short, second more than double the length of the first, tapering towards its extremity, third joint about equal in length to the second, sub cylindric, tapering towards the apex. Antennae with a stout, short club, more or less mucronate at the apex, the mucro mostly if not always with a tuft of scales at the point, the club sometimes appearing compressed (perhaps from desiccation). Thorax stout, anterior wings triangular, the costal nervure terminating about the middle of the costa, the sub-costal terminating in five nervules of which the first and second one are thrown off before the disco-cellular nervule, the third almost immediately beyond it, the fourth rather further from the third than this is from the second; discoidal nervules almost atrophied at their origin, the first connected with the subcostal nervure, the latter with the third median nervule by a very short discocellular; the discoidal nervule itself almost atrophied, running nearly parallel with and immediately above the median; third median nervule much bent at its origin. Posterior wings sub-ovate, costal nervure long, sub-costal terminating only in two nervules, upper discocellular nervule wanting, discoidal nervure distinct and simple throughout its whole course to the outer margin, with a slight bend at its junction with the short disco-cellular which connects it with the median nervule: bristle in the male simple, retained by a corneous retinaculum arising from the posterior side of the sub-costal nervure, compound in the female, retained by a bunch of scales arising from the anterior side of the median nervure. Anterior legs short, tibiae with a strong sharp spine about the middle, the first joint of the tarsi about the same length as the tibiae, the four remaining ones equal in length to the first: second pair with the tibiae about two-thirds as long as the tarsi, bi-spinose at the extremity, first joint of the tarsi nearly equal to all the rest: posterior legs with the tibiae about two-thirds the length of the tarsi, bispinose at the apex and furnished also with two spines beyond the middle, first joint of the tarsi longer than the rest combined. Claws of all the feet simple, tarsi spiny. Abdomen cylindrical, arched in the male, tufted at its extremity, in the female tapering to a point. There seems to be a slight difference in the structure of the antennae in this genus, in the first species the club is rounder and less mucronate than in the two following ones, it seems also destitute of the tuft of scales at the point. Synemon sophia. Hesperia ? sophia, White, Appendix to Grey's Narrative, volume 2, page 474, figure 7. Anterior wings of the male brown, clouded with grey and fuscous-brown, a dark cloud near the base, another at the end of the discoidal cell followed by a white dot, the nervures greyish white. Posterior wings black, the base with an oval yellow spot, a macular yellow band beyond the middle, followed by a series of yellow spots. Cilia yellowish towards the anal angle. Head greyish, antennae black varied with white. Thorax grey. Abdomen black at the base, whitish beyond. Female with the anterior wings nearly black, clouded with light bluish grey scales, on the margin arranged into a band divided by a series of black spots; extremity of the cell with a white dot; beyond the cell a short macular band commencing on the costa. Posterior wings black, with a large orange spot near the base, followed by a broad abbreviated, transverse band, commencing on the abdominal margin and succeeded by a large rounded spot of the same colour; between these and the outer margin a series of three or four orange spots. Head dark grey, palpi nearly white, antennae black, ringed with white. Abdomen pale fulvous. Exp. alar. 1 un. 10 lines. Habitat: New Holland. This fine species was first described by Mr. White in the Appendix to Captain Grey's Narrative. He then expressed the opinion that it was nearly allied to Castnia and Coronis. The generic characters given above will fully justify this view. In fact we can only regard it as the Australian representative of Castnia. The under surface of this species is beautifully varied with black and orange, but I may refer for a more detailed account to the work above mentioned. Synemon theresa. Anterior wings above greyish, the disc varied with longitudinal pale and fuscous dashes, beyond the middle the pale dashes almost form a transverse band, followed by a series of dark spots, margin brown slightly varied with white; cilia grey. Posterior wings fulvous-brown at the base, marked with a clear fulvous spot, beyond this, fulvous with a transverse macular band, the margin itself black; cilia grey. Below, the anterior wings orange, with the outer margin narrowly black, before the apex are three or four black spots. Posterior wings greyish in the male, in the female nearly as above, but paler. Head, thorax, and abdomen grey above, whitish below; antennae black, ringed with white. The posterior wings of the male are of a somewhat castaneous hue above, and less clearly marked than those of the female. Exp. alar. 1 un. 6 lin. Synemon mopsa. Anterior wings pale fuscous or brownish, with two white dashes at the base, the discoidal cell with a white spot, beyond the cell a transverse macular white band, in which are a series of fuscous spots; the margin slightly shaded with pale grey. Posterior wings light chestnut brown, with some fuscescent clouds, towards the outer margin. Below, light brown, the anterior wings rather fulvescent, all with some darker clouds. Head, thorax, and abdomen grey above, beneath paler: antennae black, ringed with white. Exp. alar. 1 un. 3 lin. Habitat: New Holland. Agarista leonora. All the wings purplish black, anterior with a short bluish white striga close to the base, followed at a short distance by a second curved one, united to the former by a vitta of the same colour, extending along the radial nervure; towards the extremity of the discoidal cell is a white spot, followed by three smaller, not always well defined ones, on the costa below and a little beyond which are four generally more distinct ones, of which the third from the costa is largest, these are followed by a slightly flexuous and bluish white macular striga, beyond which is a series of from three to five spots of the same colour. Near the anal angle is a round bluish spot, preceded, in part surrounded by a semicircle of the same colour, between which and the second transverse striga is an irregular spot, also bluish. Posterior wings with a macular band, not extending to the anterior margin. Cilia of all the wings white, spotted except at the apex of the anterior with black. Below, purplish black, the base of all the wings slightly marked with bluish, the anterior with a distinct white spot near the extremity of the discoidal cell, and a macular white band beyond the middle, beyond which near the costa is a bluish spot; posterior wings with a band corresponding to that above, connected with outer margin by a less distinct bluish white band. Head yellow-white, forehead and vertex black, antenna black. Thorax black, with two transverse lines anteriorly and the sides posteriorly yellowish, legs black, spotted with white, densely clothed with fulvous hairs at the base of the coxae. Abdomen black, last segment bright fulvous. Female with markings rather more blue than in the male. Exp. alar. 1 un. 9 lin. Habitat: New Holland. Glaucopis ganymede. All the wings black, the anterior with a small diaphanous spot near the base, below the median nervure; a larger one before the middle extending from the sub-costal to the radial nervure, divided by the median nervure into two unequal portions, the extremity of the cell marked by a crescent-shaped, metallic blue spot, beyond which are two diaphanous spots, one placed just below the origin of the second sub-costal nervule, the other much larger, divided by the last median nervule. Posterior wings with a white, partly diaphanous spot, close to the base, and a transverse diaphanous band a little beyond the middle. Head black, face and orbits of the eyes white, antennae and palpi black. Thorax black, legs black except the coxae which are white. Abdomen crimson, the first and second segments both above and below, the third above, of a sooty black, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh margined with black above, anteriorly, eighth entirely crimson. Female wanting the small spot near the base of the anterior wings, the third segment of the abdomen slightly bronzed, coxae black. Exp. alar. 2 unc. 6 lin. Habitat: New Holland."