PHE COMMON B UTTEHFLI ES OF THE PLAIN iS OF INDIA . 107 



also it wanders a good deal just at first ; in the case where the eggs 

 are laid on flowers it generally feeds inside the flower. Later on, 

 when larger, it lives on the undersides of the leaves, always feeding 

 and living on the young ones except driven to eat tough foliage. 

 Many larvae are often found on one tree. Pupation takes pla(3e for 

 preference on or near the ground on the underside of a withered 

 leaf, in a crevice of the soil, under a stone-ledge, &c. ; the chrysalis 

 is attached rather weakly by the tail and fixed by a body-band and, 

 when touched, gives vent to a quick succession of thin creaking 

 noises which are quite audible if listened for. The ordinary food- 

 plants are Pongamia (jlabra, the Iiidian Beech, a tree of wide ha- 

 bitat; Abrus prpcatorius, t\\QVYdiY\x\g Eean or Gunji, a common 

 climber of weak habit, occurring throughout the Bombay Presidency 

 and producing pods that contain, when ripe, bright scarlet, round 

 beans with one end black which are commonly used by the local 

 o-oldsraiths for weighing gold— not that these seeds are in the least 

 of equal size or weight. Other foodplants are Saraca indica, the 

 Ashok ; Butta frovdosa, the Flame of the Forest; Beyvea toijuga ; 

 and doubtless there are others. All the above are leguminous plants 

 with the exception of the last which belongs to the Sufindaceo'. 

 The butterfly is one of the commonest in India, existing everywhere 

 except in the absolute deserts, from sea-level up to 5,000' : jungles, 

 plains, hills, open country, heavy rainfall or light, it matters not. 

 Outside India it is found in Ceylon, in the Andaman Islands, 

 Assam, Burma, Siam, Malaj^ Peninsula, Java, Borneo and the Phi- 

 lippines. It has a weak flight, always keeps near the ground, generallj^ 

 near vegetation in the shape of hedges or bushes, does not bask or 

 go to flowers much, flutters about the foodplants for quite long- 

 periods at a stretch without resting and sits with its wings closed 

 over its back; it is not particularly fond of sunlight and sunny 

 places. The female is just as plentiful as the male and is just as 

 often seen. They are both easy to catch with a net, and are cons- 

 picuous objects when on the wing. 



The insect is depicted on coloured Plate G, figure 42 being the 

 male and figure 42a the female. The figures are good representa- 

 tions of the so-called wet-season brood except that the white lines 

 showing through from the underside on the upper surface are too 

 distinct although, in natxire, the\^ are always more or less \dsible. 

 The undersides are. as usual, just a shade too pink. 



Genus — Catachrysops. 



There are three species of Catachrysops, all common insects where they 

 occur; two of them, straho and enejus, very like each other on the unuersicle, 

 the third pandava, quite different. All three are some shade of purple or 

 blue on the upper surface, more or less uniform in the males but iu the 

 females with a broad, black border and a lighter base and disc ; the tw<> 

 first having the underside grey while the last has it brown. The two first 

 have a very wide distribution and are trie butterflies of the Plains thougli 



