THE COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 761 



transverse folds. Colour : all the dorsal part of the body down to the 

 lateral line is a dark, blackish green-brown in colour, marked lighter on 

 each segment diagonally ; the dorsal portion of segment 7 yellowish ; 

 below the lateral line the body is light greyish-green with dark mottlings 

 arranged in a pattern showing two spiracular, olive-green, longitudinal lines 

 which are slightly broken ; free edges of segments 2 and 14 grey-green ; 

 ventrum yellow. L : 14 mm ; B : .5 mm at segment 12 ; H : 5 mm. 



Pupa. — The shaj)e is quite normal. Head bowed, hidden under the large, 

 convex, slightly dorsally carinated segment 2 ; segments distinct ; thorax 

 humped, convex, slightly compressed laterally on the dorsum ; constriction 

 behind thorax dorsally slight, laterally nil ; abdomen circular in transverse 

 section, rather long, ending in a perfectly rounded, more or less hemis- 

 pherical shape with the last segment slightly turned under upon the 

 ventral aspect of which are the suspensory hairs ; lateral outline diverging 

 ever so slightly from shoulders to segment 8/9 but very nearly parallel, 

 pupa broadest at segment 9, of equal l\eight at apex of thorax and 

 segment 6/7 ; the general shape being long and narrow, curved down at 

 both ends so that the pupa touches at both extremities and not elsewhere. 

 Surface smooth, only slightly shining, very minutely haired all over. 

 Spiracles of segment 2 facing forwards, nearly covered by a small expan- 

 sion of the anterior margin of thorax ; other spiracles raised, oval, black 

 with a little hole in the centre — funnel shaped ? — and conspicuous. Colour 

 of the pupa is a nondescript yellowish dark-brown, smudged with black 

 or very dark brown ; otherwise, another way of putting it, yellowish-pink, 

 speckled with black. L : 9 mm ; B : 4 mm. 



Hahits. — The larva is always attended by ants of the genus 

 Or emastog aster which never leave it either in that state or in the 

 pupal state and it is often to be found in little houses built over 

 scale-insects by them on the branches of the trees or on the twigs ; 

 it is restless, and difficult to keep in captivity. Three larvas were 

 found when originally discovered, in a dead leaf amongst foliage, 

 hung up there and more or less fixed ; they were huddled together. 

 But the larvse feed upon young, tender leaves, wandering out tor 

 that purpose, resting only on the undersides and eating all but the 

 top cuticle. They wander off to pupate and rarely undergo the 

 change on a green leaf; but generally choose a crevice or fold in 

 a dead leaf, &c. The pupa is laxly attached by the tail only. There 

 is no body-string. The growth of the larva is not particularh^ 

 rapid and the pupa is somewhat long in producing the butterfly. 

 The places the butterfly chooses to lay her eggs are generally in 

 thick jungle on the low branches of a cut tree or small bush, not 

 overshadowed by dense shade but exposed to the air and sunlight. 

 The foodplant is Terminalia panimlata (Comhretacece), a large tree. 

 The butterfly is not often seen nor are its eggs and larvae easy to 

 find ; indeed the eggs have so far eluded notice, notwithstanding- 

 seeking by the writer of this description. The male insect is, 

 perhaps, even more uncommon than the female which is, at least, 

 occasionally seen flying round the foodplants and laying eggs. 

 They both stick to the jungles, the male occasionally basking low 

 down on the end of a leaf. The flight is not strong but neither 



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