BUTTERFLIES OF THE CENTRAL PROVINCES. 183 



wing from its peculiar shape and colour. It has to be haudled very 

 gently, as its tails arc so easily broken. It appears to frequent the 

 outskirts of forests, among bushes aud clumps of bamboos. I have 

 found it nowhere else, 



85. Rapala schixfacea, Moore (995). I only caught one male 

 specimen of this butterfly in Kalahandi. The colour is a dark blue 

 with a beautiful gloss in some lights. 



86. Rapala melampus, Cramer (1006). This is a brilliant little 

 butterfly ; the colour of the forewing being of a vivid red, bordered 

 with black. It is very common in the Central Provinces, and is found 

 almost everywhere. It seems to be a hardy and bold little creature, 

 for I have frequently noticed it in the hot weather flying about and 

 settlino- down near the " khas-khas tattie " for the sake of the water 

 which drains away from that very necessary adjunct to one's comfort 

 in this part of India during the hot season. 



87. Virachola imcratcs, Fabricius (1012). This is a fairly 

 large "blue," the colour being a greyish-blue with a small patch 

 or spot of orange on the forewing, which spot is more conspicuous 

 in the female. The caterpillar of this species is remarkable, as it 

 feeds inside various kinds of fruit with a hard rind or hard seeds, 

 such as the guava (Psiditim guava) an<j~ pomegranate {Punka 

 granatum). It has the instinct to attach the fruit to the tree by a 

 slight but strong web, so that, should the fruit get detached, it cannot 

 fall. These remarkable features in its life-history are well and fully 

 described in the third volume of " The Butterflies of India, Burmah 

 and Ceylon," by Mr. de Niceville, pp. 478-480. I can testify to 

 its swiftness of flight and difficulty of capture as deposed to by 

 Mr. Aitken. I have never reared it, but hope to do so this rains, 

 for I have captured it on two or three occasions in the station in 

 which I am now living, and as there are plenty of guava and 

 pomegranate trees about, a patient search should reveal some larvae. 



