( 338 ) 



(V) Charaxes jtrox. hindia, Nicdville. ./num. Af. Soc. Bcng. LIV. 2. p. 45. n. 53 (1885) (AUpur, near 



Calcutta, 1 ? ). 

 Uaridrn imna Moore, Lep. Ind. II. p, 231. t. 169. f. 1. 1«. b. r. ^. J, larv., chrys. (1896) 



{ti/pe in coll. Grose Smith ; Parasnath Hill, Behar, $ = li/j/r himliu J Butl. : Ranchi, Chota 



Xagpore ; Nagpur ; Alipur, Calcutta ; Khorda, Orissa ; Khandalla, IV. X. : Lanaoli, II. ; 



Coonoor ; Nilgiris ; Shevaroy Hills ; Kathlekan, Mysore, XI. ; Travancore ; Wynaad ; Beypur ; 



Matheran). 



S . The black colour of the upperside iu most specimens a little more restricted 

 than in Ceylonese e.xamples, tails shorter on an average ; submeJiau and median 

 bars less obviously bordered white. 



? . Wings above brighter tawny orange than in jimphon innphon ; discal baud 

 of forewing posteriorly more e.xtendedl}- shaded over with orauge-ochraceous ; 

 postdiscal tawny interspaces of forewing more often developed than in the Ceylonese 

 form, the outer edge of the wing often somewhat tawny. 



Hab. South India to Lower Bengal. In, the Tring Museum 8 cJ (?, 5 ? ? from : 

 Kanara, Kavwar, Kathlekan (Mysore), Travancore, Lanaoli, JIarableshwar. 



Though (.'h. pmjihon imna does not seem to be abundant anywhere, it is found 

 in suitable localities all over the peninsula, and goes as far north as Calcutta, if 

 Moore is correct in referring the specimen recorded by Niceville as Ck. pro.r. hindia 

 {I.e.) to imna. 



The habits of this insect aud the life history have been made known by Messrs. 

 Betham, Davidson, Bell, and Aitken. 



Mr. Aitken, I.e., 1886, says iu his list of the Bombay Butterflies, that he 

 "became aware of the existence of this striking butterfly only last December, when 

 Mr. J. Davidson and I spent jiart of two days at Matheran in trying to capture two 

 specimens, or rather, I should say, one specimen, for when we got them we found 

 that only half of each remained. I have found since that the species is by no 

 means uncommon on the ghats from December till March at least ; but it does not 

 put itself in the way of being converted into specimens. It comes out about 

 10 o'clock, and selecting a tree with bright, shiny leaves, perches bolt upright in the 

 middle of a particular leaf just a foot above the highest point yon can reach with 

 yonr net. Whether by accident or design, the position is fenced on all sides with a 

 creeper whose sharp-curved thorns lay hold of everything that passes them and let 

 go nothing. There the proud creature sits, chasing away any other butterfly that 

 approaches, and returning to the same leaf. If you i)elt it with stones, it darts oft', 

 takes a short circuit and returns to the same leaf. You may pelt it for an hour 

 with the same result. You may easily circumvent it, however, by erecting a 

 jdatform of stones under its percli, but your aim must be sure and your stroke 

 sudden, for no other butterfly goes off with such rapidity. There is only one 

 specimen of this in the Society's collection, a male which I ('aught at Khandalla." 



Mr. Betham, ibid. V. p. 285, says : " This is truly a beautiful creature. The 

 colours are a deep rich chestnut with a velvety black border in the malf, relieved 

 in the/emale by a broad white band across the forewing. It has the most powerful 

 flight of any butterfly I know (while E. athamas has the fastest), and looks like a 

 bird while on the wing. 



" The female is larger than the male and much more conspicuous, because of 

 the broad white band aforesaid. It is, however, a very foul feeder and greedily 

 fond of mhowa, so much so that it can be approached and taken by the fingers 

 while engaged in its meal. One year I took several of these arid C. /abius and 

 a few C. athamas, at a sirris tree, Acacia speciosa, which had a bough injured in 



