COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 44t) 



what pale vandyke-brown. Forewinj^ with a white centred, fulvous-ringed, 

 black ocellus in interspace 2 and, rarely, a very small but similar one in inter- 

 space 5. Hindwing uniform, occasionally two or three obscure postmedian 

 ocelli present. Both wings with the double pale subterminal line. Underside 

 with the ground-colour and subterminal lines as on upperside, but crossed by a 

 purplish-white narrow discal fascia. Forewing with from two to four, hind- 

 wing normally with seven ocelli similar to, but more clearly defined than, the 

 ocelli on the upperside : on both wings the line of ocelli bordered inwardly and 

 outwardly by sinuous purplish-white lines. On the hindwing only the three 

 posterior ocelli in a straight line, the rest strongly curved outwards. In the 

 female the large ocellus on the upperside is always larger than in the male. 

 Exp. 42-54mm. 



In the dry-season form the upperside is similar, the median ocellus generally 

 smaller. Underside brown, more or less suffused with purple and irrorated 

 with darker brown, minute, transverse striae ; the transverse discal band 

 obscure, often merely indicated by black dots at the veins, occasionally bordered 

 outwardly by an ochreous diflEuse band. Ocelli obsolescent ; but, when present, 

 mere dots arranged as in the wet form. AntenniB, head, thorax and abdomen 

 brown ; antennae sometimes cinereous, white on the sides with the apex black. 

 The male sex-marks as in M. visala but that on underside of forewing small 

 (about 2mm. long) and black {vide fig. 6). 



Habits. — The transformations of this are not known. The distribu- 

 tion is from the Himalayas to China and into the Malayan Sub-region, 

 Bengal, South India, Ceylon. It is common in the same places as 

 the last. 



I a. Mycalesis polydecta, Cramer (PI. F, figs, 37, wet-season $; 37a, dry 

 season $.) — This is exactly similar to M. visala described above except that 

 the discal transverse band on the underside is much broader and pure white. 

 The species can also be distinguished from visala by the apex of the forewing 

 being rounded instead of acute and, in the male, by the sex-mark on the under- 

 side of forewing being black and only about 3mm. in length (vide fig. 6). Exp. 

 48-56mm. 



Larva. — The larva is very like that of M.junonia. The head is comparatively 

 somewhat larger, the surface very rugose, set thickly with conical hair-bearing 

 tubercles ; the hairs are light in colour, the head itself very dark brown, yellow- 

 ish at hinder base of apical teeth ; clypeus red-brown, shiny, glabrous. 

 The head is twice the diam. of segment 2. The tail-points are longer than 

 those otjunonia. Spiracles roundly oval, shiny, black. Surface of body as 

 well as tail-points covered densely with small semi-hyaline tubercles each 

 bearing a short black hair ; these tubercles arranged in transverse ridges. The 

 colour of body is brown-green with a dark dorsal pulsating line, a diagonal 

 lateral blackish mark on each segment, plainest on the central segments and 

 some darkish mottling underneath these diagonal lines towards the dorso- 

 ventral '^margin, slightly tinged with reddish-yellow ; ventrum watery green 



