COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 



axis ; abdomen very convex dorsally ; constriction wide and rather pronounced; 

 thorax humped and front slope of pupa very sudden ; front of head square ; 

 creraaster longish, oblong, thickened at end. Colour watery grass-green. 

 L, 39mni.; L of cremaster, 2mm.; B. Gmm.; B. of head at front, 2-75mm.; H. 

 at thorax-apex, 0'25 mm. Very like that of J/, ismene. 



Habits. — The liubits are the same as for M. ismene ; the eggs are 

 always hiid in twos, threes and fours, generally on the underside of the 

 blades of soft grasses in the jungles. The larva curls up and falls 

 to the ground when touched or alarmed ; the pupa is attached firmly 

 enough but hangs very free. The butterfly is a much weaker flier 

 than M. ismene, never at any time rises far from the around and 

 has a very fluttering flight ; it is a jungle species altogether and 

 affects the evergreens more than the deciduous forests. The colour- 

 ation of the underside is, if possible, even more varied than in 

 M. ismene. The species is supposed to be confined to South India. 

 Colonel Bingham treats it as a race of M. hela, Moore from the Hima- 

 layas, Assam, Burma and Tenasserim ; and he is probably correct. 



20. Melanitis gokhala, Moore. — Male and female: CT^^pers^Z^ umber-brown, 

 ilie black subapical spots diffuse and generally in both wet and dry-season 

 forms without the white smaller spot ; the black costal patch beyond apex 

 of cell, more or less obscure in M. varaha, is prominent in this species and is 

 extended to the upper subapical spot. In the males the underside is almost 

 always suffused at the base with inky blotches. Exp. 70mm. 



Larca. — The body is the same shape as that of M. ismene, the tail-points 

 and horns are similar, the former slightly curved upwards. The head is 

 square, larger than segment 2, with two divergent, truncated cylindrical horns, 

 which are as long as the head is high and yellow in colour with black tips and 

 are set with short black hairs ; mandibles yellow, bases black ; a white cheek- 

 stripe from base of each horn to a black patch at base of cheek ; clypeus light- 

 coloured with a black border ; a central dark-brown line down centre of face 

 splitting at apex of clypeus. Body rugose with five transverse rows of 

 minute white setiferous tubercles to each segment. Spiracles are small, oval, 

 light in colour. Colour of body is light grass- green with a dark-green dorsal 

 band, two lateral dark -green lines and a spiracular white band bordered above 

 narrowly with dark green. Colour of head blue-green with minute white and 

 black hairs ; face rough and covered with black hairs. L. 50mm. of which the 

 taU-points are 2mm. ; the hair-horns are 2-25mm. in length ; B. 5mm. 



Pupa. — The pupa is not to be distinguished from that of J/, ismene in any- 

 thing but its superior size ; it is the same in shape, colour, surface, spiracles, &c. 

 But of coui-se there are large pupa3 as well as small as there are different sized 

 larvae. 



Ilahits. — The eggs are laid in batches of from 4 to 25 on the under- 



