162 THE entomologist's recokd. 



These were Danais taprohana on a kind of bramble, and Papilin agamem- 

 non and Atella phalanta both at a plant with Ei(patoriuiii -like flowers, 

 all three being at Nuwara Eliya. 1 wonder whether others, who have 

 had more opportunity than I of observing insect life in the Tropics, 

 have noticed the same thing, or whether it was mere fancy on my part. 

 Perhaps the struggle for existence in these teeming regions is so 

 much keener that insects have little time except to hunt for their 

 mates and oviposit, and the very fact that so large a proportion of the 

 successful plants are trees that bear their flowers high up, may point 

 to a greater reliance on wind-fertilisation than with us. 



Nuwara Eliya, a sort of Switzerland where rhododendrons and 

 other evergreen shrubs and trees clothe the mountain-sides, instead of 

 pines, promised a fauna quite different from that of Kandy ; but, with 

 the exception of some additions, the butterflies noticed were much the 

 same. The morning after our arrival was cloudy, and as there bad 

 been a hoar-frost during the night, we did not expect to see many 

 insects on the wing ; but a drive to the botanical gardens at Hakgala 

 brought us into a region of fitful sunshine, and we came across the 

 following species : — Danais septeiUn'onis, one or two in the gardens ; 

 D. chrysip})us, abundant; Junonia iphita, two in gardens ; Hypolimnas 

 bolhia, common, as usual, everywhere ; Vanessia haronica, one in 

 gardens ; two kinds of Lycaena, unidentified, in gardens ; Catopsilia 

 crocale, one on way back to Nuwara Eliya ; Papilio iiiooreaiius, one 

 specimen, which flew out of the jungle across the road in the gorge 

 leading to Hakgala ; Papilio teredon, two or three flying rapidlj^ about 

 in the gardens ; P. denioleKs, several, one of which, when settled on a 

 shrub, allowed me to handle it before it flew away ; P. afiavieuDion, 

 also several — this was the Papilio which I saw most frequently in the 

 Nuwara Eliya district. In the afternoon, the weather having cleared 

 and the sun come out, I walked to the jungle behind the hotel where 

 we were staying, and had the good fortune to come across a number of 

 Danais taprohana, a striking large brown and white butterfly, and one 

 of the few peculiar to Ceylon, particularly common in the Nuwara 

 Eliya district according to De Niceville. Those I saw were confined to 

 a few small clearings in the lowest part of the jungle, and were dis- 

 porting themselves fearlessly in the hot sunshine, only pausing at 

 times to rest or feed on a kind of bramble. Their flight was of an 

 easy floating nature, and they did not appear to be in the least alarmed 

 at my presence. During the remainder of my stay at Nuwara Eliya, 

 I returned each afternoon to watch them, and always found them in 

 the same place. I never noticed any attempt at courting amongst 

 them, and their behaviour was in marked contrast with that of most 

 of the species I observed in Ceylon, Avhere even the AriRtolochia-iQeAing 

 Papilios seemed generally engaged \n the more serious business of life. 



The night was a cold one, with a return of the hoar-frost, which I 

 was told afterwards did much damage to the neighbouring tea- 

 plantations, and, on walking down the drive leading to the Hotel 

 before breakfast, I found a fresh and perfect specimen of PapiltQ 

 agamemnnn lying dead in the road ; a few yards further on I met with 

 a male Hyjiolimnas holina so numb that it lay on its side and could 

 not move. Three hours later, after exposure to the sun, it flew away. 

 The day was now hot, and we spent the morning in Lady Havelock's 

 walk, near Nuwara Eliya, the shadiest spot we could find, and one of 



