14 SPOl.l \ ZEYL \Nlc \. 



and repeated the operation. The process of selecting the bud and 

 depositing the egg took perhaps thirty seconds. 



Larva. — The larva itself is stout, pale yellow, and naked — at 

 least, no hairs arc visible to the unaided eye. The larva is usually 

 found coiled round at the base of the flower-tubes in the interior of 

 a Lantana flower. (Plate E, figure 5.) 



I'd pa. — The pale yellow pupa is to be found in a sort of chamber 

 gnawed into the side of the fruit receptacle, a regular cocoon being 

 formed of bits of vegetable matter spun together with silk. The 

 emerged pupae are usually found projecting half way out of the cocoon 

 amongst the ripening fruit, such bunches of fruit being far less pro- 

 ductive than unattacked ones. This little plume, then, must form 

 a factor of some importance in considering the increase of Lantana 

 in the Island. (Plate E., figure 6.) 



Observation. — I understand that Lantana was originally a South 

 American plant and was introduced into Ceylon about eighty years 

 ago, and it appears probable that P. pusillidactyla is also an intro- 

 duced species, as its distribution is very wide. Originally described 

 from the West Indies, it has been recorded from Reunion, India, 

 and Ceylon, and I possess a specimen taken by myself in Mahe 

 (Seychelles Islands), and have lately received an example from 

 Honolulu, i- wa*£ «-^> <taj2- liL'i/K I rooK- <U, rriN^K^ij- 



Platypttlia taprobanbs, F elder. 



Taprobanes. — Felder, Reise "Novara," t. cxl., f. 54 ; Moore, Lep. 

 Ceylon, III., 527 ; Meyr., T. E. S., 1907, 482. 



Sythoffi.— SneUen, Tijd. Ent., XLVL, 54, t. v., if. 15, 16. 



Tranota.—Meyr., M. S. S. (ined.). 



Distribution. — Maskeliya, Pattipola, Nuwara Eliya, Madulsima, 

 (?) Peradeniya. 



Confined to the higher hill districts above 4,000 feet. Mr. Mey- 

 rick has recorded a specimen from Peradeniya, but this is possibly 

 an error in labelling on the part of the captor, or more probably an 

 importation with its food plant into the Botanic Gardens. 



P. taprobanes seems to be always a hill species, its distribution 

 outside Ceylon being South India (Palni Hills), Assam (Khasi Hills), 

 and West Java (Preanger, 1500-1600 met.). 



Early Stages. — The early stages and food plant are quite unknown. 



Observation. — Snellen's figure of sythoffi is very good, and is un- 

 mistakably this species. The same cannot be said for Felder' s 

 figure, which is very poor and doubtful ; in my copy of his Plate 140, 

 figure 54 appears to be engraved after sythoffi and coloured with a 

 longitudinal ochreous streak near the apex of the fore* wing in a 

 manner only characteristic of H. argyriodactyla amongst our Sinha- 

 lese species. The scale- tufts in the figure might apply to either of 

 these species. Under these circumstances I have thought it best to 

 follow Mr. Meyrick's identification. 



