40 NYMPHALID.'E. DANAIN^E. DANAIS. 



slender line, and the upper di'^cal spot and the streak are concave externally. Hind-wing with 

 a black pouch area [as usual] in the male." 



"Larva, cylindrical, reddish-purp'e, two black fleshy filaments on third and two on 

 twelfth segment ; two dorsal rows of round chrome-yellow spots, and a lateral row of broken 

 chrome-yellow spots, with intervening white dots on each segment. Head and legs black, white 

 spotted. Pupa green, much constricted below the thorax, with blue and golden scattered 

 dots and black raised dots on upper segments. Feeds on Cryptolepis, &c." {Moore, 1. c) 



In his original short description of this species Felder remarks : '• A local variety of 

 D. agha from north India ntermediate between it and D. agleoides ; the Ceylon form differs 

 from both by its less sharply defined white markings and from D. agleoides also by its much 

 broader streaks." It appears that both Felder and also Moore in his more recent works must 

 have overlooked D. grammica, which was figured by Boisduval so long ago as 1836. D. 

 ceylanica is really a local form of Z?. grammica, which is the common south Indian species. 

 and only differs from it by its generally darker colour, owing to the greater preponderance 

 of the swarthy ground-colour ; some specimens from Trevandrum are indistinguishable from 

 D. ceylanica, although those from the Western Ghats are notably paler as they extend north- 

 wards, and it is doubtful whether the name ceylanica should not be suppressed and the Ceylon 

 species be included under the name grammica. 



•'Found everywhere all the year in open or partially cultivated places, but not often in 

 forest. Flight slow and heavy. Perhaps the commonest Butterfly in Ceylon." (^H utchisoii) . 



iS. Danais grammica, Boisduval. 



D. gratniiiica, Boisd., Sp. G^n., L^p., vol. i, pi. vi, fig- 10 (1836). 



Habitat : South India. 



Expanse : 27 to 3-4 inches. 



Description : Boisduval's original figure, which utifortunately shows only the under- 

 side, and the costal margin of the forewing of the upperside, is the only authority for indentify- 

 ing this species, neither locality nor description being given. The figure corresponds exactly 

 in markings with D. ceylanica, except that the outer of the three subcostal spots on the upper- 

 side of the forewing is wanting in D. gra?nmica. The south Indian Danais of this type also 

 corresponds in markings with D. ceylanica, but in a specimen from Belgaum the third sub- 

 costal spot is wanting, and the similarity with Boisduval's figure is complete. We have, there- 

 fore, even though this character is utterly inconstant, retained Boisduval's name for the south 

 Indian species. The only points by which it can be distinguished from D. ceylanica are 

 that it is slightly less black in general colouration, and on the upperside the marginal series 

 of spots on the forewing is almost always complete to the apex in D. grammica, whereas 

 in D. ceylanica it is seldom, if ever, complete ; but if the localities were unknown it would be 

 hardly possible to distinguish accurately between the species. There is little doubt that the 

 Ceylon and south Indian species will eventually have to be united under the name 

 D. gj-ammica. 



Moore records this species from Java and the Nicobars, and Butler records it from 

 Moulmein, Malacca, and Java ; but it is probable that D. agleoides is the species referred to 

 in both cases, for out of the numerous collections we have received from Burma and the 

 Nicobars, we have not found a single specimen approaching to Z?. grammica, while numerous 

 specimens of D. agleoides have been sent. {See Journ. A. S. B., vol. 1, part ii, p. 224, 1881). 



D. gratnmica has been taken in Travancore by Messrs. Bourdillon and Fergusson ; in 

 August in the hills near Trevandrum ; and in the Ashamboo range in May. In Calicut it 

 has been taken in September ; at Bangalore in August and November. A number of speci- 

 mens were taken by Mr. G. Vidal, C. S., in the south Concan ; on the Ghats and on the 

 Goanese frontier at 1,500 to 1,700 feet above the sea at the latter end of March ; and in 

 Be'gaum it is commoii in October. A single specimen was also taken at Mahableshwar at 



