LOE Mer ks ON- some SOUTH INDIAN 
BATRA: CHE A, . 
By C. R. NARAYAN RAO, Central College, Bangalore. 
I. The Larvae of Microhyla rubra and Rana breviceps. 
These tadpoles have been described by Mr. H. S. Ferguson, 
F.L,.S., late Director of the Trevandrum Museum, in his paper on 
‘“A List of Travancore Batrachians,’’ published in the Journal 
of the Bombay Natural History Society (Vol. XV, p. 499). I am 
of opinion that Mr. Ferguson has mixed up the larvae of M. rubra 
with those of the allied species M. ornata, and there is considerable 
difference between his account of the tadpoles of R. breviceps and 
the specimens I have collected. These facts sufficiently justify 
the publication of the following notes, in which I purpose to des- 
cribe the specimens in full and at the end indicate the chief points 
wherein I differ. I might add here that examples of all these 
larvae have been sent to Dr. N. Annandale whom I have to thank 
for examining them. 
Larva of M. rubra. 
H. S. Ferguson, /.B.N.H.S.; Vol. XV, 1904, p.506; Boulen- 
ger, Fauna, p. 491. 
Towards the middle of July,a few specimens of this tadpole 
were obtained at Bangalore from a pond in which rain water had 
collected. Other tadpoles found in their company were those of 
M. ornata, R. breviceps and Rhacophorus maculatus. ‘The tadpoles 
were allowed to complete their metamorphosis in the college 
aquarium. ‘They may be described as follows :— 
The head and body.—Head depressed and almost flat, snout 
broadly rounded but not squarish. Both dorsal and ventral sur- 
faces of trunk flat. In horizontal section, the body is nearly 
elliptical. Skin smooth. 
Eye and nostril.—Nostrils nearer to the snout than the eyes, 
and are dorsal. ‘The inter-orbital space nearly six times the inter- 
nasal. Eyes lateral, visible from below and by no means promi- 
nent. Pupil round. (It is vertical in the adult). 
Mouth.—Very small, nearly terminal or dorsal: broadly 
triangular or nearly oval. Upper lip better developed, with a 
horny edge. Beaks, horny teeth and papillae absent. 
Sensory glands and pits.—A conspicuous white glandular area, 
somewhat dome-shaped, just behind the mouth or between the 
nostrils. A number of sensory pits round the mouth, especially 
