THE BUTTERFLIES OF BARKUDA 

 I S Iv A N D . 



By N. Annandale, D.Sc, F.A.S.B., and Cedric Dover, F.E.S. 



We are indebted for the identification of all but a few com- 

 mon and conspicuous species of the butterflies to I^t.-Col. W. H. 

 Evans, R.E., whose experience of the Indian species and races of 

 this group renders the names we employ at any rate consistent. 

 There are few groups of animals in which there is greater divergence 

 of opinion as to taxonomy and nomenclature than the butterflies, 

 and there are doubtless some entomologists to whom the names 

 used bi' the late Col. Bingham in his two volumes in the " Fauna 

 of British India,' ' or those used in yet some other work by some 

 other author, would be more acceptable. The names here used are 

 mostly those employed by Col. Evans, in his valuable list of the 

 Indian Butterflies pubUshed in the Journal of the Bombay Natural 

 History Society, Vol. XXI (1911-13). The numbers in brackets 

 after the name of each species refer to the page numbers of his 

 paper. In a few minor cases names have been altered to accord 

 with recent advances in knowledge. We must express to Col. 

 Evans our sincere thanks for his assistance in namiiig specimens, 

 without which our records would have had little value. We have 

 also to thank him for looking through our manuscript and for 

 making valuable suggestions. 



General Character of the Butterfly Fauna. 



The general character of the butterfly fauna of the island 

 may be indicated briefly. It consists almost exclusively of wide- 

 ranging, adaptable species of common occurrence in the central part 

 of Peninsular India. None of the species or races peculiar to the 

 Ganjam or adjacent districts are found. The only geographical 

 interest of the fauna is that it provides evidence that the southern 

 end of the Chilka Lake is to some extent the frontier, so far as 

 the butterflies are concerned, between the fauna of the central 

 and that of the southern districts of the Peninsula. The peculiar 

 character of the vegetation of the island,' however, has proved a 

 selective influence, and the caterpillars of the resident forms are 

 such as are able to feed on tough, leathery leaves (e.g. Papilio 

 polytes. on Glycosmis pentaphylla) , or, on very small herbs capable 

 of existing on dry stony soil, as Hypolimnas bolina on Jusiicia 

 diffusa var. procumbens. Species that feed on grasses or on the 



' See Annandale, Mem. Asiat. Soc. Bengal VII, No. 4 {in the Press). 



