76 Dr. G. B. Longstaff's Notes on the Butterflies 



White butterflies were not much in evidence ; I took a 

 somewhat worn female of Appias libythca, Fab., also two 

 Belenois mesentina, both females. This last is another 

 common Indian butterfly; its upper surface reminds one of 

 P. daplidice, L., but beneath the hind-wings and tips of the 

 fore-wings are bright orange with brownish veins. Experi- 

 ence at Lahore confirmed me in the opinion that " Whites " 

 of all sorts are most difficult to catch ; they are shy, and 

 fly rapidly with a jerky vertical movement. "Whites" 

 are by far the most conspicuous butterflies, especially 

 when at a distance, and doubtless they need their swift 

 wings. The Catopsilias are nearly as conspicuous as the 

 true Whites, and they fly even more swiftly. 



Among the Nymphalids the widespread Atella phedanta 

 was represented by a few specimens at marigold flowers. 

 Precis oritliyia (an insect that suffers much loss of beauty 

 from grease) was not common, the same is true of P. almana ; 

 a few of each were taken at flowers. At zinnia flowers I 

 got my first Hypolimnas misippus, L., a male ; it impressed 

 me as a most tropical-looking insect, though not so 

 gorgeous as H. bolina ; it had both hind-wings clipped, 

 possibly by a bird. 



The Blues were represented by two species — the neatly- 

 marked Tarucus telicanus, Lang., common at the flowers of 

 Plumbago, and the little greyish-blue Zizera maha, Koll , 

 abundant at the flowers of a species of millet and some herbs 

 of the labiate family; amongst them was a specimen of the 

 var. dilitta, Feld. Blues swarm in India, many of the 

 species are small and dingy, so that they are hard to follow 

 on the wing, and their flight is even more jerky than that of 

 Whites. They are often found on grassy banks as at home, 

 but are especially addicted to water-drinking and are 

 constantly present in irrigated fields and gardens. It 

 must be confessed that the abundance of bigger game often 

 led one to pass them by. Blues when killed are apt to 

 fold their wings the wrong way, and it is difficult to set 

 them right; but if only kept a short time in the bottle 

 with a view to preventing this untoward result, they are 

 apt to recover and fly away when the paper is opened after 

 the day's work. 



The dull-coloured Skipper Gegencs nostrodamus, Fab., 

 was common in the gardens, but I only took one female. 

 Small moths, especially Pyrales, were abundant in a patch 

 of long grass and herbage in a damp spot. One of these 



