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 libythea, 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 phalanta 
was represented by a few specimens at marigold flowers. 
Precis orithyia (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. diluta, 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 Gegenes 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 herhage in a damp spot. One of these 
