BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS AND CICADAS 201 



withered leaves, but the way they cling to their leafy 

 haunts, their swift and zigzag flight, the way they 

 suddenly burst into view and then as if by magic 

 instantaneously disappear, must place the Kallima and 

 the Melanitis amongst the most perfect examples 

 of protective coloration that can anywhere be seen. 



I am not certain if the butterfly Dophla patala 

 actually occurs within the limits of Hazara, but I have 

 seen it in the Himalaya a little further to the east. It 

 is a butterfly of some four inches in expanse, of much 

 the same size and shape as the Kallima. Its upper 

 surface is of a rich green marked with patches of pale 

 yellow, and its form is such that the colour, shape and 

 outline of the wings closely resemble the mature green 

 leaves that grow on the forest trees. The cilia that 

 border the edge of the wings are marked with spots 

 alternately light and dark, and this has the effect of 

 giving the outline of the wings some resemblance to 

 the crenated margin of a leaf. It might be thought 

 that the yellow patch on the surface of the wings would 

 have served to destroy the protective scheme, but this 

 is not the case, since many of the forest leaves are 

 marked with similar spots of yellow which indicate 

 where the green tissue of the leaf is first passing 

 to decay. The Dophla is a butterfly of rapid and 

 irregular flight. It sometimes settles on the ground 

 or on the bark of a tree, in which places it is fairly 

 conspicuous ; but its favoured haunts are the smaller 

 branches, where it settles amidst the green leaves. It 

 is there well concealed by its protective colours. It 

 always alights with outstretched wings, as it is the 

 upper surface that is coloured a protective green, and 

 it has also the habit of slightly raising and lowering the 



