202 THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD. 
settle on a small green daisy-like flower; they may then be taken 
without a net; at the approach of dusk they settle for the night 
usually in small colonies of 5 or 6, and apparently return to the same 
tree each evening. I watched one for over a fortnight, having 
selected it for observation on account of a crippled hindwing, so that 
there was no chance of mistaking it. One afternoon I saw this insect 
at the farther side of the plantation at least a mile away, but it came 
back to its usual tree for the night; on several occasions I found the 
pupa attached to twigs or small branches of various bushes, but failed 
to find the larva. 
Menelaides (Papilio) aristolochiae.—Not nearly so abundant in the 
Bangalore district as P. hector, but in the Central Provinces it is in 
great numbers, and there replaces P. hector. Whilst travelling north 
I saw it in hundreds flying round the trees, preparatory to settling for 
the night. The larve were fairly plentiful round Bangalore feeding 
on a species of Aristolochia, but I only managed to breed a few, the 
majority being ichneumoned, which perhaps accounts for its being so 
uncommon in this district. 
Papilio demoleus.—Very abundant but very fast on the wing and 
difficult to obtain in good condition, but as the larve and pupe may 
be found in numbers on orange and allied species of shrubs, and-are 
easily reared in captivity, one need not worry about the imagines. 
This butterfly is gregarious at night, and when their headquarters are 
found they will be seen by dozens, usually 8 or 4 sitting on a grass 
culm. They always frequent the same spot at night and apparently 
come from long distances to a selected locality, which will only extend 
for a few yards; outside this area not a single specimen will be seen, 
until one comes to the next roosting ground perhaps 3 or 4 miles 
away. I only found four of these spots in the Bangalore district in a 
radius of about 10 miles, it seems impossible to assign a reason for 
this excessive local tendency at night, as in the course of a ramble 
hundreds of similar spots will be noticed. Of course, this nightly 
gathering is general among the Papilios, but in no other species is it 
carried to such extremes. : 
Iliades (Papilio) polynmestor.—Very scarce; I only managed to 
take a single g, and only saw three others; it flies very high 
and swiftly. 
Laertias (Papilio) polytes.—Perbaps the most general and abundant 
species of the Indian Papilios. The male is to be seen everywhere, 
but the interesting polymorphic female is very difficult to find, as it 
seldom if ever flies in the open, and has to be searched for in dense 
bushes, and when found is generally torn to rags. By hard work 
I was rewarded by three forms in perfect condition. 
(1) Resembling the g but considerably larger. 
(2) Mimicking P. hector. 
(8) Mimicking P. aristolochiae. 
It is difficult to see what advantage is gained by Mimicry, as the 
habits of polytes, hector and aristolochiae are entirely different, and one 
never has the slightest doubt as to which species one sees, although so 
closely resembling one another in colour and markings. It certainly _ 
does not protect polytes, as I have on several occasions seen the King 
Crow (Dicrurus ater) not only attack, but eat it. The prevailing form 
is that resembling aristolochiae. 
