710 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV 11. 



seasonal forms of if. ismene from the same batch of eggs. Mr. Green (Spolia 

 Zeylanica, Vol. II., Pt. VI., Aug. 190 I) has captured the two seasonal forms and 

 intermediates on the same day, and so doubtless have many other entomologists. 

 De Niceville says that both forms of M. leda occur in Sumatra all the year 

 round. In Java the dry season form is also to be met with during the rains. 



I have long been under the belief that the cause of these variations 

 was to be found not so much in wet or dry conditions but in heat and cold, and 

 I may give one instance out of many which iuduced this belief. The Lycaenid 

 Tarucus tkeophrasl'ts in the Punjab has a well marked rainy and dry season 

 form, the latter differs so materially from the former that it was considered 

 by Butler to be a distinct species to which he gave the name T, alleratus, this 

 form occurs in the autumn, throughout the winter and spring. The seasons in 

 the Punjab are very well marked — intense heat in summer and very cold in 

 winter. About 'Xmas it is frequently wet, at least this was the case at Kawal 

 Pindi where I collected many specimens. 



I regret, owing to my note books being in England, that I am unable to give 

 exact dates regarding the capture of these two forms, but I ihink my memory 

 is fairly correct. 



In Ceylon at Trincomalee T. alteratus has never, so far as I know, been 

 collected, certainly I have never seen it myself, though I have specimens 

 approaching it. The climate of this part of Ceylon is extremely hot and dry 

 all the year round with the exception usually of Decrmber, very occasionally 

 November or January, when heavy rains — 20 or 30 inches — fall If T. alleratus 

 is due to dryness alone it ought to be the dominant form in Ceylon ; but if it 

 is due to cold, as I believe it to be, one can understand its absence. There is a 

 general consensus of opinion that the terms " wet " and " dry " seastcal forms 

 are misnomers, but they have the virtue of convenience. 



The life history, as it occurs in Mauritius, is briefly as follows : There is a 

 succession of broods throughout the year. In the cold weather the larvse 

 eeaso fe ding or only feed when the sun is shining brightly, and the pupal 

 stage is decidedly prolonged. In the hot weather, i.e., in January, this stage lasts 

 usually for a fortnight, but at the commencement of the cold weather, April 

 and May, some pupaj may hatch out at the ordinary time or remain over tor a 

 month or longer. The female lays freely in confinement, the eggs being laid 

 close together usually, but not invariably, on the underside of the leaf. The 

 larvae feed on grasses, sugarcane being a great favourite. I have fed mine on 

 bamboo planted in kerosene oil cans and on this, they thrive well, but curiously 

 enough th?y by no means do so on sprigs of bamboo placed in water in the 

 breeding cage ; at half growth they gradually cease to feed, the resulting but- 

 terfly, if any, being dwarfed. The larva* when hatched invariably make for the 

 underside of the leaf and lie together in small colonies — head to tail — ui til al out 

 a third grown. Up to this time they are uniformly green with black heads, 

 but when half grown they assume more distinctly the satyrid shape, and change 

 to bright apple green with darker dorsal and spiracular lines. The duration 



