COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 627 



not exceedingly easy to catch with a net. Like all others of its 

 class, it will come to decoy — a dead specimen pinned on a leaf or 

 on the ground with its wings spread open — and even to a piece of 

 light blue paper similarly exposed. The resting position is that 

 already described for P. lielemis, namely, with the wdngs spread hori- 

 zontally, the front ones drawn down well over the hindwings so as 

 to partially hide the striking blue colour ; a leaf low down in the 

 jungle is generally chosen — a leaf in a protected position with others 

 above to shade it from the sun or cover it from the rain. F. polym- 

 nestor is found throughout Southern India, the Central Pro- 

 vinces, Bengal, and, as a straggler from the Plains, Sikkim. Its 

 place is taken in Ceylon by a very nearly allied species, P. parinda, 

 Moore, which differs in the extent and shade of the blue markings. 

 There are others, varying somewhat in markings, but constant 

 where they occur, confined to Java, Sumatra and Borneo, &c., 

 respectively. P. memnon inhabits Java, Nias, Sumatra, Borneo, 

 &c., and has a tailed as well as a tail-less female. Rothschild enu- 

 merates four subspecies of this last form from different Malayan 

 Islands, P. mayo, P. rwmanzovius, Eschsch., P. deijphohus, L., P. deiinf- 

 lus, Feld., P. deipliontes, Feld., P. ascalaphus, Boisd., and P. cenomaus, 

 Godart, some with both sexes tailed, some tail-less or with a short 

 tooth instead of the tail, are given as inhabiting other Malayan 

 Islands and New Guinea. The food-plants of the larva are all be- 

 longing to the ButacecB and it has been found on Glycosmis penta- 

 'phylla, Corr., Atalantia of different species and Citrus decumana, L. 

 This last plant is the Pomelo or Shaddock, cultivated nearly every- 

 where in India. In the forests of Western India, south of Bombay, 

 the commonest food-plant is Paramigyna monojphylla, Wgt., a large, 

 climbing, armed shrub with a simple leaf and a round, green 

 berry about an inch in diameter which is shortly grey-woolly 

 when young. 



Plate D4 depicts the male and female. Both are again too red, 

 the usual fault. The female is far too light both as to ground 

 colour and the blue colouration, in nature the ground colour is 

 nearly as black as the male. 



83. Papilio polytes, L. — (PI. D2, figs. 25 S cyvus form ; 25a $ polytes 

 form ; 25i rqinulus $ form). — A polymorphic form. — The male varies slightly 

 29 



