THE COMMON B UTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 659 



In the classification of the genera given above these tails and lobes to 

 the hind wings have been used as the chief character and, for the purpose 

 of the limited number of insects with which it deals, they answer very well. 

 It will be noticed, however, that, even here, it is not absolutely exclusive ; 

 that is, it will be seen that, even in the same species, some specimens may 

 be tailed while others are not {Nacaduba ) and, in Surendra, the male 

 differs from the female in the contour of the hind wing. 



The shape of the wings of the LyccBnidce, it has been said above, is not, 

 except very rarely, affected by seasonal dimorphism. Apparently it occurs 

 only in the genera Curetis and Loxura and, in the former, only to a slight 

 degree, if thetis and bulis are really specifically distinct. In Loxura the 

 wet-season form atpnus is very dark, with a long tail to the hind wing ; in 

 the dry season the colour is bright golden yellow-orange with the black 

 bordering much more feebly expressed, the tail shorter and the outer 

 margin of the fore wing nearly quite straight. The term "wet-season" 

 should really be " season of young, succulent shoots," the " dry-season " 

 should be " season when the sap of plants is more or less inactive or only 

 feebly active" as has been remarked before in these papers. 



There are said to be some 2,000 species of the family known in the 

 whole world. The number found in British India, Ceylon and Burma is 

 about 460, of which some 70 odd are found in the Bombay Presidency. 

 The number treated of in these papers is 72, some few of which do not exist 

 in the Presidency but are found in the Plains of other parts of India. 



In the British isles there are 18 species of Blues, Hairstreaks and Coppers, 

 of which two : Lampides bceticus and Everes argiades extend to India and 

 are found everywhere. Cyaniris is a genus also common to England and 

 India though the solitary representative at home, the Holly Blue, is not 

 found here. 



The Lyccenidce are generally easily distinguished from the members of 

 other families by their general appearance. The perfect insect is, as a 

 rule, small or moderate in size, of characteristic shape, flies well and 

 generally not high up, is fond of sunlight and flowers and rarely stays long 

 on the wing at one time. They often come to water or moisture on the 

 ground and are generally not too easy to see because of the somewhat 

 cryptic colouring of the underside of the wings which are closed on 

 settling and blend well with their surroundings. 



The egg is characteristic of the family, being generally sculptured or 

 reticulated on the surface with fine, raised lines or ridges forming little 

 cells or areoles. The cells are often irregular being six — or fewer — sided 

 or nearly circular according as the raised lines are finer or coarser. It 

 is generally either turban-shaped, the bottom flat ( where it is attached 

 upon being laid ), the top very nearly flat and sometimes concave, the 

 sides slightly convex ; or dome-shaped. The breadth is nearly always 

 greater than the height, though sometimes not by very much and the 

 diameter of the extreme base is hardly ever different from that of the 

 extreme top though it is stated by Mr. Doherty ( J. A. S. B. 1889, p. 409), 

 as mentioned by Colonel Bingham in his Butterflies of the Fauna of British 

 India series, that the egg of that largest of lycsenids, Lyphyra brassolis, 

 Westwood, is broader at bottom than at top, and Doherty also states that 

 the egg of the Poritiince is " hexahedral." But neither of these sub- 

 families interest us here. He does not mention the size of the egg of 

 Lyphyra in exact measurement but states that it is " of great size ". As a 

 general rule lyceenid eggs are rather small and the breadth, the greatest 

 measurement, rarely reaches one millimetre. The colour is generally 

 light green but this is often obscured by the overlying white reticulations 



