670 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL niST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



in the evergreen jungles of the Western Ghats. The shrub is an ever- 

 green with dark green, leathery, 1 to 5-fingered leaves with long- 

 stalks, the young shoots grey-mealy when very tender as a rule, the 

 flowers in little compact clusters mostly at the end of the branches 

 in the axils of leaves, small, whitish, the petals soon falling. The 

 butterfly is a week flier, keeps generally quite close to the ground 

 in the jungle ; but is conspicuous because of the glancing of the 

 white underside in the shade. It rests on the upperside of a leaf and 

 occasionally comes to damp places on the ground. It is very like 

 Magisha malaya in look and habits. It has been seen in Bombay 

 itself, Poona, Thana. The distribution is India to Burma, Tenasserim, 

 Andamans, extending to the Malay Peninsula. It is very common 

 in Kanara. 



Genus — Spalgis . 



The genus is, according to Colonel Bingham, confined to the Indo-Mala- 

 yan Region. Its chief character consists in the fact that the larvse are 

 carnivorous or rather, insectivorous which is quite an exceptional thing in 

 butterflies. There is only one species. 



128. Spaigis epius. — Male. Upperside: dull brown, slightly darker towards 

 the apex of the fore wing ; also a more or less quadrate, whitish spot 

 beyond the apex of the cell on the same wing ; in some specimens this spot 

 is slightly dift'use. Underside : -pale, silky brownish-white; fore and hind 

 wings crossed by numerous, very slender, short, sinous, transverse, dark- 

 brown strigee which are outwardly slenderly edged with brownish white of a 

 shade paler than that of the ground-colour ; both wings with an ante-ciliary 

 dark brown line with, on the inner side, a similar edging. Fore wing, in 

 addition, with an oval, white spot beyond the cell. Cilia of both fore and 

 hind wings of the same shade as the brown colour of the wings. Antennse, 

 head, thorax and abdomen pale brown ; club of antennse ocharceous at 

 apex ; beneath : the palpi and thorax brownish-greyish, abdomen pale brown. 

 Female. ?7^^emcZe : slightly paler brown. Fore wing : the cell and apex 

 darker; a white spot similar to that in the male, but larger, beyond the 

 apex of the cell ; in most specimens extended diffusely outwards and down- 

 wards. Hind wing : similar to that of the male. Underside : precisely as 

 in the male. Antennse, head, thorax and abdomen paler than in the male*, 

 Expanse : male and female, 22-28mm. 



Larva. — The shape is onisciform : a long, compressed oval ; the ventrum is 

 flat, the dorsal longitudinal outline a depressed, even, convex curve. The 

 head is small, round, with a longish neck when protruded ; generally hidden 

 under segment 2 ; segment 2 short, deeply indented in dorsal line on the 

 front margin, this indentation accentuated by a subdorsal tuft of porrect 

 hairs on either side ; segment 3 suddenly rather higher than segment 2 ; 

 segments 3-11 all similar to each other ; segments 12-14 together about 

 equal to one of these ; the anal segment having its dorsal surface in a plane 

 nearly perpendicular to longitudinal larval axis ; none of the segments very 

 distinct. Spiracles small and round, at the lower extremity of a deeply 

 imprtessed line down the centre of each segment 4-11 parallel to segment- 

 margins but not reaching dorsal region nor the subspiracular region ; these 

 spiracles diflicultto distinguish. Surface of body obscured dorsally by 

 white powder and flufl' of the insects (plant-lice), the larva feeds upon so 

 that it is impossible to see any detail of the structure unless this is at first 



