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THE BUTTEHFLIES OF THE LUCKNOW DISTRICT. 



By G-eo. W, V. DE Rhe-Fhilipe. 



Th^ plain districts of tha United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, as they 

 are now called, have not hitherto had much attention paid them by col- 

 lectors and those generally interested in butterflies ; and -the reason is not far 

 to seek. Inseci life in the hot dry plains of these Provinces is admittedly 

 poor ; collecting is in the hot months practically impossible, and even during 

 the rains most trying ; and it is difficult, even for the most enthusiastic col- 

 lector, to summon up sufficient energy to do a day's outdoor work when the 

 prospects of securing anything good are so remote. It is hardly to be won- 

 dered at, therefore, that while the Himalayan and submontane districts of the 

 Provinces have been more or less thoroughly worked, and the butterfly life 

 there made the subject of numerous papers and notes, the plains have, to a 

 very great extent, been neglected. During the course of the three years and a 

 half of my stay here I have met with only one other collector and have not 

 seen or heard of a single representative collection. 



And yet, in spite of their poverty, there is plenty of interesting work in 

 these districts for those entomologically inclined, and it may take three oe 

 four years of steady collecting to get together even an app?oximatel^ com- 

 plete collection of the ninety or hundred species found within their limits. 

 A year ago I considered I had fairly well exhausted the capabilities of Luck- 

 now for new species, but I have since added some half dozen fresh varieties 

 to my lists ; and even now, though I have very nearly every butterfly that 

 I know of as being found in Lucknow, I am by no means certain that my col- 

 lection is complete. No local list exists ; and as my own experience has re- 

 peatedly shown how useful such lists are to collectors, I have tried in the 

 following pages to give as complete a list as possible of the Rhopalocera found 

 in Luc-know and its vicinity. It may, I hope, be interesting to butterfly col- 

 lectors in general, as forming a guide to what may be found in the hot dry 

 plains of Northern India, and useful to any who may in the future take up 

 the study of the butterflies of these Provinces. 



A word as to seasons and places. Butterflies may be found in Lucknow all 

 the year round with perhaps the exception of the very hot period between the 

 middle of April and middle of June. The best time is, of course, from the 

 middle of July to the end of October — in other words, during and just after 

 the monsoon. As soon as the first heavy falls of rain bring out the new 

 vegetation, the butterflies begin to appear and continue to be seen in numbers 

 till the cold weather sets in. During the very cold months of December and 

 January not many are seen, though, if the winter be a mild one,- the autumn 

 or post-monsoon species often remain out later, mingling with the oarly 

 arrivals of the spring varieties. From February till the end of March or 

 middle of April an entirely different set af apparently single brooded species 

 are on the wing ; and these finally disappear as soon as the hot West winds 

 begin to blow. 

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