COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 1147 



ground, generally on a young leaf; the larva lives on the under- 

 side as a very general rule, but may be found on the upperside 

 also ; it has the slow-moving habits of the larvae of the family and 

 does not wander far to pupate. The pupa is attached to the 

 underside of a leaf, the tail-pad is fairly thick and the attachment 

 therefore strong, the body band is fairly loose. The growth of 

 the larva is fast and the duration of the pupal stage about a 

 week. The butterfly is the weakest flier of the whole family; 

 a flimsy little thing that never rises more than a foot or so from 

 the ground and may at all times be found in the undergrowth, 

 fluttering along weakly, with the wings held horizontally, open 

 for longer intervals than is usual with any other member. Not- 

 withstanding its small size, it is a conspicuous little insect when 

 flj^ing because of its pure white colour, with the single large black 

 spot ; when at rest it closes the wings, sinks the upper into 

 the hindwings and becomes nearly invisible from the protective 

 marking of greenish strigse and lines which cover the under- 

 parts that remain exposed ; it sits generally on the underside of a 

 leaf or on a thin perpendicular plant-stem or dead stick. The 

 food-plants of its larva are Capers of probably all species except 

 the absolutely herbaceous ones. It has been actually bred upon 

 Camparis heyeana and Graioeva religiosa in Kanara. The distri- 

 bution according to Colonel Bingham is " the lower Kanges of 

 the Himalayas from Mussoorie to Sikkim ; Central, Western and 

 Southern India hut not in the desert tracts ; Ceylon ; Assam ; Burma 

 and Tenasserim ; extending to China and the Malayan Subregion." 

 What is meant here by the " desert tract " is not exactly known. 

 If Sind is included in the term, then the statement is wrong 

 (the italics are not Colonel Bingham's) for the insect has been 

 seen often in the neighbourhood of Karachi and in other parts of 

 that country ; it is not uncommon in Gadag and Bijapur of the 

 Bombay Presidency. The probability is that it exists anywhere 

 there are opportunities for the food-plants to grow. The little 

 butterfly is not subject to much seasonal variation ; it only afiects 

 the tone of the green on the underside and, to a very limited extent, 

 the size of the black markings on the upperside as also their 

 intensity. 



