COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE PLAINS OF INDIA. 1151' 



string close. The butterfly takes about a week to emerge and all' 



of one brood do not necessarily emerge the same day because the 

 larvse take uneven periods to grow, some getting ahead of others ; 



so the pupation of a brood does not all take place on the same day; 



some individuals may be several days behind the main body. The' 



perfect insects are weak fliers and flutter about, hardly ever flying 



straight ; they frequent trees and are generally found flying 



round them, mango trees being particular favourites as they are 



such good hosts for the parasitic mistletoes, Loranthus of various 



species. They fly fairly high as a rule and keep to places where 



there is tree-growth because of the food-plant which is only found 



on woody vegetation. They rest with the wings closed over the 



back, are found on the wing in all weather and occasionally may 



be seen drinking at moist patches on roads and in river-beds in 



the hot weather ; they also frequent flowers ; and generally sit 



down to enjoy their repast, never hovering or agitating their 



wings (few whites do this) while thus engaged ; they come to a 



complete rest. The food-plant is Loranthus of various species as 



already stated and it has been bred upon L. longijioms, Desrouss ; 



elasticus, Desrouss, and scurrula, L., but nearly certainly feeds 



upon them all. The distribution is the Himalayas up to 7,000 



feet ; the whole of continental India except the desert tracts ; 



Ceylon. There are 7 species of Delias enumerated by Colonel 



Bingham for British India, with four Races ; 1 1 forms, that is, of 



which 4 have been alluded to above, and have red terminal 



markings on the underside. D. descomhesi, Boisd., from Sikhim, 



Butan, Assam, Burma, Tenasserim, Siam, Malay Peninsula has 



red basal markings as well as D. aglaia, L., with a nearly similar 



distribution but extending to Borneo and China ; and D. thyshe, 



Cramer, from the same places as descomhesi. Delias agostina, 



Hewtson, and D. belladonna, Fabr., have no red markings on the 



underside ; they are both Himalayan, extending to Assam ; the 



latter fi-om Kulu eastwards extending to China, the former limited 



westwards by Nepal and not found in China. Khanda, Doherty, 



is a form or race of thyshe ; agoranis, Grose-Smith, of agostina. 



90. Prioneris sita. $. Upperside: white, with a slight glaucous tint. 

 Fore and hind wings : the postdiscal markings of the underside seen- 



