THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE NORTH CANARA DISTRICT. 239 



disposed to believe that in this climate the imago hibernates as it 

 commonly does in Europe. 



Apart from hibernation, the length of a larva's life varies a good 

 deal according to the supply of food. When tender leaves are plen- 

 tifal they grow fast. Butterflies of strong build and powerful flight, 

 such as Cliaraxes and the larger HesperiidcBy live much longer in the 

 larva state than others. The duration of the pupa state, on the other 

 hand, seems to depend on little else than size. Small Lyc<Enid<Xi 

 emerge in a week, the majority of medium-sized butterflies in ten days, 

 and the Papilios in a fortnight. Troides {Ornithoptera) i2^Q^ ^tqq 

 weeks. 



We wish we could have made these papers more readable so that 

 others might-more fully participate in the enjoyment which we have 

 derived from watching and catching the beautiful creatures represented 

 by the hard names which are to follow ; but the number of species to be 

 described is so large that if we had allowed ourselves to be tempted to 

 digress, the paper would have become too long for publication in any 

 journal. 



In conclusion, we must express our grateful acknowledgments to 

 Mr. W. A. Talbot for his valuable help in finding the names of the 

 plants on which our larv« fed, and to Mr. Lionel de Niceville for 

 much assistance in the identification of butterflies. 



Our illustrations were painted by Mr. Krishnarao Raghunathrao 

 Rane, student at the Bombay School of Art, a young man who took 

 much interest in the creatures themselves. 



Family NYMPHALIDiE. 



Subfamily DANAiNiE. 

 1, Hestia It/nceus, Drury. 

 From the foot of the ghauts to the crest, and even some distance 

 inland, wherever streams of water flow among high trees, the " wood 

 nymph" may be found, sailing or floating with leisurely elegance, 

 oftenest beyond the reach of the longest butterfly net. When it does 

 come low, nothing is easier to catch. It is rarely, if ever, met with 

 on the coast. It appears from October to June and probably from 

 June to October, but we spend the rains at Karwar, where it does not 

 occur. The larva feeds on Aganosma cymosa (order Apocynacece) , 



