32 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVII. 



of their swiftness and high-fljdng habits ; they are, also, so strong 

 that they batter themselves to pieces before one can get hold of 

 .them. To illustrate the strength of the larval jaws E. H. Aitken 

 remarks a iiropos of V. -perse — and it is apposite here — that "the 

 stony hardness of the fruit turns the edge of one's penknife and 

 one's curiosity too." Also, in alluding to the strength of the fas- 

 tening of the fruits to the branches he says " I have taken a pome- 

 granate infested with these larv^ (several usually inhabit each fruit) 

 and made it stand in an egg-cup. In the morning it was so secu- 

 rely fastened that in taking up the fruit I lifted the cup." 



Virachola isocrates inhabits the whole of India, Burma and Ceylon 

 except the desert tracts. It is commoner in the open country, with 

 moderate rainfall of say about 20" where scrub jungle is the best 

 forest available, than in heavy forest country with a large rainfall ; 

 it is commoner in the Bijapur District than in Kanara in the Bom- 

 bay Presidency. It is also, in the latter District, more plentiful on 

 the uplands at 2000' than on the sea-coast. 



The figures 54 and 54a of the male and female on Plate H Vol. 

 XXVI are fair ; the male shows too little purple on the upperside ; 

 the female upperside is too light. Both are too pink. 



( To be continued.) 



