THE COMMON BUTTERFLIES OF THE FLAINS OF INDIA . 779 



well tucked under tlie body, held quite perpendicular to the resting 

 surface, the anal segment always slightly overhanging these anal 

 claspers, the other prolegs similar and all with the little hooklets of 

 the sole of the feet disposed in a circle, which circle is, however, not 

 closed, but open towards the inside— this sort of foot might be called 

 " ring-soled " in contradistinction to the other type, or " lobed " 

 foot in which the hooklets are disposed more or less in a line parallel 

 to the longitudinal axis of the larva or in two Hues where the lobe 

 is divided, as it often is, into two sections (the great majority of 

 noctuid moths) ; (c) the invariable lack of any fleshy or thorny pro- 

 cesses on the body or head, there being, at most, only a clothing of 

 short simple or branched hairs (there is never even a tail-point) ; 

 {(l) the fact that there is always a well-defined neck and the head is 

 invariably large compared to it — the size is c|uite striking ; and (e by 

 the fact that they always live in cells made of leaves, more or less 

 closed and of many different shapes, often cylindrical, made bv 

 turning over a section of a leaf on to the top or by doubling up a leaf 

 longitudinally or transversely and fixing the edges tight together, 

 or by drawing them together more or less incompletely. The habits 

 in this particular are various, though each type of larva has its own 

 type of cell. There is one characteristic connected with this mode 

 of life that is distinctly to the credit of butterflies as represented by 

 the skippers and serves to distinguish them from practically all moths ; 

 and that is the fact that they never foul their houses (cells) but always 

 keep them spotlessly cleans, expelling all alimentary refuse at once. 

 This praiseworthy quality of cleanliness is well worth remembering 

 as it will always supply an extra factor for identification of skipper 

 larvae. The actual method of making cells will be described in detail 

 under each insect further on. All caterpillers, when full-grown, are 

 sluggish and move slowly but, often, when young, they will back 

 into their cells at a great rate and, sometimes, when seriously alarmed 

 even run out at the other end and drop to the ground — though this is 

 rare. Some of the smaller grass-feeding ones will even sham death 

 when roughly handled. All are shy of exposing themselves and many 

 are exclusively night-feeders. Great numbers are destroyed by birds 

 that pull them out of their cells either directly 'through the opening — 

 although this is difficult because of the hard head-surface presented — 

 or by pecking a hole in the side. Many more are parasitized by 

 ichneumons though apparently they are rather better off • in this 

 respect than most of the other families of butterflies. Hibernation, 

 or lying over for a period without feeding, is not a common pheno- 

 menon of butterfly larvae in tropical countries but, nevertheless, it 

 exists amongst these skippers, in a few cases as exemplified by the 

 larva of Tagiades alticus. This has been observed to lie quiescent for 

 several months without eating. It makes a new cell, retires to it, 

 changes into a sort of translucent green (its ordinary colour is more 



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