86 LEPIDUPTERA IXDICA. 



Female. Ui)perside ochreous-browii, the outer borders palest; the fascia? 

 much difi'uscd, the discal being well-defined liy a darker angled inner 

 edge ; black spots on the hindwing very small, but distinct. Underside. 

 Ground-colour as on the upperside, but paler ; markings similar, but with the 

 fascia) paler. 



E.xpanse, c? li^o- ? ^i% to li% inch. 



Larva. — " Flat, very broad in the middle, tapering to both ends ; clothed 

 sparsely with short hairs ; head small, not enclosed in the second segment. Colour 

 lisfht green." 



Pupa. — " So like the larva that it is difficult to note exactly when the change 

 takes place ; it is also clothed with hairs. It is closely attached to a leaf by the tail 

 and a girdle" (J. Davidson and E. H. Aitken, Journ. Bombay N. H. S. 1890, 

 352). 



Habitat. — Lower Himalayas ; Eastern, Central, and South India; Ceylon. 

 Intekmedime Vakieties. — This is a very variable species, both on the upperside 

 and imderside, especially in the drij-seasoii males. In some males (from Ceylon, 

 Anaraully Hills, Western India, Travancore) the upperside is of the same rich 

 purple-brown of an ordinary ivet-season specimen, but on the underside, the colora- 

 tion and markings are ot^ a normal dry-season male. Other males (from Wangui, 

 Thanah, Bombay, and Poona) are dull purple-brown on the upperside, but with 

 ordinary coloration and markings, though much less prominent, of normal ivet- 

 season specimens. A male of the drij forw: from Ranchi, Chota Nagpur, is of a much 

 duller purple-brown on the upperside, but on the underside, it has the coloration 

 and prominent markings of a noriy\al icet form. Other males, of smaller expanse, 

 from Poona, Bombay, and Sikkim, have both the upper and underside, of either an 

 olivescent ochreons-browu, or purpurescent-brown, with characteristic dru-season 

 markings. Again, in some Ceylon specimens, both of male and female, of the dry- 

 season form, the upperside is of a normal dry form, but with the coloration and 

 prominent markings of the wet form. 



Habits of Imago. — Mr. E. H. Aitken writes, " I have found it in Poona, but 

 rarelv, if ever, in Bombay, though it is common in the low jungles of the Tanna 

 District. "When the rainy season is drawing to a close in September or October, 

 every bush on the Hills is enlivened by the attitudes and frolics of this little 

 embodiment of vanity. In all its ways it is unique, perching in the middle of a leaf, 

 on the upperside, with wings half open, turning jerkily from one side to another, 

 then hopping to another leaf and strutting round it. Sometimes a pair join in these 

 performances. It is one of the easiest butterflies to catch, having no fear" (Journ. 

 Bombay N. H. S. 18S6, 215). " It is very common at all seasons, perching on leaves 

 with its wings partly open, and facing about everj- now and then in a way peculiar 



