174 LEPIDOPTSEA INDICA. 



of bead, palpi, collar, sides of tliorax beneath, and anal half of abdomen crimson; 

 sides of abdomen with a row of black dots. 



Female. Upperside somewhat paler. Foren-iurj with the transverse interrupted 

 bands ochreous-white. Hindtoing with the discal series of spots much paler and 

 somewhat ochraceous, and the sub-marginal lunules paler and duller crimson. Under- 

 side as in the male. 



Expanse, S 3|- to 4^, ? 4^ to 4| inches. 



Laeva. — Cylindrical, tapering slightly towards each end ; rich dark purple- 

 brown ; with a sub-dorsal and two lateral rows of crimson, fleshy cylindrical tubercles, 

 the lowest row shortest, and an additional lateral tubercle on the third and fourth 

 segment ; a transverse row of four pinkish-white spots on the seventh and eighth 

 segment; head and legs blackish. 



Pupa. — Head truncate in front ; thorax dorsally conical and laterally rounded ; 

 wing-cases posteriorly rounded and dilated ; abdominal segments with four subdorsal 

 short foliaceous protuberances ; colour pale violaceous-ochreous. 



Habitat. — Lower India (Central Provinces, Bombay, Madras) ; Ceylon ; 

 Calcutta ; Chittagong. 



Distribution. — This butterfly has a rather restricted range. Mr. W. Rothschild 

 cites specimens from the " Central Provinces" (?.r. 234). Col. C. Swinhoe obtained 

 it at " Poena, Bombay, in March and June ; at Belgaum in October, and in Bombay 

 in Juk, September, and October" (P. Z. S. 188-5, 145). Mr. J. Davidson and 

 E. H. Aitken (J. Bombay N. H. S. 1890, 362) say, "larvae were found, iu Bombay, 

 throughout the monsoon, and once in April, on a plant near water, which 

 had retained some green leaves. In June, when they first appeared, it was diSicult 

 to get food for them, as the young shoots of Aristolochia had scarcely begun 

 to sprout. The Qg^ must have been laid on the dry stalks of last season." 

 " The butterfly is very common, in the Kanara District of Bombay, at the 

 same time as Ornith. Minos, but it is of course more plentiful at all seasons " {ib. I.e. 

 1896, 577). Mr. S. N. Ward (MS. Xotes) records it as "common all over the 

 Peninsula, and is, I think, the couimonest species of its ti'ibe, which may be 

 accounted for by its frequenting low flowering shrubs and herbs, such as grow by 

 the road side. It is found on the Hills, both Kilghiri and Shevaroy, though not so 

 commonly as lower down. It lasts from May to September. Its larva feeds upon 

 Aristolochia indica. Its changes occupy ten days or a fortnight." Mr. R. S. Eaton 

 observed that "in the Bombay Presidency, during the latter part of the rains 

 (Sept. — Dec.) in the beginning of the cold weather, this butterfly commonly roosts 

 in flocks. About sunset they betake themselves to trees — usually the 'Babul,' 

 a species of Acacia — clinging to the underside of the subpendulous branches 

 towai'ds their extremities iu crowds of many hundreds ; and thei'e they rest until the 



