28 LEPIDOPTERA INDICA. 



rest remain till June. Do the butterflies which, come out in August and March lay 

 eggs, and, if so, what becomes of them ? 



The larva of this species is not so thick proportionally at the fourth segment as 

 those of P. Doson, Sarpedon and Agamemnon, and is somewhat quadrangular. It 

 has four pairs of spines, which are small, but sharp. The most usual colour is 

 black, banded on the sides with narrow white stripes, except on the first three or 

 four segments and the last, on which there is more or less rusty-red ; but the shade 

 varies very much, and in some the ground-colour is green. The pupa has the 

 usual horn which characterizes this group, and also two short processes on the head, 

 and is of some shade of earthy-brown. It is attached by the tail and a close band 

 in crevices, or under stones and roots. We furnished our cages with bits of broken 

 tiles, but several of the larvae preferred the old clay nest of a wasp, into the empty 

 cells of which they crept. This curious habit is of course connected with the hyber- 

 nation which the majority of the pupee undergo. Along with our larvae of P. Nomius 

 we found some of P. Agamemnon and P. Doson, and it is remarkable that while very 

 many of these had been attacked by a large parasitic fly, the grub of which ate its 

 way out and fell to the ground after the pupa had formed, P. Nomius, so much more 

 conspicuous and feeding on the same tree, seemed to enjoy entire immunity from the 

 pest." " We have since proved that P. Nomius remains for more than half the year, 

 from the end of July till at least March, or oftener May, in the pupa state under 

 stones and roots " (J. Davidson and E. H. Aitken, Journ, Bombay N. H. Soc. 

 18U0, p. 364, id. 1896, p. 57y). 



DiSTEiBUTiON, Habits, etc. — In Ceylon, Mr. F. M. Mackwood records it as being 

 found in the " low country only, and principally in the Northern provinces. Very 

 scarce. Captain Hutchison obtained it in the Eastern province, in the plains and 

 forest, in August. Taken only on one occasion, on a journey from Kandy to Trin- 

 comalie, associated with Pap. A)itiphates and Doson, sitting in numbers on damp 

 places on the road, dense forest being on both sides. Captain Wade also took it 

 at TrincomaUe" (Lep. Ceylon, i. 142). Dr. N. Manders found it "common and 

 frequently abundant in the North Central Province and on the TrincomaUe side of 

 the Island. It is fond of setting in large numbers together on damp patches of sand. 

 It flies in July and August, and again at the end of the year " (Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 

 1899, 223). Col. J. W. Yerbury obtained it at " Tamblegam and Trincomalie in 

 September" (MS. Notes), In South India, Mr. H. S. Ferguson found it "rare in 

 Travancore. One specimen only being taken at the foot of the Ashambu Hills " 

 (Journ. Bombay N. H. S. 1891, 16). Mr. G. F. Hampson obtained " one specimen 

 only in the Nilgiris, at 1,000 feet elevation" (Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 1888,364). 

 Mrs. Hamilton found and reared the larva in Saugor, in July, 1852, describing it as 

 dark blue with brown ends and green underneath, six anterior and two posterior 



