Ho. 4.] 



A BUTTERFLY DESTRUCTIVE TO FRUIT. 



BY 

 L. DE NICfiVILLE, F.E.S., C.M.Z.S. 



Yirachola isocrates, Fabricius. 



Plate XII, fig. la, male imago ; 15, female imago ; Id, back (or dorsal) view of 

 full-grown larva ; le, side (or lateral) view of same ; \c, pupa within pomegranate fruit 

 in natural position — all from Calcutta specimens and natural size. 



No reports have, as far as I am aware, been received regarding any 

 damage to fruit caused by this insect, though under certain circumstances 

 were this pest to become plentiful, an immense amount of loss might be 

 incurred. It attacks the Loquot {Eriobotrya japonica, Lindl.), Guava 

 (Pridium guava, Raddi), Pomegranate {Punica granatum) , and a wild 

 fruit of the Natural Order Rubiacea (Randia dumetorum, Lamk.). 



Virachola isocrates, Fabricius, is a butterfly of the family Lyccenidce, 

 of the suborder Rhopalocera, of the order Lepidoptera. It is found 

 almost throughout the plains of India (except the desert tracts), and 

 in Ceylon, but not in Assam or Burma. The insect measures from 

 an inch and a half to two inches with fully expanded wings; the 

 female is considerably larger than the male. On the upper side the male 

 is dull purple in some lights, but brilliantly shot with iridescent violet in 

 other lights. The female is still duller purple above with no vfblet shot, 

 with a patch of yellow in the middle of the fore-wing, and a black spot 

 crowned with yellow on the margin in the hind- wing. Both sexes are grey 

 on the under side, with a medial band of darker spots across both wings, 

 and a short thread-like tail and a lobe at the anal angle of the hind-wing. 



When the fruit-trees which are attacked by this insect are in bloom, 

 the female butterfly may be observed rapidly flying amongst the branches, 

 but occasionally settling on a flower, within the calyx of which she 

 deposits an egg. When the egg hatches, the young larva in all pro- 

 bability at once bores into the heart of the young fruit, within which 

 it passes through the entire larva and pupa stages. The larva appears to 

 live more on the seeds and stones of the various fruits it attacks than on 

 the pulpy portions of the fruit; in the Loquot especially it appears to eat 

 only the very hard central stone of the fruit. It always makes a hole from 

 the middle of the fruit to the outside, which it enlarges as it grows, and 

 through which its evacuations are ejected, The larva when full-fed is 



c2 



