36 sphingid^:. 



This species appears to be very free from the attacks of 

 parasites. 



The local abundance of these usually uncommon sphingids 

 is apparently due to a suitable food-plant having been grown 

 in a large area, combined with suitable climatic and other 

 conditions, but another factor is the number of broods which 

 occur in the year. In both the cases mentioned above 

 there appear to have been three broods, and the pupal stage 

 was very short, varying from two to four weeks. Many 

 species have a single brood in the year, and such species are 

 less likely to increase rapidly in numbers. The eggs of 

 Pseudodolbina fo are not laid until the rainy season is well 

 established, and the pupae always hibernate, at least in 

 captivity. The hibernating pupae lie exposed for many 

 months to disease and accidents, and suffer far greater losses 

 than in species which have several broods with a short pupal 

 stage between each brood. In parts of the country where 

 the cold is not severe in the winter some common species, 

 such as Deilephila nerii, continue to breed throughout the 

 year, but where the cold is severe nearly all the species 

 appear to hibernate as pupse, though we have seen imagos 

 of Rhopalopsyche nycteris on the wing on sunny days through- 

 out the year at an elevation of 7,000 feet in the Himalayas. 



Distribution Table. 



The following account of the distribution of the Sphingids 

 in the Indian area is compiled from the ' Revision' (1903), with 

 additions to date. 



We have divided India into three areas : — The West 

 Himalayas, including the whole Himalayan and connected 

 ranges west of Nepal, and the Siwalik Mountains. The East 

 Himalayas, including the whole Himalayan range east of Nepal 

 up to the frontier of Burma, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, 

 the Naga Hills and adjoining areas and hills in Assam. 

 South India, including the rest of Peninsular India. 



The dividing line between the W. and E. Himalayan 

 sphingid fauna has been assumed to be Nepal, as, although 

 the fauna of this area is practically unknown, that to the west 

 of it belongs to the West Himalayan type and that to the 

 east of it to the East Himalayan type. 



The plains and hills of Northern and Central India, south 

 of the Himalaya and Siwalik Mountains, have been included 

 in Southern India, as these areas have no distinctive sphingid 

 fauna. 



Note. — Rothschild and Jordan in the 'Revision' (1903) 

 referred to the W. Himalayas as " North- West India " and 

 to the E. Himalayas as " North India." 



