106 
LEPID OPTEDA IN DIG A. 
second and fifth the largest, the fourth with black centre speckled with blue and ringed 
with yellow* and the second and fifth also with an outer black ring; submarginal 
lunules purpurescent-grey* bordered by a whitish fascia; outer margin ochreous. Body 
olivescent ochreous-brown, abdomen with ochreous bands; palpi blackish above, 
white beneath ; body beneath and legs greyish-white ; antennae black above, tip and 
beneath reddish. 
Expanse, 2f 0 to 2^ inches. 
Larva. — “After first moult; three-quarters of an inch long; ground-colour 
olive-brown, variegated with brown; dorsal line double, interrupted and white ; 
lateral line faint, interrupted and red-brown ; sides pale slate colour, and very 
spiny ; abdomen pale slate colour, ventral line darker ; prolegs slate colour; thoracic 
legs black and shiny; anal pair slate colour; head black and spiny ; stigmata white, 
bordered with black; armed with five rows of slate coloured branched-spines, one 
dorsal and two lateral. After last moult; length one inch. Cylindrical and spiny, 
ground-colour and markings as after first moult. 53 
Pupa. —“ Golden olive-green, with a lilac iridescence; a dorsal row of pro¬ 
tuberant gold spots, and on either side one of same, and also broad longitudinal bands 
of gold colour on the sides.” (Chaumette, Lucknow, MS. Notes.) 
Habitat. —Throughout India; Burma ; Ceylon ; Andaman and Nicobar Isles ; 
Malay Peninsula, etc. 
Distribution, Habits, etc. Within our Area.—“ In India this butterfly occurs 
almost everywhere. It is decidedly rare in Calcutta, but as far as I am aware it 
occurs plentifully in every other part of India and in the Hills up to a considerable 
elevation. It has been found in both the Andaman and Nicobar groups of Islands” 
(L. de Niceville, Butt. India, ii. 228). e< This is one of the first insects you will meet 
with in the spring, in the W. Himalayas, and the last you will see in the autumn. 
It is an early riser, and one of the last to go to rest. I have actually watched them 
follow the setting sun as its beams gradually ascended the hillsides, caused by the 
sun setting behind an opposite range of hills. I have taken specimens in the plains 
as far east as Dinapore, but [up to the present date] I have never seen any in 
Calcutta. It also occurs commonly in Kashmir, and I have taken it high up in 
Ladak ” {id. Indian Agric. January, 1880). Capt. A. M. Lang found it “ everywhere 
common in the Western Himalayas at all seasons, and throughout the winter months 
in the plains ” (MS. Notes). The Rev. J. H. Hocking found the “larva on Nettle; 
May and August, in Kulu, at 6200 feet elevation” (P. Z. S. 1882,240). “Very 
common almost throughout the year in Masuri and the Dun. Larva feeds on thistles 
and on Debregeasia bicolor , N. O. Hrticacese ” (P. W. Mackinnon, J. Bombay N. H. 
Soc. 1898, 375). Mr. L. de Niceville records that it was “ found near Jarti Gumbaz, 
Pamir” (Rept. on Pamir Boundary Comm. 1898, p. 15). Col. C. Swinhoe obtained 
