LYCENID^. 
7 * 
Pupa, the usual dumpy Lycaenid form, of a general bright green, with a few small dusky 
markings. Attached by the tip of the abdomen, with a band round the middle. 
Fig. 22, PI. VIII is from a $ taken in October; Fig. 29 of the same plate from a £, also 
taken in October. 
Zizera maha, Koilar 
This and the following species are the two commonest Lycasnids here. They are abun¬ 
dant throughout the year, and may be seen abroad even during cold, dull weather. Z. maha has 
an erratic and fairly quick flight, though it is continually returning in its tracks and seldom rises 
very far from the ground. It visits almost every flower that it finds in its meandering flight, and 
often rests on the ground or on grass-stalks, with closed or open wings; though to be found every¬ 
where, it prefers open grass-land, hill slopes and waste ground, where it often swarms and where 
the foodplant of the larva generally grows profusely. 
In the wet season both sexes are much suffused with dark brown on the upperside, the £ 
being sometimes almost entirely brown; the underside is ochreous white, with the black markings 
distinct. 
In the dry season the blue predominates on the upperside, and the underside is dark 
ochreous, the spots usually very faint and ringed with whitish, but some specimens are practically 
uniform light brown on the underside, the spots obsolete. 
This little butterfly (which appears even smaller on the wing than it really is) is subject 
to much variation in size, marking and colouring; the average across the forewings of a large num¬ 
ber of specimens gave f-g- inch, and the blue of the upperside tends to purplish, whereas that of the 
following species inclines to silvery or whitish blue; but in many cases it is most difficult to dis¬ 
tinguish between the two butterflies. Z. maha sometimes falls a prey to dragonflies, which cap¬ 
ture it on the wing. 
Fig. 26, PI. VIII is from a £ taken in October or dry form; Fig. 28 of the same plate is 
the upperside of a $ taken in December; Fig. 3* Pb Fa is a remarkable variety of $ taken in June, 
with the black markings of the underside very large; but the upperside is the normal colouiing of 
many females in the wet season. 
Egg, sub-globular, whitish; laid singly on the underside of leaves of the foodplant of the 
larva, Oxalis corniculata , Linn., Nat. Ord. Oxalidecc , an exceedingly common little plant here, 
with a bright yellow flower, found in all temperate and tropical regions. 
Larva, fullgrown, green, segments well defined, slightly pubescent, head included; a rather 
faint dorsal stripe of purple-brown, and a still fainter lateral stripe each side just above the legs, but 
defined by a row of rather closely-set short white hairs. Underside greenish. Head green. 
Pupa, pale green, sometimes showing a faint dorsal line of purplish down the abdomen. 
Attached by the tip of the abdomen, with a band round the middle. 
