LYCMENID.E. 
423 
blotch on the upper surface ; whilst it has this colouring, it feeds on 
tender leaves and rests openly on the leaf where it resembles a bird’s 
excrement; at the third moult, it becomes green ; apparently it is 
now too large to mimic bird’s excreta and it adopts a cryptic colour¬ 
ing, green with purple brown oblique bands. It is now somewhat 
snake-like in appearance and by some observers is regarded as being 
so to an extent that may be protective. The larva on being irritated 
extrudes a forked yellow process from the prothorax, which gives out 
a scent; presumably this is a protective device. Pupation takes place 
on the plant. The number of broods yearly does not appear to be 
known ; there are certainly two in the months preceding the rains and 
apparently two during and after these months, but there is not any 
apparent regularity. 
P. pammon, Linn., is not distinguishable from the above as a larva, 
but the butterfly is distinct. Unlike P. demoleus, it occurs in more than 
one form. The two species are destructive to young Citrus trees and 
while demoleus appears to be most common, both occur throughout 
India. 
P. aristolochice, F., is the only other common species; its larva is 
deep velvety brown, with a cream coloured band across the abdomen, 
and with short blunt reddish processes ; the chrysalis is of peculiar 
form, resembling a torn leaf ; the foodplant is the cultivated climbing 
Aristolochia, as well as the wild Aristolochia indica found as a field weed. 
Lyc^nid^.— Blues, Coppers, Hairstreaks. 
Forelegs slightly reduced. Male tarsus of one joint, with one claw. 
Precostal nervure absent. Pupa usually attached to leaf, with a girdle. 
Larva fusiform, smooth and without long hairs. 
The family is distinguished readily by its appearance in nearly all 
cases, being of small to moderate size (among butterflies), the hindwings 
often with little tails, the colouring usually blue or grey above with 
metallic reflections, grey or white below with many dark spots and, 
often, coloured ocelli. 
The colouring of the undersurface is distinctly cryptic, blending 
beautifully with the prevailing light and shade of dry grass when the 
butterfly sits on a grass stem with folded wings. 
