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Previous books on Indian butterflies have been almost entirely concerned with their identification. They dealt with them as objects to collect rather then as living breathing animals. They provided excellent though sometimes complicated keys for the proper recognition of the butterflies after they had become specimens for the store boxes, but told little of how these interesting and attractive insects lived.
It is mainly in this respect that butterflies of the Indian Region is different. For beside the lavish illustrations and workmanlike keys and descriptions for identification, it provides authentic concise information concerning the early stages. Foodstuffs of the caterpillars, enemies, habits and ecology and many other aspects that primarily concern the living insect.
The author has collected and studied Indian butterflies for over two decades in practically all their major habitats, from the tropical rain forests of the Western Ghats to the high Himalayan meadows. His special interest in biological studies is apparent throughout the work, and he has taken full advantage of the researches and writings of the late T.R.D. Bell in Kanara to supplement his accounts.
1. Introduction
2. Collecting and preserving
3. Early stages
4. Protection from enemies
5. Butterfly migration
6. The Danaids (Danaidae)
7. The Satyrids (Satyridae)
8. The Amathusiids (Amathusiidae)
9. The Nymphalids (Nymphalidae)
10. The Acraeids (Acraeidae)
11. The Erycinids (Erycinidae)
12. The Lycaenids, or the blues (Lycaenidae)
13. The Papilios, or the Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
14. The Pierids, or the whites and yellows (Pieridae)
15. The skippers (Hesperiidae)
Appendix: A list of larval foodstuffs
Index
