Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 3).djvu/116

 The upper surfaces of the wings of Hebomoia giaucippe and Kallivia Jwrsfieldi are brightly coloured ; but, when the animals are at rest, with the wings folded and exposing the dark under surface, they are protected by their resemblance to drie,:! leaves. In most cases of deceptive mimicry, the mimicked form has an odour which is repulsive to birds and lizards. Thus, the female of Hypolimnas misippiis, which is unlike the male (sexual dimorphism), mimics Daiiais chrysippus, and the female of Elymnias caudata mimics Danais genutia. The swallow-tail butterfly Papilio pamvion has two forms of female, which mimic respectively the males of Papilio aristolochice and Papilio hector. Many of the Nymphalidffi have what is called bird-misleading colouration, the conspicuous colour-markings on the wings diverting the bird's aim from the head and body, and enabling the butterfly to escape with a piece bitten out of its wings. The shawl butterfly, Cethosia maJiratta, is said to have suggested the pattern on the famous silk shawls. The cocoons of the wild silk-moth Anthcr(za papJiia, which are the source of tasar silk, are collected in certain forest areas, e.g. by the hill Panos in the Ganjam Maliahs. The rearing of the domesticated Boinbyx inori, or mulberry silk- worm, has for some time been a recognised industry in the Mysore State. In recent years, silk-worm or sericulture farms have been started under Japanese management, and by the Salvation Army at Bangalore.

The Hymenoptera include the Wasps and Bees. Some wasps, known as potters, make mud cells on walls, window- panes, and other parts of houses, in which they deposit paralysed caterpillars. The largest of the hone}'-bees is Apis dorsata, which builds large nests in the forests. In quest of honey some jungle folk, eg. the Kadirs of the Anaimalai hills, climb lofty trees by means of bamboo stems or pegs, or, torch in hand, descend steep precipices on dark nights by means of a stout creeper or ladder made