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CO 2: vv. CO Z z > ITHSONIAN- INSTITUTION NOIlfUllSNI NVINOSHIIWS^S 3 I d V 3 3 IT LIBRARIES SMITHSONIAN _ INS' X CO — CO z 00 X co ^ .co CO r» 3 sr* >5?™- -*S$C . W JOURNAL of the Bombay Natural History Society VoL 86, No. 1 April 1989 Rs. 90 r BOARD OF EDITORS Botany Ik V. BOLE M. R. ALMEIDA Pisces, Marine Biology B. F. CHHAPGAR Herpetology R. WHITAKER Executive Editor J. C DANIEL Assistant Editor A. VARADACHARY Ornithology H. ABDULALI R. M. NAIK Mammalogy A. J. T. JOHNSINGH Entomology B. V. DAVID J INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS 1 . Papers which have been published or have been offered for publication elsewhere should not be submitted. 2 All words to be printed in italics should be underlined. 3 . Trinomials referring to subspecies should only be used where identification has been authentically established by comparison of specimens actually col- lected. 4. Photographs for reproduction must be clear* with good contrast. Prints should be at least 8.20 x 5.60 cm (No. 2 Brownie) and on glossy glazed paper. 5. Text-figures, line drawings and maps should be in Indian ink, preferably on Bristol board. 6. References to literature should be placed at the end of the paper, alphabeti- cally arranged under author’s name, with the abridged titles of journals or periodicals underlined (Italics) and titles of books not underlined (roman type), thus : Banerji, M. L. (1958): Botanical Exploration in East Nepal 7. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 55(2) : 243-268. Prater, S. H. (1948): The Book of Indian Animals, Bombay. Titles of papers should not be underlined. 7. Each paper should be accompanied by a concise, clearly written synopsis, normally not exceeding 200 words. 8. Authors are supplied 25 reprints of their articles free of charge. In the case of joint authorship, 50 copies will be given gratis to be distributed among the two or more authors. Orders for additional reprints should be in multi- ples of 25 and should be received within two weeks after the author is in- formed of the acceptance of the manuscript. They will be charged for at cost plus postage and packing. 9 . The editors reserve the right, other things being equal, to publish a member’s contribution earlier than a non-member’s. Hombill House, Editors, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Journal of the Bombay Bombay 400 023. Natural History Society VOLUME 86(1): APRIL 1989 Date of Publication: 14-8-1989 CONTENTS Page THE BOSTAMI TURTLE, Trionyx nigricans ANDERSON: POPULATION STATUS, DISTRIBUTION, HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP By Md. Farid Ahsan and Md.Abu Saeed 1 NOTES ON THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA AS LISTED IN S.D. RIPLEY (1982) “A SYNOPSIS OF THE BIRDS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN TOGETHER WITH THOSE OF NEPAL, BHUTAN, BANGLADESH AND SRI LANKA” By Thilo W. Hoffmann 7 THE PITCHER PLANT {Nepenthes khasiana Hk.F.) SANCTUARY OF JAINTIA HILLS, MEGHALAYA: LESSONS FOR CONSERVATION (With a text-figure) By W.A Rodgers and Sangeeta Gupta 17 FOOD SPECTRUM OF THE MARBLED TOAD, Bufo stomaticus LUTKEN By S.K. Battish, Annu Agarwal and Paramjit Singh 22 MAHSEER CONSERVATION - PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS By Prakash Nautiyal 32 ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF PUNJAB STATE, NORTH INDIA By S.S. Bir and Charanpreet Singh 37 BREEDING HABITS AND ASSOCIATED PHENOMENA IN SOME INDIAN BATS-PART XII - Megaderma lyra lyra (GEOFFROY) (MEGADERMATIDAE) AT DIFFERENT LATITUDES By A.Gopalakrishna and N. Badwaik 42 THE SNAKES OF BURMA - II REDISCOVERY OF THE TYPE SPECIMEN OF Oligodon mcdougalli WITH A DISCUSSION OF ITS RELATIONSHIPS (With two text-figures) By H.G. Dowling and J.V. Jenner 46 BIOECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THREE FIG-LITTER DWELLING SPECIES OF RHYPAROCHROMINAE (INSECTA: HEMIPTERA: LYGAEIDAE) (With six text-figures) By Ananda Mukhopadhyay 50 DIET OF THE SMOOTH INDIAN OTTER (Lutra perspicillata) AND OF FISH-EATING BIRDS: A FIELD SURVEY (With six text- figures) By Christine Tiler, Megan Evans, Clare Heardman and Susan Houghton 65 NEW DESCRIPTIONS: A NEW SPECIES OF HERMIT CRAB, Diogenes karwarensis (DECAPODA: ANOMURA) FROM THE WEST COAST OF INDIA (With two text-figures) By V.N. Nayak and B.Neelakantan 71 A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS Euphiloscia PACKARD (CRUSTACEA: ISOPODA: ONISCOIDEA) FROM WALTAIR, INDIA (With eleven text-figures) By C. Jalaja Kumari, K. Hanumantha Rao and K. Shyamasundari 77 A NEW SPECIES OF Theridion W ALCKENAER (ARANEAE: THERIDIIDAE) FROM INDIA (With three text-figures) By Kanchan Monga and J.P. Singh 81 Page A NEW Sonerila ROXB. (MELASTOMATACEAE) FROM SOUTHERN INDIA (With nine text-figures) By R. Gopalan and A.N. Henry 82 Utricular ia malabarica SP. NOV. (LENTIBULARIACEAE): A TERRESTRIAL BLADDERWORT FROM SOUTHERN INDIA (With sixteen text-figures ) By M.K. Janarthanam and A.N. Henry 84 A NEW SPECIES OF Stixis LOUR. (CAPPARACEAE) FROM MANIPUR (With a text-figure ) By D.B. Deb and R.C. Rout ; . J 86 NEW TAX A OF DESMIDS FROM UTTARA KANNADA DISTRICT, KARNATAKA STATE (INDIA) (With four text-figures ) By G.R. Hegde and S.W. Isaacs 88 REVIEWS: Nature Conservation: The role of remnants of native vegetation (reviewed by W. A. Rodgers) 91 Tiger Moon (reviewed by Pratap Saraiya) 91 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES: MAMMALS: 1. New Locality-Records for Myotis montivagus peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913, and Murina cyclotis cyclotis Dobson, 1872 (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in the Eas- tern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India By M.K. Ghosh 93 2. Endangered Grizzled Giant Squirrel habitat By K. Ramachandran 94 BIRDS: 3. Incident involving a snake and a Purple Heron By Md. Nayerul Haque 95 4 . On the parental care of Wood Shrike ( Tephrodornis pondi- cerianus) By V. Sundararaman 95 5. Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant) swallo- wing a snake By Abdul Jamil Urfi 96 6. Baer’s Pochard in Pakistan By Haider Jang 96 7. An interesting colour phase of the Lesser Goldenbacked Woodpecker (Dinopium benghalense ) By Lavkumar Khacher 97 8. Unusual feeding behaviour in the Adjutant Stork Leptop- tilos dubius (Gmelin) By P.Rao & S. Murlidharan 97 9. Crane migration through Baluchistan: A preliminary re- port By Afsar Mian 98 10. Unusual interactions for food By Rishad Naoroji 100 1 1 . Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata: A rare record from Kerala By C. Sasikumar 101 12. On the occurrence and status of Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula (Lowe) in Madras city (southern India) By V. Santharam 101 13. An hitherto unrecorded nesting site of a Redvented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus) By C. Nanjappa 102 14. Redvented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer (Linne.) eating petals of Magnolia By J. Mangalraj Johnson 103 15. A note on Roseringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri feeding on the leaves of Salvadora persica in the Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary By P. Balasubramanian 103 16. Some observations on the breeding of Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi (Linnaeus) (Monarchinae) By S.M.A. Rashid, Anisuzzaman Khan & Raguibuddin Ahmed 103 17. Occurrence of the Whitecollared Kingfisher Sauropatis chloris occipitalis (Blyth) in the Great Nicobar Island By J.M. Dasgupta & Sipra Basuroy 105 REPTILES: 18. First record of a skin nematode on an Indian Mugger Crocodile ( Crocodylus palustris) By Romulus Whitaker & Harry Andrews 106 19. Mugger ( Crocodylus palustris) eating soft-shell turtle By Ranjitsinh 107 20. The Ganges soft-shell turtle ( Trionyx gangeticus Cuvier) from Vadodara city By Raju Vyas 107 21. Some observations on growth of the Travancore Tortoise (Geochelone travancorica) By L.S. Sane & S.R. Sane 109 BOTANY: 22. Range extension of Chrysopelea ornata Shaw (Reptilia: Colubridae) with comments on the distribution of some snakes in north India By D. Basu 1,10 23 . Melanistic form of the Royal Snake ( Spalerosphis diadema Schlegel) By Raju Vyas 112 INSECTS: 24. Record of Synegia sp. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) infes- ting Black Pepper ( Piper nigrum L.) By T. Premkumar & S. Devasahayam 112 25. Erythmelus helopeltidis Gahan (Hymenoptera: Mymari- dae) - A new egg parasite of Helopeltis antonii Signoret on cashew By S. Devasahayam 113 26. Studies on Coelophora bisellata Muls. (Coleoptera: Coc- cinellidae). 1. Field recognition of different larval instars and the traits of pupae and adults By M. Rhamhalinghan 114 27. Hitherto unrecorded plant from Upper Gangetic plain with its ethnobotanical uses By D.C. Sami, S.K. Singh & Suresh Singh 118 28. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. - A new re- cord for north-western Himalaya By Y.P.S. Pangtey & S.S. Samant 119 29. A note on the synonymy of Hyptianthera Wt. & Am. and Petunga DC. with Hypobathrum Bl. (Rubiaceae) By D.B. Deb 121 30. An enumeration of fern-allies of Naini Tal (western Hi- malaya) By Y.P.S. Pangtey & S.S. Samant 121 EDITORIAL The Journal of the BNHS begins its 86th year with a new look. A board of editors, consisting of leading experts in their respective fields of interest, has been constituted. This, we hope, will streamline the process of acceptance (and modification where needed) of papers. The method of production of the Journal, too, has been changed. We have moved from the traditional letterpress printing to the offset process, which is quicker and gives better results. Page composing will now be done in-house, using computer software that can be upgraded, costs permitting, as and when improved programme versions become available. With these changes, we have been able to reduce the number of pages (paper costs are rising sharply) without reducing the amount of text. This issue contains roughly the same material as do earlier issues. The need for conservation of wildlife and habitats has never been more urgent. Our members have been generous with their support; and with their continued help, we are sure the Society will continue to fight, on the basis of well-researched information, for conservation in India. J.C. Daniel Executive Editor JOURNAL OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY March 1989 Vol. 86 No. 1 THE BOSTAMI TURTLE, TRIONYX NIGRICANS ANDERSON: POPULATION STATUS, DISTRIBUTION, HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND LENGTH-WEIGHT RELATIONSHIP1 Md. Farid Ahsan2 and Md. Abu Saeed3 A study was conducted on the population status, distribution, historical background and length-weight relationship of Bostami turtle, Trionyx nigricans Anderson, between September 1984 and August 1986. Total population has been estimated as 320 individuals. A significant length-weight relationship was obtained (P 0.001 ), where the values of ‘r’ were 0.959 for CL/CW, 0.921 for CL/TW and 0.965 for CW/TW. Introduction The freshwater turtle, Trionyx nigricans is endemic to Bangladesh (Khan 1982a). Ander- son (1875) first identified T. nigricans from a couple of specimens at the Indian museum which were collected from a “Tank of Chitta- gong.” Annandale (1914) gave a common name “Chittagong mud turtle” to this taxon. Howe- ver, Khan (1980) suggested a new name, Bos- tami turtle, as “this turtle does not have a com- mon English name and is not found anywhere other than in the Bayazid Bostami Pond.” In 'Accepted October 1987. Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Scientific Officer, Prawn Hatchery and Research Centre, Allah- Wala Limited, Majerghat, Cox, Bazar, Bangladesh. 4Locally pronounced Bostami. the present work Khan’s name has been follo- wed, though sometimes it is locally called ’Ga- zari’ or ’Madari.’ In Bangladesh, scientific study of this turtle has so far been very limited. Ahamed (1955), Shafi and Quddus (1977), and Husain (1979) reported some preliminary information regar- ding turtles and tortoises of Bangladesh, but none of them mentioned the Bostami turtle. Since Annandale (1914), Khan’s works (1980, 1982a, b and 1987) have been the only studies on the Bostami turtle. Recently, Haque (1985), and Ahsan and Haque (1986) studied the bree- ding ecology and ethology of the Bostami tur- tle. Apparently the species has never existed in the wild state, but a semi-captive colony has become established in an enclosed pond of the shrine of Hazrat Sultan Bayazid Bistami4 of Chittagong. The shrine is about 6.5 km north- 2 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 west of Chittagong City. The objectives of the present study were: I. to assess the distribution and present status; II. to determine the age- composition and sex-ratio; III. to trace out the historical background, and IV. to find out the length-weight relationship of Bostami turtle. Study Area The shrine of the famous saint Hazrat Sultan Bayazid Bistami is situated on a hillock at Na- sirabad, an industrial area of Chittagong City. Formerly, it was an idyllic spot of scenic beau- ty about 6.5 km to the north-west of Chittagong City. It lies at c. 22° IF N and 99° 09’ E. The Bostami pond is situated at the foot of a hill about 50 metres in height, the top of which has the ’astana’ and ’chilla’ of the shrine of Hazrat Sultan Bayazid Bistami. The pond has been excavated and expanded many times. Curren- tly it is about 94.64 m by 61 .27 m and rectan- gular in shape. The water depth of the pond fluctuates in different seasons. During the monsoon, it may rise upto about 5 m or so which goes down to about 2.5 m before the onset of the next mon- soon. The source of water in the pond is mainly rainfall. The water in the pond is more or less clear except during the monsoon. The concrete area wall surrounding the pond supports mainly algae, mosses and some plants like ferns, grasses, etc. The following trees are mainly found on the bank: Kanthal ( Artocarpus heterophyllus ), Dab ( Cocos nuci- fera ), Aam (Mangifera indica) and Jam ( Syzy - gium cumini). The study period extended between Sep- tember 1984 and August 1986. Methods Census technique: The population status was determined by directly counting the turtles following capture, mark and release method (modified from Joly 1965 and Plummer 1977). Both the ’Dargah’ pond and adjacent ditches were included in the study. The turtles have been categorised into adult males, adult fe- males, and young. Young were identified by their comparatively smaller size. Generally, adult males are larger than the adult females. The male and female were distinguished except in a few cases by the following characters. 1) The tail of the female is shorter than that of male, and does not protrude outside the carapace. 2) The carapace of the female is less oval than that of the male. 3) The body of the female is thicker than that of the male. 4) The distance between the two hind legs of the female is greater than that in the male. 5) Adult males are much larger than females. For counting, individual turtles were mar- ked with a water- proof “Epoxy paint” after cleaning and drying an area of the carapace. Historical background: The history of the turtles was traced by searching through litera- ture, interviewing the local people and through discussions with the historians of the Univer- sity of Chittagong. Length- weight relationship: A total of 100 (54 males and 46 females) specimens were ran- domly selected and measured for this purpose. Measurements of length, width and weight were taken to the nearest cm and kg respecti- vely. The following measurements were taken for each specimen. a) Carapace-length : Carapace length was measured from the point of dorsal anterior- most edge of the carapace to the point of dorsal posterior-most edge of the same. The measurement invariably corresponded to the vertical line. b) Carapace-width : Carapace-width was mea- sured from the points between both the dor- sal side edges of the carapace where the width was highest. The measurement point invariably corresponded to about anterior one- third of the carapace length. c) Total wet-weight : Each live specimen was lifted out of water and placed inside a gunny bag and then weighed with the help of a spring balance. The actual weight of each specimen was determined by deducting the weight of the gunny bag from the total wet- weight. THE BOSTAMI TURTLE , T. NIGRICANS 3 Results and Discussion Population status: In all, 284 turtles were counted in the Bostami pond and 16 in a separa- te ditch. The counting was spread over a period of five continuous days. As the turtles spend some time lying buried under mud, it might be possible that a few individuals were missed. However, it is suggested that not more than 320 were available at that time. Of the counted turtles, 162 (54%), 108 (36%) and 30(10%) were male, female and young respectively. The ratio of adult male-female was 1.5:1. Khan estimated 150 to 200 turtles in 1980 and 200 in 1982a in the Bostami pond of which 30-40 were young, 60-90 juveniles, and 60-70 adult or old animals. However, his estimates were merely assumptions. The East Pakistan, District Gazetteers, Chittagong, Rizv 1970, re- ported several hundred turtles in the Bostami pond while Ali ( 1 964) reported the pond as a big tank containing a huge number of turtles. Plummer (1977) recorded the sex-ratio of T. muticus as 6.8:1 adult male and female and 1.98: 1 all male and female (60 mm or larger in size) which varied seasonally. In the present study the adult male-female sex-ratio of T. ni- gricans was 1.5:1. This variation might be due to habitat and geographical distribution of the species. T. muticus was studied in a river while T. nigricans is from a pond. Distribution: T. nigricans is an endemic spe- cies of Bangladesh (Khan 1982a). Khan (1980, 1982 a & b) and Annandale (1914) reported that T. nigricans was found only in a pond attached to the shrine of Bayazid Bostami. We found that besides the Bostami pond the turtles are also present in the adjacent ditches which they have possibly invaded from the Bostami pond. The turtles in the ditches were mostly females. The females wandered out for egg-laying and could not return to the pond due to many rea- sons. Probably the female turtles got into the nearest water body after egg-laying, and then lost their way and ultimately become separated from the original stock by some barriers like boundary walls, buildings etc. Historical background: The Bostami turtle is not only an endemic species in Bangladesh, it is restricted, as far as is known, to the Bostami area of Chittagong City. There exists a strong religious belief about these turtles and their attachment to the shrine of Saint Bayazid Bis- tami. These two things interested us enough to trace out its historical background. The Bos- tami turtle has been named so, after the saint Sultan al-Arefm Hazrat Bayazid Bistami. Almost no information on the historical background of T. nigricans is on record. There is a tale that these turtles were brought into the Bostami pond by the Saint himself. Locally, it is also believed that these turtles were once sinful men associated with the Saint who chan- ged them into turtles as a punishment for their wickedness. There is another belief that these turtles were scared and ’djinns’ (evil spirits) brought by the Saint himself. They were turned into the present shape because they incurred the wrath of the Saint. However, the general belief is that the fa- mous Iranian Sufi, Sultan al-Arefm Hazrat Bayazid Bistami is buried in this shrine, and so, the whole area has been named Bayazid Bos- tami and the road in front is called Bayazid Bostami Road after him. The influence of the shrine ’dargah’ or ’mazar’ in the minds of the local people may be gauged from this. Sultan Bayazid Bistami is a historical figure. He was born in 777 A.D. at Bistam in Iran and died in 874 A.D. (Ali 1964). His mazar is actually situa- ted in Bistam (Arberry 1963). So, there is no ’mazar’ of the Saint in the shrine. It is an ’as- tana’ and ’chilla’ associated with the name of the great Saint. In the 15th century there was a king in Bengal named Shihab al-din Bayazid Shah. Possibly it is his grave and his name might have been modified as Sultan Bayazid Bistami by some followers. However, it is known that Bayazid Bistami once came to sind to meet his teacher Abu Ali Sindhi and then he might have visited Chittagong (Huda 1985). If so, he might have carried the turtles with him here. So, the species might be present in Iran, Sind or other places from where he collected it. But there is no record of these turtles except from Chittagong (Bayazid Bostami area). This turtle ( T . nigricans ) may be a synonym of an other species of the genus Trionyx or may be a sub-species or variety of a species of Trionyx. There is an assumption (Khan 1987) that the 4 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Bostami turtle has evolved from Trionyx gan- geticus as a result of long isolation. Length-weight relationship: In general, kno- wledge about the length-weight relationship is very useful in fisheries management and po- pulation analysis. A size frequency distribution data of 100 specimens are given in Table 1. The minimum and maximum values respectively were 39 cm and 78 cm. in case of carapace-length (CL)* 33 cm and 71 cm in case of carapace-width (CW) and 07 kg and 54 kg in case of total body wet- weight (TW) (Appendix). The mean of CL was 62 ± 10.16 cm, of CW was 53.27 ± 9.27 cm and of TW was 28.92 ± 12.71 kg. Mathematical relationships between cara- pace-length, carapace- width and total wet bo- dy-weight were determined from the data given in Table 1 . The regression values were calcula- ted (Table 2). From the correlation co-efficient values (Ta- ble 2) and scattered diagrams (Figs. 1 to 3) a highly significant linear relationship became evident between CL and CW, CL and TW, and CW and TW. Size frequency distribution (Table 1) sho- wed that the males are generally larger than the females. The male population showed that 64- 78 cm length group size was dominant and in case of the female 39-53 cm length group size was dominant. During the present study it has been found that turtles of the same length widely differed in total body wet- weight. For instance, five specimens with a carapace length of 73 cm had 17, 45, 38, 37 and 42 kg body wet- weight (Ap- pendix). Acknowledgements We are thankful to Mr. Muhammad Shah Table 1 RELATIONSHIP OF CARAPACE-LENGTH AND TOTAL BODY-WET-WEIGHT (FOR OBSERVED AND CALCULATED WEIGHT) IN 8 SIZE GROUPS IN T. nigricans (NO. OF MALE = 44, NO. OF FEMALE = 56) Size Sex Mean carapace Mean Total body group M-Male length (CL) wet-weight (TW) in cm F-Female in cm in kg C-combined *(TW) **(TW) 39-43 M F-5 41.6 8.4 8.4 C 44-48 M F-7 46.43 11.57 11.56 C 49-53 M F-14 49.86 14.28 14.26 C 54-58 M-3 57.67 19.67 19.67 F-6 54.83 18 17.99 C-9 55.78 18.55 18.54 59-63 M-6 62.25 30.25 30.24 F-2 60 23.5 23.5 C-8 61.5 28 28 64-68 M-18 66.28 34 34 F-6 66 33.33 33.31 C-24 66.21 33.5 33.4 69-73 M-26 70.88 39.27 39.27 F-3 70.33 39 39 C-29 70.83 39.24 39.23 74-78 M-5 76.2 48.4 48.3 F-l 74 50 49.99 C-6 75.83 48.67 48.67 *TW — observed value, **TW — Calculated value. THE BOSTAMI TURTLE, T. NIGRICANS 5 Table 2 CALCULATED VALUES OF STANDARD DEVIATION, REGRESSION CO-EFFICIENTS, INTERCEPT AND CORRELA- TION CO-EFFICIENT IN THE CL/CW, CL/TW AND CW/TW RELATIONSHIP IN BOSTAMI TURTLE T. nigricans Relationship between Values of sd (x) Values of sd (y) Values of reg- ression Values of inte- rcept (a) Values of correlat- ion co- Ordi. (x) Abscl. (y) co-effi- cient (b) efficient (r) CL cw ± 9.27 ± 10.16 0.87472 — 1.00264 0.959 (P< 0.001) CL TW ± 12.71 ± 10.16 1.15279 — 42.55298 0.921 (P< 0.001) cw TW ± 12.71 ± 9.27 1.323310 — 41.508613 0.965 (P< 0.001) Alam, Chairman, Department of Zoology, University of Chittagong for all possible de- partmental facilities. We wish to express our heartfelt regards to Dr. Md. Ali Reza Khan, Curator, Al-Ain Zoo & Aquarium, Abu-Dhabi, UAE for his kind advice, inspiration and encouragement in doing this research work. We are highly grateful to the authorities of Refer Ahamed, N. (1955): On edible turtles and tortoises of East Pakistan. Directorate of Fisheries, East Pakistan. 18 pp. Ahsan, M.F. & Haque, M.N. (1986): Breeding ecology , and etho- logy of Bostami turtle, Trionyx nigricans Ander- son, 1875. 5th Nat. Zool. Conf.: 31 (Abstract). All S. M. (1964): History of Chittagong. Standard Pu- blishers Ltd., Dacca- 1. V +178 pp +xxxvnpp. Anderson, J. (1875): Description of some new Asiatic mammals and Chelonia. Ann. and Mag. N. Hist. 16 (4): 282-285. Annandale, N. (1914): Relics of the worship of mud- turtles (Trionychidae) in India and Burma. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal. 10(5): 131-134. Arberry, A.J. (1963): Sufi-ism-an account of the Mys- tics of Islam. George Allen and Unwin, London. 141 pp. Haque, M.N. (1985): Breeding ecology and ethology tf Bostami turtle. Trionyx nigricans Anderson, 1875. M.Sc. Project, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. 41 pp. Huda, S.M. (1985): The saints and shrines of Chitta- gong. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh 275 + ix pp. the Bayazid Bostami Dargah Committee for permission and help in doing this work. Our deepest appreciation is extended to Md. Nurul Haque, Md. Jamal Uddin and Aru bindo Paul for their helpful co-operation. Finally our sincerest thanks to Dr. Abdul Gafur Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Chittagong for revie- wing the draft of the paper. E N C E S Husain, K.Z. (1979): Bangladesher bonyajontu swam- pad O tar Songrakhshan. (Bengali). Bangladesh Academy Bijnan Patrika. 5(3): 29-31. Jolly, G. M. (1965):Explicit estimates from capture recapture data with both death and immigration - stochas- tic model. Biometrika 52 : 225-247 (im Plummer, 1977). Khan, M. A .R. (1980): A’holy' turtle of Bangladesh Hornbill, 4:7-11. (1982a): Chelonians ofBangladesh and ther conservation. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 79(1) : 110-116. (1982b): Wild-life of Bangladesh - a checklist University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 173 pp. (1987): BangladesherBanyapranii. (Bengali) Bangla Academi, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 168 pp. Plummer, M.V. (1977):Activity, habitat and popula tion structure in the turtle. Trionyx muticus. Copeia. 3: 431-440. Rizv, S.N. ed. (1970): The East Pakistan District Ga- zetteers, Chittagong. East Pakistan Govt. Press, Dacca. Shafi, M. &Quddus, M. M. A. (1977): Bangladesher mothshya swampad. (Bengali). Bangla Academi Bijnan Potrika, 3(2): 14-36. 6 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Appendix CARAPACE-LENGTH, CARAPACE-WIDTH AND TOTAL WET-BODY WEIGHT OF 100 SPECIMENS OF T. nigricans SI. No. Carapace Carapace Total wet-body Sex SI. No. Carapace Carapace Total wet-body Sex length (CL) width (CW) Weight (TW) length (CL) width (CW) Weight (TW) in cm in cm in kg. in cm in cm in kg. L 65 58 47 M 51. 67 58 31 M 2. 75 63 47 M 52. 70 61 43 M 3. 54 48 18 F 53. 57 47 19 M 4. 64 53 27 M 54. 73 61 38 M 5. 49 42 12 F 55. 49 41 13 F 6. 73 64 17 M 56. 57 49 20 F 7. 67 56 31 M 57. 71 60 40 F 8. 49 42 14 F 58. 67 60 34 M 9. 73 63 36 M 59. 70 62 37 M 10. 49 45 16 F 60. 41 37 09 F 11. 72 64 54 M 61. 45 39 12 F 12. 50 42 14 F 62. 73 62 37 M 13. 68 57 35 M 63. 70 58 42 M 14. 44 34 09 F 64. 73 65 42 M 15. 73 71 45 F 65. 50 42 13 F 16. 69 57 31 M 66. 65 54 31 M 17. 68 64 40 F 67. 69 59 36 M 18. 70 60 38 M 68. 66 56 33 M 19. 68 61 36 F 69. 67 56 34 M 20. 67 58 35 F 70. 61 50 25 M 21. 71 64 41 M 71. 47 41 15 F 22. 68 57 35 M 72. 58 47 22 M 23. 74 68 50 F 73. 43 39 09 F 24. 71 61 43 M 74. 71 60 38 M 25. 55 43 15 F 75. 78 62 49 M 26. 64 60 34 F 76. 70 62 42 M 27. 48 42 13 F 77. 68 57 33 M 28. 63 58 33 M 78. 76 66 46 M 29. 70 60 34 M 79. 47 42 09 F 30. 66 53 31 M 80. 50 45 16 F 31. 77 63 49 M 81. 71 61 40 M 32. 63 51 29 M 82. 49 39 14 F 33. 71 64 46 F 83. 49 41 13 F 34. 46 40 12 F 84. 52 47 15 F 35. 75 65 51 M 85. 70 60 39 M 36. 65 53 22 M 86. 71 60 40 M 37. 65 56 36 M 87. 49 42 16 F 38. 70 61 47 M 88. 69 61 37 M 39. 55 49 21 F 89. 72 61 41 M 40. 68 64 43 M 90. 54 47 16 F 41. 50 42 15 F 91. 67 56 32 M 42. 64 56 31 M 92. 69 59 35 M 43. 64 53 27 F 93. 53 44 16 F 44. 65 50 32 F 94. 50 42 13 F 45. 54 45 18 F 95. 62 56 34 M 46. 43 35 08 F 96. 42 35 09 F 47. 66 58 34 M 97. 58 49 18 M 48. 70 61 36 M 98. 60 50 23 F 49. 48 40 11 F 99. 60 49 24 F 50. 69 63 43 M 100. 39 33 07 F 7 NOTES ON THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA AS LISTED IN S. D, RIPLEY (1982) “A SYNOPSIS OF THE BIRDS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN, TOGETHER WITH THOSE OF NEPAL, BHUTAN, BANGLADESH AND SRI LANKA. Thilo W. Hoffmann* 2 These notes refer to omissions, inaccuracies and changes relating to the status and distribu- tion of some birds in Sri Lanka as given not only in Ripley’s synopsis, but also in the 10 volume HANDBOOK OF THE BIRDS OF INDIA AND PA- KISTAN by Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley (1968- 74; also 2nd Edition Vols. 1 - 5). The list of amendments is quite appreciable. In 1981, when I first had occasion to look through Vol. 2 of the 2nd Edition of the handbook, I wrote to Dr Salim Ali and the contents of that letter were subsequently published in the JBNHS (Hoffmann 1983). That note only dealt with some waders, whereas the present paper has taken account of the full range of species of birds which are found in Sri Lanka. Charac- teristically, waterbirds, especially waders, provide by far the greatest number of new re- cords and new information about distribution and status. I have edited the Ceylon Bird Club Notes (CBCN) since 1971, and it is chiefly on the basis of these monthly Notes that the present paper was written, though much of the infor- mation is founded on my own observations. The monthly Ceylon Bird Club Notes (50-70 foolscap pages of stenciled material per annum since 1944) are mailed to the Bombay Natural History Society, and Dr. Dillon Ripley is a subscriber. It is suggested that more attention be paid to these Notes which come with an annual Species Index. In. the following text, the numbers given against each species are identical with those in the Synopsis and the Handbook. The relevant statement in the Synopsis is quoted within in- verted commas. 7. Whitefronted Shearwater ( Procellaria leucomelaena). “Accidental. A single specimen was obtained off Sri Lanka in 1884”. 'Accepted June 1987. 229, Baur’s Building, Colombo 1, Sri Lanka. A sight record off Talaimannar in Sep- tember 1978 (van den Berg 1982). 13a. Jouanin’s Gadfly Petrel (Bulweria fallax). “May occur in Indian waters” Sri Lanka not mentioned. One was collected at Colombo in January 1978 (Kotagama 1980). New record. 14. Wilson’s Storm Petrel ( Oceanites oceanic us oceanic us). “....Sri Lanka, where it is apparently common in summer (May-No vember, Gulf of Mannar)”. Considerable numbers of this petrel accompany the annual north-south post-breeding mass dispersal of Brown-winged Terns ( Sterna anaethe- tus) along the west coast of Sri Lanka, first discovered and described by me in September 1972 (CBCN 1972: 42, 1982: 55-57, see also van den Berg 1982). 25. Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster plot us). “... recorded off the Malabar and Sri Lanka coasts in the north-east mon- soon”. A straggler to the Sri Lanka coasts; seen in Colombo in February- April, also east coast and as part of the an- nual post-breeding dispersal of Brown-winged Terns in August- September. 50. Indian Reef Heron (Egretta gularis schistacea). “The seaboard of ...northwestern Sri Lanka”. The Reef Heron has in recent years been seen on all coasts of Sri Lanka, in Colombo, Bentota, the Hambantota area in the south and the east coast. 8 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 59. Bittern ( Botaurus stellaris). Sri Lanka not mentioned. A specimen now in the Colombo Museum, was ob- tained at Panadura on the west coast on 14.10.1985 (CBCN 1985: 49). A probable sight record in March 1987 at Deniyaya. New record. 63. White Stork ( Ciconia ciconia). Sri Lanka not mentioned. Rare winter vagrant to Sri Lanka. Noted already in last century (Legge) but several relia- ble sight records in last 25 years in different parts of the low country, mostly in the south (CBCN). 66. Blacknecked Stork ( Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus ). “Resident ... Sri Lanka”. This bird has become very rare in Sri Lanka, only a few breeding pairs being known from the Yala National Park complex; the nest has never been found. An endangered species in Sri Lanka. 68. Lesser Adjutant ( Leptoptilos java- nicus ). “Resident ... Sri Lanka”. Declining to the extent of becoming endangered due to loss of undisturbed breeding sites. 7 1 . Glossy Ibis ( Plegadis falcinellus falci- nellus). “A migrant to Sri Lanka”. A breeding resident in the last century, both in the North and South. Then it disappeared and was not seen for many years. In the last 3 decades the species has been observed in increa- sing numbers throughout the year and may actually again be breeding in the Kalametiya Sanctuafy (south coast near Tangalle). 73. Flamingo ( Phoenicopterus roseus ) “Resident ... Sri Lanka”. Formerly mainly a winter visitor in varying but sometimes large numbers from the Rann of Kachchh. Of late recorded throughout the year but not known to breed in Sri Lanka. Suitable feeding sites more and more subject to disturbance and conversion into sal- terns or aquaculture projects (e.g. Karagan Lewaya at Hambantota, sal- terns at Elephant Pass). 103. Wigeon ( Anas penelope). “Sparse and irregular in Sri Lanka”. Till 1980 only 4 records, then in No- vember several hundred were seen in the Jaffna Peninsula (CBCN 1980: 56). Over 10,000 were recorded in the Jaf- fna Peninsula during the 1983 mid- winter waterfowl count. In 1984 there were over 12,000 in Jaffna and 6,000 in the Mannar area. It would appear that large numbers of this duck now re- gularly visit the North of Sri Lanka during the winter; very few, however, penetrate to the south of the country, in contrast to Pintail and Garganey. 111. Tufted Duck {Ay thy a fuligula). “Migrant to Sri Lanka (one record)” There are two records, the second from Giant’s Tank near Mannar in 1962 (Phillips 1978). 126. Blyth’s Baza ( Aviceda jerdoni ); in Sri Lanka called Legge’ s or Ceylon Brown Baza. “In evergreen biotope up to c.900 m”. Most recent sightings of this raptor were in well shaded tea areas, where the bird also breeds, and montane forest at altitudes between 1800 and 1900 m (Nuwara Eliya). 133. Pariah Kite {Milvus migrans govinda). “Resident throughout the subconti- nent and Sri Lanka”. In Sri Lanka this species is confined to the coastal areas of the north of the island (Mannar, Jaffna) and very rare- ly is a straggler reported from other coastal points. Most birds seem to be winter migrants from South India. NOTES ON SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA 9 151. Besra Sparrow-Hawk ( Accipiter virga- tus besra). “In heavy evergreen and moist- deciduous forest”. In Sri Lanka this species is also found in the Dry Zone monsoon forest (dry deciduous forest). 153. Longlegged Buzzard ( Buteo rufinus). Sri Lanka not mentioned. A first-year bird of this species was closely obser- ved in January 1988 at Horton Plains (2100 m) by Ben King with James and Robert Clements. A new record. 161. Crested Hawk-Eagle ( Spizaetus cir- rhatus andamanensis). “In deciduous and semi-evergreen forest”. This species is found in Sri Lanka in all climatic zones .which include heavy evergreen forests in the Wet and Hill Zones. 187. Egyptian Vulture ( Neophron percnop- terus ginginianus). “Straggler to Sri Lanka”. A single reliable record in 1874 (Phil- lips 1978). Not seen since. 211. Shahin Falcon ( Falco peregrinus pere- grinator). “Resident ... Sri Lanka. Affects rug- ged hills”. This handsome and quite rare race of the Peregrine Falcon has of late also taken to towns; for instance indivi- duals can be observed in Colombo for months on end. Whether it also breeds in towns is not known. 242. Painted Partridge ( Francolinus pictus watsoni). “Resident. Sri Lanka in the dry zone of Uva Province, up to c. 1200 m”. This endemic subspecies has become very rare, as natural habitats in its for- mer stronghold, the rolling grass hills (patnas) of the Uva Plateau (average elevation 1000 m), have all but disap- peared since the war, due to heavy settlement and intensive vegetable cultivation on even the steepest slo- pes. Still found in the small Gal Oya National Park and west of it in the eastern foothills. An endangered spe- cies. 246. Grey Partridge ( Francolinus pondi- cerianus pondicerianus) . “Sri Lanka in the Jaffna Peninsula and northwestern coastal islands”. This partridge has extended its range southward along the west coast as far as about Chilaw, and in the east is found as far as Mullaitivu. Like many birds (e.g. ducks and waders) and other wildlife, this species profits from the ethnic trouble which currently pla- gues Sri Lanka and virtually precludes hunting. 279. Ceylon Spurfowl (Gallop erdix bical- carata). “Resident. Sri Lanka, in the Eastern and Uva Provinces”. This endemic species is found throu- ghout the Wet Zone in the west and south of the island wherever there is any tall forest left (e.g. Labugama near Colombo, Sinharaja, etc.), right up to the highest hills (e.g. Horton Plains, 2100 m); it is also found in undisturbed forest in the eastern foothills. 350. Coot (Fulica atra atra ). “Resident and winter visitor, throu- ghout the subcontinent and Sri Lanka”. In Sri Lanka this waterbird was first noted in 1924 and has since then been confined to the Giant’s Tank area near Mannar. In recent years it has, howe- ver, spread to tanks (reservoirs) in the Anuradhapura area, and recently one was seen in the extreme south. Bree- ding not known to occur but several pairs with young have been observed on a tank near Thirukethiswaram 10 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Temple (Mannar District) in May and July 1984, as well as in June 1985. Thus this species is now a scarce breeding resident in Sri Lanka. 370. Yellow- wattled Lapwing ( Vanellus malabaricus). “Sri' Lanka in the low-country dry zone” This species is not generally found in the dry zone, but very localized in de- fined coastal areas (e.g. Yala National Park, Pomparippu plain in Wilpattu National Park, open plains in the Man- nar area). 376. Caspian Plover (Charadrius asiaticas asiaticus ). “Migrant. Recorded from the coast of Bombay, Sri Lanka and Maidive Is.”. Until recently there were only two re- cords of this bird in Sri Lanka (Phillips 1978), but in 1985 several were seen in Yala National Park and the Bundala Sanctuary. 6 fcirds were observed in the Bundala Sanctuary in 1986/87. In winter plumage this species is difficult to identify and is easily mistaken for the Lesser Sand Plover ( Charadrius mongolus atrifrons ), a common winter visitor, and may thus be overlooked. 378. Ringed Plover ( Charadrius hiaticula tundrae). “Winter visitor or straggler. Only a half-dozen records”. Sri Lanka not mentioned. Like other rare waders, this bird has been recor- ded more frequently in the recent past. Phillips (1978) mentions several sight records, the first in 1944, the second in 1973. At least 4 were reliably reported between January and April 1987, ^4 in 1986, 7 in 1985 and 4 in 1983. Obvious- ly individuals of this species are also overlooked. 389. Blacktailed Godwit ( Limosa limosa li- mosa). “Winter visitor to Pakistan and north- western India... decreasing south- wards to the southern peninsula and Sri Lanka”. Considered a migrant to Sri Lanka till after the war. Numbers of regular win- tering birds have increased so much in recent years that it must now be regar- ded as a common and plentiful winter visitor to the coastal regions of the Dry Zone both in the North and South; roosts of up to 5000 have been obser- ved. Today this bird can be seen in winter at every suitable coastal loca- tion; non-breeding birds loiter throu- ghout the summer. 403 . Asian Dowitcher ( Limnodromus semi- palmatus). Sri Lanka not mentioned. In July 1982 one was seen at Hambantota (CBCN 1982: 28b). A new record. 411. Woodcock ( Scolopax rusticola rusti- cola ). “Scarce in Sri Lanka above c. 1500 m”. Recently (December 1986) one was obtained in a coastal garden at Colombo (CBCN 1986: 56) and ano- ther was seen in March 1987 in a marsh near Colombo (CBCN 1987: 27). 412. Knot ( Calidris canutus canutus). “Straggler : Sri Lanka”. Not as rare as previously thought. In recent years a few are recorded an- nually, especially from the area around Mannar but also the south (CBCN). 413. Eastern (or Great) Knot ( Calidris te- nuirostris). “Isolated records from Assam, Cal- cutta and Madras”. Sri Lanka not mentioned. First sight record of 4 birds by Ben King in March 1981 at Mannar (CBCN 1981: 24). Se- veral in 1983, also at Mannar (CBCN 1983: 38). A new record. NOTES ON SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA 11 423. Spoonbilled Sandpiper ( Eurynorhyn - chus pygmeus). “Straggler or very rare winter visitor to the coast of Bangladesh and West Bengal”. Sri Lanka not mentioned. In March 1978 Ben King recorded a specimen of this species in Bundala Sanctuary (CBCN 1978: 7, 20), and another one was seen in November at Bentota (CBCN 1978: 66) in a small flock of Sanderling, also in December 1979 at Bundala (CBCN 1979: 46). New re- cord. 425a. Buffbreasted Sandpiper ( Tryngites su- bruficollis). “Accidental. One specimen record, 5 August 1960 and a sight record, No- vember 1974 from Sri Lanka”. The specimen is from Kalametiya in the South, and the sight record was from Trincomalee. A further reliable sight record in January 1985 from the Bundala Sanctuary (CBCN 1985:2). 427. Rednecked Phalarope (Phalaropus lo- batus). “One record from Sri Lanka. Pelagic, ...., on passage, ponds and shallow jheels”. In recent years this species has been regularly noted during winter, espe- cially in the Bundala Sanctuary. The birds (sometimes as many as 5 or 6 together in small flocks) stay in the same area throughout. 432. Avocet ( Recurvirostra avosetta). “Straggler to Sri Lanka”. Has become a regular winter visitor in small numbers not only in the North around Mannar, but also in the South (e.g. Bundala Sanctuary). 434. Crab Plover ( Dromas ardeola) “Winter visitor to the coasts of Sri Lanka”. Phillips, in his 1978 Checklist, records it as a scarce breeding resident and states: “Undoubtedly breeds in Cey- lon about end of May or earlier, but the eggs have not yet been found”. The writer saw a flock of 35 including 6 sub-adults in March 1978 at Devil’s Point between Mannar and Jaffna. Mostly observed in the north of Sri Lanka, i.e. Adam’s Bridge area, Man- nar and north-west coast, but occasio- nally also in the south. 440. Indian Courser ( Cursorius coroman- delicus). “Sri Lanka in the low-country dry zone” Mostly confined to the arid area around Mannar and coastal islands to the north (e.g. Delft) where its biotope is found. 447. Pomatorhine Skua ( Stercorarius po- marinus). “Straggler to Sri Lanka (one record)”. There have been a number of sight records of this species in recent years since I discovered in 1972 that these pelagic kleptoparasites accompany the annual post-breeding dispersal of Brown-winged Terns ( Sterna anae - thetus) along the west coast of Sri Lanka, which usually takes place in August or September (CBCN 1972: 42 et subseq.). 455. Blackheaded Gull (Lams ridibundus ridibundus). “A sight record from Sri Lanka, No- vember 1974”. Further sight records in December 1976 (Phillips 1978), 1981 February 6 at Talaimannar (CBCN 1981: 17), in March 1978 at Yala National Park (CBCN 1978: 13). 456. Slenderbilled Gull (Larus genei). Sri Lanka not mentioned. A single bird was seen a few miles out of Talaiman- nar on the ferry crossing in September 1978 (van den Berg 1982, CBCN 1978: 50, 59a, and 1982: 7). A new record. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 465. Common Tern {Sterna hirundo tibe- tana). “Winter visitor to the subcontinent . . . and, irregularly, Sri Lanka”. In recent years (last decade or so ) this species has been observed every win- ter along the coast of Colombo, every winter, and also in the South. In 1980 1 discovered a breeding colony on a small bare island of coral debris off the east coast (documented by photo- graphs of birds, nests and eggs, and measurements of eggs) (CBCN 1980: 27-29, 31-32, 39-40, 43). This is the first record of the breeding of this species in the Eurasian tropics, the nearest known sites being at the northern end of the Persian Gulf and high-altitude lakes in Tibet. May now be considered a common and regular winter visitor, probably a summer loiterer and possi- bly a breeding resident. The race of the breeding terns has not been determi- ned, but could possibly be S. h. hi- rundo. 466. Roseate Tern {Sterna dougallii korustes). “Breeds on islets off the coast of ... Sri Lanka”. This species is not present in Sri Lanka during the winter months (ex- cept for possible loiterers not noted so far), and migrates to Sri Lanka for bre- eding in April/May/June. 474. Sooty Tern {Sterna fuscata nubilosa). Sri Lanka not mentioned. Occasional straggler to all coasts, and stormblown even far inland high in the hills. Some also form part of the annual mass mi- gration along the west coast of Brown- winged Terns first reported by me in 1972, and regularly observed since. 479. Lesser Crested Tern {Sterna b eng ale n- sis bengalensis). “Occurs commonly along the sea- board of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka ... practically throughout the year. Keeps to offshore waters”. Regularly seen in winter on rocks off the seashore at Colombo (and else- where), together with other species of terns, December to March, when it disappears after moulting into summer plumage. 480. Sandwich Tern {Sterna sandvicensis sandvicensis). Sri Lanka not mentioned. Evidence of this species in Sri Lanka was first ob- tained in 1977 (CBCN 1978: 50). Since then single birds have been noted in winter almost every year till 1986 when 6 birds spent 2 months together with other ferns on rocks on the coast at Colombo, and 3 in 1987 (from mid- January to beginning of April). This tern may now be considered a regular winter visitor (from the Caspian Sea) in small numbers; most seem first-year birds. 482. Whitecapped Noddy {Anous tenuiros- tris). Sri Lanka not mentioned. There are 3 specimens from Sri Lanka in the Colombo Museum. A new record. 505. Ceylon Yellow-legged Green Pigeon {Treron phoenicoptera phillipsi). “Resident. Sri Lanka in the low- country dry zone”. Very restricted and localized, mostly known from around Bibile and Nil- gala, west of Gal Oya National Park in the eastern foothills. 578. Cuckoo {Cuculus canorus canorus). “The 2 records from Sri Lanka are from October (one) and undated (one)”. Actually there are 6 records, all during the winter period, the last two in De- cember in the south of the island (Phil- lips 1978). NOTES ON SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA 13 599. Red-faced Malkoha ( Phaenicophaeus pyrrho cephalus) . “Resident. Southern Kerala, southern Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka”. This species is considered endemic to Sri Lanka. There are 2 south Indian sight records, one from Kerala, the other from Tamil Nadu. Until a speci- men is obtained from India, Sri Lan- kan ornithologists including the late W. W. A. Phillips, prefer to retain the endemic status of this endangered spe- cies. 604. Ceylon Coucal (Centropus chlo- rorhynchus). “Resident. Sri Lanka, in humid forest of the SW country wet zone up to c. 750 m”. This endemic species is rare, very lo- cal and declining together with its ha- bitat. 606. Barn Owl (Tyto alba stertens). “Also Sri Lanka in the Jaffna and Ari- po districts” Recently several have been obtained in Colombo and one in Kurunegala (CBCN), probably as a result of the extensive demolition of old buildings. Obviously more widespread than thought earlier, but still rare and en- dangered. 638. Jungle Owlet ( Glaucidium radiatum castanonotum). “Sri Lanka in the low-country wet zone and hills up to c. 1900 m. In moist forest”. There is evidence that this endemic race, called the Chestnut-backed Owlet, is not confined to the wet zone with moist forest, but is found in the dry zone as well, e.g. recent records from Amparai, east coast, Wilpattu National Park, Yala National Park (CBCN 1987: 4). Some writers regard it as a separate species. 727. Threetoed Kingfisher ( Ceyx erithacus erithacus ). “Affects shady jungle streamlets in moist-deciduous and evergreen bio- tope”. In Sri Lanka now most often found in village gardens, especially coffee gro- ves very close to habitations even in thickly populated areas, e.g. the wider area of Ratnapura. Dashes across ro- ads only a foot or so above ground, resulting in casualties from motor traffic. 739. Blackcapped Kingfisher ( Halcyon pileata). “Resident . . . Occasional inland . . . and in Sri Lanka (a half-dozen records)”. This Kingfisher is an irregular winter visitor in small numbers to the coasts of Sri Lanka and has been observed more often in recent years. In some winters it is quite numerous (e.g. 1984/ 85), absent in others. 744. Chestnutheaded Bee-eater ( Merops leschenaulti). “Frequents the neighbourhood of stre- ams in mixed deciduous forest ... in Sri Lanka to 1200 m.”. In Sri Lanka often found in tea planta- tions up to 1400 m. and above. 760. Broadbilled Roller ( Eurystomus orien- talis irisi). “Resident, perhaps extinct, Sri Lanka in the southern half. Known only from a dozen records, the last in 1950”. I would be inclined to doubt the exis- tence of a Sri Lankan subspecies which is based mainly on a slight dif- ference in wing length in 6 South In- dian and 5 Sri Lankan specimens. In recent years the bird has been re- discovered in its real habitat, the wet evergreen forest of the south-western foothills, e.g. Sinharaja, Kitulgala, Gilimale, Hapugastenna, where it fa- vours open clearings with standing dead trees resulting from shifting culti- 2 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 vation. It is rare but certainly not ex- tinct. There have been many sight re- cords during the last decade. The re- cords referred to in the SYNOPSIS are mostly from an isolated population in riverine habitat in the eastern dry zone. 808. Little ScalybeIliedsGreen Woodpecker ( Picus myrmecophoneus) . “Resident ... Sri Lanka. In semi- evergreen, moist deciduous and sal forest, in plains and foothills up to 1700 m”. In Sri Lanka often frequents tea esta- tes with shade trees in the eastern hill zone; often descends to ground and cover of tea. Not in wet zone. 817. Small Yellownaped Woodpecker ( Pi- cus chlorolophus wellsi). “Resident. Sri Lanka in the low- country wet zone and foothills up to c. 1800 m”. Also found in well-shaded tea estates and forest in the Uva plateau (dry zone hills around 1000 m). 822. Ceylon Goldenbacked Woodpecker C Dinopium benghalense jaffnense). “Resident. The Jaffna Peninsula and northern Sri Lanka south to Trinco- malee, Kekirawa and Puttalam (inter- grading with psarodes)”. 823. Ceylon Redbacked Woodpecker ( Di- nopium benghalense psarodes “Resident. Sri Lanka from Puttalam, Kekirawa and Trincomalee south- wards, in low-country and hills up to 1700 m”. The area of overlap between these two endemic races has widened considera- bly and the boundaries are no longer as definite as the text indicates. Redbac- ked Woodpeckers have regularly been seen deep in Wilpattu, 30-50 miles fur- ther north, and the Goldenbacked has been observed as far south as Chilaw, with hybrids at either extreme. 859. Biackbacked Woodpecker ( Chryso - colaptes festivus t ant us). “Resident. The northern half of Sri Lanka and the Southern Province, in the low-country dry zone”. Very local in isolated coconut groves and stands of large trees. Declining. 872. Singing Bush Lark ( Mirafra javanica cantillans). “Resident ... and Sri Lanka”. This species is not known in Sri Lanka. 910. Collared Sand Martin {Rip aria rip aria , probably diluta but ijimae also possible). Sri Lanka not mentioned. First noted in January 1976 near Anuradhapura. Since then increasingly seen, especial- ly in the south around Hambantota. Must now be regarded as a regular winter visitor in small (but increasing ?) numbers (CBCN). A new record. 933. Grey Shrike {Lanius excubitor lah- tora). "... an unconfirmed sight record from Sri Lanka”. There have been several reliable sight records in recent years during the win- ter months, mostly from the northern half of the country, but also from Yala National Park, Horton Plains (2100 m) and Colombo (CBCN). Appears to ha- ve become a regular winter visitor to all zones. 947. Rufousbacked Shrike {Lanius sc hack caniceps). “Resident ... Sri Lanka in the Jaffna Peninsula”. The restricted range of this Shrike goes far beyond the Jaffna Peninsula and includes a coastal strip extending from about Chilaw through Mannar to Jaffna and the western offshore is- lands. Since 1966 it has also been re- gularly observed at Anuradhapura, well inland (CBCN). NOTES ON SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA 15 949. Brown Shrike ( Lanius cristatus cris- tatus). “In dry deciduous and semi-evergreen scrub”. In Sri Lanka this winter visitor may be seen in all parts of the country up to altitudes of over 2000 m and habitats which include tea estates, where it is common. 953. Golden Oriole ( Oriolus oriolus kundoo). “Winter visitor throughout the penin- sula ... also northern Sri Lanka”. This scarce winter visitor may be seen anywhere in the low-country of Sri Lanka, right down to the extreme south, at Colombo, Sigiriya, etc. (CBCN). 988. Greyheaded Myna ( Sturnus malabari- cus blythii). Sri Lanka not mentioned. First tenta- tive sight record June 1944 at Colombo (‘Loris’ III (5): 191). First definite sight record in Sri Lanka from Anura- dhapura in January 1984 (CBCN 1984: 1). Small flocks regularly seen there since then. Probably now breeding. Recently also seen at Kalametiya in the far south in the company of My- nas, Rosy Pastors and Brahminy My- nas (CBCN). A new record. 993. Ceylon Whiteheaded Starling ( Sturnus senex). “Affects tall forest edges and clea- rings”. This endemic species is mainly found in undisturbed, wet evergreen forest, in the upper canopy of tall trees (e.g. Sinharaja); it is most easily seen at the edges of such forest. 1 223 . Ceylon Rufousbellied ( White throated) Babbler ( Dumetia hyperythra phil- lipsi). “In scrub and high grassland”. In Sri Lanka also common in well sha- ded tea estates. 1407. Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa latiros- tris). “.... to c. 1500 m”. This winter visitor can be found up to 2000 m as also the next species, the Brownbreasted Flycatcher (M. muttui). 1505. Franklin’s Wren- Warbler (Prinia hodgsonii pectoralis). “... up to 900 m”. This Sri Lankan subspecies now as- cends the hills in the eastern aspects (Uva) to c. 1400 m. 1706. Isabelline Chat ( Oenanthe isabellina). “Straggling to . . . and Sri Lanka, recor- ded on passage Mannar 1970”. Two sight records in 1970 and 1976, both near Mannar (CBCN 1976: 12). It is now believed that both these sigh- tings were of the Pied Chat or Whea- tear (Oenanthe pleschanka ) No. 1715 (Ceylon Bird Club Rarities Com- mittee). 1710. Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti). Sri Lanka not mentioned. A reliable sight record in February from Yala in the extreme South (CBCN 1986: 22). A new record. 1838. Yelvetfronted Nuthatch (Sitta fron- talis frontalis). “... and Sri Lanka ... shade trees in coffee or cardamom plantations”. In Sri Lanka also common on .shade trees iirtea plantations and dense mon- tane forest. 1852. Indian Tree Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni hodgsoni). Sri Lanka not mentioned. In January 1982 Robert Fleming, Jr. reported a flock from Anuradhapura (CBCN 1982: 1). Sight record only. Two more sightings since then in Wilpattu Natio- nal Park (CBCN 1984: 17 and 1987: 30). A new record. 16 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 1885. White Wagtail ( Motacilla alba dukhu- nensis). "... occasional in Sri Lanka”. This bird has become a regular winter visitor in small numbers. There are sight re- cords from many parts of the low- country (CBCN). 1891. Large Pied Wagtail ( Motacilla ma- deraspatensis). “One old record from Sri Lanka”. There have been 3 additional, very re- liable sight records: Kandy (CBCN 1976: 77), Delft Island (CBCN) 1983: 4), Punkudutivu Island (CBCN 1984: 2). Refer Ali, S. & Ripley, S. Dillon (1968-74): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, together with those of Bangla- desh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, 10 Vols. (also Revised Edition Vols. 1 - 5). Oxford University Press, Bombay. Ceylon Bird Club Notes (CBCN) since 1944. Mon- thly cyclosty led notes (50-70 pages per annum) on observa- tions by members in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Bird Club, P. O. Box 11, Colombo. Fleming, Robert L. Jr. (1977): Comments on the En- demic Birds of Sri Lanka. Colombo. Hoffmann, T. W. (1983): Occurrence of certain wa- ders in Sri Lanka. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 79(3): 668. Hoffmann, T. W. (1984): National Red Data List of Endangered and Rare Birds of Sri Lanka. Colombo. (1985): The Status of the Broad-billed Roller in Sri Lanka. Loris XVII(l): 4. 1893. Ceylon Thickbilled Flowerpecker (Di- caeum agile zeylonense). “Resident in Sri Lanka, in the nor- thern forest tracts and in the hills to c. 1200 m”. This Sri Lankan subspecies is most plentiful in the eastern forest tracts (e.g. Gal Oya National Park, Amparai) and also the foothills of the central range in the dry and intermediate zone. Acknowledgement I thank D. P. Wijesinghe for reading the manus- cript and for his useful suggestions. :nces (1987): The Sandwich Tern ( Sterna sandvi- censis ) in Sri Lanka. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 84(2): 440-442. Kotagama, S. W. (1980): A further addition to the Seabirds of Sri Lanka. Loris XV(3): 171. Phillips, W. W. A. (1978): Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ceylon. Colombo. Van Den Berg, Arnoud B. et al. (1982): Mass Move- ment of Bridled Terns (Sterna anaethetus) and Wilson’s Petrels (Oceanites oceanicus) off Colombo, Sri Lanka. Ardea 70: 81. (1 82): First Record of Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei ) in Sri Lanka. Ardea 70: 82. (1982): First Sight-Record of White-faced Shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas ) in Sri Lanka. Ardea 70: 83. Wijesinghe, D.P. (1986): Ceylon Bird Club Rarities Committee Bulletin No. 1. Unpublished manuscript. 17 THE PITCHER PLANT (NEPENTHES KHASIANA HK.F.) SANCTUARY OF JAINTIA HILLS, MEGHALAYA: LESSONS FOR CONSERVATION1 W. A. Rodgers and Sangeeta Gupta2 ( With a text-figure) Details of the biology and distribution of the pitcher plant Nepenthes khasiana Hk. f. are described, and the conservation importance of the plant which is considered an endangered endemic is discussed. The initiative of the Jaintia Hills District Council in setting up a pitcher plant sanctuary at Jarain in 1974 is commended and the area and forest cover are briefly described. The sanctuary has declined in conservation status over the past decade and it is concluded that further inputs from State Government and Conservation Agencies will be required to maintain a viable level of protection. Introduction Meghalaya has long been known to have an extremely rich flora (e.g. Hooker 1896). Re- cently increasing concern has been expressed over problems of conserving this important but endangered resource. For example, seven pa- pers in a major symposium volume, “An As- sessment of Threatened Plants of India” (Jain & Rao 1983) deal with Meghalaya. In addition, three recent floras of Meghalaya (Bala Krish- nan 1981, Joseph 1982 and Haridasan & Rao 1985) all stress the increasing level of defores- tation which endangers the rare and endemic plant species of the region. Most authors men- tion a particular species, Nepenthes khasiana Hk. f. , the only Indian representative of a small family of insect-digesting pitcher plants, the Nepenthaceae, as an example of conservation needs. The pitcher plant as a focus of concern is attaining the same significance in botanical circles as the tiger has through “Project Tiger’, a major and successful ecosytem conservation project in India. Most authors discussing in-situ conserva- tion of plant resources in Meghalaya are bota- nists, and whilst their papers detail the pro- blems and the species involved, rarely do they discuss practical and definitive measures for conservation. For conservation to succeed, areas of land containing the species must be protected. All too rarely are we given details of “where” conservation should or could take place. 'Accepted May 1987. 2Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun - 248006 (India). Patterns of land ownership in Meghalaya do not help established methods of conservation in India, where selected forest reserves are upgraded to sanctuaries and parks. In Megha- laya only 3% of the land area is state controlled forest, the remaining forest, over 34% of the state, is controlled by the District Councils, local villages and clans and by private indivi- duals. True, the state can purchase such land, as was done in January 1986 when the 220 sq kms Balphakram National Parks was purcha- sed for over four crore rupees ; this is a long and expensive process. It is thus of interest to report on a conserva- tion measure taken by the initiative of a district council, which specifically protects a major population of the pitcher plant. The Pitcher Plant: The family Nepentha- ceae has two genera, Anurosperma of Seychel- les, and Nepenthes with 67 species in Mada- gascar, Sri Lanka, India, Burma, China, Malaysia, Indo China to North Australia. N. khasiana is the only representative in India, and is found only in Meghalaya state. N. khasiana is a perennial herb, which may become partially lignified, it inhabits boggy areas from 500-2000 m above sea level in the southern half of Meghalaya. Plants may climb on trees at forest edges to reach some 8 m in height, or may remain as herbs in grassland where they are frequently burnt by wild fires, but regenerate rapidly from the root stock. They prefer sunlight, and are rarely seen in dense shade. Its recorded distribution is shown in Fig. 1. 18 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 MAP OF INDIA SHOWING MEGHALAYA JARAIN ( 2 KM ) DAWKI SKETCH MAP OF PITCHER PLANT SANCTUARY JARAIN DIAGRAM SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF N. KHASIANA AND LOCATION OF THE PITCHER PLANT SANCTUARY. The Pitcher Plant Sanctuary: In 1974, the Jaintia Hills District Council declared some 2.45 ha of district council forest near Jarain to be a ’pitcher plant sanctuary’. This was proba- bly in response to the national mood of conser- vation prevailing at that time (pers. comm. Chief Forest Officer, Jaintia). The ’sanctuary’ which has been declared under District Coun- cil rules is not a Wildlife Sanctuary under the Indian Wildlife or Forest Acts; its precise legal status remains obscure, but can be a planning or management unit of the council forest re- serve, a unit which will not be permitted to be logged or exploited. There is another pitcher plant sanctuary, Baghamara Wildlife Sanctua- ry in Garo Hills, which is legally constituted under the Wildlife Act, but it is a very small in area, and has no permanent conservation input PITCHER PLANT SANCTUAR Y IN MEGHALA YA 19 and is of uncertain viability. The Jarain sanc- tuary is situated alongside the black top district road to Dawki, some 2 km south of Jarain (see Figs. 1 & 2). The area is a mosaic of frequently burnt and grazed grassland with patches of Quercus in subtropical wet hill forest [Cham- pion and Seth (1968) category, 8B/C2]. The forests of Jarain contain several other rare and endemic species, e.g. Arundinaria mannii. Da- phne shillongi, Pteracanthus nobilis, (Gupta and Rodgers, unpublished information). The sanctuary was fenced with multiple strand bar- bed wire, to demarcate the area and keep out cattle. A gate leads to a bricked raised path which winds through the forest and grassland. The area is elongated north to south and has a small patch of wet grassland on the eastern boundary, with several seepages along the forest edge. The present status indicates considerable deterioration since the time of its establish- ment in 1974. The fence is damaged in many places and cattle do enter both the grassland and the forest (no browse sign was seen on Nepenthes). All the grassland has been burnt, but this is typical of the region and may not harm the pitcher population. The brickwork was damaged and the signposts had gone. The- re were frequent signs of small timber, pole and firewood cutting in the forest. However, the first author counted over 100 pitcher plants in a two hour visit, and more were seen in neigh- bouring forest patches. As neither this sanctuary nor the forest type has previously been described in the literature, the opportunity is taken to do so briefly here, based on rapid field surveys in early February (W.A.R.) and June (S.G.) 1986 (A plant list is given in Appendix 1). 1) The grassland is dominated by Cymbopo- gon sp. up to 1.2 m, with Cy perns, Chryso- pogon, J uncus and Themeda spp. Lycopo- dium cernuum is common as is the colourful woody shrub Melastoma normale. Nepen- thes plants up to 0.7 m high, are scattered in this grassland. The area is on gentle slopes, with several boggy seepages. 2) The forest tree layer is to 10 m with a conti- nuous evergreen dense crowned canopy. No internal strata were recognizable. Lia- nes and epiphytic orchids were present but not common, epiphytic ferns were rare at the times of our visits. The canopy is spe- cies rich, and includes Castanopsis indie a, Engelhardtia spicata, Eugenia sp., Exbuc- klandia pOpulnea, Helicia erratica, Lindera spp., Litsaea salcifolia, Machilus odoratis- sima, Manglietia insignis, Quercus spicata (abundant), Q. griffithii, Schefflera hy- poleuca and Schima wallichii. Alseodaphne petiolaris and Myrica esculenta were com- mon on the forest edge. 3) The underwood and shrub layers have smal- ler individuals of canopy species plus Al- chornea sp., Ardisia undulata, Camellia drupifera, Cinnamomum spp., Eurya spp., Goniothalamus sesquipedalis, Mahonia pycnophylla, Randia spinosa and Symplo- cos spp. Tangles of Rubus, Smilax and Em- belia are common. Shrub cover is variable, but often opened due to cutting. 4) The forest floor has a mat of Selaginella and other species with occasional large woody ferns, Blechnum orientate, up to 2 m. There are small patches of Thysanolaena and a bamboo. Small sedges and herbs fill gaps on the floor. The forest gives an overall impression of floristic diversity, there being little apparent dominance in any layer. Discussion It is apparent that an enthusiastic local Dis- trict council conservation initiative has deteri- orated due to lack of interest. The councils are short of funds and staff, and have not been able to maintain sacred status of the sanctuary. They now wish the State Government to share this responsibility (pers. comm. CFO, Jaintia). Visitors have been few, response from State and Central Government has been minimal, and no positive feed back or encouragement has reached either the Council or the local vil- lagers. It is natural that conservation interest wanes in such circumstances. Baghmara W.L.S. and Balphakram National Park (which also has a pitcher plant population) are both low altitude tropical evergreen forest areas, protecting very different communities from 20 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 those described here. The pitcher plant population still survives, and is probably robust enough to withstand some more burning and cutting and grazing. But the forest community itself is not so ro- bust, wood cutting is causing damage, and the forest will be losing its protective structure, diversity and regneration. The sanctuary was designed for one species, but does safeguard a community not protected elsewhere in India. There are no other sanctuaries in Jaintia and the tiny sacred groves of Jaintia Hills, possibly as many as 200 averaging less than 1 ha in size (pers. comm. CFO, Jaintia), are not demarca- ted and are being over-exploited (Rodgers, un- published data). They cannot function as long term conservation areas. The pitcher plant sanctuary is important the- refore, nationally as well as locally; the ques- tion is how best to protect it . It is our hope that there will be eventually a network of several small protected areas in Meghalaya, specifical- ly conserving rare plant values, e.g. proposals under the Government of India Biogeography Project, see Lahiri Choudhury (1986). This sanctuary will be one of them. It is not possible to visualise them all being protected by State government employees. We would like to see the State Government assist the district coun- cil to manage the area, by provision of funds to maintain structures and employ care-takers from Jarain village. The State Forest Depart- ment is assisting the District Council in this Balakrishnan, N.P. (1981): Flora of Jowai and Vici- nity. BSI, Howarh. Champion, H.K. & Seth, S.K. (1968): A Revised Sur- vey of the Forest Types of India. Manager of Publications, Delhi. Haridasan, K. & Rao, R.R. (1985): Forest Flora of Meghalaya. Vol. 1. Bishen Singh, Dhera Dun. Hooker, J.D. (1896): Flora of British India, 7 volumes. regard from 1987 (pers. comm. Chief Wildlife Warden, Shillong). The State Forest or Wildli- fe wing could detail an officer to make regular tours of inspection of this and other such areas. Above all, the State government and conserva- tion organisations should encourage such local conservation efforts. Appendix 1 gives a partial plant list for the sanctuary. This is based on collections made at the sanctuary and later identified in Dehra Dun by Dr. P. K. Hajra of B.S.I. Dehra Dun , and on plants identified at the site by B.S.I. Shil- long. This list is NOT complete, but serves as an indication of the floristics of this commu- nity. Plants are listed in alphabetical order. Acknowledgements We thank the Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department of Meghalaya for facilitating our visits and Shri Wahlang, Chief Wildlife War- den, Meghalaya, for commenting on an earlier draft of this paper. The Botanical Survey of India, Shillong discussed Jarain forests and Shri Shankar Das acompanied us in the field. Forest Range Office Jowai gave hospitality. Dr. P.K. Hajra discussed plant identifications at Dehra Dun. Shri Rajesh Thapa patiently word processed the many drafts in various sta- ges including the final one. Miss Asha Jain drew diagrams. S.G acknowledges permission of the Director of the Wildlife Institute of India to publish this paper. ENCES Jain & Rao (1983): An Assessment of Threatened Plants of India. BSI, Howarh. Joseph, J. (1982): Flora of Nongpoh and its Vicinity. Forest Department, Govt, of Meghalaya. Lahiri Choudhury, D.K. (1986): Biogeography Pro- ject : Report on Meghalya. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. Willis, J.C. (1973): A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns. Cambridge University Press. PITCHER PLANT SANCTUARY IN MEGHALAYA 21 APPENDIX I PARTIAL PLANT LIST FOR JARAIN PITCHER PLANT SANCTUARY Family Genus, Species and Authority ANNONACEAE ARACEAE ARALIACEAE BEGONIACEAE BERBERIDACEAE DROSERACEAE EUPHORBIACEAE FAGACEAE HAMAMELIDACEAE JUGLANDIACEAE JUNCACEAE LAURACEAE MAGNOLIACEAE MELASTOMACEAE MYRICACEAE MYRSINACEAE MYRTACEAE PROTEACEAE ROSACEAE RUBIACEAE SYMPLOCACEAE TERNSTROEMACEAE THEACEAE CYPERACEAE GRAMINEAE LILIACEAE ORCHIADACEA Dicotyledons Goniothalamus sesquipedalis Hk. f. and Th.* Raphidophora sp. Schefflera hypoleuca Kurz. Begonia picta Sm. Mahonia pycnophylla (Fedde)Takeda Drosera peltata Smith Alchornea sp. Castanopsis indica A. DC.* Quercus griffithii Hk.f. and Th.* Q. spicata Smith Exbucklandia populnea (Griff.) R.Br.* Engelhardtia spicata Blume J uncus sp. Alseodaphne petiolaris Hk.f. Cinnamomum sp. Lindera melastomacea Benth.* L. pulcherrima Benth. Litsaea salicifolia Roxb. Machilus odoratissima Nees Manglietia insignis (Wall.) Blume* Melastoma normale D.Don* Myrica esculenta Buch.-Ham.^ Ardisia undulata Clarke Embelia floribunda Wall. Eugenia sp. Helicia erratica Hk.f.* Rubus ellipticus Sm, Mussaenda frondosa L. Randia spinosa (Thunb.) Poir Symplocos spicata Thunb. Symplocos sp. Cammelia drupifera Lour.* Eurya acuminata DC.* E. japonica Thunb.* Schima wallichii (DC.) Korth.* Monocotyledons Cy perns spp. Chrysopogon sp. Cymbopogon sp. Dendrocalamus sp. Themeda sp. Thysanolaena maxima Nees Smilax aspera L. Dendrobium amoenum Wall.* Pholidota pallida Lindl.* Pteridophyta Blechnum orientate L. Dicranopteris linearis (Burm.f.) Underwood ( — Gleichenia linearis ) Lycopodium cernuum L. Selaginella bisulcata Spring 22 FOOD SPECTRUM OF THE MARBLED TOAD, BUFO STOMATICUS LUTKEN1 S.K. Battish, Annu Agarwal and Paramjit Singh2 The paper presents a detailed food spectrum of Bufo stomaticus, the commonest species of toad in Punjab. The observations made on the gut contents of this animal from May to October 1985 revealed the presence of insects (70 families), spiders, centipedes, molluscs, plant materials, debris, mud and stone pieces. It is concluded that the toad is primarily insectivorous. Introduction Bufo stomaticus though a common species of Anura in Punjab has not yet been investiga- ted for its food and feeding habits. In the pre- sent paper the quality and quantity of the food of this toad, based upon gut content analysis, is presented. Material and Methods The stomach content analysis of Bufo sto- maticus was carried out during May to Octo- ber, 1985. The toads were collected during dusk and before dawn when they leave their hideouts. The toads were killed instantly after collection by putting 20 ml of chloroform in the plastic bucket with lid containing the animals, and 6 ml of 5% formalin solution was injected in the stomach of each so as to preserve the organ and to stop the mixing of gastric juice with the food. In the laboratory the stomach of each specimen was removed and stored in 70% etha- nol. For the investigations, stomach contents were taken out in a petridish in alcohol after incising the stomach longitudinally. The con- tents were examined under a binocular dissec- ting microscope (18, 8x). The contents were separated into two groups (i) whole or almost whole insects, insect fragments namely, head capsules, dissociated legs, sclerites, wings, elytra, ovipositors etc. (ii) other items namely, fragments of spiders, centipedes, earthworms, mollusca, pebbles and plant matter. Using diagnostic taxonomic characters the food con- tents of the first category were identified. Results The monthly distribution of the food items recorded from the guts of Bufo stomaticus ‘Accepted August 1987. department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (India). duiing May to October 1985 is shown in Table 1. It is seen that the toads primary food is insects but other animals like spiders, centipe- des, earthworms and molluscs are also eaten. Some percentage of the food is comprised of plant matter and even pebbles. The consump- tion of insects per toad (Table 1) is high in the months May to July (26-28) but declines in August (16). The toad fed on a variety of in- sects belonging to 70 families of 14 orders. The most predominant insect orders were Coleop- tera and Heteroptera which constitute the main food in terms of varieties of insects captured by Bufo stomaticus . The data (Table 1) further indicates that except Hymenoptera, other pre- dominant orders were phytophagous insect pests, i.e. Coleoptara, Heteroptera, Lepidop- tera, Homoptera and Orthoptera constituting 28, 10, 5, 5 and 4 families respectively. The toad fed mainly on Hymenoptera (ants, Myrmicinae and Formicinae), Diptera (mos- quitoes) and Coleptera (beetles) during the month of May. Phytophagous pests viz. An- thocoridae (flower bugs), Lygaeidae (dusky cotton bug), Elateridae (click beetles), Chryso- melidae (red pumpkin beetles) and Noctuidae (army worms and Heliothis larvae) were also recovered from the stomachs of Bufo stomati- cus during May, 1985. During June- July 1985 (Table 1) the most predominant food items of this animal were Isoptera (termites) and Hymenoptera (ants, Myrmicinae and Formicinae). Amongst the phytophagous pests, Pyrrhocoridae (red cot- ton bug), Cicadellidae (leaf hoppers particular- ly cotton jassids and mango hoppers), Fulgori- dae (plant hoppers mainly Pyrilla), Psyllidae (jumping plant lice mainly Citrus psylla ), Cara- bidae (ground beetles), Dermestidae (carpet beetles), Elateridae (click beetles), Psepheni- dae (water- penny beetles), Tenebrionidae FOOD SPECTRUM OF MARBLED TOAD 23 (darkling beetles), Scarabaeidae (scarab bee- tles), Chrysomelidae (mainly red pumpkin bee- tles), Curculionidae (snout beetles), Noctuidae (army worm and heliothis larvae) and Pyrausti- dae (cotton leaf roller) were also fed on by Bufo stomaticus, indicating that this toad may be useful for control of phytophagous pests. Ho- wever, during this period (June- July 1985) they also fed on parasites and predators, namely braconids, tri’chogrammatids, sphecids, chal- cids and ichneumonids in tangible amounts. Hymenoptera (ants, Myrmicinae and For- micinae) were again the major food items of Bufo stomaticus during August-September 1985 (Table 1). In addition, Cicadellidae (leaf hoppers mainly cotton jassids and mango hop- pers), Fulgoridae (plant hopper namely the Pyrilla), Dytiscidae (predaceous diving bee- tles), Telegeusidae (telegeusid beetles), Psela- phidae (short- winged mould beetles), Dermes- tidae (carpet beetles), Chrysomelidae (mainly red pumpkin beetles), Pieridae (cabbage cat- terpillar) and Diptera (mosquitoes) were pre- sent in large numbers. Table 1 PERCENT OF FOOD ITEMS RECOVERED FROM THE STOMACH OF Bufo Stomaticus DURING MAY TO OCTOBER. 1985 May June July August September October Total number of toads examined 27 51 46 30 21 16 Total number of prey eaten 689 1423 1263 467 368 152 Number of prey eaten per toad 26 28 27 16 18 10 Empty stomachs 3.70 9.80 0 13.33 0 25.0 Stomachs containing pebbles 3.70 25.49 19.57 16.66 19.05 12.50 Stomachs containing plant matter 37.0 29.41 34.78 26.66 33.33 31.25 Stomachs containing insects 96.29 90.19 100 86.66 100 75.0 Insect Order Family/Name of the insect 1. Thysanura Machilidae (Bristle tail (arvae) — — 0.396 — — — 2. Diplura — 0.070 — — — — 3. Collembola (Spring tails) 0.145 0.70 — — — — 4. Orthoptera i) Tridactylidae (Pygmy mole- cricket) 0.141 0.428 0.815 ii) Acrididae (Shorthorned grasshoppers) 0.145 0.070 0.158 0.214 — — iii) Tettigonidae (Long horned grasshoppers and Katydids) 0.703 0.079 0.428 0.272 0.658 iv) Gryllidae (Crickets) — — 0.428 0.079 0.815 1.316 5. Isoptera (Termites) — 17.569 26.840 — — — 6. Dermaptera (Earwigs) 0.871 — 0.870 1.499 0.815 — 7. Mallophaga (Chewing lice) — 0.070 0.079 — — — 24 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Insect Order Family/Name of the insect May June July August September October Thysanoptera (Thrips) 0.145 Hemiptera a) Heteroptera i) Corixidae (Water boatman) — — — 0.214 — — ii) Notonectidae ( Notonecta ) — — — 0.428 1.085 — iii) Anthocoridae (Flower bug) 1.306 — — — — — iv) Ploiaridae (Thread legged bug) 0.214 v) Lygaeidae (Dusky cotton bugs) 0.871 0.141 0.857 0.658 vi) Pyrrhocoridae (Red cotton bugs) 0.435 0.914 — — — — vii) Cimicidae (Bed bugs) 0.145 — — — — — viii) Coreidae (Rice bugs) 0.145 — 0.238 0.214 0.543 — ix) Podopidae (Terrestrial turtle bugs) 0.214 x) Pentatomidae (Stink bugs) — — 0.158 0.428 0.272 1.316 xi) Others 0.290 — — — — — b) Homoptera i) Cicadidae (Cicadas) 0.079 ii) Cicadellidae (Leafhoppers) 0.290 0.141 2.059 2.998 0.543 1.974 iii) Fulgoridae (Plant hoppers) — 0.211 0.633 1.285 2.446 2.632 iv) Delphacidae (Plant hoppers) — — — — 0.815 — v) Psyllidae — — — — 0.815 — (Jumping Plant lice) 10. Coleoptera i) Physodidae (Wrinkled bark beetles) 0.145 ii) Cicindelidae (Tiger beetles) 0.290 — 0.238 — — — iii) Carobidae (Ground beetle) 0.290 0.281 2.375 — — — iv) Gyrinidae (Whirligig beetle) — 0.141 — 0.214 — — FOOD SPECTR UM OF MARBLED TOAD 25 Insect Order Family/Name of the insect May June July August September October v) Dytiscidae (Predaceous diving beetle) — — 0.079 6.209 6.521 — vi) Telegeusidae (Telegeused beetles) 11.413 2.632 vii) Histeridae (Hister beetles) — 0.703 — — — — viii) Scaphididae (Shining fungus beetles) 0.703 ix) Pselaphidae (Short winged mold beetles) 0.475 0.642 5.706 1.316 x) Cantharidae (Soldier beetles) — — — 0.214 — — xi) Dermestoidae (Carpet beetles) 0.145 0.422 0.554 3.426 0.543 1.974 xii) Ostomidae (Bark growing beetles) 0.158 0.272 0.658 xiii) Cleridae (Checkered beetle) — — 0.158 — 3.533 1.316 xiv) Sandalidae (Sandalid beetles) — — 0.238 — — — xv) Elasteridae (Click beetles) 0.725 — 1.092 5.996 0.815 1.316 xvi) Psephenidae (Water penny beetles) 1.124 1.188 2.174 xvii) Lathridiidae (Monoedid beetles) 0.290 — — — — — xviii) Coccinellidae (Spotted beetles) 0.290 0.351 0.079 1.713 — — xix) Tenebrionidae (Darkling beetles) 0.145 1.757 1.029 0.857 — — xx) Psoidae (Twig beetles) — — — — 0.543 0.658 xxi) Passalidae 0.290 — — — — — xxii) Scarabaeidae (Scarab beetles) 0.435 1.124 3.802 1.285 1.087 1.316 xxiii) Cerambycidae (Wood boring beetles) 0.145 0.396 xxiv) Chrysomelidae (Red pumpking beetles) 1.016 0.422 1.029 1.927 1.087 xxv) Bruchidae — — 0.079 — 0.272 — (Seed beetles) 26 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Insect Order Family/Name of the insect May June July August September October xxvi) Circulionidae (Snout beetles) 0.290 0.351 0.950 1.070 1.902 3.947 xxvii) Platypodidae (Pinohole borers) 0.290 0.070 — 0.214 — — xxviii) Scolyidae (Bark beetles) 0.145 — — 0.642 0.272 — Grubs 0.581 0.562 0.238 0.428 — — xxix) Others 3.193 0.351 2.059 6.423 1.630 0.289 11. Lepidoptera i) Gelechiidae (Pink wool worm — 0.070 — — — — moth), other moth — 0.70 0.158 — — 1.316 ii) Noctuidae (Army worm laraae, Heliothis larvae) 1.306 " 0.475 0.428 0.543 1.316 iii) Arctoidae (Hairy-caterpillar) — 0.211 0.158 — — — iv) Pyraustidae (Cotton leaf roller) 0.281 0.079 v) Pieridae (Cabbage catter- pillar) 1.285 vi) Other larvae 0.145 0.492 — 0.428 — 1.316 12. Diptera (Flies) (Mosquitoes) 0.435 3.193 0.070 2.108 1.070 0.428 7.384 0.272 1.316 (Maggots) — 0.70 2.692 0.428 0.815 — 13. Hymenoptera i) Braconidae 0.725 0.562 0.791 0.428 0.815 0.658 ii) Trichogrammalidae 1.016 0.984 0.317 0.428 1.630 2.632 iii) Sphecidae 1.457 8.451 L504 — 1.087 1.316 iv) Chalcididae — 4.779 0.950 — — — v) Ichneumonidae — 0.422 0.238 0.642 — — vi) Formicidae — 0.141 0.396 — — 2.632 Subfam. a) Formicinae 10.740 27.547 23.129 19.272 18.750 27.632 b) Ants (Myrmicinae small ants) 66.183 32.959 22.169 30.835 21.739 30.263 vii) Apidae (Bees) 0.435 0.141 0.317 0.428 2.717 — vii) Tanthridinidae (Althalia larvae) — — — 0.214 — — 14. Dictyoptera (Cockroaches) — 0.422 0.633 1.285 0.272 — Arachnida (Spiders) 0.871 0.632 0.238 0.428 1.630 3.289 Chilopoda (Centipedes) — 0.070 — 0.428 1.630 3.289 Anneiida (Earthworms) — 0.070 — — — — Mollusca — 0.492 0.238 0.428 — — (Gastropid molluscans) FOOD SPECTRUM OF MARBLED TOAD 27 In October 1985 (Table 1) the quantity of food in the stomach was comparatively lower than the earlier months and the predominant insects identified from the guts of B stomati- cus were again the Hymenoptera (ants). Other major food items were Fulgoridae (plant hop- per mainly the Pyrilla), Telegeusidae (telegeu- sid beetles), Curculionidae (snout beetles mainly the grey weevil), Hymenoptera (parasi- tes mainly the trichogrammatids) and Arach- nids (spiders). Discussion The present study has revealed that Bufo stomaticus fed on insects belonging to 70 fa- milies of 14 orders. The toad’s capture of these insects was a chance factor. The representa- tion of 28 families. of the order Coleoptera from diverse habitats like agroecosystems, terres- trial, aquatic and arboreal also showed the affi- nity of this toad to such environments. Fur- ther, it also indicates B. stomaticus to be pri- marily insectivorous and no cannibalism was reported during the study period. However, Boulenger (1897) and Noble (1918) reported frogs & toads to be carnivorous and cannibalis- tic. The seasonal dietary requirements of the toad varied (Table 1). The insect consumption per toad was high (26-28) in the months of May -July but low* (16) in August and lowest (10) in October. The high consumption of food in May- July was because of high reproductive activity of the toad, as evident from the field study, gonadal weight and gonado- somatic in- dex (paper on breeding of Bufo stomaticus in preparation). The feeding rate declined in Au- gust and September; and in October, it was Table 2 PERCENTAGE OF OCCURRENCE IN THE GUT May June July August September October Thysanura (Bristle tail larvae) 2.17 Diplura 1.96 Collembola (Spring tail) 3.70 Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, 3.70 3.92 6.52 6.67 4.76 6.25 Crickets) 3.92 2.17 10.00 19.05 12.5 Isoptera (Termites) 11.76 28.26 Dermaptera (Earwigs) 11.11 10.87 10.0 9.52 Mallophaga (Chewing lice) 1.96 2.17 Thysanoptera (Thrips) 1.96 Heteroptera (Bugs) 29.62 17.64 10.87 23.33 28.57 18.75 Homoptera (Leaf/plant hoppers) 7.40 5.88 28.26 46.67 38.09 12.5 Coleoptera (Small grey weevil) 66.66 43.13 71.73 56.67 85.71 43.75 (Big grey weevil) 55.55 35.29 45.65 50.00 57.14 43.75 10.87 3.33 9.52 18.75 Lepidoptera (Larvae) 22.22 15.68 10.87 10.0 9.52 12.50 (Moths) 3.92 2.17 12.5 Diptera (Flies) 11.11 1.96 6.67 4.76 12.5 (Mosquitoes) 18.51 23.52 13.33 19.05 (Maggots) 1.96 4.34 6.67 9.52 Hymenoptera (Parasites) 29.52 33.33 13t04 10.0 19.05 12.50 (Bees and wasps) 18.52 15.68 10.87 10.0 19.05 6.25 (Myrmicinae) 85.19 66.66 45.65 46.67 52.38 62.5 (Formicinae) 62.96 52.94 50.0 56.67 57.14 68.75 Dictyoptera (Cockroaches) 5.88 13.04 13.33 4.76 Arachnida (Spiders) 14.81 13.72 4.34 6.67 23.81 25.0 Chilopoda (Centipedes) 1.96 3.33 Annelida (Earthworms) 1.96 Mollusca (Gastropod molluscans) 11.76 2.17 28 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 very low because October marks the pre- hibernation period of the toad. In the present study, hymenopterous ants of the sub-families Myrmicinae and Formicinae were dominant in the diet both in the percen- tage of prey eaten (Table 1) and the percentage of occurrence in guts (Table 2). Weber (1938) also reported the ants of family Formicidae to be the main food item in B. marinus and Forge and Barbault (1980) found ants and beetles to be the predominant food of B. pejitoni. The exact appreciation of the insect food can, however, be worked out in terms of per- centage of total biomass (Tables 2, 4) consu- med. Berry and Bullock (1962) and Berry (1965) measured the volume of the gut contents but have not presented it as per insect. The total biomass consumed per toad, calculated by the weighing coefficients gives the real bio- efficacy of anurans as control agents. It may thus be inferred that the feeding po- tential can be appreciated on the basis of weight of insect rather than percentage total number of prey as the number is not represen- tative of the size of insects belonging to dif- ferent orders. Table 3 PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL BIOMASS Food items May June July August September October Thysanura (Bristle tail larvae) — — 0.02 — — — Diplura — 0.04 — — — — Collembola (Spring tail) 0.001 — — — — — Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, 1.28 1.23 1.58 2.34 1.08 3.85 Crickets) — 0.23 0.09 0.59 1,21 1.44 Isoptera (Termites) — 15.94 18.45 — — — Dermaptera (Earwigs) 4.13 — 3.09 2.92 1.73 — Mallophaga (Chewing lice) — 0.001 0.0008 — — — Thysanoptera (Thrips) — 0.001 — — — — Heteropters (Bugs) 15.17 4.96 1.41 3.77 4.04 6.19 Homoptera (Leaf/plant hoppers) 0.01 0.012 0.09 0.06 0.06 0.12 Coleoptera (Small grey weevil) 12.30 12.31 16.29 19.32 29.67 14.07 (Big grey weevil) 39.57 21.88 31.76 52.64 44.56 40.96 Lepidoptera “ 0.29 0.09 0.36 2.58 (Larvae) 8.51 5.71 3.14 5.17 1.42 5.09 (Moths) Diptera 0.16 0.14 1.03 (Mosquitoes) 0.04 0.03 — 0.01 0.02 — (Flies) 0.02 0.003 — 0.007 0.01 0.04 (Maggots) — 0.02 0.056 0.05 0.10 — Hymenoptera (Parasites) 0.28 0.66 0.28 0.03 0.12 0.41 (Bees and wasps) 2.30 2.66 1.51 1.68 5.02 1.38 (Myrmicinae) 3.93 1.94 0.99 0.75 0.58 1.19 (Formicinae) 11.73 29.79 18.95 8.66 9.15 19.91 Dictyoptera (Cockroaches) — 0.99 1.14 1.26 0.29 — Arachnida (Spiders) 0.70 0.51 0.14 0.14 0.59 1.75 Chilopoda (Centipede) — 0.41 — 0.52 — — Annelida (Earthworm) — 0.36 — — — — Mollusca (Gastropod molluscans) — 0.16 0.06 — — — FOOD SPECTRUM OF MARBLED TOAD 29 Coleoptera (although occurring in much less number and frequency than ants and termites), in terms of biomass, was the predominant in- sect order (Tables 3 & 4). A similar observation was made by Berry and Bullock (1962) in B. melanostictus. The maximum biomass (mg) consumed per toad of Coleoptera was during the pre- hibernation period in B. stomaticus. The chiti- nous material of Coleoptera consumed during this period probably served as a long lasting source of energy and hence were preferred. Furthermore, Coleoptera may be present in more abundance than the other insect orders in the habitat of this toad. The consumption of large numbers Coleoptera by Rana tigerina has been shown by Khan (1973) during the pre-breeding period. Bufo stomaticus was also observed to feed substantially on mosquitoes and dystiscid bee- tles during the rainy season in July- August 1985 (Table 1), when the toads were seen bree- ding in water. Mosquitoes and dystiscid bee- tles are abundantly in the water of flooded pad- dy fields (Kadan and Patel 1960). As is clear from the present study, B. stomaticus fed both on terrestrial and aquatic fauna. However, Berry and Bullock (1962) found B. melanostic- tus feeding exclusively on terrestrial insects. In the present study, bees and wasps were also recorded from the guts in tangible amounts. Noble (1924) showed that ants and wasps were rejected by frogs and toads whe- reas, Tyler (1958) and Khera (1975) recorded their occurrence as prey items. Tyler (1958) reported that the available insect prey was de- Table 4 TOTAL BIOMASS CONSUMED (MG) PER TOAD Thysanura (Bristle tail larvae) — — 0.11 — — — Diplura — 0.16 — — — — Collembola (Spring tail) 0.006 — — — — — Orthoptera (Grasshoppers) 4.48 4.75 7.89 12.1 5.76 7.56 (Crickets) — 0.89 0.49 3.03 6.48 2.84 Isoptera (Termites) — 61.28 92.12 — — — Dermaptera (Earwigs) 14.36 — 15.49 15.07 9.23 — Mallophaga (Chewing lice) — 0.004 0.004 — — — Thysanoptera (Thrips) — 0.004 — — — — Heteroptera (Bugs) 52.80 19.06 7.04 19.44 21.6 12.15 Homoptera (Leaf/plant hoppers) 0.04 0.05 0.46 0.32 0.32 0.24 Coleoptera (Small grey weevil) 42.82 47.33 81.73 99.73 158.67 27.63 (Big grey weevil) 137.07 84.12 158.54 271.70 238.33 80.44 — — 1.47 0.45 1.93 5.06 Lepidoptera (Larvae) 29.63 21.96 15.65 26.67 7.62 10.00 (Moths) — 0.63 0.70 — — 2.01 Diptera (Flies) 0.07 0.012 — 0.04 0.0! 0.07 (Mosquitoes) 0.14 0.10 — 0.03 0.11 — (Maggots) — 0.08 2.81 0.25 0.54 — Hymenoptera (Parasites) 0.96 2.55 1.39 0.13 0.62 0.81 (Bees and wasps) 8.04 10.21 7.55 8.68 26.87 2.71 (Myrmicinae) 13.68 7.45 4.93 3.89 3.09 2.33 (Formicinae) 40.84 114.53 94.58 44.70 48.96 39.11 Dictyoptera (Cockroaches) — 3.84 5.67 6.52 1.55 — Arachnida (Spiders) 2.44 1.94 0.72 0.73 3.14 3.44 Chilopoda (Centipede) — 1.57 — 2.67 — — Annelida (Earthworm) — 1.37 — — — — Mullusca (Gastropod molluscans) — 0.62 0.29 — — — 3 30 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 pendent upon the type of vegetation in a parti- cular habitat. According to Jensen and Klims- tra (1966), Hedeen (1970) and Nigam (1979) anurans are opportunistic feeders and con- sume the most readily available food. The more frequent occurrence of toads in plant nur- series and orchards may be attributed to the easy availability of prey. Also, there seems to be a correlation between the abundance of toads and the ground fauna. However, Sweet- man (1944) and Brower and Brower (1962) sho- wed that anurans were capable of developing food preferences. The seasonal variations in the diet of B. sto- maticus in the present studies may be due to a change in the availability of fauna in a parti- cular season and is in agreement with the ob- servations of Tyler (1958), Brooks (1959, 1964), Turner (1959), Berry (1965), Khan (1973) and Knera (1975). The present study reaffirms that toads are useful as control agents for various insect pests especially those belonging to the orders Cole- optera, Isoptera, Hymenoptera, Dermaptera and Diptera. Though toads appear to be oppor- tunistic feeders, their feeding on many phyto- phagous insect pests does support their useful- ness as biocontrol agents. A number of earlier workers like Gadow (1901). Pack (1922), Ka- dan and Patel (1960), Stiles et al. (1969) and Fellow (1969) also stressed the useful activity of toads. The presence of stones, leaves and debris among the gut contents of B. stomaticus shows that the above material might have been engul- Refer Berry, P.Y. (1965): The diet of some Singapore Anura. J. Zool. London, 144: 163-174. Berry, P.Y. & J. A, Bullock (1962): The food of Com- mon Maly an toad, Bufo melanostictus Schneider. Copeia. 1962: 736-741. Boulenger, G.A. (1897): The tailless batrachians of Europe. Ray. Society. London. Brooks, G.R. (1959): A survey of the food habits of Rana catesbeiana from five different habitat. Virginia J. Sci. 10: 263. (1964): An analysis of the food habits of the bull frog Rana catesbeiana by body size, sex, mouth and habi- tat. Ibid. 15: 173-186. Brower, L.P. & Brower, J. (1962): Investigations into mimicry. Nat. Hist. 71: 8-19. fed accidentally along with the prey (Table 1). Vegetable matter occurred in many guts, but the amount was quite small and may thus be well explained as inadvertantly ingested with food. The intake of pebbles and plant matter may be important in providing roughage as well as increased girinding capacity for the total mass envelope. The presence of stones and vegetable matter in the guts of anurans has also been reported by earlier workers. Tyler (1958), Berry and Bullock (1962), Berry (1965), Joshee (1968) and Kramek (1972). Bufo stomaticus was observed to capture insects of all sizes ranging from 1 to 25 mm in length and weighing from 0. 12 to 200 mg. Tyler (1958) mentioned that the essential factor to be observed when considering the diet of an anuran species is the recognition that there is a limit to the size of the food items that can be ingested, varying according to the size of the individual frog and the jaw span. The studies of Brooks (1959, 1964) and Kramek (1972) also showed that the food of R. catesbeiana and R. septentrionalis varied with the body size, sex, change of locality and season. Acknowledgements We are thankful to I.C.A.R. and Head, De- partment of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural Uni- versity, Ludhiana for providing funds and fa- cilities. We express our thanks to Dr. A.S. Sohi, Entomologist of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana for identifying the in- sects. E N C E S Fellow, A.G. (1969): Toads and termites. Victorian Nat. 86: 136. Forge, P. & Barbault, R.(1980): Observations on the diet of 2 sympatric amphibians from Sahel of Senegal: Bufo pentond and Tomopterns. Bull. Int. London Afr. Noiri Ser. A Sci. Nat. 40 (3): 674-684. Gadow, H. (1901): The Cambridge Natural History, Amphibians and Reptiles. Vol VIII. Hedeen, S.E. (1970): The ecology and life history of the mink frog, Rana septentrionalis Baird. Ph.D Thesis, Univ. Minn. Minneapolis. Jensen, T. A. & Klimstra, W.D. (1966): Food habits of the green frog Rana clamitans in Southern Illinois Amer- .Mid. Nat. 76: 169-182. Joshee, A.K. (1968): Food habits of the bull frog, Rana FOOD SPECTRUM OF MARBLED TOAD 31 tigerina. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 65: 498-500. Kadan, M.V.B. & Patel, G.A. (1960): Crop pests and how to fight them. Diss. Pub. Govt. Maharashtra Bombay. Khan, M.S. (1973): Food of tiger frog, Rana tigerina Daudin Biologiay 19: 1-2. Khera, K.L. (1975): Systematics and biology of anurans of North India with special reference to biology of Rana cyanophlyctis D. Phil, thesis Punjab Univ., Chandi- garh. Karamek, W.C. (1972): Food of the frog Rana septen- trionalis in New York. Copeia 1972 (2): 390-392. Nigam, H.C. (1979): Food and feeding habits of Rana tigerina in paddy belts of U.P. India. Geobios 6.(6): 241- 244. Noble, G.K. (1918): The amphibians collected by the American Museum Expedition to Nicaragua in 1916. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 38: 311-347. (1924): A contribution to herpetology of the Belgium Congo based on the collection of American Mu- seum Congo Expedition. Part III. Amphibia. Ibid 49: 147- 347. Pack, H. L. (1922): Toads in regulation of insect out- breaks. Copeia 1972: 46-47. Stiles, K.A., Robert, W.H. & Boolotial, R.A. (1969): College Zoology, Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 530 pp. Sweetman, H.L. (1944): Food habits and molting of the common tree frog. Amer. Mild. Nat. 32: 494-501. Turner, F.B. (1959): An analysis of feeding habits of Rana pretiosa in yellowstone Park, Wyoming. Am. Midi. Nat. 67: 403- 413. Tyler, M.J. (1958): On the diet and feeding habits of the edible frog (Rana esculenta Linn.) Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 131: 582-592. Wadekar, U.L. (1963). The diet of Indian Bull frog Rana tigerina Daud. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 60: (1): 263-268. Weber, N.A. (1938): The food of the Giant toad Bufo marinus (L.) in Trinidad and British Guiana with special references to the ants. Ann. ent. Soc. An. 31 (4): 334. 32 MAHSEER CONSERVATION — PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS1 Prakash Nautiyal2 INTRODUCTION Mahseer, well known as an anglers’ delight, has numerous adjectives to its credit; colour- ful, fascinating, elegant, noble, aristrocratic and prized being some of them. Besides its status as an outstanding Game-Fish, it also finds mention in the Vedas and Smriti, the two epics of Hindu mythology. The Vedas consider it as a privileged fish used by Brahmins to propitiate the souls of their deceased ances- tors. A fish so well known for the delicacy and pleasure provided during sport, is now in trou- ble . No single cause can account for the current situation, which is an impact of several factors functioning together magnified at one or other stage of its life-history. This paper describes such factors which have been termed as ‘Cons- traints’ Natural Constraints: In the case of the Garh- wal Himalayan Mahseer {Tor putitora ), the phenomenon of migration provides the neces- sary link between nature’s food supply and reproduction and is thus of adaptive signfi- cance. The fish lays its spawn where the young will have ample food, comparatively less dan- ger of being predated upon and overall conge- nial environment for the eggs and young to survive. A tri-phased migration has been ob- served in T. putitora attributed mainly to main- tenance of food supply in nature (Nautiyal and Lai 1984). The first phase of the migration commences during March - April when the semi adults (which have not yet attained the size- at-first- maturity) alongwith a few broodfish ascend from their feeding grounds in the foothill stret- ches into the snow-fed tributaries of the Ganga namely the Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi. This is in response to general rise in water tempera- ture of the Ganga from 16°C during December to 20°C during March - April, attributed to 'Accepted October W85. department of Zoology, University of Garhwal, Srinagar - 246174 (India). melting of snow. The tributaries being com- paratively cool during spring (14-16° C) pro- vide congenial surroundings for overwintering. As the ice cover continues to recede, a gradual increase in the turbidity is registered which may be considered as a stimulus for their go- nads to mature. The second phase is marked by movement of the brood fish during July to the spawning grounds. The third phase involves descending migration of the pre-recruits alongwith the ju- veniles and the immature adults (which had ascended with the commencement of the first phase) from their feeding grounds firstly into the ‘snow-fed’ hillstreams and then into the Ganga. The water temperature starts decrea- sing during July and the streams get flooded and turbid. Both turbidity and temperature acl as stimulus for brooders. The temperature of the spawning grounds ranged from21°-25°C- Mahseer exhibits great diversity in food and feeding habits. They have been reported to be ‘Herbivorous’ (Desai 1970), ‘Herbi- omni- vorous’ (Das and Pathani 1978), ‘Carni- omnivorous’ (Badolaand Singh 1980), ‘Insecti- vorous’ (Khanna and Pant 1964) and ‘Carni- vorous’ (Nautiyal and Lai 1984 a). They may feed extensively on one type of food (mono- phagic) throughout their life-history or may feed on variety of food (steno - and euryphagic) and exhibit transition from animal to plant mat- ter or vice versa. Interestingly enough the fin- gerlings of Kumaun Mahseer are zoophagus in nature (Pathani and Joshi 1979) as compared to their adults which switch over to more of a herbivorous diet (Das and Pathani 1978). Con- trary to its euryphagic nature the Garhwal Hi- malayan Mahseer is monophagic, feeding ex- clusively on insect diet as compared to their fingerlings and fry which subsist on plant mat- ter only. The versatile nature is in response to food available at different times in same as well as different environs. According to a review on Mahseer Fishes of India (Sen and Jayaram 1982) T. tor juveniles feed on insects and the adults switch over to herbivorous diet. MAHSEER CONSERVATION 33 A glance at its feeding ecology reveals that the water temperature and current considera- bly influence the food habits and supply (Nau- tiyal and Lai 1985). A temperature range of 12° — 27 °C prevailing in the spring-fed streams, supporting the juvenile stages, alongwith low to moderate current (0.2426 - 1.4529 m/sec) except monsoon, accounts for flourishing en- tomofauna. These two factors also exert signi- ficant influence on the feeding intensity. The intensity was observed to be maximum when water temperature and current were recorded to be low, 12° - 14°C and 0.2426 - 0.2874 m/sec, respectively. These two alongwith high turbidity act in a complex and thus become inmical to feeding intensity which thereby re- gisters a considerable decline. The fry and fin- gerlings inspite of high turbidity feed vora- ciously. Although, water current and tempera- ture regulate the food-supply to a certain ex- tent, turbidity plays a pivotal role in maintai- ning the supply. The turbidity also governs the feeding intensity and is hence a limiting factor. These factors govern the food habits to a cer- tain extent only. The quality of food in essential quantity as compared to quantity only has a greater impact on the reproductive activity by significantly influencing the growth rate. Consequently the scarcity of quality food may retard the rate of growth to the extent that it may effect a delay in the attainment of sexual maturity, for in fishes, the latter is associated to size rather than age of the fish (Monastryskii 1940). Putitor Mahseer, being a rheophilic species (in Garhwal Hi- malaya), attains a large size and faces food problems. In foothill stretches the ‘basic food’ gets scarce, not because of its density decrea- sing, but owing to the size of the fish and the volume of food consumed by it which naturally falls short of the required diet. This assumption is supported by the observation that the fee- ding intensity declines in later stages of life as compared to young stages which feed vora- ciously (Nautiyal and Lai 1984 a). The impact on the growth rate becomes quite evident from Table 1. During first year the fish attains a length of 162. 58 mm. As the fish grows in size the rate records a decreasing trend from 110.74 to 108.71 mm in second and third years respec- tively. The feeding intensity was observed to decline after the fish- attained a length of 220 mm and age of 1 + (Table 2). the decrease in growth rate is obviously due to decline in the feeding intensity during the second year when the fish is of about 235.5 mm in length. The Mahseer populations in the various la- kes too have suffered a set back due to ever increasing pollution load. The latter naturally hampers both, the feeding and breeding activi- ties. The phenomenon of successful breeding as already mentioned, most essential for the survival, is affected by food habits of the fish and like feeding habits differs in different en- virons. It spawns once in a year in Garhwal waters (Nautiyal 1984), twice in Himachal (Sehgal et al. 1971), thrice in Punjab (Khan 1939) and even throughout the year intermit- tently in certain reservoirs (Bhatnagar 1964). Attainment of maturity is the threshold to reproductive capacity and since it is directly associated to attainment of a particular size, Table 1 GROWTH RATES AS EVIDENCED BY BACK— CALCULATED LENGTHS AND EXPECTED WEIGHTS 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + Average Observed length (mm) 175.50 235.50 355.50 535.50 Back— calculated length (mm) Annual Increase 162.58 273.09 381.80 515.65 Length (mm) 81.21 110.74 108.71 133.85 Weight (gms) 234.15 321.10 315.21 359.70 34 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 VARIATIONS IN THE PERCENTAGE FREQUENCY IN THE CONDITION OF FEED FOR DIFFERENT SIZE-GROUPS Size- groups State of Intestinal Bulbs (%) Age- groups Empty Poor 1/4 1/2 3/4 Full 41—100 5.38 2.15 8.60 20.43 37.63 25.81 0 + 101—160 5.48 8.22 16.44 31.51 •17.81 20.55 0 + 161—220 2.94 17.65 20.59 55.88 20.59 11.77 0+, 1 + 221—280 — 50.0 — 30.00 20.00 — 1 + , 2 + 281—340 33.33 16.66 33.33 16.66 — — 1 + , 2 + 341—400 — 66.66 33.33 — — — 2 + , 3 + 401 — 460 — 50.00 25.00 25.00 — — 2 + , 3 + the growth rate of the species matters much which in turn is governed by the nourishment available. The Kumaun Mahseer has been ob- served to mature at* a size less than half to that of the Garhwal Himalayan Mahseer (Nautiyal 1984). Apparently the size and nature of the water body influences the biota which in turn governs the growth rate and eventually the si- ze-at-first maturity. Various species of Mah- seer attain maturity at different lengths in dif- ferent environs, the Narmada Mahseer at 360 mm (Desai 1973), the Garhwal Himalyan Mah- seer at 700 mm (Nautiyal 1984), but none ma- ture at a size smaller than the common carp or other commercially important food fish. The fecundity of Mahseer as compared to the commercially exploited species, is very low. While the fecundity of the Garhwal Hi- malyan Mahseer of 780 mm is 26,977, the Nar- mada, the Deccan and the Kumaun Mahseer have 30,420, 20,000 and 7076 ova for speci- mens measuring 625 mm, 620 mm and 390 mm respectively (Desai 1973, Kulkarni and Ogale 1978, Pathani 1981). The Narmada Mahseer has 6000 eggs/kg body weight as compared to 2.61.000 eggs/kg body weight of the rohu and 1 .33 .000 eggs/kg body weight for catla. Eviden- tly the Mahseer have a low reproductive capa- city which with the delayed maturity may have impact as far as their survival is concerned. After spawning the problem of fertilization and survival of the larvae, arises. The Deccan Mahseer has been reported to have a long hat- ching period of 80 hours and a 6-day semi- quiescent stage which proves to be very disas- trous (Kulkarni and Ogale 1978). Created Constraints: The constraints arising out of the activities of man can be broadly classified into (a) Indirect constraints and (b) Direct constraints. The former category is re- presented mainly by various hydroelectric pro- jects whereby barriers in the form of weirs and dams are erected across the river, thus bloc- king the migration passage for ever, besides isolating the population and effecting a change in the riverine ecology which in turn disturbs the food supply as well as the breeding pros- pects. The fish is essentially a migrant, espe- cially for spawning in warm shallow waters of spring-fed streams and any sort of barrier across the migratory passage will hamper the breeding prospects thus enhancing the possi- bilities of endangering the species. Use of ex- plosives etc to exploit the fish population leads to mass mortality, resulting in indiscriminate overfishing, thus accounting for the created constraints. The same is being practised in the Indian uplands with great enthusiasm as they have no fear of being punished. Preventive ru- les, whatsoever, are non-existent in these parts of the country and use of explosives, chemicals etc. goes unchecked. The fishing stress on the population commences from the very moment fish attains an attractive size and that too, quite before it matures sexually. The stress is heavy on the brood fish. MAHSEER CONSERVATION 35 To sum up, unsuccessful breeding is a biolo- gical and thus a ‘Natural Constraint’ which is further magnified by ‘created constraints’ mentioned above. This has resulted in endan- gering the Mahseer. Attempts to rehabilitate the Mahseer: In 1976 the National Commission of Agriculture in its report on Fisheries had recommended extensive survey and detailed ecological and biological investigations to save Mahseer from the adverse effects of indiscriminate fishing and river valley projects. As a reaction a few isolated attempts were made to breed the Mah- seer, but with limited success (Tripathi 1978, Pathani and Das 1979). So far the only rehabili- tation measures on sizable scale have been un- dertaken by the Tata Electric Companies, Lo- navala (Maharashtra) in their Lakes (Kulkarni & Ogale 1978) and by the Wild Life Association of South India and Karnataka Fisheries De- partment. The plans to rehabilitate Mahseer can be chalked out only after the factors responsible for the decline are clearly distinguished. Sen and Jayaram (1982) have attributed stock ’de- pletion to; 1. Use of explosives. 2. Wanton Killing of brood fish in the spawning season. 3. Ecological changes in the riverine sys- tems of the country and 4. continued constructions of dams and reservoirs on rivers and streams destroying their mi- gratory routes. These factors can be categorically included under ‘Created Constraints’, but none except Kulkarni and Ogale (1978) have mentioned ‘Natural Constraints’. Similarly the author be- sides the factors mentioned above, has laid stress on delayed maturity in the Garhwal Hi- malayan Mahseer. Conservation Measures: Having identified the handicaps, proper measures to rehabilitate the species have to be undertaken. Taking the case of the Garhwal Himalayan Mahseer the first hurdle to be overcome is the delay in the attainment of sexual maturity. If the fish ma- tures at an earlier stage the vulnerability to human assault will be reduced consequently enhancing the chances of successful reproduc- tion. From the studies conducted on the Kumaun Mahseer (Pathani 1981a & b) it is obvious that sexual maturity in Putitor Mahseer is attained at an early stage in lentic environs i.e. at 300 mm as compared to 700 mm in case of Garhwal Himalayan Mahseer existing in lotic environ- ment. The difference in growth is likely to be due to the lotic and lentic environment. Hence if the fish has to be conserved it has to be propagated in the lentic environment and these water bodies have to be kept safe and human encroachment avoided. Regular monitoring of water quality is also essential. The Garhwal Himalaya is full of such water bodies which are still virgin and can serve the purpose of conservation. These alongwith the proposed new reservoirs of various hydroelec- tric and irrigation projects can be conveniently utilized for this purpose. Most important aspect thereafter is the job of the fish culture experts to breed the fish. The fish seed has then to be transferred to various lentic and lotic sites dee- med fit for stocking them. I speculate that this target can be achieved within 5 years. Such water bodies at a later stage may be thrown open to enthusiastic anglers. Promoting recre- ational fishing should be one of the means to achieve success in conservation (Nautiyal and Nautiyal 1982). It will also enable the fish to retain its status of prized Game-Fish. That a closed season must be promulgated with immediate effect and other conservation measures which can aid in checking the man made problems have been discussed earlier by numerous authors including the present author (Nautiyal and Lai 1982, Nautiyal and Nautiyal 1982 and Nautiyal 1984a). The need for Fish Sanctuaries is obvious. The cause of Mahseer has to be fostered urgently. It is under active consideration that Mahseer should be declared as an endangered species but declaration of good intention do not solve the problem. Will conservationists help the Mahseer? Acknowledgements I am grateful to Prof. H R Singh, Depart- ment of Zoology, University of Garhwal, Sri- nager for useful suggestions and laboratory fa- cilities and to Dr. M. S. Lai for guidance. 36 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 References Badola, S.P. & Singh, H.R. (1980): Food and feeding habits of fishes of the genera Tor, Puntius and Barilius. Proc. Indian Nat. Sci. Acad. B 46: 58-62. Bhatnagar, G.K. (1964): Spawning and fecundity of Bhakra reservoir fishes. Indian J. Fish. 11: 485-502. Das, S.M. & Pathani, S.S. (1978): Studies on the biology of Kumaun Mahseer Tor putitora .( Hamilton): Adaptation of the alimentary tract in relation to feeding habits, body weight and body length. Indian J. Anim. Sci. 48: 461-465. Desai, V.R. (1970): Studies on the fishery and biology of Tor tor (Hamilton) from river Narbada. J. Ini. Fish. Soc. India 2: 101-112. (1973): Studies on fishery and biology of Tor tor from river Narbada. Proc. Indian Natn. Sci. Acad. 39: 228- 248. Khan, H. (1939): Study of the sex organs of Mahseer {Barbus tor). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 40: 653-656. Khanna, S.S. & Pant, M.C. (1964): On the digestive tract and feeding habits of some teleostean fishes. Agra Univ. J. Research 13: 230-243. Kulkarni, C.V. & Ogale, S.N. (1978): The present status of Mahseer (Fish) and artificial propagation of Tor khudree (Sykes). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 75: 651-660. Monastryskii, G.N. (1940): Methods of evaluating ro- ach stocks of the North Capsian. Trudy VNIRO 11. Nautiyal, P. (1984): Natural history of the Garhwal Himalyan Mahseer Tor putitora (Hamilton) II. Breeding biology. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 93: 97-106. (1984 a): On the Game-Fishes of Garhwal Himalaya and the scope of exploiting the potential. Bull. Env. S. 1: 53- 55. Nautiyal, P. & Lal, M.S. (1982): Recent records of Garhwal Mahseer {Tor putitora) with a note on its present status. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc 79: 693-695. (1984): Preliminary observations on the mi- gratory behaviour of the Garhwal Himalayan Mahseer. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81: 204-208. (1984 a): Food and feeding habits of finger- lings and juveniles of Mahseer (Tor putitora Ham.) in Nayar river, ibid. 81: 642-646. (1985): Food and feeding habits of Garhwal Himalayan Mahseer in relation to certain abiotic factors. Matsya 11: 31-35. Nautiyal, P. & Nautiyal, V. (1983): Angling in Garh- wal Himalaya with a view to promote tourism and conserve Mahseer - A two approach. J. Ton. Rec. Res. 8: 41. Pathani, S.S. (1981a): Fecundity of Mahseer Torputi- tors (Ham.). Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 90: 253-260. Pathani, S.S. (1981b): Age and growth of Mahseer Tor putitora (Ham.) as determined by scales and operculum. Matsya 7: 41-46. Pathani, S.S. & Das, S.M. (1979): On induced spaw- ning of Mahseer Tor putitora (Ham.) by mammalian and fish pitutary hormones injection. Sci. & Cult. 45: 209-210. Pathani, S.S. & Joshi, M. (1979): On the food and feeding habits of fingerlings of two Kumaun Mahseer fishes Tor tor and Tor putitora (Ham.) Bioresearch 4: 43-46. Sehgal, K.L. , Shukla, J.P. & Shah, K.L. (1971): Observations on fisheries of Kangra valley and adjacent areas with special reference to Mahseer and other fishes. J. Ini. Fish. Soc. India 3: 63-71. Sen, T.K. & Jayaram, K.C. (1982): The Mahseer Fishes of India - A review. Rec. Zool. Sur. India Occ Paper 39: 1-38. Tripathi, Y.R. (1978): Artificial breeding of Tor puti- tora (Ham.). J. Ini. Fish. Soc. India 9: 161. 37 ADDITIONS TO THE FLORA OF PUNJAB STATE, NORTH INDIA1 S.S. Bir and Charanpreet Singh2 Extensive surveys in Gurdaspur district of Punjab state have indicated that 69 species falling under 56 genera are new records. These plants are mostly from hilly ranges falling in Pathankot tehsil. Quite a number of plants are met with in Narot Jaimal Singh area across river Ravi bordering Pakistan. Introduction During the years 1983-1986 we undertook botanical excursions throughout the disrict of Gurdaspur, Punjab state, North India under the Botanical Survey of India’s ‘District Flora Scheme’. Quite a good portion of the area of the district is sub- mountainous tract falling in Pathankot tehsil and is a part of the Shivalik range, the hills attaining a maximum height of 960 m (Katori) near Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. A large part of the proposed Thein Dam reservoir Tails in the hilly tract of Gurdas- pur district and comes under the administrative Dhar Kalan block. A large number of hill plants found in the area, therefore constitute part of Punjab Flora and those reported new to the state have not earlier been recorded from the state in the taxonomic works that deal with either the whole or part of the area under study (Steward 1869, Bamber 1916, Parker 1918, Sabnis 1940-41, Stewart 1945, Nair & Nair 1963-66, Rau 1968, Singh 1971 and Nair 1978). It is interesting to note that some plants which occur in the Shivalik hills in the district are also met with in the plains area of the district parti- cularly near Narot Jaimal Singh bordering Pa- kistan. The River Ravi demarcating India’s In- ternational boundary flows mostly on the Nor- th-Western side of the district except for Narot Jaimal Singh which is across the river Ravi and is easily accessible from Kathua in J K state. Such hill species which are met within the plains area of the district are marked with an asterisk. Seeds or propagules of such species are easily carried down to the plains by streams and rivulets and these establish well under a ‘Accepted November 1986. department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala - 147002 (India). suitable environment. Our scrutiny of the li- terature and comparison at Botanical Survey of India, Dehradun Herbarium (BSD) have in- dicated that 69 species belonging to 56 genera falling in 28 families have not been reported previously from Punjab state and are enumera- ted here. The voucher specimens have been deposited in the herbarium of Punjabi Univer- sity (PUN) and duplicates are at Herbarium of the Botanical Survey of India, Dehradun (BSD). The arrangement of families is the same as in ‘Flora British India’ by Hooker (1872- 97). Enumeration of Newly Recorded Taxa RANUNCULACEAE 1. *Clematis gouriana Roxb. Climber, on all types of trees and shrubs in hill tract. FI. & Fr. August-December. C.P. Singh 9728, Thein Dam, 2 October, 1983. BRASSICACEAE 2. Lepidium perfoliatum Linn. Common on higher slopes in shade. FI. & Fr. January-March. C.P. Singh 13209, Katori, 10 March, 1986. POLYGALACEAE 3. Polygala abyssinica R.Br. On open hilly- slopes. FI. & Fr. September-March. C.P. Singh 13216, Katori, 10 March, 1986. HYPERICACEAE 4. Hypericum cemuum Roxb. Along slopes. FI. & Fr. March-May. C.P. Singh 13623, Katori, 10 March, 1986. 38 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 GERANIACEAE 5. * Geranium lucidum Linn. On roadsides and hill slopes. FI. & Fr. March-May. C.P. Singh 13126, Thein Dam, 9 March, 1986. 6. *G. ocellatum Camb. Cool and shady places. FI. & Fr. February- April. C.P. Singh 13172, Dunera, 10 March, 1986. 7. G. wailichianum Don ex Sweet. On slopes. FI. & Fr. October- April. C.P. Singh 13197, Katori, 10 March, 1986. FABACEAE 8. Argyrolobium flaccidum Jaub. & Spach. In Valleys. FI. & Fr. May-July. C.P. Singh 13630, Katori, 16 May, 1985. 9. Atylosia crassa Prain. Climbing on many trees and shrubs particularly Carissa opaca stapf. FI. & Fr. December- April. C.P. Singh 13184, Dunera, 10 March, 1986. ROSACEAE 10. Crotalaria pusilla Heyne, Common along slopes. FI. & Fr. October-March. C.P. Singh 13212. Katori, 10 March, 1986. 11. Desmodium podocarpum DC. Common along roadsides. FI. & Fr. July-September. C.P. Singh 13624, Katori, 16 October, 1985. 12. Pyrus pashia Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don. Small, shade tree along hilly-slopes. FI. & Fr. March- October. C.P. Singh 9722, Dunera, 1 October, 1983. 13. Rosa brunonii Lindl. Forest undergrowth. FI. & Fr. April- May. C.P. Singh 13111, Dunera, 10 March, 1985. 14. Rubus biflorus Buch.-Ham. Roadside shrub. FI. & Fr. April-May. C.P. Singh 13637, Katori, 18 May, 1985. 15. R. ellipticus Sm. Straggler Shrub, along roadsides. FI. & Fr. February-May. C.P. Singh 13202, Katori, 10 March, 1986. APIACEAE 16. Bupleurum hamiltonii Balak. Common on grassy slopes of hills. FI. & Fr. October-December. C.P. Singh 13207, Katori, 10 March, 1986. 17. *Scandix pecten- veneris Linn. Along road- sides and field edges. FI. & Fr. January- April. C.P. Singh 13151, Narot Jaimal Singh, 10 March, 1986. 18. *Torilis japonica (Houtt) DC. Along field edges and roadsides. FI. & Fr. February- April. C.P. Singh 13152, Narot Jaimal Singh, 10 March 1986. CAPR1FOLIACEAE 19. * Viburnum coriaceum Bl. Hill sides. FI. & Fr. July-September. C.P. Singh 10968, Thein Dam, 24 June, 1985. 20. *V. erubescens Wall. Small tree along hill slopes. FI. & Fr. April-October. C.P. Singh 13263, Pathankot, 14 March, 1986. RUBIACEAE 21. *Galium asperifolium Wall. Common along slopes. FI. & Fr. June-August. C.P. Singh 9453, Kahanpur. 6 August, 1983. 22. G. histiflorum Req. Common along hill- sides. FI. & Fr. July-August. C.P. Singh 13638, Katori, 15 August, 1985. 23. Plectronia neilgherrensis Bedd. var. char- tacea Gamble. Small tree along rivers. FI. & Fr. February- April. C.P. Singh 13204, Katori, 10 March, 1986. ASTERACEAE 24. Achillea millefolium Linn. Along terraced fields. FI. & Fr. May-August. C.P. Singh 13113, Dunera, 10 August, 1985. ADDITIONS TO FLORA OF PUNJAB 39 25. Anaphalis busua (Buch.-Ham.) Hand.- Mazz. Along slopes. FI. & Fr. July-October. C.P. Singh 13183, Dunera, 10 August, 1985. 26. A. contorta Hook. f. Common along slopes. FI. & Fr. July-September. C.P. Singh 13114, Dunera, 10 August 1985. 27. Carpesium trachefolium Less. As forest undergrowth. FI. & Fr. July-September. C.P. Singh 13628, Katori, 15 August, 1985. 28 . Erigeron multicaulis DC . Along the slopes . FI. & Fr. May-October. C.P. Singh 13622, Katori, 16 October. 1985. 29. Myractis wallichii Less. Common along slopes. FI. & Fr. June-September. C.P. Singh 13627, Katori, 16 October, 1985. 30. *Silybum marianum (Linn.) Gaertn. Com- mon along roadsides in Pathankot tehsil. FI. & Fr. February-May. C.P. Singh 13192, Shahpur Kandi, 9 March, 1986. 31. *Taraxacum officinale Webber. Along ro- adsides and moist places. FI. & Fr. December- April. C.P: Singh 13162, Narot Jaimal Singh, 10 March, 1986. LOBELIACEAE 32. *Lobelia heyniana Roem. & Schult. Com- mon in shady, grassy places. FI. & Fr. September-December. C.P. Singh 9454, Sujanpur, 6 August, 1986. PRIMULACEAE 33. Androsace umbellata (Lour.) Merr. Com- mon in damp and exposed places. FI. & Fr. February- April. C.P. Singh 13156, Bhattwan, 10, March, 1986. SYMPLOCACEAE 34. *Symplocos sumuntia Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don. Large shrub, along roadsides. FI. & Fr. September-November. C.P. Singh 9717, Dunera. 1 October, 1983. OLEACEAE 35. *Jasmimim humile Linn. Along hedges, wild. FI. & Fr. August-October, March- April. C.P. Singh 13169, Narot Jaimal Singh, 10 March, 1986. 36. *J. multiflorum (Burm. f.) Andr. Along ro- adside hedges, wild. FI. & Fr. October-March. C.P. Singh 13168, Narot JaimaPSingh, 10 March, 1986. GENTIANACEAE 37. Centaurium centaurioides (Roxb.) comb, nov. Along the canals and water channels. FI. & Fr. March-June. C.P. Singh 13282, Madhopur, 13 March, 1986. 38. Gentiana argentea (Royle ex D. Don) DC. Along hill slopes. FI. & Fr. February- March. C.P. Singh 13187, Katori, 10 March, 1986. 39. Swertia purpurescens Wall. Common along hilly slopes. FI. & Fr. August- September. C.P. Singh 13639, Katori, 16 September, 1985. CONVOLVULACEAE 40. Ipomoea muricata (Linn.) Jacq. Climbing on trees and shrubs in hedges. FI. & Fr. September-November. C.P. Singh 13625, Katori, 15 October, 1985. 4 1 . Ipomoea sindica Stapf . In cultivated fields . FI. & Fr. August-October. C.P. Singh 12225, Madhopur, 19 October, 1985. SCROPHULARIACEAE 42. Limnophila connata (Buch.-Ham. ex Don) Hand.-Mazz. In moist places. FI. & Fr. September-October, February- April. C.P. Singh 13243, Madhopur, 13 March, 1986. 43. Limnophila indica (Linn.) Druce. In moist places. FI. & Fr. October- April. C.P. Singh 13244, Madhopur, 13 March, 1986. 40 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 44. Suiera dissecta (Del.) Walp. In moist places. FI. & Fr. February- April. C.P. Singh 13241, Madhopur, 13 March, 1986. ACANTHACEAE 45. Barleria buxifolia Linn. Along hedges. FI. & Fr. July-April. C.P. Singh 13185, Katori, 10 March, 1986. 46. *Rostellularia diffusa Nees. In moist places. FI. & Fr. September-February. C.P. Singh 9740, Murgala (Dinanagar), 3 October, 1983. 47. *R. mollissima Nees. In waste and shady places. FI. & Fr. September-February. C.P. Singh 9719, Dunera, 10 October, 1983. LAMIACEAE 48. Ajuga parviflora Benth. Roadside herb of hilly areas. FI. & Fr. March-May. C.P. Singh 13215, Katori, 10 March, 1986. 49. Nepeta graciliflora Benth. Along roadsides in hilly areas. FI. & Fr. September- November, March- April. ,C.P. Singh 13201, Katori, 10 March, 1986. 50. Plectranthus japonicus (Burm.f.) Koidz. Along hill-slopes. FI. & Fr. October- March. C.P. Singh 13208, Katori, 10 March, 1986. PLANTAGINACEAE 5 1 . Plantago lanceolata Linn. Along roadsides in grassy localities. FI. & Fr. March-May. C.P. Singh 13203, Katori, 10 March, 1986. POLYGONACEAE 52. Polygonum alatum Buch.-Ham. In damp places. FI. & Fr. January-November. C.P. Singh 13620, Katori, 12 January, 1985. 53. P. amplexicaule Don. In moist places. FI. & Fr. June-October, C.P. Singh 13116, Katori, 13 August, 1985. 54. P. capitatum Buch.-Ham. Along roadside rocks and walls in hilly tract. Fi. & Fr. June-November. C.P. Singh 13117, Katori, 13 August, 1985. 55. P. donii Meissn. In moist places. FI. & Fr. July-October. C.P. Singh 9460, Cantonment (Pathan- kot), 7 October, 1983. LORANTHACEAE 56. Loranthus pulverulentus Wall. Semi- parasite on Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. and other trees in hill-tract. FI. & Fr. September^November; March- April. C.P. Singh 9714, Dunera, 1 October, 1983. 57. Scurrula cordifolius (Wall.) G. Don. On many trees. FI. & Fr. September-October; March- April. C.P. Singh 13182, Dunera, 10 March, 1986. EUPHORBIACEAE 58. Flueggea virosa Roxb. ex Willd. Small tree of slopes. FI. & Fr. March-October. C.P. Singh 13120, Dunera, 10 March, 1986. ULMACEAE 59. *Trema orientalis Roxb. Small tree, along roadsides. FI. & Fr. July-October. C.P. Singh 9416, Chakki Bridge (Pa- thankot), 5 August, 1983. LILIACEAE 60. Asparagus adscendens Roxb. Straggler of hilly roadsides. FI. & Fr. October-March. C.P. Singh 13189, Niari, 10 March, 1986. 61 . Nothoscordum inodorum (Ait.) Nicholson. Newly introduced herb into India. As or- chard undergrowth. FI. & Fr. January-March. C.P. Singh 10948, Batala, 7 January, 1985. 62. Tulipa stellata Hook.f. Roadsides and fields in hill-tracts. FI. & Fr. March- April. C.P. Singh 13161, Bhamlada, 10 March, 1986. ADDITIONS TO FLORA OF PUNJAB 41 JUNCACEAE 63. Juncus concinnus Don. Along higher slopes. FI. & Fr. July-September. C.P. Singh 13631 , Katori, 15 August, 1985. CYPERACEAE 64. Cyperus cyperoides (Linn.) O. Kuntze. Along forest and field edges. FI. & Fr. July-November. C.P. Singh 9422, Chakki bridge (Pa- thankot), 5 August, 1983. POACEAE 6:1 Chrysopogon fuluus (Spreng.) Choiv. Common on gravelly and rocky slopes in hill-tract. FI. & Fr. July-September. C.P. Singh 13632, Katori, 16 August, 1985. 66. Eragrostis curvala Nees. Common in waste places. FI. & Fr. January- April. R E F E ] Bamber, C.J. (1916): Plants of the Punjab. Lahore. Hooker, J.D. (1872-97): The flora of the British India. Vols. 1-7. London. Nair, N.C. (1978): Flora of the Punjab plains. Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. 2/(1): i-xx, 1-326. Nair, N.C. & Nair, V.J. (1963-66): Some plants re- cords for the Punjab Plain. Bull. Bot. Surv. Ind. 5: 219-222; 6: 69-71:299- 300; 8 : 351-352. Parkar, R. N. (1918): A Forest Flora for the Punjab with Hazara and Delhi. Lahore. Rau, M.A. (1968): Flora of the Upper Gangetic Plain C.P. Singh 13249, Dera Baba Nanak, 6 March, 1986. 67. Pennisetum flaccidum Griseb. Along hill- slopes. FI. & Fr. September-November. C.P. Singh 13635, Katori, 15 August, 1985. 68. *Themeda villosa (Poir) d. Camus. In river beds and field edges. FI. & Fr. August-November. C.P. Singh 13633, Katori, 16 October, 1985. 69. Tripogon filiformis Nees. Common along hill-siopes. FI. & Fr. September-November. C.P. Singh 12220, Thein Dam, 10 Septem- ber, 1985. Acknowledgements Thanks are due to Botanical Survey of India for financing the scheme and for the award of fellowship to Charanpreet Singh. E N C E S and of the adjacent Siwalik and Sub-Himalayan Tracts. Check list. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 10 (Supplement No. 2): 1-87. Sabnis, T.S. (940-41): A contribution to the Flora of the Punjab Plains and the Associated Hill Regions. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 42: 124-149; 342-379; 533-586. Singh, U. (1971): Additions to Duthie’s Flora of the Upper Gangetic Plain, ibid. 68: 339-346. Stewart, J.L. (1869): Punjab Plants. Lahore. (1945): The Grasses of Northwest India. Brit- tonia 5: 404-468. 42 BREEDING HABITS AND ASSOCIATED PHENOMENA IN SOME INDIAN BATS-PART XII - MEGADERMA LYRA LYRA (GEOFFROY) (MEGADERMATIDAE) AT DIFFERENT LATITUDES1 A. Gopalakrishna2 and N. Badwaik3 The breeding habits of Megaderma lyra lyra have been studied from four localities in India, namely, Srirangapattana, Aurangabad, Bhandara and Agra. This species breeds once a year and has an autumn pattern of breeding. In spite of the varying latitudes the time of conception and the time of delivery are nearly same in all the localities except that the onset of breeding is advanced by a few days at lower latitudes. Introduction There are very few reports on the breeding habits of the same species of bats at different latitudes. The work of Dwyer (1963, 1966, 1968) and Richardson (1977) on two species of Miniopterus at different southern latitudes and of Ramakrishna and Rao (1977) on Rhinolo- phus rouxi at different northern latitudes de- monstrated that latitude and ecological condi- tions play a significant role in influencing the breeding biology of these bats although the basic breeding behaviour is genetically con- trolled. In Miniopterus in Australia the dura- tion of delayed implantation of the blastocyst becomes progessively protracted towards hi- gher (southern) latitudes. The Indian Rhinolo- phus rouxi , although having a basic ‘autumn’ pattern of breeding, exhibits a delay of blasto- cyst implantation and retarded early embryo- nic development at higher (northern) latitudes. Ramakrishna and Rao (1977) contended that the variations in the breeding habits of Rhi- nolophus rouxi at different latitudes are adap- tations to bring forth the young ones at the most propitious period when insects are availa- ble in abundance. Apart from the work on Rhi- nolophus rouxi there is no report on the repro- duction of any Indian species of bats at dif- ferent parts of India, although India, which extends from almost near the equator to the deep sub-tropical region and has wide varia- tions in climatic conditions, offers ideal condi- 'Accepted January 1987 :Emeritus Scientist, SCIR, Vijaya Nagar, Chaoni, Nagpur - 440013 (India). department of Zoology, Institute of Science, Nagpur - 440001 (India). tions for studying the influence of latitude and ecological factors on the reproductive habits of at least those species, which have a wide distri- bution and occur throughout the sub- continent. One such species is Megaderma ly- ra lyra . This paper presents observations on this species from four localities, namely, Sri- rangapattana (12° N, 76° 43’ E), Aurangabad (19° 55’ N, 73° 23’ E), Bhandara (21° 9’ N, 79° 42’ E) and Agra (27° 10’ N, 78° 5’ E). Ramakrishna (1949, 1951) and Ramaswamy (1961) studied the reproductive habits of this species in south India and at and near Agra respectively. Bats from these places or locali- ties close to these places have also been inclu- ded in the present study with a view to filling up the lacunae in earlier studies and to present a comprehensive picture of the breeding beha- viour of this bat from widely differnt localities with varying climatic and ecological condi- tions. Material and Methods Specimens of Megaderma lyra lyra were collected from dungeons in the old fort at Sri- rangapattana, from an underground tunnel below Bibi-ka Mukbara at Aurangbad, from old cow sheds and grain godowns at and around Bhandara and from the dungeons in the fort and from dilapidated old monuments at and near Agra for two successive years from each locality so that every calendar month is represented by one collection or more. Table 1 gives monthwise details of the collections of specimens from the different localities. The specimens were killed by chloroform or by de- capitation and their genitalia dissected out and BREEDING HABITS OF INDIAN BATS 43 fixed in various ways after noting down the details of the external characters of the repro- ductive organs in the male and mammary glands and pubic dugs in the females. The tis- sues were transferred to 70% ethanol after fixa- tion for 24 hours. The right testis was weighed in all the males after separating it from the epididymis. The tissues were processed by the usual procedure and paraffin embedded tissues were serially sectioned at 5 to 8 micron thick- ness. For the present report a few sections from each series were stained with Harris’ or Ehrlich’s haematoxylin, counterstained with eosin and mounted in DPX or Canada Balsam after dehydrating by passing through graded ethanol and clearing in xylol. Observations and Discussions General notes on the breeding habits: In all the localities studied here the two sexes come to sexual activity synchronously once a year. All adult specimens in the colony copulate in a sharply defined season and all adult females conceive immediately after copulation. As a rule only the left ovary releases a single ovum during each cycle and the foetus is carried in the left uterine cornu. The right side of the genitalia is functional in very rare cases (only four specimens among all examined from all localities) and only a single case of twinning was noticed. The young one is carried by the mother constantly for 20 to 25 days, but lacta- tion and suckling continues for 15 to 20 days more. The testes and the accessory glands in the males undergo regression within a short time after copulation. Breeding habits in different localities: In all the localities breeding season for Megaderma lyra lyra commences late in autumn or early in winter. It must, however, be mentioned that the terms ‘autumn’ and ‘winter’ do not connote the same meanings in Indian circumstances as they do in temperate regions. These terms are employed here to denote the season approxi- mating the months which fall under these sea- sons in temperate regions of northern hemis- phere. All adult females in the colony undergo copulation within a period of 8 to 10 days and likewise all deliveries in the colony occur wi- thin 8 to 10 days after a gestation of 145 ± 5 Table 1 MONTHWISE COLLECTION DATA OF Megaderma lyra lyra FROM DIFFERENT LOCALITIES Month Srirangapattana (1981 - 1983) Aurangabad (1963 - 1965) Bhanaara (1972 - 1974) Agra (1982 - 1984) Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females I A I A I A ■ A I A I A I A I A January 2 9 3 13 4 13 4 15 6 26 6 23 3 15 8 27 February 3 8 4 13 4 14 8 20 12 34 10 41 5 18 15 30 March - 2 6 14 3 11 6 22 3 15 7 27 2 12 6 18 April (2) 5 2(3) 12 5(6) 14 6(7) 34 4(3) 19 2(4) 26 3(5) 33 8(6) 34 May (2) 2 3(3) 9 (6) 6 2(5) 17 KD 9 1(2) 15 1(4) 33 6(4) 18 June 6(6) 2 7(4) 17 3 6 5 13 7 16 6 20 3 20 6 14 July 7 4 6 8 1 5 2 6 4 11 2 11 2 6 1 5 August 5 2 2 5 2 7 1 5 - 5 3 7 3 13 9 21 September 5 14 7 15 4 12 5 16 7 15 6 18 5 20 7 20 October 2 7 3 8 5 21 6 23 11 29 15 32 3 24 8 33 November 3 5 4 9 3 15 6 17 6 19 6 28 4 17 8 27 December 2 11 5 17 12 41 11 65 7 21 12 35 4 22 9 28 Total 35(10) 71 52(10) 140 46(12) 165 62(12) 253 68(4) 219 76(6) 283 38(9) 23391(10) 275 Figures in brackets represent sucklings. I = Immature, A = Adult 44 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 days. Table 2 gives the earliest date on which a pregnant female was captured and the earliest date on which a newly delivered young one was noticed in the different localities where the study was carried out. A study of the table brings out two facts. First, the earliest concep- tions occur in November and the earliest deli- veries in April in all the localities. However, the date of conception and the date of delivery are postponed by a few days progressively from the lower to the higher latitudes. Regar- dless of the above change the gestation period is nearly the same in all the localities. The breeding behaviour of the males has been reported breifly elsewhere (Gopala- krishna and Sapkal - in press). The commence- ment and the peak stage of spermatogenetic activity and the activity of the accessory glands are postponed by a few days progessively from the lower to the higher latitudes synchronizing with the onset of heat and ovulation in the female in the respective locality. The four locations from which the speci- mens have been studied vary considerably in regard to external factors such as annual and diurnal variations in the ambient temperature, the duration of day light during different sea- sons and the season and the amount of rainfall. Yet the breeding season of Megaderma lyra lyra is basically same in all the localities with only a slight preogressive change from the lo- wer to higher latitudes. Evidently, the sexual periodicity of this species is essentially deter- mined by its own internal rhythm, which is genetically controlled, and the influence of ex- ternal factors, if any, is only marginal. The factor of food in influencing sexual periodicity in this species can be ruled out since this is common in all the localities; this species is basically insectivorous supplemented by carni- vorous diet as this species some times feed on lizards and frogs. A survey of literature on the breeding beha- viour of bats reveals that autumn breeding is the normal pattern in most species both in the temperate and tropical regions. Only a few spe- cies breed during other seasons. Perhaps, the latter cases are adaptations to meet some spe- cial environmental demands. Species such as Rousettus leschenaulti (Gopalakrishna and Choudhari 1977) and Cynopterus sphinx (Ra- makrishna 1947, Sandhu and Gopalakrishna 1984, Sandhu 1984) combine both autumn and spring breeding patterns since they breed twice a year in quick succession. An interesting outcome of these studies is the variations in the sex ratio at different stages of life. Table 3 gives these details. From the table it is evident that whereas the sex ratio is nearly even in the sucklings, it becomes pro- gressively female dominant as age advances. The ratio is approximately 40% males and 60% females after weaning. Evidently, there ap- pears to be a preferential mortality of the males during this critical period resulting in female dominant sex ratio in the adult stage. A similar female dominant -sex ratio occurs in other bats (Gopalakrishna and Madhavan 1970) except in Table 2 EARLIEST DATES ON WHICH CONCEPTION AND PARTURITION WERE NOTICED IN DIFFERENT LOCALITIES Locality Earliest date of conception Earliest date of parturition Gestation period in days Srirangapattana 14th November (free egg) 13th April 150 Aurangabad 18th November (2 cell stage) 15th April 148 Bhandara 24th November (4 cell stage) 17th April 148 Agra 26th November (4 cell stage) 20th April 149 BREEDING HABITS OF INDIAN BATS 45 Taphozous melanopogon (Abdulali 1949, Sap- kal and Khamre 1984). It must, however, be mentioned that this species has been shown to migrate during certain seasons of the year and often only the females migrate to investigation of several colonies during all the months of the year will yield correct data regarding the actual sex ratio of this species also. The precise rea- son for the preferential mortality of the males during a particular phase of the life of Mega- derma lyra lyra is not known. This appears to be the case in other bats too. Acknowledgement We are grateful to the C.S.I.R. New Delhi for financial support for this research work. Table 3 LOCALITYWISE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIMENS Locality Sucklings Free young Adult Total Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Srirangapattana 10 10 35 52 71 140 116 202 Aurangabad 12 12 46 62 165 253 223 327 Bhandara 4 6 68 76 219 283 291 365 Agra 9 10 38 91 233 275 280 376 Total 35 38 187 281 688 951 910 1270 Percentage 48 52 40 60 42 58 42 58 (Approximate) References Abdulali. H. (1949): Sex ratio in Indian bats. J. Bom- buy Nat. Hist. Soc. 48 : 423-428. D wyer, P.D. (1963): Breeding biology of Miniopterus schreibersii blepotis (Temminck) (Chiroptera) in north- eastern New South Wales. Aust. J. Zool. II : 219-240. (1966): Observations on the eastern horse- shoe bat in north-eastern New South Wales. Helicitite 4 : 73-82. (1968): The biology, origin and adaptation of Miniopterus australis (Chiroptera) in New South Wales. Aust. J. Zool. 16 : 49-68. Gopalakrishna, A. (1986): Migratory pattern of some Indian bats. Myotis : 223-227. & Choudhari, P.N. (1977): Breeding habits and associated phenomena in some Indian bats. Part I- Rousettus leschenaulti (Desmarest) - Megachiroptera. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 74 : 1-16. & Madhavan, A. (1970): Sex ratio in some Indian bats. ibid. 67 : 171-175. Ramakrishna, P.A. (1947): Post-partum oestrus in the short- nosed fruit-bat, Cynopterus sphinx sphinx. Curr. Sci 16 : 186. (1949): Gestation in the oriental vampires. ibid. 18: 186. (1951): Studies on the reproduction in bats - 1 - Some aspects of the reproduction in the oriental vampires, Lyroderma lyra lyra (Geoffroy) and Megaderma spasma (Linn.). Half-yrly Jour. Mysore Univ. II : 107-118. & Rao, K.V.B. (1977): Reproductive adapta- tions in the Indian rhinolophid bat, Rhinolophus rouxi (Temminck). Curr. Sci. 46 : 270-271. Ramaswamy, K.R.(1961): Studies on the sex-cycle of the Indian. vampire bat, Megaderma ( Lyroderma ) lyra lyra (Geoffroy). Proc. Nat. Inst. Sci. India. 27 : 287-307. Richardson, E. (1977): The biology and evolution of the reproductive cycle of Miniopterus schreibersii and Mi- niopterus australjs (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae). J. Zool. London. 183 : 353-375. Sandhu, S. (1984): Breeding biology of the Indian fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Vahl) in the Central India. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81 : 600-611. — & Gopalakrishna, A. (1984): Some observa- tions on the breeding biology of the Indian fruit bat, £ynop- terus sphinx (Vahl) in Central India. Curr. Sci. 53 : 1189- 1192. Sapkal, V.M. & Khamre, K.G. (1984): Breeding ha- bits and associated phenomena in some Indian bats Part VUl-Taphozous melanopogon (Temminck) - Emballonuri- dae. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 80 : 303-311. 4 46 THE SNAKES OF BURMA II. REDISCOVERY OF THE TYPE SPECIMEN OF OLIGODON MCDOUGALLI WITH A DISCUSSION OF ITS RELATIONSHIPS1 H.G. Dowling and J.V. Jenner2 {With two text-figures) The unique type specimen of Oligodon mcdougalli Wall, 1905, long believed to have been lost (Smith 1943), was found in the reptile collection of the Bombay Natural History Society. An amplified description of the type is presented. Its features suggest that it is closely related to a species group which includes O. catenata and O. dorsalis. The Arakan Kukri snake Oligodon mcdou- galli was described early in this century by Wall (1905). Later, however, Smith (1943: 234) reported that, “the type and only known speci- men cannot now be found.” It was to our sur- prise, therefore, that we found “Oligodon mcdougalli listed in the catalogue of the rep- tile collection of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS 963), and the corresponding specimen in a labeled jar. Thus, although the specimen was not marked as a type, it apparen- tly was “lost” only to Smith. In spite of some slight inconsistencies in data, there appears to be no reason to doubt that this specimen is the type. It was collected by E. McDougall at “Sandarang” (later correc- ted to Sandoway [Rakhine State, 18° 28’ N, 94° 22’ E], Burma. The date given in the catalo- gue (31 December 1907) is believed to be the accession date, rather than the date of collec- tion. In as much as Wall gave only a brief description of the unique type, and because the specimen does not appear to have been exami- ned since its description, we give here an am- plified description. We can confirm Wall’s tentative identifica- tion of the specimen as a male. It is stiff and somewhat faded, but reasonably well- preserved for its age. We measure it at 337 mm total length, with the tail 45 mm. Wall’s mea- surements were 13 3/4 and 1 7/8 inches, a little 'Accepted January 1987. This is the second in a series of papers on the “Snakes of Burma”. The first is a checklist of the species, published in Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service, No.76, 1988. department of Biology, New York University, N.Y. - 10003 (U.S.A). longer than ours, but this is explicable as shrin- kage over the years. As he indicated, the body is cylindrical, with little distinction between the head and the body. The tail is abruptly pointed. His description of the colour pattern is pre- cise and more complete than can now be ascer- tained: “Colour dusky-black laterally * with a ru- fous brown vertebral stripe from nape to tip of tail involving the vertebral and half the adjacent row; this stripe is edged by a series of linear black spots, most evident anteriorly. A linear black line on the con- fines of the 2nd and 3rd rows above the ventrals, interrupted anteriorly, and en- ding at vent. A supra-anal black bar and another subterminal, caudal, black bar. Head blackish. Rostral rufous* yellow. Blotched black below. Labials mottled black and rufous-yelow. A rufous collar incomplete vertebrally. Chin, and throat rufous-yellow, mottled black in the su- tures. Belly black, mottled fawn. [Darker posteriorly.] Beneath tail black laterally, crimson centrally, the colour of a ripe yew-berry, and reminding one of the tail of Simotes cruentatus.” The “dusky-black” has faded to dark brown and the yellows and reds are now a dirty cream colour, but otherwise the description matches the specimen precisely. We count 199 ventrals and 40 subcaudals (vs. Wall’s 200 and 39). Otherwise the counts match exactly. The head scutes are as shown in his drawings (redrawn here as Fig. 1): the inter- nasals are separated from the prefrontals, the SNAKES OF BURMA 47 nasal is single, the loreal is absent, oculars are 1 + 1, and the temporals, 1+2. There are 7-7 supralabials, with the third and fourth entering the orbit, and 7-7 infralabials. There are two pairs of genials, the posterior pair about 2/3 the size of the anterior and in contact throughout their length. The dorsal scales are smooth and without apical pits. They are arranged in 13 + 13 + 13 rows. Fig. 1. Head scutellation of Oligodon mcdougalli. Redrawn from Wall (1905). The drawings were compared with the type specimen (BNHS 1963) and found correct. The maxillary is edentulous anteriorly. The- re are six maxillary teeth, the last three much enlarged and blade-like, but without a diastema separating them from the anterior series. [Thus, the dental formula is 0 + 6.] Paired hemipenes are present, but are very fragile and difficult to observe. The organs ap- pear to extend to subcaudal (SC) 15 as entire (undivided) structures, but any distal ornamen- tation, if present, cannot be determined. Spi- nose calyculae (joined into flounces?) can be seen to SC 7 and spinules appear to extend to SC 10. Little beyond that can be determined without complete destruction of the hemipe- nis. [The right organ was left intact.] Relationships The genus Oligodon ranges from the Tanim- bar islands east of Timor through the East In- dies and the Philippines to the Malayan Penin- sula, and then northward to southern China and westward, south of the Himalayas, to Pa- kistan. It is made up of more than 60 currently recognized species (and more than double this number that have been placed in synonymy). All are small snakes (less than a meter in length) with an enlarged rostral scute and three or four enlarged teeth at the rear of the maxilla. All have the same basic head patterns and are similar in major structural features. The bewildering number of species has been described on the bases of minor differences in scutellation and various patterns of coloration. Probably not half of the currently recognized species are valid. Nevertheless, until the degree of variation within populations is determined and until fea- tures of dentition, osteology, and soft anatomy are better described, little can be done to iden- tify the valid species and species groups within this genus. Unquestionably, some of the cur- rent species names are based upon interpo- pulational variations in scutellation or pattern. Ultimately it will take population analyses from geographic, structural, and biochemical standpoints to resolve the systematic pro- blems. Unfortunately, knowledge of the hemi- penial structure of these snakes, which Wall (1923) suggested might have some potential in 48 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 resolving some of the taxonomic problems, has progressed very little in the last 45 years. The 12 species reported from Burma appear to fail into two distinct groups on the basis of dentition (Table 1). One group has a maxilla that is edentulous anteriorly, and bears only six to eight teeth. The other group lacks the eden- tulous anterior end and has nine or more teeth. It is clear that Oligodon mcdougalli belongs with the first group and that it differs from the other members in relatively minor ways. The fusion of internasals or loreal with the prefron- tals is a commonly-observed feature in snakes (especially burrowing snakes) that possess a short maxilla (A. Downs, 1967), and probably has been over-emphasized as a species charac- ter in Oligodon. It is especially notable that all of the members of the first group are allopatric except O. hamptoni, which lies between O. dorsalis and O. catenata , both geographically and morphologically (Fig. 2). It seems possible that the five named forms are actually no more than members of a single variable species. No other species of Oligodon appears to have been recorded from this region of south- western Burma, however, and none of the spe- cies described by Taylor (1965) from Thailand is similar. O. mcdougalli resembles the sou- thern Burmese species O. planiceps (Boulen- ger, 1888) in dorsal scale formula, but differs widely in maxillary tooth count as well as in the - numbers of labials, ventrals, and subcaudals. It differs also in polour pattern. It agrees with the northern Burmese species O. catenata (Blyth, 1854) in most respects, including the colour pattern, dorsal scale row count, and ventral and subcaudal counts. It differs mainly in the presence of separate inter- nasals, an additional supralabial, and one less maxillary tooth. A species based upon a single specimen is always questionable and there are as yet no studies that would offer information on the amount of intraspecific variation that might be anticipated in the head scutes of Oligodon. Un- til it can be shown that the presence or absence of separate internasal scutes is an individual variation, therefore, it appears best to recog- nize O. mcdougalli as a valid species related to the more northern O. catenata and its adjacent forms. Table 1 MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF SPECIES OF Oligodon FROM BURMA AND ADJACENT REGIONS. SPECIES ARE ARRANGED BY MAXILLARY TOOTH COUNT MX 0 + 6 13 + 13 + 13 199. 2 40 2 1 0 j 1 7 O. mcdougalli B 0 + 6-7 15+15 + 13 162-188 2 27-51 2 1 1 1-2 1 7 O. dorsalis H.B,E 0 + 7 15 160-175 2 30-32 0 1 0-1 1 1 5 O. hamptoni B 0 + 7 13 + 13+13 186-208 2 37-40 0 1 0 1 1 6 O. catenata B 0 + 7-8 15 + 15+13 154 2 46 V 1 0 2 1 7 erythrorhachis H 9-10 17 + 17+15 to 21+21 + 17 165-195 1 37-58 2 2 1 2 1-2 7-8 O. cyclurus H-IC 10 13 + 13 + 13 132-142 2 22-27 2 1 0 2 1 4-5 O. planiceps B 10-11 21+21 + 17 169-193 1 35-47 4 2 1 2 2 8 O. splendidus B 10-12 15 162-178 2 25-33 + 0 1 0 2 1 5 O.lacroixi IC 10-12 15+15 + 13? 157-185 to 17+17+15 1 29-42 2 2 1 2 1 8 O. cinereus B-IC 10-12 19+19+15 162-208 1 53-68 2 2 1 2 1 7 O. juglandifer H 10-12 19+19+15 to 21+21 + 15 177-208 1 47-69 2 2 1 2 1 7 O. albocinctus H 14-16 17+17+15 148-173 2 27-40 2 2 0-1 2 1 8 O. cruentatus B 15-16 15 + 15 + 13 144-159 2 26-34 2 1 1 2 1 7 O. torquatus B 15-16 17+17+15 164-180 2 30-42 2 2 1 2 1 8 O. theohaldi H-B SNAKES OF BURMA 49 Fig. 2. Map of Burma, indicating: (M) the type locality of Oligodon mcdougalli , and the approximate known ranges of geographically adjacent and possibly re- lated species, (C) O. catenata, (D) O. dorsalis , (E) O. erythrorhachis, (H) O. hamptoni , (P) O. plani- ceps. Acknowledgements These observations were made during our examination of Burmese specimens in Indian museums. We thank the officers and members of the Bombay Natural History Society for allowing us to examine their collection. We especially thank Mr. J.C. Daniel, Curator, and A. Gnanasekar, Research Assistant, for their kind assistance. The friendly reception by Mr. Humayun Abdulali, who showed us something of the natural history of the Bombay region, made our visit more enjoyable, and we greatly appreciate it. We also wish to thank the Smithsonian Insti- tution, Washington, D.C., and especially Ms. Francine Berkowitz, for their support of our travel in India and Burma through a Special Foreign Currency grant for our research on “The Snakes of Burma.” References Downs, F.L. (1967): Intrageneric relationships among colubrid snakes of the genus Geophis Wagler. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan (131). Smith, M.A. (1943): The fauna of British India, inclu- ding Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III. Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, London. Taylor, E.H. (1965): The Serpents of Thailand and Adjacent Waters. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 45(9): 609-1096. Wall, F. (1905): Description of a new snake from Burma. Oligodon mcdougalli. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 16: 251-252. (1923): A review of the Indian species of the genus Oligodon supressing the genus Simotes (Ophidia). Rec. Indian Mus. 25: 305-334. 50 BIOECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THREE FIG-LITTER DWELLING SPECIES OF RHYPAROCHROMINAE (INSECTA: HEMIPTERA: LYGAEIDAE)1 Ananda Mukhopadhyay2 {With six text-figures ) Some biological and ecological aspects like occurrence, feeding and reproductive beha- viour, post-embryonic development with nymphal descriptions of three fig-litter dwelling rhy- parochromine bugs, Rhyparothesus bengalensis (Distant), Rhyparothesus sparsus (Distant), and Metochus uniguttatus (Thunberg) are presented in this paper. Introduction Members of rhyparochrominae, the largest lygaeid subfamily, are in majority cryptic litter- dwellers and have therefore, attracted little at- tention of the naturalists. However, some re- cent contributions on the ecology and biology of these bugs from different parts of the globe are that of, Sweet (1964), Slater (1972 & 1975), Eyles (1963, 1964 & 1973), Malipatil (1975 & 1979), May (1965), Thomas (1955), Thompson and Simond (1964) and Putshkova (1956). Bioecological information on Oriental rhy- parochromines are scanty and fragmentary ex- cepting some reports by Thangavelu (1978a) from southern India. Amongst the three fig- litter dwelling species studied here, Rhyparo- thesus bengalensis (Distant) and Rhyparothe- sus sparsus (Distant) are known only from In- dian subregion, as compared to a wider distri- bution of Metochus uniguttatus (Thunberg) throughout the Orient. Maxwell-Lefroy (1909) reported Rh. bengalensis to abound in fallen leaves and debris at the base of the trunks of big trees like Pipal (Hindi) (Peepul, Ficus religio - sa) associated with other rhyparochromines li- ke Elasmolomus sordidus (Fabr.) and Rh. ori- entals (Dist). Further he reported M. unigut- tatus to frequent in fallen leaves and grass in India. However, Chatteijee (1937) reported the species from healthy sandal ( Santalum alba). Except for the original description of Rh. spar- sus and its report from India by Distant (1904) nothing is known about the binomics of the bug. So an attempt is made here to present some ecological and biological information of 'Accepted July 1985. 2Lecturer in Zoology, University of North Bengal, Rajarammohanpur, Dist. Daijeeling, West Bengal - 734430 three of these commonly occurring rhyparo- chromine species of fig-litters in eastern India. The study is meant for better understanding of the life-style of these little known cryptic bugs and their beneficial role in nature. Material and Methods (i) Field collection: All the three species of rhyparochromines were collected by using as- pirator with interchangable vials and some ti- mes using the inlet tubes of different diameters depending on the size of the bug. Slight distur- bance created in the litter- habitat triggered escaping movement of the cryptically coloured bugs and thereby helping in their location. For fast running large species, like M. uniguttatus , hand picking gave better result. (ii) Laboratory rearing: Of the two culture methods, ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ often recommen- ded for lygaeids, the latter was preferable for studying the biology of the three rhyparochro- mine species in question. Small jars (10.5 cm x 9 cm) were chosen for studying the oviposition and fecundity of separate pairs of bugs while for mass rearing and studying some behaviou- ral aspects larger jars (22 cm x 13 cm) were used. The mouths of the jars were covered with cloth. Nymphs were reared in separate vials (10 cm x 3 cm) for recording the nymphal stadia (by detecting exuvae). All the jars and vials were supplied inside with water siphons. The eggs studied for incubation period and hatching success were kept in separate small vials plug- ged with moistened cotton to provide adequate humidity. Observations and Results Habitats and food habits: The three species BIOECOLOGICAI. STUDIES OF RHYPAROCHROMINAE 51 of rhyparochromines were often found to share the same litter habitat of huge peepul trees C Ficus religiosa L.), but in different propor- tions. Rh. spars us also occurred in litters of other figs, like F. benghalensis L. (Banyan) and F. infectoria Roxb. (pakur). Although adult and nymphs of M. uniguttatus were ob- served in litters of F. religiosa and F. bengha- lensis, their nymphs were also found associa- ted with litter of F. hispida Linn. f. The long- legged adults and 5th instar nymphs of this bug were good runners, and therefore, often esca- ped from litter-habitat to surrounding mea- dows and vegetations and could be collected under grass or small weeds. In some places of southern West Bengal and in particular Sagar Island this bug was found to infest unripe pods of gingelly ( Sesamum indie um DC.). M. uni- guttatus was also recorded from the litter of Artocarpus chapalasha Roxb. (Moraceae) and Lagerstroemia speciosa Pers (Lythraceae) from northeastern states of India. From the same region Rh. spars us is recorded from litter of Duabanga sonneratioides Ham. (Lythra- ceae). From spring to autumn the peepul and ba- nyan trees kept irregularly fruiting, thereby, keeping the bug-population flourishing in the litter of different fig trees. Nevertheless in the litter of non-fruiting trees at times some adults and late instar nymphs occurred. On rare occa- sions even in winter, if a peepul or banyan tree bore fruits or had enough dry seeds in the litter, adults and nymphs of all the three species with a number of other lygaeid bugs appeared. In general the colder part of winter (10° . 12°C) was tied over by all the three species in adult form. The fig fruits and seeds present in the litter were the main source of food. The fruits drop- ped with ripening but their shedding was much enhanced by the feeding activity of a number of vertebrate commensals, such as bats, birds, and squirrels (Appendix 1). Seed remnants pre- sent in the droppings (faeces) of these agents were also appropriated by the bugs. Seed defence habit was common to all the three species. Seeds were normally carried at the tip of rostrum to safe and secured places for feeding. Cannibalism was observed in adults and in late instars of Rh. spars us but such a behaviour was uncommon for Rh. bengalensis and M. uniguttatus. Rhyparothesus spars us adults were found feeding on 5th instar, and the latter again on the 4th instar of its own. Canni- balism took place even in presence of good supply of food and water but the propensity increased with the dearth of food and water. Advance nymphs of M. uniguttatus when han- dled without care occasionally inflicted mild bites. Courtship and mating behaviour: The sexual behaviour was found almost similar for all the three species of rhyparochromine. The males of Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis approa- ched a receptive female with up and down mo- vement of the antennae, whereas, the males of M. uniguttatus generally approached with their antennae straight and horizontal. When close to a receptive female, which kept steady, the male patted the female by stroking the an- tennae on its back. On final agreement the male mounted the motionless female often holding her by last two pairs of legs. The courting pair was found at times to be in a still state with the male partially mounted on the female for long periods. To a receptive female the male repea- tedly leaned to one side to secure the attach- ment. After attachment, the male descended and turned in the opposite direction, so that the individuals of a copula faced away from one another. If a female refused to copulate, the male tickled the female first by two legs and antennal ends and then turned over her back for investigation. All the three species repeatedly mated in the same season. In Rhyparothesus spp. a single mating lasted normally from half to one hour, whereas for M. uniguttatus it continued for about a couple of hours in undisturbed condi- tion. The individuals of a copula of Rh. spars us were often found to move their antennae and to continue feeding during the act. Gravid fe- males of all the three species normally avoided male company and rejected any attempt of fur- ther mating. When kept in constant company of male, the freshly emerged virgins of Rh. sparsus started mating within a period of about six days and Rh. bengalensis within three days. Virgin M. uniguttatus laid a few unfertile 52 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 eggs without any male company. Oviposition and fecundity: Rhyparothesus spars us laid eggs scattered, feebly attached to litter substrate and in small furrows made in loose soil. In nature, Rh. bengalensis could not be observed laying but their laying habits in laboratory indicated their similarities with tho- se of Rh. spars us. In laboratory both the spe- cies preferred to attach their eggs to rough, pilose surfaces of cotton cloth, cotton wool and rough surfaces of fig fruits. Peculiar repetitive up and down movements of ovipositor (valves) and its scooping of loose soil particles were observed in the bugs. Eggs were normally laid scattered singly or in small groups of two or three. The apparent sticky nature of the eggs was due to minute warts on the chorion and a fluid on the egg surface. Eggs of M. uniguttatus were also difficult to locate in natural habitat. In laboratory eggs were singly attached to the covering cloth of the rearing jar, on rough sur- face of the fig fruits and at times on smooth glass surface, feebly glued, despite the pre- sence of rough surfaces. Both the species of Rhyparothesus laid on an average larger number of eggs than M. uni- guttatus. However, for Rh. spars us mean eggs laid per female and the average eggs laid per day per female was about double those of Rh. bengalensis (Table 1), nonetheless on consi- dering daily laying rhythms the latter at times exceeded the former (Fig. 1). Incubation: Although incubation periods were overlapping for all the three rhyparochro- mine species, yet eggs of M. uniguttatus hat- ched more successfully than those of other two Rhyparothesus species (Fig. 2). Successful hatching was estimated based on the total eggs collected for 12 consecutive days in early parts of laying periods (Table 2). The eclosion phenomenon was essentially alike in all the three rhyparochromines. The pulsation caused by the embryo from within the egg resulted in a number of irregular cracks within the circlet of the micropylar processes. The cracks extended, making an opening for a wriggling nymph that emerged normally en- veloped in an amniotic membrane. For a suc- cessful hatching the membrane either split-up while the nymph was half inside the chorion or when completely outside it, thereby freeing an active nymph. At times nymphs could not free themselves from the enveloping membrane and as a result perished . Hatching from a batch of egg was usually complete within three days but some eggs did not hatch at all. By the end of laying period a female often started laying fair number of empty, sunken and unfertilized eggs, this was more common for Rh. spars us than the other two species. Table 1 COMPARISON OF PREOVIPOSITION PERIOD, LONGEVITY AND FECUNDITY OF Rh. sparsus, Rh. bengalensis AND M. Uniguttatus (BASED ON FIVE OBSERVATIONS) Preoviposition period (Days) Longevity Female (Days) Total eggs laid / Female Average eggs/ Female /diem Mean 9.8 27.0 Rh. sparsus 23.0 11.31 Range (9-11) (21-33) (105-547) (5-16.58) S.D. 0.83 5.09 174.19 4.45 Mean 4.6 38.8 Rh. bengalensis 221.8 5.91 Range (4-5) (26-52) (177-262) (4.15-7.42) S.D. 0.54 9.33 38.8 1.33 Mean 10.6 22.8 M. uniguttatus 89.0 3.68 Range (9-12) (17-29) (19-171) (1. 1-5.9) S.D. 1.14 4.76 55.23 1.8 BIOECOLOGICAL STUDIES OE RHYPAROCHROM/NAE 53 DAYS Rh. sparsus Rh. bengalensis M. uniguttatus lul LLiJLLll 25 30 Fig. 1. Oviposition trends of three species of Rhyparochrominae. 1 III HATCHING SUCCESS I Rh. sparsus II Rh. bengalensis III M.uniguttatus 84.6% 65.97% 81.25% 55.% 90% 71.62% 41.3% 32.61% 46.6% Fig. 2. Hatching success of three species of Rhyparochrominae. Post embryonic development: Of the two species of Rhyparothesus, Rh. bengalensis in- terestingly took rather a longer period for its nymphal development than the other conge- ner, Rh. sparsus (Table 3). The former, howe- ver showed an overlapping range of post- embryonic periods with M. uniguttatus (Fig. 3 A-E). The maximum nymphal mortality of the rhy- parochromines occurred in first and second instars, and when kept isolated, the mortality increased. Nymphs metamorphosed more suc- cessfully when reared in numbers in the same jar. Rough surfaces like fruit- rind, cotton- plug, piece of cloth were often preferred for casting the exuviae. 54 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 COMPARISON OF INCUBATION PERIODS AND HATCHING SUCCESS OF Rh. spars us, Rh. bengalensis AND M. uniguttatus EGGS (BASED ON OBSERVATIONS OF TWELVE BATCHES OF EGGS) Incubation period Successful (Days) hatching (%) Mean Rh. sparsus 4.33 65.97 Range (3-5) (41.3-84.6) S.D. 0.577 12.87 Mean Rh. bengalensis 6.25 55.0 Range (4-8) (32.61-81.25) S.D. 0.753 11.73 Moan M. uniguttatus 5.85 71.62 Range (5-6) (46.6-90.0) S.D. 1.354 17.48 The egg: Eggs of Rh. spars us and Rh. ben- galensis are similar in general appearance. Freshly laid eggs are shiny, cylindrically ovoid, pale yellow (pearly), cephalic end sligh- tly broader than the other. Maturing eggs turn reddish, showing red colour of the embryo’s eyes. Under high magnification, chorion ap- pears rough with rows of spiny warts and cir- clet of micropylar processes at the cephalic end (Fig. 4 A). M. uniguttatus eggs are more cylin- drical with both the ends bluntly rounded. Freshly laid eggs were pale yellow but on ma- turity turned pink or reddish yellow. Deep red bands (impression of nymphal abdomen and eyes) were visible through the translucent cho- rion (Fig. 6 A). Eggs of M. uniguttatus were greater in length and diameter than the eggs of other two Rhyparothesus spp. which showed overlap- ping ranges of measurements (Table 4). Description of the nymphal instars: (Mea- surements in mm. are the means based on ten specimens). Nymphs of Rh. bengalensis clo- sely resemble those of Rh. spars us and are morphologically difficult to distinguish (spe- cially the early instars) excepting when mor- phometries are taken into account. So the fol- lowing descriptions up to fourth instar in ge- neral hold good for both the species of Rhy- parothesus. 1st nymphal instar: (Figs. 4B and 6B). Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis: Head, pro-and meso-notum pale yellow; anterior abdomen and patch around dorsal abdominal scent- gland openings reddish yellow; eyes ruby red; pale yellow antennae with brown annular band at proximal region of pilosed 3rd and 4th seg- ments; first segment with a fuscous thin proxi- Table 3 COMPARISON OF STADIA AND POST EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT PERIOD OF Rh. sparsus, Rh. bengalensis, AND M. uniguttatus (BASED ON TEN OBSERVATIONS) (Days) 1st Instar 2nd Instar 3rd Instar 4th Instar 5th Instar Total Rh. sparsus Mean 4.5 4.4 3.3 3.0 5.4 20.6 Range (4-5) (3-5) (2-5) (2-5) (4-7) (17-24) S.D. 0.527 0.699 0.823 1.247 0.966 2.17 Rh. bengalensis Mean 7.9 8.0 3.9 4.2 7.8 31.8 Range (7-9) (5-13) (2-5) (3-6) (5-12) (26-41) S.D. 0.875 2.538 0.994 1.135 2.616 4.442 M. uniguttatus Mean 6.7 6.8 5.1 5.8 10.0 34.4 Range (6-8) (6-8) (4-6) (5-7) (8-13) (30-38) S.D. 0.823 0.788 0.737 0.788 1.699 2.674 BIOECOLOGICAL STUDIES OF RHYPAROCHROMINAE 55 STADIUM I STADIUM 4 STADIUM 5 Fig. 3. (A-E). Frequency distribution of duration of 1st to 5th instars of three species of Rhyparochrominae. Abscissae, time in days; ordinates, number of ob- servations. Table 4 COMPARISON OF MICROPYLAR PROCESSES, LENGTH AND BREADTH OF Rh. spars us, Rh. bengalensis and M. uniguttatus EGGS (BASED ON TEN OBSERVATIONS) Micropylar Length Breadth processes (mm) (mm) Rh. spars us Mean 6.0 0.89 0.43 Range (5-7) (0.85-0.9) (0.4-0.45) S.D. 1.0 0.02 0.02 Rh. bengalensis Mean 5.6 0.92 0.41 Range (5-7) (0.89-0.%) (0.36-0.48) S.D. 0.894 0.112 0.192 M. uniguttatus Mean 5.4 1.31 0.56 Range (5-6) (1.3-1.35) (0.5-0. 6) S.D. 0.547 0.02 0.04 mal band; labial segments pale except brow- nish 1st and 4th segments; legs luteous, hind femora blackish, fore femora with one small spine located ventrolaterally at distal inner end; pleural and other coxal area brownish. M. uniguttatus : Head and thorax deep brown; metathoracic region reddish membra- nous with a pair of brown rectangular scleroti- zation at metanotal region; eyes deep red; 1st and 4th antennal segment partly and 3rd fully fuscous; excepting 3rd, tip of 4th and 1st, 2nd labial segments fuscous; abdomen bright red with pale yellow colour between the red band of anterior abdomen and black plate surroun- ding scent glands on tergal segments 3rd- 4th, 4th-5th and 5th-6th; anal segment black; legs luteous with tibia light ochraceous; labium rea- ches 5th abdominal segment; 3 preorbital and 2 postorbital setae on head; 1st, 2nd antennal segments pubescent; anal segment with a pair of ventrolateral bristles; labial end with some and each thorax with a pair of setae on each side; mid ventral abdomen with sparse decum- bent hair. Rh. spars us Rh. bengalensis M .uniguttatus Body length 1.4 1.37 2.01 Head width 0.37 0.34 0.5 Max. pronotal width 0.39 0.35 0.5 56 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 2nd mynsplsal instar: (Figs. 4C and 6C). Rh. spars us and Rh. hengalensis : Brownish, clo- sely resembles 1st instar excepting the follo- wing changes of characters; mesonotal brown colour reduced and confined to its anterior part: anterior abdomen with deep brown band (for yellow-red band of 1 st instar) sparsed with pale small dots; dark brown patches present between dorsal scent gland openings of abdo- men; 1st antennal segment with deep blackish annulation; pro- and mesonotum with lateral ampliation; fore femora black with single pro- minent spine; abdominal margins with brown patches at 2nd-3rd and 3rd-4th terga; labium reaches 3rd coxae. M. uniguttatus: Dirty pale; head, thorax deep brown; first four tergal segments of abdo- men pale yellow, rest dull red; sternum and abdomen ventrally pale; single seta present on each side of pro- and mesonotum; one pair of bristles on anal segment persists; some mor- phological changes from the 1st instar are, dar- ker pro- and mesonotum with ampliate lateral margin; ‘Y’ suture present; labium reaching 3rd abdominal segment. Rh. sparsus Rh. bengalensis i M .uniguttatus Body length 1.83 2.03 2.99 Head width 0.51 0.48 0.65 Max. pronotal width 0.56 0.56 0.71 3rd nymptial instar: (Figs. 4D and 6D). Rh. sparsus and Rh. bengalensis : Brownish, re- sembling the 2nd instar nymph but larger and glossy; a few changes are, light brown colour of head and pronotum; well developed brownish mesonotum sparsed with few pale-yellow dots; tiny pale buds of meso-thoracic wing pads; brown markings around dorsal adbominal scent gland openings much dilute and sparse with pale dots; labium just reaches 2nd coxae; 2nd fore femoral spine developing. M. uniguttatus : Ant mimic; ‘Y’ suture very prominent lined with dark stripes; 1st and 2nd tergal segment dark brown, 3rd and 4th relati- vely light and the rest light red; mesothorax shows posterior extension of wing pads, co- vering anterior part of metathorax; labium rea- ches 3rd abdominal segment; older 3rd instar nymphs are darker; setae on head, thorax and anal segments and median pale line of thorax obscure. Rh. sparsus Rh. bengalensis M. uniguttatus Body length 2.76 2.94 4-. 13 Head width 0.69 0.68 0.85 Max. pronotal width 0.83 0.86 0.86 4th nymphal instar: (Figs. 4E and 6E): Rh. sparsus and Rh. bengalensis: General appea- rance brown, mixed with pale yellow and abdo- men with tint of red; perceptible changes over 3rd instar are the arborescent designs of brown and pale markings on head, pro- and mesono- tum; mesothoracic wing pads weli developed which cover almost whole of the metanotum; tibiae with rows of well developed bristles; antennal and labial segments largely (mostly) brown; fore femora with two prominent and few budding spines; major part of femora, ti- biae and distal tarsal joint brown. M. uniguttatus: Ant mimic; back with red- dish abdomen; head, pro- and mesonotum black; 1st and 2nd abdominal segment blac- kish; ‘Y’ suture prominently lined with white stripe, dark patch between 2nd and 3rd scent gland openings of abdomen; wing pads extend up to 1st abdominal segment; small fine setae on head, pro- and mesonotum; single spine in anterior femora well developed and small spi- nes present on tibiae; labium reaches posterior coxae. Rh. sparsus Rh. bengalensis M. uniguttatus Body length 3.64 4.07 5.91 Head width 0.92 0.9 1.13 Max. pronotal width 1.25 1.27 1.23 5th nymphal instar: (Figs 4F and 6F). Rh. sparsus and Rh. bengalensis: Pale brown dif- fers from 4th instar in having triangular head designed with brown markings on pale yellow; trapezoidal pronotum with laminated amplia- ted margins and variegated designs made of yellow, brown and red patches; mesothoracic wing pads underlined by metathoracic wing pads extend beyond middle of 3rd abdominal segment; scutellar impression present in bet- BIOECOL OGICA L STUDIES OF RHYPAROCHROM/NAE 57 ween the wing pads; femora with black punc- tures and six or more prominent spines. 5th instar nymphs of Rh. bengalensis differ from that of Rh. spars us in the following cha- racters; Trochanter of anterior leg pale as com- pared to black; anterior and lateral part of me- tapleuron with an obscure pale spot; overall dorsal appearance paler; pair of blackish patch in mid dorsal region of anterior and posterior margin of pronotum obscured by suffused pale small spots (dots) as compared to prominent and broad black patches in the same position, without any pale spot (Fig. 5). M. uniguttatus : Ant mimic, older nymphs black; 2nd and 3rd coxae, trochanter, proximal femoral region pale; 1st and 4th rostral segment black; 4th antennal segment with a white ring; head, pro- and mesonotum, wing pads and first three abdominal segments black; rest of the abdomen with dirty pale spots; pro- and meso- notum with setae; wing pads extend up to the middle of the 3rd tergal segment; labium rea- ches 4th abdominal segment; fore femur with four prominent spines and all tibiae with spi- nous setae. Rh. sparsus Rh. bengalensis M. uniguttatus Body length 5.3 5.36 8.1 Head width 1.1 1.1 1.46 Max. pronotal wfdth 1.76 1.73 1.84 Adults: (Figs. 4G and 6G). Morphology of Rh. spars us is adequately described by Distant (1904) and Rh. bengalensis by Distant (1910); M. uniguttatus is described by Thunberg (1822) and subsequently repeated by Distant (1904) in Fauna of British India, Rhynchota. So, the description of the adults are not unne- cessarily repeated here. However, a compari- son of their morphological measurements (averages) is provided. Rh. sparsus Rh. bengalensis M. uniguttatus Body length 6.89 5.95 12.40 Head width 1.25 1.14 1.76 Max. pronotal width 2.23 2.05 2.91 Enemies and defence: Birds like Common Myna [Acridotheres tristis (Linn.)], Magpie Robin [Copsychus saularis (Linn.)], domestic chicks, at times Fivestriped Squirrel ( Funam - buius pennanti Wroughton) and also probably skinks and toads picked Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis from the litter. The enemies of M. uniguttatus could not be properly observed. Though a number of predators like spiders, mantids, reduviids, anthocorids and geocori- nes (predatory lygaeids) were little noticed yet these invertebrates had an appreciable capa- city to attack soft-bodied nymphs of Rhyparo- thesus and Metochus species, and a few other lygaeids like Botocudo and Appolonius of the same litter habitat as well. The defence mechanism of adults and ad- vance nymphs of Rh. spars us and Rh. ben- galensis seemed to be their sordid concealing colour, that exactly matched the background of dry leaves and fruits in the litter. So, in still condition these were indistinguishable from the substrate below. M. uniguttatus however, tried to find cover to avoid enemy, in cracks, crevices, under stones or litter particles. Ano- ther mode of defence was by escaping, when disturbed, by scattering at bewildering speed, so that the enemy got too puzzled to concentra- te on any one of them. After feeding, the Rhy- parothesus spp. often took refuge in inaccessi- ble crevices or inside leaf rolls to escape no- tice. A special kind of defence mechanism was by adopting mimicry. The shape and the colour of the 1st and 2nd nymphs of Rhyparothesus spp., especially their dirty yellow abdomen, highly resembled and matched the mature fig seeds, so that, when feeding on exposed fruits, they were indistinguishable. Adults and advan- ced nymphs of M. uniguttatus were observed to have very close resemblance to different ant species, mantid nymphs, and spiders (since the latter also mimicked ants of the same habitat). Variation in size and colour: The colour of Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis seemed to depend on the season and availability of food. In drier seasons the bugs generally had a darker shade and grew smaller in size. The variation of size within the same population was more evi- dent in Rh. bengalensis than in Rh. spars us or M. uniguttatus. Nevertheless, in the latter spe- cies sexual dimorphism was noticeable. Than- gavelu (1978b) reported antennal oligomery in 58 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 4. (a-e ). Stages of life cycle of Rhyparothesus sparsus (dorsal views). a. Eggs showing warty chorion and cephalic end with micropylar processes; b. 1st instar nymph; c. 2nd instar nymph; d. 3rd instar nymph, e. 4th instar nymph. BIOECOLOGICAL STUDIES OF RHYPAROCHROM1NAE 59 Fig. 5. 5th instar nymph of Rhyparothesus bengalensis. Rhyparothesus sparsus (dorsal view). Fig. 4f. Fifth instar nymph; 4g. Adult. ‘This paper constitutes a part of the Ph D. thesis, entitled “Taxonomy of lygaeid bugs (Heteroptera : Inseeta) from West Bengal with aspects of bioecology of some representative species” that was submitted to the University of Calcutta with the subsequent award of the degree in 1983. The project was financed by Dept, of Science and Technology through Zoological Survey of India fellowship during the period 1978 to 1981. 60 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 I mm BIOECOLOGI CAL STUDIES OF RHYPAROCHROMINAE 61 Fig. 6. (a-S). Stages of life cycle of Metochus uniguttatus (dorsal view), a. Eggs showing cylindrical structure and circlets of micropylar processes; b. First instar nymph; c. Second insta nymph; d. Third instar nymph, e. Fourth instar nymph; f. Fifth instar nymph; g. Adult. I mm 62 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vo/. 56 populations of M. uniguttatus from south India but no such variation was evident from West Bengal. Only a few nymphs of Rh. spars us, however, showed three segmented antennae. Discussion The two species of Rhyparochrominae, Rhyparothesus bengalensis and Rh. spars us,. that are chiefly confined to the fig litters and litters of a few other plant families of the tro- pics, have so far been found endemic to the Indian subregion. The possibility of their pre- sence in other tropical countries of the Orient, where the typical host plants exist, is fair; due to lack of extensive survey and intensive search for these procryptic forms in the litter habitats, particularly in the fruiting seasons, the nature of their true distribution is unk- nown. The more active and polyphagous rhy- parochromine, Metochus uniguttatus, because of its fast running and flying activities probably has a wider distribution in the tropics and sub- tropics, namely China, Philippines, Indochina and Indonesia (Slater 1964). The occurrence of all the three species in the -fig litter habitat is principally governed by the availability of food rather than ambient condi- tion. The fig-litter though apparently gives the impression of a permanent habitat is in reality a temporary one. However, for breeding they prefer moderate temperature of spring and au- tumn synchronized with the availability of food. So, these seasons suited laboratory rea- ring ideally. Slater ( 1972) while studying the fig trees and the associated lygaeid fauna in South Africa and West Indies observed that various species of birds and monkeys regularly fed on the fig fruits. Almost a parallel situation was observed for the Ficus spp. in lower West Bengal. The birds and mammals were greatly responsible for preparing the temporary (subclimax) fig- litter habitat congenial to feeding and breeding activities of the lygaeids. The major associated species of birds and mammals during their fee- ding activity (list provided in appendix 1) was- ted and dropped much of the fruits from syco- nium. Even their droppings (faeces), contai- ning undigested or semi-digested seeds, for- med an important dietary item of the litter ly- gaeids. So the commensalistic role of these vertebrates was quite apparent. As a member of pentatomorpha, lygaeid eggs lack a true operculum and have an an- terior ring of varying number of micropylar processes (5-9) for sperm passage and air ex- change (Sweet 1964). The micropylar proces- ses of the three rhyparochromine species ran- ged between 5 to 7 and, therefore, are in con- formity with the above information. Sweet (1964) observed for rhyparochromi- nes that the embryonic cuticle in all cases were shed after complete emergence from eggs. Ho- wever in the present study the reason for rup- ture of the embyonic membrane at different stages, like when the nymph is well inside the chorion, when half its way out, or after comple- te emergence could not be properly unders- tood. Another difference noticed was that the successful hatching took place simultaneously with nymphal mortality from the same batch of eggs of the same female, the latter taking place when the wriggling nymphs were unable to free themselves of the embryonic membrane, pro- bably due to stiffening of the membrane by drying. The egg-laying habit of Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis agrees with Sweet’s observation (1964) on litter dwelling New England rhyparo- chromines. These bugs mostly preferred loose soil for laying. In order to choose oviposition site, as already described, the bugs stimulated the sensory hairs of their ovipositors by repea- ted probing and lifting the egg-laying organ in the form of plough on the soil surface, which was followed by oviposition. The egg-laying trend of the three rhyparochromines showed a general pattern, with a steady increase in the number of eggs/day/ female in first half of the oviposition period and a steady decline in the second half (Fig. 1). However, M. uniguttatus at the end of the oviposition period had a steep decline in the rate of egg laying, which may be due to the mortality of most females in laying condition as these were reared on Ficus his - pida fruits, probably a not much preferred host plant or not an ideal one for stimulating ovipo- sition. Eyles (1963) indicated that the nymphs of BIOECOLOG1CAL STUDIES OF RHYPAROCHROM1NAE 63 several species of Scolopostethus were not distinguishable in the field and the larval body measurements were similar in all the species studied in the genus. Almost a parallel example of this paradoxical situation are the immature stages of the two species of Rhyparothesus, Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis almost sha- ring the same ecological niche. The first four instars having very close similarities, even had their morphometries overlapping. Unlike Sweet’s (1964) observation of a lon- ger development period for smaller bugs, An- tellocoris , and shorter for the larger species of Ligyrocoris, the overlapping ranges of the post embryonic development period of the three species suggests that the development rates may be dependent on the adaptations to the habitat, food, seasonal cycles, and surroun- ding conditions, but not to the size of the rhy- parochromine bugs. As none of the three species showed any preference for probing any particular site of a seed, it is probable that they feed on the endos- perm and the embryo indifferently, unlike one that is found in Drymus sylvaticus that only feeds on the embryo of seeds (Eyles 1964). The extreme example of seed defence beha- viour was where the bugs fight physically over a seed, as observed by Sweet (1964) for Pachy- brachius. This was found to be common among the males of Rh. spars us and Rh. bengalensis , who sometimes fought even without a seed in possession, thus indicating that such disputes were not always over food directly but possibly over territory of feeding and stored food sa- fety. The rhyparochromines in general show ma- ting behaviour where the male vibrates the an- tennae rapidly near the female and climbs upon her deliberately (Sweet 1964). The two Rhy- parothesus species showed no exception to this habit, but because Af. uniguttatus produ- ces a feeble sound by stridulating hind tarsi against hemielytral surface (Thangavelu 1978a) it is likely that the sound is involved neither in offence nor defence but in courtship. So, ma- ting behaviour of this rhyparochromine would better fit a different category where the male employs a forefemoral activity (stimulations) and vibrating antennae, as has been suggested for the long-legged Myodochini by Sweet (1964). While some ant mimicry of interest from Indian subregion is reported by Thangavelu (1978a) there seems to exist certain mimicry complex in some of the fig-litter habitats as observed in West Bengal. Ants, spiders, nymphs of mantids, and adult and nymphal lygaeids often coexisted with close mimicry. All showed a convergent adaption, but it was difficult to ascertain the model and the mimic in such a situation. Conventionally, however, ants might be taken as a model since most nymphs of mantids Gonypeta sp., and most adults and nymphs of lygaeids like Pachybra - chius pallicornis, Metochus uniguttatus , Pseu- dopachybrachius gut t us, and Appolonius spp. resembled one or the other species of ants of the same habitat. Gonypeta sp. which predated on other insects might be thought to have ag- gressive mimicry in resembling the ant Dia - camma vagans ; such resemblance was also found common in an ant-like spider of the same habitat. Colour and size variations observed in Rh. spars us, and Rh. bengalensis seem partly due to the change in the same habitat, and the state of food and moisture available at different sea- sons. The light and dark shades of the same bug may be due to change in its physiology that depends on its diet. So, the study of the life styles of the three commonly occurring rhyparochromine bugs of the fig-litters reflect certain important ecologi- cal aspects that also hold good for most other seed-feeding bugs of the same habitat. Apart from their untiring role as reducers and secon- dary decomposers of litters to replenish the soil nutrients, their noble involvement in seed dis- persal because of their seed-defence behaviour has to be appreciated in context with today’s crying need for expansion of mixed type forests to restore the environmental balance. Acknowledgements The guidance of Dr T. N. Ananthakrishnan, former Director. Zoological Survey of India, is gratefully acknowledged. Sincere thanks are due to Dr K. Thangavelu, Jt. Director, Central 64 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 Silk Board, Assam, and to Dr B. Dutta, Su- perintending Zoologist, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, for their constant encourage- ment and help during the course of this re- search work. Thanks are due to Dr M. Malipa- til, Museum, Darwin, Australia and Mr W R Dolling, British Museum (Natural History), London, for their help with literature and iden- tification. References Chatterjee, N.C. (1937): Entomological investigation on the spike disease of sandal (32) Lygaeidae (Hemiptera). Indian Forest Rec. 5(4): 110-111. Distant, W.L. (1904): ‘Fauna of British India, inclu- ding Ceylon and Burma. Rhynchota’ Vol. II (Heteroptera). (Taylor and Francis: London). ( 1 9 1 0) : ‘ Fauna of British India, including Cey- lon and Burma. Rhynchota’ Voi. V (Heteroptera). (Taylor and Francis: London). Eyles, A.E. (1963): Life history of some Rhyparochro- minae (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). Trans. Soc. Brit. Ent. 15: 135-166. (1964): Feeding habits of some Rhyparochro- minae (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) with particular reference to the value of natural foods. Trans. R. Ent. Soc. Lond. 116(5): 89-114. (1973): Monograph of the genus Dieuches Dohm (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) (Dunedin, New Zealand.) Malipatil, M.B. (1975): Immature.stages of some New Zealand Rhyparochrominae. N. Z. J. Zool. 2(4): 381-388. — (1979): The biology of some Lygaeidae (He- miptera: Heteroptera) of south-east Queensland. Aust. J. Zool. 27: 231-249. Maxwell-Lefroy, H. (1909): Indian Insect life. Agri- cultural Research Institute, Pusa, Today and Tomorrow Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, Reprint ed. (1971). May, B.M. (1965): Bionomics and ecology of Dieuches notatus (Dallas 1853) (Heteroptera: Rhyparochrominae) an im- migrant to New Zealand, N.Z. J. Sci. 8(2): 192-204. Putshkova, V.G. (1956): Basic trophic groups of phy- tophagous hemipterous insects and changes in the charac- ter of their feeding during the processes of development. Zool. Zh. 35: 32-44. Slater, J.A. (1964): A catalogue of the Lygaeidae of the world. University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. Vol. II. (1972): Lygaeid bugs (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) as seed predators of figs. Biotropica 4(3): 145-151. — (1975): On the biology and zoogeography of Australian Lygaeidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) with spe- cial reference to the South-West fauna. J. Aust. Ent. Soc. 14: 47-64. Sweet, M.H. (1964): The biology and ecology of Rhy- parochrominae of New England (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) Entomologica am. 44: 1-210. Thangavelu, K. (1978a): On the ethology of Lygaei- dae of the scrub jungle of South India (Hemiptera: He- teroptera). J. Nat. Hist. 12: 289-294. (1978b): Antennal oligomery in three species of Rhyparochromines (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). Entomon 5(1): 123- 126. Thomas, D.C. (1955): Notes on the biology of some Hemiptera- Heteroptera IV - Lygaeidae. Entomologist 88: 145-152. Thompson, W.R. & Simond, F.J. (1964): A catalogue of the parasites and predators of the insect pests. Sect. I. part 3. Parasites of Hemiptera Commonwealth Agric. Bureau, London, pp. 1- 113. Thunberg, C.P. (1822): Dissertation entomologica de Hemipteris Rostratis capensibus (Hand written copy in U.S. N.M.) 4: 1-6. Appendix 1 LIST OF HIGHER VERTEBRATES PARTICIPATING IN COMMENSALISM Common Names ScientificNames Birds Common Myna Greyheaded Myna Large Green Barbet Coppersmith or the C rimsonbreasted Barbet Koel Common Green Pigeon Redvented Bulbul Redwhiskered Bulbul Grey Tit Acridotheres ?mf/s(Linn.) Sturnus malabaricus( Gemelin) Megalima zey Ionic a( Gmelin) Megalaimahaemacephala Eudynamys scolopacea (Linn.) Treron phoenicoptera( Latham) Pycnonotus cafer( Linn.) Pycnonotus jocosus( Linn.) Parus major Linn. Mammals 1 . Fivestriped Palm squirrel 2. Fruit Bat Funambulus pennanti Wroughton Cynopterus sphinx Vahl 65 DIET OF THE SMOOTH INDIAN OTTER ( LUTRA PERSP1CILLATA ) AND OF FISH EATING BIRDS; A FIELD SURVEY1 Christine Tiler, Megan Evans, Clare Heardman and Susan Houghton2 { With six text-figures) A five month field study of the smooth Indian otter (Lutra perspicillata) was carried out, beginning mid October 1984. It took place within the Royal Chitwan National Park, which is situated in the belt of subtropical jungle of the terai, Southern Nepal. The seventy-five kilometre stretch of the Narayani River which runs within the Park was surveyed for otter spoor. A survey of the fish population was also carried out in order to identify the fish species present and their distribution. The results of the otter survey are reported here. A total of 172 spraints were collected and the faecal components analysed. The remains of fish, frog, crab, insect and small mammals were identified. The relative importance of the major dietary components was com- pared along the length of the river. In the southernmost sections surveyed fish were much more common in the diet, whereas further north frogs became increasingly more important. By the comparison of distinctive fish re- mains with a reference collection compiled during the course of the fish survey, it was possible to identify to species level the remains of some fish. Of a total of seventy fish species captured during the course of the study, twen- ty-six were identified from pharyngeal teeth and dorsal spines recovered in faeces. Fish vertebrae were measured to give an index of prey size. The regurgitated pellets produced by fish- eating birds were dissected to give an indica- tion of fish species eaten and their size range, and to enable comparison between birds and otters. The data suggests birds predominantly predate small, shoal-living fish. Introduction The smooth Indian otter is only found within southern Asia. A survey by Wayre (1971) has shown the species to be nearly extinct in Pakis- tan, becoming rare in Thailand, and only abun- dant in less populated areas of Malaysia. Its status elsewhere in Southern Asia is unknown. In Nepal, this species is known to exist in the Royal Chitwan National Park, and in the Kar- nali reserve in the West of Nepal (K.K. Gurung, personal communication). Within its 'Accepted October 1986. University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M 13 9PL (U.K.) range the smooth Indian otter inhabits both coastal and fresh waters, the latter being prefer- red, and is said to require for its territory ap- proximately eight to ten kilometre stretches of river (Wayre 1974). No detailed studies to date have been done on the diet of the smooth Indian otter in its natural habitat. Most dietary studies have been on species belonging to the genus Lutra but mainly on the common otter (Lutra lutra) and sea otter (Enhydra lutras). Since otters are dif- ficult to observe, most dietary studies have been done indirectly by faecal analysis. This paper reports on the survey of this spe- cies distribution within the Royal Chitwan Na- tional Park, and on the results of faecal analysis. Methods Between mid October 1984 and the end of February 1985 the seventy-five kilometre stretch of the Narayani river within the Park was surveyed to assess the distribution of the smooth Indian otter. During the survey both river banks were searched on foot for spoor. The position of spraints was recorded as well as their size and association with habitat fea- tures. Subsequent to collection spraints were washed in a fine sieve and left to dry in the sun. They were then individually dissected and the various components separated. In some cases 66 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 it was possible to identify from which fish spe- cies pharyngeal teeth and dorsal spines origina- ted by comparison with a reference collection of identified, boned fish which was compiled during the course of the study. A similar technique was used to determine the composition of regurgitated pellets left along the river bank by fish eating birds. This facilitated a comparison of the species taken by each group of fish predator. Fish vertebrae found in otter spraints and bird pellets were measured along their anteri- or-posterior axis to give an indication of the size ranges of prey. Results Spoor Distribution: For the purpose of this study the Narayani was divided into eight sec- tions (figure 1). Otter spoor were found along the entire length of the Narayani within the Park with two exceptions: (i) in November no signs were found in regions one, two and three, but by Ja- nuary they were plentiful in these re- gions; (ii) no signs were found in region eight. Otter signs were found both on banks inside and outside the Park boundary although no holt or play sites were found in the cultivated area outside the Park boundary. Spraints were col- lected from one of two types of sprainting sites which differed in a number of respects: (i) single spraints. These were found al- most exclusively on prominant rocks, logs, or scraped up mounds. Single spraints could be as close as one and a half metres apart and tended to be situa- r Fig. 1. Narayani River within Chitwan, showing regions 1-8. DIET OF SMOOTH INDIAN OTTER 67 single spraints -til i n , . . n multiple spraint sites O' l flrRr- 5 6 n n 7 8 9 10 • n 12 • 13 14 15 1 16 " distance from waters edge > gf-S'/* Fig. 2. Relationship between the two spraint types (single and multiple spraint sites) and distance from the river. ted within three metres from the river’s edge (figure 2). (ii) multiple spraints . These were found on dry sandy banks or sand and shingle banks, sometimes marking river con- fluences. Larger sites were found at le- ast fifty metres apart and in general were further from the water’s edge (fi- gure 2). The sprainting behaviour of the smooth In- dian otter is similar to that of other members of the genus Lutra , in particular to that of the common otter (Lutra lutra) in Britain. Spraint Analysis: Within each of the regions one to eight the spraint data was summed and represented by the pie graphs in figure 3. Spraint components were fish, frog, shrimp, crab, insect, snake and small mammal. The proportions of the dietary components found in the faeces varied between regions. In the sou- thernmost regions, one and two the predomi- nant remains found in spraints were from fish (ninety-four per cent and seventy-six per cent respectively). Progressing north of region two frog bones were increasingly common in spraints, comprising as much as fifty-eight per cent in region seven. The remains of other prey such as crabs, shrimps, snakes and insects were also more common in spraints north of region two. Twenty-six of the commonest fish species could be identified to species by examination of pharyngeal teeth and distinctive spines. Other workers have used various types of undi- gested fish remains for identification purposes. These include fish scales (Webb 1978), verte- brae (Wise 1980) and pharyngeal teeth. As well as being identified, teeth were mea- sured. For any spraint, if two sets of teeth from the same species were of the same size and from opposite sides of the head then it was assumed both originated from the same fish. Thus an estimate of the minimum number of fish occurring in a spraint was obtained. Figure 4 shows the frequency with which each fish species was identified from spraints, and the minimum number of fish present ip Fig. 3. Composition of the diet of the smooth Indian otter in regions 1-7 (no samples from region 8). 68 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 each spraint. The results for all regions is summed. Comparison with fish-eating birds: The com- position of regurgitated pellets deposited by fish-eating birds was examined in an attempt to assess which fish species were of most dietary importance. The most common species of fish eating birds in the Park are the large cormorant (Phalacrocorax car bo), small pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis), Eurasian kingfisher (Alcedo at - this), white breasted kingfisher (Halcyon smyr- nensis), night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), pond heron (Ardeola grayii), intermediate egret (Egretta alba) and little egret (Egretta garzetta). Figure 5 shows the frequency with which teeth of each fish species were found in bird pellets. There is considerable overlap in the species taken by otters and birds, although the predominance of teeth from Puntius sp., Bari - lus sp., and Danio devario in bird pellets sug- gests a prediliction for small, shoal- living spe- cies. To compare the size-ranges of fish captured by the two groups of predator, vertebrae found in spraints and pellets were measured along their anterior-posterior axis. It has been repor- ted that there is a direct relationship between the size of the vertebrae and the size of the fish species — > Fig. 5. Frequency with which teeth from each fish species were found in bird pellets. Fig. 4. Frequency with which teeth from each fish species were found in otter spraints. DIET OF SMOOTH INDIAN OTTER 69 (Wise 1980). The size ranges of vertebrae found in individual spraints and pellets are plotted in figure 6. Vertebrae found in bird pellets all lay within the range 0.25 - 2 mm, whereas those found in otter spraints ranged from 0.25 - 4.5 mm. Discussion Dietary analysis from faecal component data is an indirect method. As such, the techni- que is prone to bias, some prey items, notably crustaceans, will have a higher proportion of hard: soft parts and so will be over-represented in the faeces. Within the seventy-five kilometre stretch of the Narayani under study there is considerable variation in the composition of the otter’s diet. In regions one and two the major constituent is fish, further north other components, notably fi 45i 40* 35 30 25 20- 5 I 10 05 0 30 15\ 20 t« I VO 051 0 Vertebrae from otter spraints Vertebrae from bird pellets Fig, I „ samples- frog, become more important. Dietary dif- ferences could be attributable to a number of factors. The river’s topography varies, and this is likely to affect both the prey available and the most effective foraging methods. In regions one and two the river runs in a single channel and in many places the banks descend steeply into the water. North of region two the river is braided into a number of channels by islands. Here the river has sandy stretches where the water is slow flowing, and faster flowing re- gions with a stony river bed. Conditions in regions one and two are favourable for fish requiring a large, deep and slowly flowing body of water. Further north, fish which prefer shal- low, fast-flowing wafer or sandy pools will be more common. Other potential prey species inhabiting the sandy pools include shrimp and freshwater crabs. Human fishing activity is another factor li- 6. Size range of fish vertebrae found in bird pellets and otter spraints (the size range for each sample is represented by a single line ) . Fig. 6. Size range of fish vertebrae found in bird pellets and otter spraints (the size range for each sample is represented by a single line). 70 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 kely to influence the availability of prey. Fishing by local people occurs where the river forms the Park’s boundary. This is the case north of region two. The Park authorities prohibit the use of methods particularly dama- ging to the fish population such as fish traps placed over small tributaries and the practice of damming and draining short sections of the river. However, both these methods which da- mage fish stocks by removing large numbers of immature fish are still in use in the Park. Evidence both from local fishermen and our own fish survey (Evans et al. 1985) suggests that where there is human access to the river north of region two, stocks are over-fished. By comparison, stocks in regions one and two will not be subjected to overfishing for two rea- sons. Firstly, human access is restricted by the fact this stretch of the river is bordered on both sides by the National Park. Secondly, the fact the river is broad and deep prevents the use of fish traps and damming and draining methods. Both the effects of the river’s topography and of human fishing activity are consistent with our data, and it is difficult to assess the contribution of each. The considerable dietary variation shown in this study suggests otters are able to exploit a wide range of prey, a valuable attribute where fish stocks are low. However, other predators which rely more he- avily on fish, for example the endangered spe- cies of crocodile, the gharial (Gavialis gangeti- cus) and the rare Gangetic dolphin (Plantasia gangetica) may be more seriously be affected by the results of overfishing. The identification of fish remains to species level provides precise dietary information on Refer Evans, M., Heardman, C,. Houghton, S. & Tiler, C. (1985): An ecological survey of the Narayani River, within the Royal Chitwan National Park - a study of the fish distribution and their predators, in particular the smooth Indian otter (Lutra perspicillata). Report of the University of Edinburgh Expedition to Nepal. Wayre,P. (1971): Report on the status of otters in West Pakistan with suggestions for their conservation, Pakistan Wildlife Appeal, Lahore and The Pheasant Trust, Nor- wich. prey items found in spraints. However, this data cannot be used to make inferences about species not positively identified in spraints. There are various reasons why distinctive bone fragments may not appear in the faeces. Parti- cularly fragile teeth are more likely to break during passage through the gut. Distinctive fragments o£ fish which are not swallowed whole may not appear, for example, the head of Xenatodon cancila which is long, bony and full of teeth may not be swallowed. Species without distinctive skeletal features such as Nemacheilus botia and Amblyceps mangois will not be recognised in spraints. The fish remains found in spraints suggest the otter predates a wide size range of fish from a variety of habitats. By comparison, bird pel- lets contained remains from species of fish which remain small throughout their life cycle. Data obtained from the measurement of verte- brae supported the conclusion that otters take a much wider size range of fish species than do fish- eating birds. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the sponsors who gave us financial and material support to carry out the study as part of the ‘University of Edinburgh Expedition to Nepal, 1985’. We offer our thanks to Dr Hemanta Mishra, of Nepal’s Na- tional Parks Department for granting us per- mission to work in the Park and establishing us there. We are particularly grateful to many of the Park staff their valuable guidance and prac- tical help. NCES (1974): Otters in west Malaysia - with obser- vations on their status, distribution and habits. Report for I.U.C.N. and W.W.F., Malaysia. (ed.) (1975): The Otter Trust Annnal Repbrt, 1975. Suffolk. Webb, J.B. (1978): “Otter Spraint Analysis”. An occa- sional publication of the Mammal Soceity. Wise, M.H. (1980), The use of fish vertebrae in scats for estimating prey size of otters and mink. J. Zool, London 192: 25-31. 71 NEW DESCRIPTIONS A NEW SPECIES OF HERMIT CRAB, DIOGENES KAR W AREN SIS (DECAPODA: ANOMURA) FROM THE WEST COAST OF INDIA1 V.N. Nayak2 and B. Neelakantan3 {With two text-figures) A new species of hermit crab of the genus Diogenes from Karwar in the west coast of India is described. The closely related Diogenes avarus Heller available in the same habitat is compared. Introduction The systematics of shallow water hermit crabs have not been studied in detail from In- dian waters, except by Henderson, 1893 and Alcock, 1905. Hermit crab species of the genus Diogenes are among the most common and abundant components of the intertidal and es- tuarine regions of Karwar area along the west coast of India. While working on the systema- tics of the intertidal Paguridae of Karwar area, several specimens of an undescribed taxon re- sembling Diogenes avarus Heller were col- lected. Material and Methods Specimens used for the description were collected from Baithkol area about 1 km south of Karwar 14° 18’ N and 74° 9T E) and Kali estuary, about 3 km north of Karwar. The holo- type has been deposited in the Zoological Sur- vey of India Museum (Reg. No. C 3519/2) along with Diogenes avarus Heller (Reg. No. C 3520/ 2), Calcutta and paratype in the Karnatak Uni- versity Department of Marine Biology Mu- seum (C A/1 6/82) and Government Arts and Science College Department of Zoology Mu- seum (ACAhc/16), Karwar. The terminologies used for adult description follow Jackson (1913) and McLaughlin (1974). 'Accepted October 1985. Government Arts & Science College, Karmar - 581301 (India). ’Department of Marine Biology, Karnataka University, Kodibag, Karwar - 581303 (India). Results Shell preference: This species occupies in the collection localities, the gastropod shells listed below in the order of preference. 1. Cerithidea cingulata (Gmelin); 2. Nas- sarius stolata (Gmelin); 3. Umbonium vestia- rium (Linnaeus); 4. Natica tigrina (Roeding); 5. Thais carinifera (Lamarck). Diagnosis: Ocular peduncle short and stout, approximately one-half the length of shield. Antennular peduncle as long as antennal pe- duncle, exceeding ocular peduncle in length. Rostral scale simple and spine-like, never ex- ceeding ocular acicles. Ocular acicles spinulo- se distally. Antennal acicle short, reaching up to distal margin of fourth segment, never ex- ceeding. Left cheliped spinulose; propodus with a short ridge proximally; carpus with 4 moderately long, conical spines on the distal margin. Description: (Figs. 1 & 2): Holotype herein selected, male, shield length, 3.0 mm. Shield width equalling length, occasionally slightly longer than broad; anterolateral margin sloping or slightly terraced; anterior margin between rostrum and lateral margin slightly concave; posterior margin truncate or roundly truncate; dorsal surface smooth; dorsolateral margins with 3 - 4 short, transverse rows of spinules and tufts of short bristles; anterolateral angle very slightly produced. Rostrum short, not excee- ding lateral projections, broadly rounded. Ros- tral scale moderately short, acutely pointed, reaching upto the distal margin of ocular acicle or slightly falling short, never exceeding ocular 72 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 1. Diogenes karwarensis sp. nov., adult a. Cephalic shield; b. Antennule; c. Antenna; d. Mandible; e. First maxilla; f. Second maxilla; g. First maxilliped; h. Second maxilliped; i. Third maxilliped; j. Pleopod (male) k. Pleopod (female). Scale: 1 mm. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 73 Fig. 2. Diogenes karwarensis sp. nov. adult a. Left cheliped, dorsal view; b. Left cheliped, ventral view; c. Right cheliped; d. Second pereiopod; e. Fourth pereiopod; f. Fifth pereiopod; g. Telson and uropod; h. Telson. Scale: 1 mm. 74 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 acicles. Lateral projections broadly triangular, with or without a terminal spinule. Ocular peduncle short and stout, one-half to two-thirds the length of shield; very slightly inflated basally; somewhat dilated in corneal region; ventral face with a row of tufts of mo- derately short, plumose setae; corneal portion moderately long, approximately one-fifth the length of peduncle. Ocular acicle triangular, distal margin serrated, spines increasing to- wards rostral scale, the one nearest being the longest, conical, acute spine, exceeding the distal extension of rostral scale; separated ba- sally by approximately one-half the basal width of one acicle. Antennular peduncle moderately long, ex- ceeding the length of ocular peduncle by two- thirds to one-half the length of ultimate seg- ment. Ultimate and penultimate segments with very few minute setae; basal segment with a spinule at ventral distal margin; lateral surface and dorsolateral margins with tufts of short setae, dorsolateral distal angle with a row of 3 - 4 spinules. Dorsal flagellum with about 12 seg- ments and ventral with 5-6 segments. Antennal peduncle moderately long, as long as antennular peduncle; exceeding ocular pe- duncle by three-fourths to entire length of ulti- mate segment, with supernumerary segmenta- tion. Fifth segment with a row of long, plumose setae laterally and few scattered short setae all over. Fourth segment with a short spine dorsal- ly and very few short setae. Third segment with ventromesial distal angle produced, termina- ting in a subacute spine and tufts of short setae. Second segment with an acute spine on dor- solateral distal angle and tufts of setae. First segment with a short, acute spine on dorsal face distally. Antennal acicle simple, reaching upto the base of ultimate segment or slightly shorter, somewhat triangular, terminating in a strong, simple or bifid spine; dorsal face with a row of 3-4 strong, acute spines; lateral and mesial margins with rows of moderately long setae. Antennal flagellum long, reaching upto the base of dactyl of large cheliped; articles with long, plumose and short setae; flagellum of about 17 segments. Mandibles without distinctive characters; palp 2-segmented, distal segment with short, plumose bristles. First maxilla with proximal endite subquadrate or ovately triangular; endo- pod with a bristle terminally. Second maxilla with endopod inflated basally, exceeding sca- phognathite in distal extension. First maxilli- ped with endopod approximately one-third the length of exopod, reaching upto the distal end of proximal segment; basal segment of exopod somewhat triangular and slender. Second ma- xilliped with basis-ischium fusion incomplete. Third maxilliped with basis- ischium fusion complete; crista dentata poorly developed with 3-5 short spines and a row of stiff bristles; carpus with a spinule on dorsal distal margin. Left cheliped considerably larger than the right, approximately one and one-half the length of carapace; overreaching pereiopods. Dactyl moderately short, three-fourths the length of palm; fixed finger deflated; overrea- ching and overlapped by fixed finger, termina- ting in a calcareous claw; cutting edges with row of strong, calcareous teeth; dorsal surface with a median row of spinules in the distal half and granules scattered all over; dorsolateral and dorsomesial faces with rows of spinules or minute spines; mesial margin with a row of moderately long, subacute spines and tufts of moderately long setae; lateral face with a row of subacute spines; ventromesial face with a row of subacute spines and tufts of moderately long setae; ventral surface with a row of short spines reducing in size distally, very few scat- tered granules spread in the proximal region. Palm moderately long, as long as or one and one-fifth the length of carpus; dorsal surface convex with a median ridge proximally with irregular rows of acute spines in the proximal half, granules spread all over, more in the me- dian line, forming spinules; lateral face with rows of small spines; mesial face with rows of short, subacute spines and short setae; ventral surface with 2 rows of short spines, subacute spines and granules scattered all over; ventral distal margin with a prominent tubercle near the movable finger. Carpus moderately short, as long as merus; dorsal surface with unifor- med scattered short, subacute and acute spi- nes; dorsal distal margin with a row of short spines; mesial margin with a row of prominent, acute spines, increasing in size distalwards; NEW DESCRIPTIONS 75 lateral face with rows of short subacute spines or low tubercles; lateral distal angle with a prominent tubercle; ventral surface with uni- formely scattered, irregular rows of subacute spines or low tubercles; ventral distal margin concave with a row of minute spines. Merus moderately long, subtriangular; dorsal surface with irregularly scattered spinules and gra- nules; dorsolateral margin with a row of short spines distally and tufts of setae; dorsomesial margin with a row of short spines increasing in size distally and tufts of setae; mesial distal margin with a row of short spines and tufts of setae; mesial face with very few granules dis- tally; ventral distal margin with 4 long, conical acute spines; ventral surface with short spines or spinules uniformly scattered and tufts of setae; ventrolateral face with irregular rows of small spines or spinules. Ischium moderately short, ventral distal angle produced; lateral face with a low tubercle and 2-3 spinules. Coxa short, mesial margin with a low tubercle. Right cheliped moderately short and slen- der, reaching up to the base of palm of left cheliped. Dactyl and palm with tufts of setae on all faces. Dactyl moderately long, one and one- third the length of palm; cutting edges with a row of short tubercles; leaving a gap when closed, ending in a calcareous claw; dorsal sur- face with irregular rows of subacute spines or low tubercles; lateral face with irregular rows of spinules or low tubercles; mesial face with rows of short spines or spinules; ventral sur- face unarmed. Palm moderately short, as long as carpus; dorsal surface with rows of short spines; lateral face granulose; mesial face with granules; ventral surface with spinules distally and few granules proximally. Carpus three- fourths the length of merus; dorsal surface with irregular rows of spinules and few tufts of short setae; dorsomesial margin with a row of acute spines increasing in size distally and tufts of setae; mesial face with very few granules; ven- tral distal margin with a row of spinules; ven- tral surface with tufts of short setae; lateral face granulose. Merus moderately long, subtri- angular; dorsal margin with minute granules and tufts of setae. Mesial face even and unar- med; lateral face even, unarmed except for very few granules; ventral surface with few granules and tufts of setae. Ischium short, ven- tral distal angle produced; unarmed except for tufts of setae. Coxa with very few granules ventrally. Second pereiopod falling short of left cheli- ped, right slightly longer than the left. Dactylus moderately long, one and one-fifth the length of propodus; in lateral view turned ventrally; in dorsal view straight; terminating in a short, corneous claw; dorsal surface with moderately short setae and a row of spinules only in the distal half; mesial and lateral faces unarmed; ventral surface with a row of short setae and rarely a row of spinules. Propodus moderately long, one and one-half the length of carpus; dorsal surface with a row of spinules and a row of short setae; lateral and mesial faces unar- med; ventral surface concave, with a row of short setae. Carpus moderately short, two- thirds the length of merus; dorsal surface with a row of spinules increasing to spines distally and a row of moderately short setae; lateral and mesial faces unarmed; ventral surface smooth. Merus laterally compressed; dorsal margin with very few spinules and tufts of moderately short setae; lateral and mesial faces even and unarmed; ventral margin with a row of tufts of moderately short setae. Ischium moderately short, one-third the length of merus; unarmed except for tufts of short setae dorsally and ven- trally. Coxa with few granules laterally and mesially, 1 or 2 tufts of setae present ventrally and dorsally. Third pereiopod slightly longer than the se- cond, reaching upto the tip of left cheliped. Dactylus moderately long, one and one-fourth the length of propodus; in lateral view turned ventrally; in dorsal view straight; ending in a short, corneous claw; dorsal and ventral mar- gins with tufts of short setae; lateral and mesial faces with very few setae. Propodus modera- tely long, one and one-half the length of carpus; dorsal surface with a row of spinules and tufts of short setae; lateral and mesial faces unar- med; ventral surface concave with very few short setae. Carpus moderately short, as long as c four-fifths the merus; dorsal distal angle with a short spine; dorsal surface with a row of spinules and tufts of short setae; mesial and lateral faces unarmed; ventral surface with 76 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 very few minute setae. Merus laterally com- pressed; dorsal and ventral margins with tufts of short setae; lateral and mesial faces even and unarmed. Ischium moderately long, one-half the length of merus; dorsal surface with a row of moderately short setae; ventral surface with 2-3 protuberances and tufts of short setae; mesial and lateral faces unarmed. Coxa with 2 - 3 tufts of short setae over protuberances. Fourth pereiopod with well developed pro- podal rasp. Fifth pereiopod typical and minu- tely chelate. Sternite of third pereiopod with a prominent tooth proximally. Pleopods of male 4 in number, unpaired, uniramous; with long, plumose setae. Female with first 3 unpaired, biramous, both rami well developed with dense tufts of long setae; 4th as in male. Uropods well developed, left one con- siderably larger than the right. Telson asymmetrical, left lobe larger than the right; separated by a minute cleft; right terminal margin with a row of spinules and tufts of short setae or bristles; left terminal margin with 4-5 acute spines and row of spinules and tufts of bristles. In female, left cheliped never exceeds perei- opods in distal extension. Third pereiopod ex- ceeds left cheliped by one-half the length of dactylus. Carpus with a short ridge in the distal margin corresponding to* the ridge on palm of males, in addition to the ridge on palm as in male. Collection localities: Specimens were col- lected from Kali estuary and Baithkol area in Karwar, west coast of India. Materials examined: About 100 specimens comprising both males and females were exa- mined. The shield length ranged from 2.0 tob.O mm. Many of the females carried eggs. The eggs were oval, dark brown to dirty green in colour immediately after oviposition, turning to pale and transparent when about to hatch. The egg size ranged from 0.30 to 0.34 x 0.23 to 0.25 mm. Habitat: This species shared the habitat with Diogenes avarus and D. maclaughlinae at Bai- thkol, which has an admixture of sand and mud. In estuarine areas it was commonly found in association with D. avarus and Clibanarius padavensis occupying the lower part of the intertidal zone. Colour: Shield, light gray or light green or pale. Ocular peduncle with a short longitudinal band of dark gray to dark brown colour. Anten- nular peduncle with a transverse gray band; flagellum without chromatophores. Antennal peduncle with few dark grey patches; flagellum with alternating dark and pale transverse bands between articles. Pereiopods with transverse dark grey bands. Remarks: This species is named Diogenes karwar ensis , after the type locality, Karwar, from where the specimens were discovered. Table 1 Character Diogenes avarus Heller Diogenes karwar ensis»sp.no\ . Ocular peduncle 2/3 to 3/4 length of shield. 1/2 to 2/3 length ofshield. Antennular Peduncle exceeds ocular peduncle by 1/3 to 2/5 length of ultimate segment. exceeds ocular peduncle by 1/2 to 2/3 length of ultimate segment. Left cheliped: Palm shorter than carpus; dorsal surface granulose. longer than carpus; dorsal surface spinulose. Carpus longest of all segments; ventral distal margin unarmed. moderately short, ventral distal margin with a row of short spines. Merus ventral distal margin unarmed. ventral distal margin with 3-4 long, conical, acute spines. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 77 Discussion The species closely resembles Diogenes avarus Heller in having similar habitat pre- ference, general size and shell selection. Some of the salient features by which these two spe- cies could be distinguished are given in Table 1 . Refer Alcock, A. (1905): Anomura. Fasc. I. Paguridea - Ca- talogue of the Indian decapod Crustacea in the collection of the Indian Museum, 2 : i - xi 4- 1-197. Henderson, J.R. (1893): A contribution to Indian Car- cinology. Trans. Linn. Soc. London, (2) 5 : 325 - 426. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr. P.A McLaughlin, Dr. Janet Haig and Dr. K.N. Sankolli for their valuable suggestions. Also, thanks are due to the authorities of Karnatak University for pro- viding laboratory facilities. e n c e s Jackson, H.G. (1913): Eupagurus. Liverpool mar. biol. Comm. Mem., 21 : 1 - 79. McLaughlin, P.A. (1974): The hermit crabs (Crusta- cea, Decapoda, Paguridea) of Northwestern North Ameri- ca. Zool. Verhandel, Leiden, 130 : 1-396. A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS EUPHILOSCIA PACKARD (CRUSTACEA: ISOPODA: ONISCOIDEA) FROM WALTAIR, INDIA1 C. Jalaja Kumari, K. Hanumantha Rao and K. Shyamasundari2 ( With eleven text-figures ) A new oniscoid isopod Euphiloscia rishikondensis belonging to family Ligiidae is described. Thirty male specimens were collected under rocks near the shore at Rishikonda, Waltair. Euphiloscia rishikondensis sp. nov. is compared with E. elrodii Packard, 1873. In the course of the study of the systematics of isopods (1978-1981), a number of new spe- cies belonging to the genus Euphiloscia Pac- kard (1873) were collected from Waltair coast. Isopods of the genus Euphiloscia have not been reported from India so far. Significant contributions to the knowledge of Indian onis- coid isopods are those of Collinge (1914), Bar- nard (1936), Joshi and Bal (1959) and Rama- krishna (1971). The genus Euphiloscia is so far represented by only one species, namely Eu- philoscia elrodii (Packard 1873). The present species is described here as a new species. Euphiloscia rishikondensis sp. nov. Male: Length 7 mm; breadth 3 mm. Colour: Brown body with dark spots on the mid-dorsal portion. Body oblong-oval, somewhat longer and slender, attains greatest breadth at pereonite 5, | Accepted April 1987. Department of Zoology, Andhra University, Waltair 530003 (India). dorsal surface slightly convex, studded with granules in the centre. A large number of tuber- cles arranged in two rows on each side of pereon. Cephalon distinctly separated from pereonite 1; twice as broad as long. Dorsal surface of cephalon covered with numerous large tubercles; frontal margin nearly truncate and not produced into a lobe. Antero-lateral angles of cephalon rounded and not produced into lobes. Eyes large, oval and located at an- tero-lateral angles of cephalon. Antennule reduced in size, triarticulate, with broad basal article, article 2 short and terminal article longer than basal article. Antenna very much longer, slender, almost reaches the end of pereonite 3. Antenna with 5 peduncular articles, article 1 short, article 2, 3 subequal, article 4, roughly 1 1/2 times longer than article 3, article 5 twice as long as article 4. Antennal flagellum 15-articulate; all articles covered with strong setae, terminal article pro- vided with a pointed bristle. Maxillule with 12 stout recurved spines on 6 78 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 1. Euphiloscia rishikondensis sp. nov.; Fig. 2. Antennule; Fig. 4. Maxillule. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 79 exopod; as series of setae on endopod. Maxilla uni-lobate, terminal part heavily setose. Man- dible with 2-cuspate incisor process, followed by six penicils arise from the lower margin. Maxilliped with outer palp terminates into 3 Euphiloscia rishikondensis sp. nov. Fig. 3. Maxilla; Fig. 5. Maxilliped; Fig. 6. Mandible. setae; inner palp broad, apically trilobed; an- terior margin of maxilliped covered with short setae. Pereonites 2-6 subequal, pereonite 1 longer than other pereonites. Antero-lateral angles of pereonite 1 surround the base of cephalon. Co- xal plates not separated from pereonites. Pere- onite 7 extends up to pleonite 2. Pereopods 1-7 gradually increase in length posteriorly, long and stout, all markedly se- tose. Anterior pereopods prehensile and den- sely covered with setae. Posterior pereopods comparatively long and slender. First 5 articles of all pereopods covered with thick short hairs. Pleon much narrower and rounded not ma- cronate, pleonites 1-5 distinct, pleonites 2-5 subequal except pleonite 1. Side plates of all pleonites rather smooth and not projecting pos- teriorly. Pleopod 1 small, both exopod and en- dopod devoid of setae. Appendix masculina of pleopod 2 arises from basis, exceeds with exo- and endopods and terminally blunt. Exopod of pleopod 2 covered with 7 plumose setae and 6 simple setae. Pleopods 3, 4 almost similar, exo- pod of both pleopods covered with 3 plumose setae. Endopods of all pleopods devoid of se- tae. All pleopods provided with air-cavities. Telson sub- triangular, posteriorly termina- tes into a blunt and nearly round tip; uropod longer and slender, articulates to the tip of telson. Uropodal peduncle stout and broad. Endopod of uropod short and narrow, just rea- ches the basal part of exopod and terminates into 2 long setae. Exopod of uropod long, broad at the base and terminally provided with 3 long curved setae. Uropods also covered with short, thick hairs. Material Studied: Thirty male specimens were collected under rocks near the shore at Rishikonda, Waltair. Holotype male 1 and paratypes male 4 are lodged in the Department of Zoology, Andhra University, Waltair. They will be deposited in the collections of the Zoo- logical Survey of India, Calcutta. Discussion The genus Euphiloscia differs from the ge- nus Philoscia in having fifteen articulated fla- gellae of the antenna. The second and third 80 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Euphiloscia rishikondensis sp. nov. Fig. 7. Pereopod 7; Fig. 8. Pleopod 1; Fig. 9. Pleopod 3; Fig. 10. Pleopod 5; Fig. 11. Uropod. joints are rather short, antenna very much lon- ger. The abdomen is much longer and wider in proportion to the rest of the body. Uropods are much larger and slender than in Philoscia. The body colour of the species is brown with dark spots on the mid- dorsal portions. Euphiloscia rishikondensis sp. nov. resembles Euphiloscia elrodii in body colour, but differs in the shape of cephalon, pereon and pleon and structure of appendages. The species name is derived from the collec- tion locality Rishikonda. Acknowledgements One of us (CJK) is grateful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for financial assistance. We are thankful to authorities of Andhra University for providing facilities. References Barnard, K.H. (1936): Isopods collected by the R.I.M.S. ‘Investigator’ . Rec. Indian Mus. 37 : 279-319. Collinge, W.E. (1914): Description of a new species of terrestrial Isopoda from India. Ann. Maq. nat. Hist. 14 (8): 206-208. Joshi, O.N. & Bal, D.V. (1959): Some of the littoral species of Bombay isopods with detailed description of two new species. J. Univ. Bombay 27 (5B) : 57-69. Packard, A.S. (1873): On the cave fauna of Indiana. 5th Rep. Peabody Acad. Sci. 93-97. Ramakrishna, G. (1971): Studies on the Indian Iso- pods. Pt. 2. Notes on the oniscid collection from the Ka- meng Division of NEFA. Rec. Zool. Surv. India. 63 (1-4): 181-184. 81 A NEW SPECIES OF THERIDION WALCKEN AER (ARANEAE : THERIDIIDAE) FROM INDIA1 Kanchan Monga2 and J.P. Singh3 (With three text-figures) Theridion Walckenaer, 1805. Theridion Walckenaer, 1805. Tabl. Aran.: 1-88. Anterior median eyes equal to or smaller than posterior medians which are usually a lit- tle wider apart, laterals contiguous. Chelicerae usually weak. Sternum rounded behind, pro- jecting between coxae IV. Legs long and thin; tarsus IV with a row of 6-10 serrated bristles. Abdomen globular in shape, usually bearing a distinct pattern. Theridion sadani sp nov. (Figs. 1-3) Female cephalothorax : Carapace : length wide, concave and yellow in colour. Cheli- cerae: small, yellow without any teeth on any margin. Maxillae: yellow, broader at base, nar- rower towards anterior end, a few hairs present at anterior margin. Labium : yellow, not re- boardered. Sternum : yellow, longer than broad, posterior end narrowed and extending between coxae IV. Legs : yellow, long and thin, tarsus IV with a row of 6 spines on ventral side, tarsi with three claws and without any claw tufts. Leg I thrice the length of body. All legs provided with papillae. Length of legs (mm): Leg Coxa Trochanter Femur Patella Tibia Metatarsus Tarsus Total I 0.50 0.30 3.40 0.73 3.00 3.00 1.03 11.96 II 0.33 0.27 2.27 0.67 1.60 1.66 0.77 7.57 III 0.37 0.20 1.37 0.59 0.87 1.07 0.53 5.00 IV Pedi- 0.40 0.33 2.33 0.63 1.63 1.93 0.77 8.02 palp — — 0.43 0.10 0.27 — 0.50 1.30 1.68 mm; maximum breadth 1.44 mm; yellow with cephalic region marked from thoracic re- gion by light cephalic groove; thoracic region marked with transverse thoracic fovea. Eyes eight, encircled by black rims; anterior me- dians darker than the rest of the eyes and equal to posterior medians; arranged in two rows; anterior row recurved while posterior row pro- curved. Diameter of eyes (mm): A.M. = 0.12; A.L. = 0.11; P.M. = 0.12 and P.L. = 0.09. Mutual distances between the eyes (mm): A.M. -A.M. = 0.16; A.M.-A.L. = 0.15; A.M. - P.M. = 0.17; A.M. -P.L. = 0.20; P.M.-P.M. = 0.20; P.M.-P.L. = 0.19; P.L. -P.L. = 0.49 and A.L. -A.L. — 0.47. Width of clypeus: 0.22 mm, 'Accepted August 1988. ‘Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, Haryana (India). 'Department of Zoology. Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab (India). Figs. 1-3. Theridion sadani sp. nov. 1. Dorsal view of female; 2. Epigynum; 3. Chelicera. 0.64mm 82 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vo/. 56 Abdomen: Length 2.40 mm; maximum bre- adth 2.20 mm; oval but rounded behind. Dor- sum grey, mottled with white that forms a pat- tern with grey veins in the centre. Venter grey with white markings, covered by papillae all over. Spinnerets compact. Epigynum as in Fig. 3. Total length : Female 4.08 mm. Holotype Female, in spirit, INDIA: Jammu and Kashmir; Shalimar Gardens, Srinagar, 25. v. 1977, G.L. Sadana. This species slightly resembles Theridion ti- kaderi Patel but can be separated from it as follows (i) Absence of U-shaped mark on ce- phalothorax, (ii) The abdomen is oval, grey, mottled with white and forming a pattern with grey veins in the centre, while in T. tikaderi, abdomen is globular and dorsal and ventral sides are with chalky white and chocolate pat- ches, (iii) Epigynum is also structurally dif- ferent. Acknowledgements We thank Dr. G. L. Sadana, Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University, Lu- dhiana for providing the collection and Profes- sor and Head, Department of Zoology, Punjabi University, Patiala for providing the necessary laboratory facilities. A NEW SONERILA ROXB. (MELASTOMATACEAE) FROM SOUTHERN INDIA1 R. Gopalan and A.N. Henry2 {With nine text-figures ) Sonerila Kanniyakumariana sp. nov. Herbae succulentae, 50-65 cm altae; caules subrosei, erecti (nodi inferi rare decumbenti et radicanti), minute alati, glabri. Folia 0.5 - 4.2 x 0.5 - 2.5 cm, superi subsessiles, inferi bre viter petiolati, ovati ad deltoidi, succulenti, glabri, ad apicem acuti, ad basim cordati vel subcor- dati, 3-5-nervati; margines serrati, hyalini. Ra- cemi terminates, scropioidei, floribus 3-5, flori subrosei; pedunculi 5-7 mm longi, glabri, Caly- cis tubi 5-8 mm longi, infundibuliformes, gla- bri; calycis lobi 3, utrumque c. 3 x 2 mm, trian- gulare. Petala 3, utrumque usque ad 1.5 cm latum, ovato - orbiculare, apiculatum. Stamina 3; filamenta c. 5 mm longa, crassa, glabra; an- therae lanceatae, usque ad 6 x 2 mm, rostratae. Stylus 10-12 mm longus; stigma capitellatum. Capsulae 8-10 x 4-5 mm, infundibuliformes, glabrae; semina c. 1 mm longa, tuberculata. Holotypus (Gopalan 77180, CAL) et isotypi (Gopalan 77180, MH-num. acc. no. 139866 - 139874) in Upper Kodayar in ditione Kanniya- kumari in statu Tamilnadensi, India, die 'Accepted November 1987. 2Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore (India). 20.3.1984 lecti. Paratypi (Henry 77001, MH- num. acc. no. 139875 - 139883) in Upper Ko- dayar, versus viam ad Muthukuzhivayal, die 16.2.1983 lecti. Succulent herbs 50-65 cm tall; stems pin- kish, erect (rarely decumbent and rooting at lower nodes), minutely winged, glabrous. Lea- ves 0.5 - 4.2 x 0.5 - 2.5 cm, upper subsessile, lower shortly petioled, ovate to deltoid, fleshy, glabrous, acute at apex, cordate or subcordate at base, 3-5 nerved; margins serrate, hyaline. Flowers pinkish, 3-5 in terminal scorpioid race- mes; peduncles 5-7 mm long, glabrous. Calyx tube 5-8 mm long, funnel- shaped, glabrous; calyx lobes 3, each c. 3 x 2 mm, triangular. Petals 3, each up to 1.5. cm across, ovate- orbicular, apiculate. Stamens 3; filaments c. 5 mm long, thick, glabrous; anthers up to 6 x 2 mm, lanceate, beaked. Style 10 - 12 mm long; stigma capitellate. Capsules 8 - 10x4-5 mm, funnel-shaped, glabrous; seeds c. 1 mm long, tuberculate. (Figs. 1-9). Holotype (Gopalan 77180, CAL) and isoty- pes (Gopalan 77180, MH-acc. no. 139866 - 139874) were collected at Upper Kodayar in Kanniyakumari District, Tamilnadu on NEW DESCRIPTIONS 83 Figs. 1-9. Sonerila kanniyakumariana sp. nov. 1. Portion of plant; 2. Leaf; 3. Flower; 4. Calyx; 5. Petal; 6 & 7. Stamen (2 views); 8 & 9. Seed (2 views). 20.3.1984. Paratypes (Henry 77001, MH-acc. No. 139875 - 139883) were collected from Up- per Kodayar on the way to Muthukuzhivayal on 16.2.1983. This species is perhaps allied to the Sri Lan- kan Sonerila robust a Arn. but differs in: gla- brous stem; leaves glabrous, serrate, some- what crowded towards the apices of stems ; and capsules funnel-shaped, glabrous. Occurs on exposed rocky slopes and road- cuttings in evergreen forests. Rare. We are thankful to Dr. N.P Balakrishnan, Scientist ‘SE’ for encouragement, and Dr. V.J. Nair, Scientist ‘B’ for the Latin translation of the description. 84 UTRIC U LARI A MALABARICA SP. NOV. (LENTIBULARIACEAE): A TERRESTRIAL BLADDERWORT FROM SOUTHERN INDIA1 M.K. Janarthanam and A.N. Henry2 {With sixteen Utricularia malabarica sp. nov. (Figs. 1 - 16) U . lazulina P. Taylor affmis, sed plantis par- vissimis; calyce lobis equalibus et papillosis; corolla margine labii superi glabra; labio infero stigmatis piloso; pedicello fructificanti recur- vato; semine ovoideo et testa laevigata differt. Holotypus (M.K. Janarthanam 82924, CAL) et isotypi (M.K. Janarthanam 82924, MH - num. acc. no. 139935 - 139938) in Mulleriya in ditione Kasaragod in statu keralensi India die 21.8.1985 lecti. Small herbs. Rhizoids mostly absent, if pre- sent up to 1 cm long, c 0.2 mm thick at base, terete, glandular; branches few, up to 0.8 mm long, papillose. Stolons up to 2 cm long, c 0.2 text-figures) mm thick, capillary, terete, profusely bran- ched; intemodes c 2 mm long. Leaves up to 4 x 1.5 mm, solitary at base of scape and at each stolon node; petioles attenuate; lamina obo- vate, 3-nerved, rounded at apex. Traps up to 1.5 mm across, few, on stolons and leaves, globose; stalk short, often covered with glan- dular hairs; mouth basal; appendages 2, su- bulate, simple, glandular. Inflorescence 2-6.5 cm long, erect; peduncle c 0:6 mm thick, gla- brous, angular, grooved on one side. Scales c 1.1 x 0.9 mm, 1- few, basifixed, ovate-deltoid. Bracts c 1 .5 x 0.9 mm, ovate-deltoid, acumina- te; bracteoles subulate, shorter than bract. Flo- wers 1-4; pedicels 3-4 mm long, winged, erect in anthesis and recurved in fruit. Calyx lobes Figs. 1 - 7 Utricularia malabarica sp. nov. 1. Plant; 2a- 2c. Leaves; 3a. Trap -lateral view; 3b. Trap -front view; 4. T.S. of peduncle; 5. T.S. of pedicel; 6. Scale; 7. Bract and bracteoles; 'Accepted October 1987. :Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore (India). i NEW DESCRIPTIONS 85 Figs. 8-16 Utricularici malabarica sp. nov. 8. Flower (front view); 9. Flowering calyx; 10. Fruiting calyx; 11. Corolla Upper lip; 12. Stamens; 13a. Pistil -adaxial view; 13b. Pistil - lateral view; 14. Capsule; 15. Placentum; 16a. Seed - front view; 16b. Seed - lateral view. more or less equal, c 2x2 mm in anthesis, c 3 x 3 mm in fruit, ovate, 10-12 nerved, outer sur- face and margin paillose, upper lobe acumi- nate, lower lobe bidentate. Corolla 7-8 mm long; upper lip c 2.5 x 1.5 mm, oblong, white with blue tinge, truncate or emarginate at apex; lower lip c 4 x 5 mm, more or less orbicular, blue; base prominently bigibbous, white with blue reticulations, apex emarginate; palate hai- ry, spur c. 4.5 mm long, slender, blue to bluish white, acute and yellow at apex, Stamens c. 1 mm long; filaments strap-shaped; antherthecae distinct. Pistil c. 1 mm long; ovary ovoid; style short; stigma bilabiate, lower lip oblong and hairy, upper lip short and semiorbicular. Cap- sules c 2.8 x 1 .8 mm, ovoid-subglobose, unifor- mly membranous, dehiscing by a dorsal and a ventral longitudinal slit; placentum c 1 mm long, ovoid, stalked. Seeds c 0.25 mm long, ovoid; hilum prominent, subterminal; testa re- ticulate, smooth, cells more or less elongate. Utricularia malabarica is allied to U. lazuli- na P. Taylor, but differs in: plants much smal- ler; calyx lobes equal and papillose; margin of upper corolla lip glabrous; lower lip of stigma hairy; fruiting pedicel recurved; seeds ovoid and testa smooth. Holotype M.K. J an art h an am 82924 (CAL) and isotypes M.K. Janarthanam 82924 (MH acc. no. 139935 - 139938) were collected from Mulleriya, Kasaragod District, Kerala (Old Malabar region), Southern India on 21.8. 1985. An annual occurs on wet laterite rocks, in association with Eriocaulon sp. and grasses; flowering and fruiting in August. Thanks to Dr. N.P. Balakrishnan, Scientist ‘D\ Botanical Survey of India, Southern Cir- cle for providing facilities and for encourage- ment, to Dr. V.J. Nair, Scientist ‘B\ Botanical Survey of India, Southern Circle for the Latin translation of the diagnosis, and to the Direc- tor, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, for sanctioning research fellowship to one of us (MKJ). 86 A NEW SPECIES OF STIXIS LOUR. (CAPPARACEAE) FROM MANIPUR1 D.B. Deb and R.C. Rout2 ( With a text-figure ) A new species Stixis manipurensis (Capparaceae) recently collected from Manipur State is described and illustrated. Introduction Deb explored the flora of Manipur State during 1951-1955 (vide Bull. Bot. Surv. India 3: 115-133 & 253-350, 1963). His manuscript on Pteridophytes was unfortunately lost and could not be published. Subsequently he con- ducted field studies for brief periods in 1978, 1982 and recently in July 1987 in different parts of the state with a view to note the extent of changes in the vegetation during the last three decades or so, and for further addition to the Flora. In July 1987, he went up to the Burma border and saw frequently along the National High way from Tengnopoul to Morey a tall climber mostly in fruit. He took it for Stixis suaveo- lens, but on examination in herb. CAL it turned out to be a new species. The genus Stixis Lour. (Capparaceae) known in the Indian Floras under the name Roydsia Roxb. has been recently studied by Jacob (vide Blumea 12:5-12, 1963) treating S. suaveolens (Roxb.) Pierre as the type. The ge- nus is represented by seven species distributed in Nepal, Bhutan, Eastern India, South China, Burma, Vietnam, Indochina, Hainan and Wes- tern Malaysia. Stixis manipurensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1) Differt a S. suaveolens foliis parvioribus et angustioribus, sepalis ovatis, androgynophoris gynophorisque brevissimum inter alia; a S. scandens bracteis ellipticis, sepalis ovatis, sta- minibus numero majoribus, gynophoris brevio- ribus, glabris inter alia; a S. ovata bracteis brevioribus, sepalis ovatis, androgynophoris gynophorisque bravioribus, ovariis stellato- 'Accepted December 1987. 2Botanical Survey of India, Howrah (India). pilosis, stylis brevioribus, glabris inter alia. Differs from S. suaveolens in smaller and narrower leaves, ovate sepals and much shor- ter androgynophore and gynophore, amongst others; from S. scandens in elliptic bracts, ovate sepals, larger number of stamens and shorter glabrous gynophore; from S. ovata in smaller bracts, ovate sepals, shorter androgy- nophore and gynophore, larger number of sta- mens, stellately hairy ovary and shorter gla- brous style. Climbing shrubs c. 15-20 m in height, profu- sely branching above, unarmed; stem terete, lenticellate. Leaves simple, alternate, conges- ted on branchlets, 7.5-16.0 x 2. 5-5.0 cm, ellip- tic-oblong, coriaceous, acute or shortly acumi- nate at apex, acute or obtuse at base, entire, glabrous, unicostate, reticulate; lamina profu- sely pustulate with bacterial nodules; lateral * nerves 7-10 on either side, alternate or subop- posite, arching obliquely towards the margin; midrib slightly sunken above, prominent, so- metimes pustulate beneath. Flowers in axillary panicle or raceme, yellowish, sweetly scented, minutely pubescent; bracts caducous, c. 2.0 x 1.0 mm, elliptic, acute at apex, pubescent; pe- dicel 1.0-1. 5 mm long, stout. Floral buds 4.0- 4.5 x 3. 0-4.0 mm, obovoid or spherical. Sepals 6 in two whorls, spreading, not reflexed at an- thesis, imbricate, 3. 0-3. 5 x 2.5 mm, ovate, acute at apex, fulvous tomentose on both si- des. Petals absent. Androgynohore c. 0.2 mm long, glabrous. Stamens more than 40; fila- ments c. 2 mm long, glabrous; gynophore c. 0.2 mm long, glabrous. Ovary c. 1.2 x 1.0 mm, ovoid, stellately hairy, 3 loculed, each bearing 2 ovules on axillary placenta; style c. 0.5 mm long; stigma 3 lobed. Fruit 2.5-3. 1 x 1.2- 1.6 cm ellipsoid, 3 angled; pericarp 2.5 mm thick, dis- tinguished into thick epicarp, spongy meso- NEW DESCRIPTIONS Fig. 1. Stixis manipurensis sp.nov. A. Habit; B. Flower bud; C. Flower opened; D. Stamen; E. Gynoecium with androgynophore and gynophore. F. Placentation; G. Fruiting panicle. 88 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 carp and thin endocarp. Seeds one, large, em- bedded in the pulp with a thin testa; cotyledons large, unequal, one enclosing the other. Flowering: April- August; Fruiting: July - ? Distribution: Tengnopoul to Morey, fre- quently occurring along the trunk road, on forest slopes. Type: Manipur State, Tengnopoul, 1500 m, 30.7.87, D.B. Deb 3549A holotype & B a frui- ting panicle (detached from the type) deposited at CAL. Note: Sundara Raghavan, R. has just pu- blished a new species from Burma (vide Bull. Bot. Sur. Ind. 28: 191, 1988), which is very different from the one described here. Acknowledgements Thanks are due to Shri Sh. Tomchou Singh, I.F.S., Additional Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt, of Manipur for providing trans- port and other facilities to conduct the field study, and to Shri Gopal Singh, I.F.S., Assis- tant Conservator for assistance during the tour. NEW TAXA OF DESMIDS FROM UTTARA KANNADA DISTRICT KARNATAKA STATE (INDIA)1 G. R. Hegde 2 and S. W. Isaacs3 (With four text-figures ) During 1978 in all 72 collections from freshwater permanent ponds and lakes of Uttarakan- nada District of Karnataka State were made. These samples contained four new taxaof Desmids which are described. During an extensive survey of freshwater algae of Uttar Kannada District of Karnataka State, we came across four new taxa of Des- mids. A total of 72 collections were made during 1978 from permanent ponds and lakes. All these samples are deposited in Department of Botany, Kittel Collge, Dharwad under the Accession No(s). : NK-1 to NK - 72. Cosmarium cuneatum Josh. var. truncatum var. nov. (Fig. 1). Simile typo descripto a Forster 1972 (Tab. 18, Fig. 14, p. 549) e quo differt sinu inaperto in latere interiore et leviter aperto ad latus ex- terius; margines laterales magis convergentes qui apicem truncatum formant; paries puncta- tus solum ad regionem verrucarum media- narum. Cellulis a vertice visis ellipticis, latera rectiora convergentia ut forment polos paene truncatos parietibus crassis. Cellulae 43-44 mi- crons longae, 43-44 microns latae; Isthmus 7-8 'Accepted January 1988. :A!gal Laboratory, P.G. Department of Botany, Karnatak University, Dharwad - 580003 (India). ’Department of Botany, Kittel College, Dharwad - 580001 (India). microns latus, 25-26 microns crassus. Iconotypus : Fig. 1. Distributio : NK-70, Kumta. Similar to the type described by Forster 1972 (pi. 18, fig. 14, p. 549). Differs in having the sinus closed on inner side and slightly open towards exterior; lateral margins more conver- gent and form a truncate apex; Wall punctate only at the region of median verrucae. Vertical view elliptic, sides more straight, converging to form almost truncate and thick walled poles. Cells 43-44 microns long; 43-44 microns broad; Isthmus 7-8 microns broad; 25-26 microns thick. Iconotype : Fig. 1. Distribution : NK-70; Kumta. Cosmarium kanadense sp. nov. (Fig. 2) Cellulae leviter longiores quam latiores; se- micellulae late semicirculares; margines latera- les undulati et dentati; anguli basales spinis acutis crassisque praediti; sinus undulatus et latior prope partem exteriorem. Semicellulae annulum spinarum 12 subapicalium longiorum, quae acutae crassaeque sunt, ferentes; oma- mentum centrale granula quattuor habet, tria in NEW DESCRIPTIONS 89 i i Fig. 1. Cosmarium cuneatum Josh. var. truncation var. nov. Fig. 2. Cosmarium kanadense sp nov. Fig. 3. Cosmarium vitiosum Scott et Gronbl. var. orientate Scott et Prescott fa. egranulatum fa. nov. Fig. 4. Xanthidium tirthalliensis Bharati et Hegde fa. incrassatum fa. nov. serie una deposita et unum infra depositum, cae; poli late rotundati, undulati spinis minori- circumcincta a poris maioribus. Paries non bus praediti; latera granulis medianis praedita; valde punctatus. Cellulae visae a vertice ellipti- spinae decern in annulo elliptico intramargi- 90 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vo/. naliterdepositae. Cellulae sine spinis 35-37 mi- crons longae, cellulae spiniferae 38-40 microns longae et 32-36 microns latae; Isthmus 5-7 mi- crons latus, 20-22 microns crassus. Iconotypus : Fig. 2. Distributio : NK-37. Cells slightly longer than broad; semi-cells broadly semicircular; lateral margins undulate with pointed teeth; basal angles possess poin- ted stout spines; sinus undulate and more broad towards exterior. Semicells bear a ring of longer, pointed and stout 10 subapical spi- nes; central ornamentation has four granules, 3 in a row and one below surrounded by bigger pores. Wall faintly punctate. Vertical view el- liptical, poles broadly rounded, undulate and posses smaller spines; sides with median gra- nules; intramarginally 10 spines are arranged in an elliptical ring. Cells without spines 35-37 microns long, with spines 38-40 microns long; with spines 32-36 microns broad; Isthmus 5-7 microns broad; 20-22 microns thick. Iconotype : Fig. 2. Distribution : NK-37. Cosmarium vitiosum Scott et Gronbl. var. orientale Scott et Prescott fa. egranulatum fa. nov. (Fig. 3). Similis typo forma (Scott et Prescott 1961; Tab. 31, figs. 1 & 2, p. 73), sed differt amplitu- dine minore (Cellulae typi 39-42 microns lon- gae, 33-39 microns latae; Isthmus 10-12 mi- crons latus, 20-23 microns crassus). Sunt ver- rucae subapicales quattuor quarum duae cen- trales comparate maiores sunt; differt a typo granulis facialibus absentibus; spinae in mar- gine laterali comparate breviores sunt. Pars reliqua spinis brevibus obtecta. Cellulae 30-33 microns longae, 29-30 microns latae; Isthmus 6 microns longus, 17 microns crassus. Iconotypus : Fig. 3. Distributio : Nk-31, Banavasi (Sirsi). Similar to the type (Scott and Prescott 1961 ; pi. 31, figs. 1 & 2, p. 73) in shape, differs by its smaller size (Type cells 39-42 microns long; 33-39 microns broad; Isthmus 10-12 microns broad; 20-23 microns thick). Of the four suba- pical verrucae, the central two are comparati- vely bigger; unlike the type the facial granules are absent; spines on lateral margins are com- paratively shorter. Rest of the area covered with short spines. Cells 30-33 microns long; 29-30 microns broad; Isthmus 6 microns broad; 17 microns thick. Iconotype : Fig. 3. Distribution : NK-31, Banavasi (Sirsi). Xanthidium tirthalliensis Bharati et Hegde fa. incrassatum fa. nov. (Fig. 4). Planta similis typo (Bharati et Hegde 1982; Fig. 2, p. 4-5) amplitudine formaque, sed differt crassitudine subapicali luteola in quaque semi- cellula. Margo apicalis leviter truncatus parie incrassato interiore. Cellulae sine spinis 27-28 microns longae et 25-26 microns latae; cellulae spiniferae 30-33 microns longae et 29-30 mi- crons latae; Isthmus 5 microns latus. Iconotypus : Fig. 4. Distributio : NK-35, Janamane (Sirsi). A plant similar to the type (Bharati and Hegde 1982; Fig. 2, p. 4-5) in size and shape, differs by having subapical pale yellow colou- red incrassation on each semicell. Apical mar- gin slightly truncate with thickened inner wall. Cells without spines 27-28 microns long, with spines 30-33 microns long; Without spines 25- 26 microns broad, with spines 29-30 microns broad; Isthmus 5 microns broad. Iconotype : Fig. 4. Distribution : NK-35, Janamane (Sirsi). Acknowledgements We are thankful to Mrs. Angela Shipman for rendering the Latin diagnoses to the new taxa. One of the authors (SWI) is grateful to the Principal, Prof. S.J. Deodhar and the Manage- ment of Kittel College, Dharwad for the facili- ties and encouragement. References Bharati. S.G. & Hegde. G.R. (1982): A systematic Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika. Nova Heawigia, 23 : survey of Desmids of Karnataka State and Goa. J. Kama- 515-644. tak Univ. Sic., 27 : 1-6. Scott, A.M. & Prescott, G.W. (1961): Indonesian Forster, K. (1972): Desmidieen aus dem Sudosten der Desmids. Hydrobiologia, 17 (1 & 2): 1-132. 91 REVIEWS 1. NATURE CONSERVATION: THE ROLE OF REMNANTS OF NATIVE VEGETATION. Edited by D.A. Saunders, G.W. Arnold, A. A. Burbidge and A.J.M. Hopkins, pp. xiii + 410 (30 x 21 cm), with 26 colour plates and many illustrations. Chipping Norton, NSW, Australia, 1987. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Pty The book is based on material presented at a 1985 workshop and contains thirty full papers and twen- ty-two reports and poster presentations. The papers all deal with the biological and management pro- blems of conserving small and fragmented (and hence usually disturbed) patches of natural vegeta- tion. This of course is an issue facing the conserva- tion of forest resources in India today; the overall topic is therefore of great concern to conservatio- nists all over the tropics. Papers are divided into four sections: ecological studies, fragmentation & genetics, monitoring dyna- mics, and management. Nearly all papers are from Australia and New Zealand. I was unaware as to their depth of interest and expertise in what is a relatively narrow field! Contributions cover theore- TIGER MOON by Fiona Sunquist cm.) with many photographs and < Press, 1988. P Ltd. Price not mentioned. tical and practical issues, and deal with plants, mam- mals, birds and invertebrates. Fire Management, edges & barriers, corridors, land use planning, and replanting are management issues covered. I was surprised to see no mention of traslocation of indivi- duals as a means of maintaining genetic heterogenei- ty in small populations. The book is in large A4 format, beautifully prin- ted on glossy paper with a wealth of diagrams and plates. Papers are well referenced. It looks expen- sive, I do not know the price. It is a book for major ecological libraries, not individuals. Concerned bio- logists should recommend it to their Librarians, and read it! W. A. RODGERS and Mel Sunquist. pp 176 (15 x 23) i relief map. University of Chicago ice not stated. The flat lowland, or terai region of Nepal has a close-knit mix of habitats - swampy grasslands, ri- verine and sub-tropical deciduous forests - which provide ideal conditions for a rich and diverse fauna. For over a hundred years upto 1950, the terai was protected as a private hunting preserve of the Rana regime. Chitwan, in particular, was considered to be a naturalist’s paradise, “an area saturated with tigers ... where rhinos were a positive nuisance”. Following economic pressures, a change of re- gime and the eradication of malaria, the terai was thrown open to af comers in 1960. This led to a mass migration and two-thirds of Chitwan fell to the plough. Hunting and poaching became rampant, swamp deer and water buffalo were eliminated, and the rhino population dwindled rapidly. It was realised that urgent action was required if this unique wilderness was to be saved, and in 1964 some 22,000 settlers had to be resettled elsewhere as a prelude to the formation of the Royal Chitwan National Park. The Park covered an area of 210 square miles, which was later extended to 416 squa- re miles. In 1972, “Operation Tiger” was launched by WWF. As a part of the programme, the Smithsonian Institute set up a long-term Tiger Ecology Project, for which the Chitwan National Park was the site selected. Mel Sunquist, a wildlife ecologist, and Fio- na Sanquist, a wildlife writer and photographer, worked on the Project for two years from 1974. Their book, Tiger Moon, tells the story of Chitwan and the pioneering studies carried out there. It is a fascinating story that runs the gamut of the experiences of the Sunquists and their Nepalese colleagues. The reader shares with them the excite- ment of discovery, the thrills of close encounters with rhino and tiger, the ambience of the wilderness during day and night, and the gradual unraveling of the social organisation of the tigers of Chitwan. The crux of the problem was to develop a method of monitoring the movements of several tigers during the day and at night over the duration of the Project. This was tackled by the use of radio- telemetry, a technique that had not been used till then in Asia, or with tigers. Radio-telemetry involved ‘capturing’ tigers and fitting them with miniature transmitters embedded in plastic collars. This hazardous operation is vividly 92 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 described in the book. After the tiger had killed a buffalo bait, it was ‘driven’ to a selected spot using three elephants and shot with a dart gun. The dart syringe contained drugs which rendered the animal unconscious for over five hours. During that time, it was examined and fitted with a radio-collar. It was also weighed, measured and photographed for fu- ture identification, and watched closely till it was able to get up and go away. Each such transmitter emitted signals on a parti- cular frequency, and these were monitored using a portable receiver which had a directional antenna. By taking compass bearings of two readings and plotting them on a map, the tiger could be located with fair precision. The receiver was carried into the forests on an elephant, or, in the evenings and at night, a vehicle was used on the Park roads. On one memorable occasion, however, the trac- king was done on foot. That was on a cold and foggy night when the “Roaring Tigress” left her home range near the camp and wandered away in search of a mate. Eventually, her urgent calls evoked a res- ponse from the Sauraha Tiger, and he was persuaded to follow her all the way back into her range. Both animals had radio-collars, but their vocal efforts sometimes drowned the radio-signals! The information gathered by radio-telemetry was checked by examination of the sites for pug-marks, territorial markings such as scent, and other signs of tiger activity. To fill in the picture, the tiger’s prey - four deer species - and leopards were also studied by radio-telemetry. Gradually, there emerged a pattern of the tiger’s social behaviour that was aimed at maximising the chances of biological success in an environment with abundant prey, cover and water. Chitwan, in fact, was found to have the highest tiger density recorded anywhere in the world. It was established that tigresses maintained rela- tively small, exclusive home ranges for hunting and rearing cubs. Most of the ranges were on the flood- plains and covered six to eight square miles. On the other hand, tigers had much larger home ranges which overlapped the ranges of several females, but there was little overlap with those of other males. The objective of each sex was to leave as many offspring as possible, but the strategies differed. This tight social organisation in what was effecti- vely an isolated population raised many questions which are discussed by the authors. These include: the limit to the tiger population, competition for ranges and how they were maintained, the role of the sal forests, dangers of inbreeding, infanticide, and the emergence of man-eaters. Another aspect, the interaction with human so- ciety, is also given due weight, for the authors accept that “learning about the tigers’ biology is only a tiny part of what is required to save the species”. The conflict of interests between wildlife and some fifty thousand villagers who lived near the Park at that time is discussed, and the authors assess the “practi- cal low-budget methods” adopted by the authorities to tackle the situation. The authors also give an alarming picture of the deleterious effects of fast- growing tourism on the habitats and wildlife. Preservation of wildlife is perhaps not the key issue. The major benefit of the Chitwan National Park, as the authors demonstrate, is in soil and water conservation. Human activity that upsets this “dy- namic and rapidly changing ecosystem” has resulted in floods, erosion and loss of fertility in the surroun- ding areas. “Tiger Moon” provides a great deal of informa- tion about Chitwan and the terai. It is well written and one is tempted to finish it in a single sitting. It will be read with enjoyment by the biologist as well as the lay person. PRATAP SARAIYA 93 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 1. NEW LOCALITY-RECORDS FOR MYOTIS MONTIVAGUS PEYTONI WROUGHTON & RYLEY, 1913, AND MU RINA CYCLOTIS CYCLOTIS DOBSON, 1872 (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE) IN THE EASTERN GHATS OF ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA. In February-March 1985, Shri S.S. Saha, Assis- tant Zoologist, Zoological Survey of India, made a small collection of bats from the Eastern Ghats of Vishakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. This col- lection contains two species of montane Vespertilio- nid bats which have so far not been reported from this area. The two species are described below: Myotis montivagus peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913 Myotis peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 22 : 13 [Gersoppa Falls (Altitude 1,300 ft.), Kanara, S. India = Gersoppa Falls (398 m), Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, southwestern India]. Material examined: Andhra Pradesh: Vishakha- patnam district: 1 Male: Anantagiri (1052 m), 21 ' March 1985; 1 Female: Lankapakalu (884 m), 14 March 1985. Measurements (in millimetres): Male Female Forearm 43.4 42.5 Tail 46.5 48.2 Foot & Claw 7.8 9,6 Ear 15.6 14.2 Tragus 7.4 5.3 Tibia 19.0 18.6 Greatest length of skull 16.9 16.2 Condylobasal length 16.2 15.6 Condylocanine length 15.4 14.6 Maxillary tooth-row 6.7 6.7 Mastoid width 8.6 8.2 Cranial width 7.9 7.3 Zygomatic width 11.6 _ Least interorbital width 3.9 3.9 Canine width 4.5 4.7 Molar width 7.3 7.3 Mandibular length 12.9 12.2 Lower tooth-row 7.6 7.7 Remarks: Hill (1962) reported Myotis montiva- gus for the first time from northern Burma, and considered Myotis peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913 (from western India1) and Myotis peytoni fe- deratus Thomas, 1916 (from Malaya) as subspecies ‘Hill (1962) inadvertently sites Peshok, near Darjeeling, north- eastern India, 3,500 feet, as the type-locality of Myotis peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913. The correct type- locality of this taxon is, however, quite different, as given above. of Myotis montivagus (Dobson 1874). Hill has trea- ted the Burmese population as belonging to the no- minate subspecies and the western Indian popula- tion to Myotis montivagus peytoni. The latter subs- pecies is distinctly larger than the nominate form ( vide measurements given by Hill 1962, Das 1987). The present material from the Eastern Ghats, though marginally smaller in some of the measure- ments, is nevertheless referable to Myotis montiva- gus peytoni. These specimens, therefore, would constitute the basis for the first authentic record of Myotis montivagus peytoni Wroughton & Ryley, 1913, from the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. Minina cyclotis cyclotis Dobson, 1872 Murina cyclotis Dobson, 1872. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Beng. : 210 (Darjeeling = Darjiling, Darjiling dis- trict, West Bengal, India). Material examined: Andhra Pradesh: Vishakha- patnam district: Wangasara Female: 6 & 7 March 1985. •c. 808 m. : 1 Male, 1 Measurements (in millimetres): Male Female Forearm 31.6 34.5 Tail 37.0 36.8 Foot & Claw 8.4 7.8 Ear 14.6 15.5 Tragus 6.3 6.9 Tibia 16.6 17.6 Greatest length of the skull 15.9 16.6 Maxillary tooth-row 5.1 5.6 Mastoid width 7.9 7.8 Cranial width 7.5 7.5 Zygomatic width 9.3 - Least interorbital width 4.0 4.1 Rostral width 3.9 4.4 Canine width 3.6 4.3 Molar width 5.4 5.5 Mandibular length 10.2 10.7 Lower tooth-row 5.46.0 Remarks: Murina cyclotis Dobson is known from Sri Lanka, northeastern India, western and northern Burma, southern China including Hainan Island, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, the Malayan Peninsula and Philippines (Ellerman and Morrison-Scott 1951, Hill 1964, 1972; Lekagul and McNeely 1977, Corbet and Hill 1980, Honacki et al. 1982, Nowak and Para- diso 1983). Hill (1964) includes Borneo in the distri- 7 94 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 butional range of Murina cyclotis. However, no spe- cimen of this species can be traced from that island. Of the three subspecies of Murina cylotis recog- nised by Hill (1964), Murina cyclotis eileenae Phil- lips, 1932, is known from Sri Lanka, Murina cyclotis peninsularis Hill, 1964, from the Malayan Peninsula and southern Thailand while the nominate subspe- cies is distributed over the remaining part of its range. So far as the Indian Union is concerned, Murina cyclotis cyclotis is reported from Daijiling and some other localities of Darjiling district, Sikkim and Jain- tia Hills of Meghalaya (Hinton and Lindsay 1926) only. On the basis of the present specimens, Murina cyclotis cyclotis Dobson, is reported for the first time from the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. Refer Corbet, G.B. & Hill, J.E. (1980): A world list of mammalian species. British Museum (Natural History), London and Cornell University Press, Ithaca. Das, P.K. (1987): On the number of specimens, reposi- tory, and the heterogeneity of the type-series of Vespertilio montivagus Dobson, 1874 (Mammalia : Chiroptera). Bull. Zool. Surv. India 8 : 39-45. Dobson, G.E. (1872) : Notes on some bats collected by Captain W.G. Murray, in North-Western Himalaya, with description of new species. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Beng. : 208- 210. (1874) : Descriptions of new species of Chi- roptera from India and Yunan. J. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 43 (pt. 2) : 237-238. Ellerman, J.R. & Morrison-Scott, T. C. S. (1951) : Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian mammals 1758-1946. British Museum (Natural History), London. Hill, J.E. (1962) : Notes on some insectivores and bats from Upper Burma. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 139 : 119-137. (1964) : Notes on some tube-nosed bats, ge- nus Murina, from southeastern Asia, with descriptions of a new species and a new subspecies. Fedn Mus. J. 8 : 48-59. ( 1972) : The Gunong Benom Expedition 1967. 4. New records of Malayan bats, with taxonomic notes and the description of a new Pipistrellus. Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Zool.) 23 : 21-42. 2. ENDANGERED GRIZZLED The grizzled giant squirrel, Ratufa macroura, is an endangered species which was reported to be limited to a single population in India, in the Srivili- puttur forests in Tamil Nadu. A recent census' con- ducted during July 1988 in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctua- ry in Kerala revealed a second habitat, about 100 km 'The census was conducted by Kerala Forest Department staff, assisted by staff of Wildlife Biology Division, KFRI Peechi. Acknowledgements I am thankful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, for providing facilities for this work. Shri S . S. Saha, Assistant Zoologist, Zoological Survey of India, very kindly allowed me to study the collection of bats made by him in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. I am grateful to him for this. My sincere thanks are due to Shri P. K. Das, Scientist ’SD\ Zoological Survey of India, for improving the initial draft of this note and for placing certain literature at my disposal. I am also thankful to the Officer-in- Charge, Mammal and Osteology Section, Zoological Survey of India, for providing facilities for the pre- sent work. December 31, 1988. M.K. GHOSH E N C E S Hinton, M.A.C. & Lindsay, H.M. (1962) : Bombay Natural History Society’s Mammal Survey of India, Burma and Ceylon. Report No. 41. Assam and Mishmi Hills. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 31 : 383-402. Honacki, J.H., Kinman, K.E. & Koeppl, J.W. (Eds.). (1982): Mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference. Allen Press, Inc. and The Assoca- tion of Systematics Collections, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. Lekagul, B. & McNeely, J.A. (1977): Mammals of Thailand. Association for the Conservation of Wildlife; Sahakarnbhat Co., Bangkok. Nowak, R.M. & Paradiso, J.L. (1983) : Walker’s Mammals of the World, 4th ed., 1. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. Phillips, W.W.A. (1935) : Manual of the mammals of Ceylon. Colombo Museum, Ceylon and Dulau & Co. Ltd.. London. Thomas, O. (1916) : Scientific results from the Mammal Survey. No. XIV. (A). A new bat of the genus Murina from Darjiling. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 24 : 639-640. Wroughton, R.C. & Ryley, K.V. (1913) : Scientific Results from the Mammal Survey. No. IIIA. - A new species of Myotis from Kanara. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 22 : 13-14. GIANT SQUIRREL HABITAT north of the first. Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats. It is bordered in the north and east by Amaravathi re- serve forests of Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary. The extent of the Sanctuary is 90 sq.km. This is one of the areas with least rainfall in Kerala, resulting in dry deciduous forest. The riparian zones on the sides of the Pambar MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 95 river and Atti odai (tributary of Pambar) were found to be good habitat for grizzled giant squirrel. There is no published record of the occurrence of this species anywhere in Kerala. Sighting of six grizzled giant squirrels and many dreys in the riparian trees of Atti odai and Pambar river during the census gives hope of its survival in these places. Calls of the squirrels were heard from other parts of the sanctuary also. All sightings were of solitary individuals. The animal was seen feeding on seeds from the ripe fruits of Thutta (local name of a small tree on the riverside). A detailed survey of the Chinnar Wildlife Sanc- tuary along with the adjacent Tamil Nadu forests may be rewarding. Considering the extent of the riparian zone, the number of dreys sighted in the area and the spatial location of the calls heard from different parts of the sanctuary, the population could be in the order of 50-75 individuals in this area. In addition to its importance as a grizzled giant squirrel habitat, the sanctuary has a good number of spotted deer, gaur, sambar, wildboar, elephant, panther, human langur, bonnet macaque, peacock and a vari- ety of birds of the dry deciduous region. November 26, 1988. K. K. RAMACHANDRAN 3. INCIDENT INVOLVING A SNAKE AND A PURPLE HERON On 7 October 1986, at about 4.00 P.M. as I was watching the activity pattern of Sambar Cervus uni- color in the marshes of Keoladeo National park, Bharatpur, I noticed a Purple Heron ( Ardea pur- purea) standing from the sambar about 1.7 m away holding a snake in its bill. On closer examination with my telescope I realised that it was Checkered keelback of about 30- 35 cm. The bird took about five minutes to handle its prey. The snake struggled actively, coiling itself around the bill of the heron. To kill the snake the bird started beating it on a babul tree. Acacia nilotica, for some time, then started devouring the entire snake from head to tail. Interestingly, the purple heron is recorded as feeding on fishes, frogs, molluscs, aquatic insects, small rodents and young birds (Ali, Salim and Ri- pley, S.D. HANDBOOK Comp. Ed. 1983), but I do not find any published record of its feeding on snakes. December 30, 1986. MD. NAYERUL HAQUE 4. ON THE PARENTAL CARE OF WOOD SHRIKE ( TEPHRODORNIS PONDICER1ANUS ) On 3rd April 1986, 1 spotted the nest of a common wood shrike in a horizontal branch of a cassia tree about 2-3 metres above the ground. There were 3 eggs and I decided to observe daily the activities, especially the feeding of the hatchlings. The eggs were hatched on April 14 and I could see three blind and naked chicks well-protected by the parent from the hot sun. I waited for a few more days before taking photographs. I expected that feeding activity would be limited in the easily stages, and would increase as the chicks grew, and demanded more food. On April 28th I saw that the chicks were fairly big and overflowing from the small cup-shaped nest. I also found that the lighting was ideal and tempera- ture tolerable. I built a temporary hide, positioned my camera and waited for the arrival of the parents. The parents were suspicious for a while and finally decided to feed the young ones. They were noisy and I saw them sitting on a nearby acacia tree. One of them had something in its beak. The first arrival was the one without anything and it appeared to me that this was an inspection visit, to see everything was alright. Then the other parent followed with the food. During my two hours’ observation I could see the birds were mainly bringing praying mantis, gras- shoppers and honey bees. It appeared to me that the chicks accepted the food, large or small, depending on how hungry they were. Initially all the three accepted both large and small prey. But gradually I saw them rejecting the big prey, like the praying mantis. Soon, the temperature was rising and I was feeling uncomfortable in the hide. The birds also appeared to be bringing food with lesser frequency. Then I saw one of the birds, after feeding the young ones, stayed in the nest. It sat on the brim of the nest and puffed up the breast feathers and soon the young ones buried their heads in the feathers. This beha- viour was definitely to protect the young ones from the hot sun. October 21, 1986. V. SUNDARARAMAN 96 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 5. PAINTED STORK MYCTERIA LEUCOCEPHALA (PENNANT) SWALLOWING A SNAKE Painted storks ( Mycteria leucoceptyila ) are quite common in the environs of Delhi. These beautiful and elegant birds flock annually to breed in the large, natural heronries of the Delhi Zoological Park. Their breeding season lies between September and March, after which they fly away with the new brood and disperse into the countryside, till the next year. About their dietary habits it has been reported and also observed personally that they catch fish, frogs, insects etc. While feeding their young they regurgi- tate the contents of their crop into the nest or direc- tly into the gaping mouths of the nestlings. I have been studying some aspects of population dynamics of herons, and the Painted Storks, in the zoo for the past three months. On 19 October 1986 1 noticed an adult stork in the nest, holding a peculiar prey in its mandibles. I first suspected it was a fish, but closer inspection through binoculars revealed that the animal in the bill was slender, long, shaped like a snooker stick' and did not have even the slightest suggestion of a caudal fin. The only longish fishes known to exist in the zoo ponds are some species of Channa (murrel) and Mastacembelus (spiny eels). It is unlikely that the bird was holding any of these because no type of murrel can ever pass for a snake in appearance and most spiny eels have a prominent caudal fin or fin fold. However, waters- nakes are quite common in these waters and every trip to the zoo results in one or two sightings. After 5-6 minutes of deliberate effort the stork managed to swallow the snake in the head-on posi- tion, while it was still alive and waving its tail feebly. Thereafter, the bird bent down to feed the nestlings which had been clamouring hungrily for food all the while. However, the snake was not ejected imme- diately. According to Ali and Ripley (1968), Painted Storks may wait for considerable periods of time before disgorging the food in their crops. According to them ‘possibly the delay in delivery is due to the necessity of predigesting the food for the young’. February 13, 1987. ABDUL JAMIL URFI References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1968): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan Vol. I. Oxford University Press, Bombay. 6. BAER’S POCHARD IN PAKISTAN I shot a Baer's Pochard ( Aythya nyroca baeri) in district Gujrat (Punjab-Pakistan) near village Marala on 30th January 1957. This Marala is not the Marala of the upper Chenab Headworks but another place near Chilianwala, a battle-field during the second Sikh war. The Marala marsh mardh covered more than 100 acres of a depression in an otherwise flat plain. It was amongst the earliest water logged areas to ap- pear as a result of the canal irrigation. The depth of the water varied from a few inches to about 2 feet at the deepest. Most of the area was covered by marsh grasses and rushes, with perhaps about one fifth of the area being clear water. The village buffalo herds graze the marsh. The spring migration of the wildfowl had started and the numbers varied from day to day. A few days earlier there had been fewer birds, but on that day a new lot of birds, mostly common teal and Mallard, seemed to have arrived. The previous night had been a moonless night and the morning turned out to be cloudy with gusts of high wind and hail. I do not remember there being any abnormal spell of wea- ther. It was a lone bird and had got up from a small patch of tall rushes. Picking it up, I found it was an unknown type. I had not seen one like it before and on consulting Finn’s little book “The water-fowl of India and Asia”, I thought it came nearest to the Baer’s white-eye, but it should not have been so far west. There had been a small flight of the Common White-eye a few days earlier, but I do not remember seeing any on that day. It had fluttered among the rushes when getting up but had risen straighter up than a common white eye. It was a female on the evidence of its ovary. It did not appear to be woun- ded or sick. I had to go away early next morning and so could MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 97 keep only the head, a wing and a foot, which I sent to the Shooting Times, London, who forwarded them to the British Museum (Natural History). Mr. R. W. Sims of the Bird section wrote to me, ‘The bird appears to be of the eastern race, Ay thy a nyroca baeri; this is probably a first record from the Pun- jab”. In reply to a further query by me, he replied, “The words ‘the bird appears to be’ are used because identification rests on only the head. It is therefore remotely possible that, occasionally, birds of the western race can be atypically pigmented. Personal- ly I feel that there is little doubt that your bird is of the eastern race”. December 3, 1986. HAIDER JANG 7. AN INTERESTING COLOUR PHASE OF THE LESSER GOLDENBACKED WOODPECKER (DINOPIUM BENGHALENSE) On 29th September 1986, Vijay Shrimali spotted a strange woodpecker and as happens regularly, most of the staff of the Centre for Environment Education, from the Director down were out in the Centre’s garden looking at the new bird! It was a Goldenbacked Woodpecker but with a difference: the entire body, apart from a light golden back and a crimson crest, was white with a light creamy tint. The crimson crest indicated the bird was a male. The bird was spectacularly beautiful and was not an al- bino as proved by the golden back, crimson crest and dark eyes. Later the unusual bird was shown to Shree Shivrajkumar Khacher and he was able to watch it at eye level on a tree trunk at a distance of less than 3 meters! October 4, 1986. LAVKUMAR KHACHER 8. UNUSUAL FEEDING BEHAVIOUR IN THE ADJUTANT STORK LEPTOPTILOS DUBIUS (GMELIN) On the morning of 8th January 1986 at about 0800 hrs., we came across an Adjutant Stork swallowing large pieces of vertebral column at a garbage dump at Tezpur (Sonitpur district) in Assam. The garbage dump being a major site for the town’s waste matter disposal is regularly frequented by 3 species of vultures ( Gyps benghalensis, Gyps indicus, Gyps fulvus). Pariah Kite, ( Milvus migrans govinda) and Adjutant Stork ( Leptoptilos dubius). During one such observation on these birds we came across an unusual feeding behaviour of the Adjutant Stork. The stork was trying to swallow pieces of vertebral column as also some offal. Initially the stork picked up one of the pieces and tried swallo- wing it. This piece measured not less than 30 cm in length and belonged to a buffalo calf. This was con- firmed by regular visits. Inspite of the size of the vertebral column the stork successfully managed to swallow the piece after a lot of effort. The whole operation was repeated 5 minutes later by the same bird when another piece (about the same size as the first) was swallowed. About 10 minutes before this incident the same adjutant stork was seen feeding on a carcass along with 110 Whitebacked vultures, 4 Longbilled vultures, 4 Fulvous Griffon vultures and 7 Adjutant Storks. Fishes, frogs, reptiles, crustaceans and carrion form the major food of this stork (Ali and Ripley 1983). Panday (1974) has reported the swallowing of maimed ducks by Adjutant Storks. PRAKASH RAO May 2, 1987. S. MURLIDHARAN References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds Panday, J.D. (1974): Storks preying on live birds. J. of India and Pakistan, Compact Edition, Oxford Univer- Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 71 (1): 141. sity Press, Delhi, London, New York. 98 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 9. CRANE MIGRATION THROUGH BALUCHISTAN: A PRELIMINARY REPORT (With a text-fig urey Introduction Three crane species, i.e., the Common Crane (Grus grus lilfordi ), the Demoiselle Crane (Anthro- poides virgo) and the Siberian Crane (Grus leuco- geranus) are known to migrate through or over Pa- kistan in spring and in fall en route to their wintering grounds in India from their normal summering grounds at higher latitudes in Soviet Russia (Roberts and Landfried 1982), though scattered birds have been reported to spend their winters in paddy fields in the Punjab and in desert steppes of Sibi, Kachhi and Nasirabad in Baluchistan. All the presently available reports have placed emphasis on the Kur- rum Valley in the N.W.F.P. (Ali and Ripley 1969) and the valley of the River Zhob in the northwestern part of Baluchistan (Landfried 1982, 1983; Roberts 1977), though Archibald (1979) suggested that the records on the distribution and migration of the cra- nes were very vague. The present paper presents some very preliminary data on the overall migratory pattern of the Common and the Demoiselle cranes through Baluchistan. Material and Methods A tour of the different areas of Baluchistan, i.e. Zhob, Chagai, Kharan, Khuzdar and Sibi was un- dertaken in different parts of the wintering season, i.e. October through March for the last three conse- cutive years (1982 through 1984) in connection with our study on the biology and ecology of the Houbara Bustard. During this tour the crane migration was physically observed in different areas. Excited by the sighting of the migrating cranes in certain areas we interviewed a number of local hunters, local populace and the field staff of the Provincial Forest Department so as to extract information regarding Fig. 1 . Line sketch of Baluchistan, showing approximate location of the sighting of flocks of cranes and tentative migratory routes. The point of the arrow ( A ) indicates the direction of the flying flock observed. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 99 their observations on cranes in their respective areas. The data collected through the interviews was corroborated with our personal observations and was consolidated to evolve a tentative migratory pattern. Results and Discussion The relevant information regarding sighting of six different flocks of cranes in different areas of Balu- chistan is presented in Table 1. Fig. 1 presents a tentative localization of the places on the line sketch. The flocks observed in late March or early April in Dalbandine, Padak and Urmagai with a nor- thward direction of the flight were probably on a spring migration to their summering grounds, while the flocks located in Nushki and Urmagai ia the month of October, flying in a southward direction were on their autumn migration towards their win- tering grounds. The flock observed in Sibi in late November suggested that these birds comprised a part of a group which winters in the area. It was not possible for us to differentiate between the Common Cranes and the Demoiselle Cranes, but we presume that most of these flocks represented the Demoiselle Cranes. No Siberian Crane was, however, obser- ved. The flock of about 150 cranes observed in Put Chatao area of the Padak on 25th March 1984 had probably passed the previous night in the area and it suddenly took off at about 1 1 .00 A. M. and started its northward migration after hovering over the area for sometime. The nomadic camp-mate settled in the area told us that there were many cranes in the area the previous day and that most of these had probably left the area in the morning. Our interviews with the local populace suggested that the cranes could be observed for a few days in September-October and in March- April, in Nushki, Padak, Dalbandine, Urmagai, Khuzdar, and Zhob, but not at other times of the year. In Sibi, however, Table 1 A SUMMARY OF THE DATA REGARDING SIGHTING OF CRANES IN SOUTHWESTERN BALUCHISTAN Date Area Approx. Flock Size Direction of Flight 3 April 1982 Dalbandine 100 North 25 March 1984 Padak 150 North 27 March 1984 Urmagai 50 North 23 October 1984 Nushki 50 South 30 October 1984 Urmagai 50 South 23 November 1984 Sibi 50 East cranes can be observed throughout the winter, though now as a very scattered population, near the paddy fields or near the marshes created by the accumulation of the rain and/or irrigational water. The local inhabitants of the area could not distin- guish between the Common Cranes and the Demoi- selle Cranes. They call the cranes 4 Kcirkcira in Zhob (Pushto) and ‘ Khaakhur ' in Chagai and Kharan (Baluchi). There was no report of seeing the Siberian crane in the area in living memory. The cranes are said to settle in the vicinity of ‘Hamuns’ (Hamun-i- Lora, Hamun-i- Mashkhel) and ‘Kirks’ (both Ha- muns and Kirks indicate the depressions where the rain water of the area accumulates and forms a marshy area after the drying up of the water, leaving open flat ground) in Chagai and Kharan. They spend 2-3 days in the area, resting briefly in their long flight from or to their wintering areas. The present preliminary report is the first which indicates that the cranes exploit a much more diffu- sed migratory route than hitherto recognized. Most of the previous reports tend to place emphasis on the Indus River Valley as the main migratory route of all the three species of cranes which happen to migrate from the northern latitudes to pass their winters in the Indian sub- continent (Ali and Ripley 1969, 1977; Landfried 1982, 1983; Roberts and Landfried 1982), though Landfried (1983) has confirmed the cranes’ migration through Valley of the River Zhob. Our results suggest that the cranes probably have a much diffused entry point into Baluchistan extending from Zhob to the western flank of the Chagai. It seems that the cranes generally avoid very high mountains during their migration and hence select certain entry points through the valleys. Thus, in western Balu- chistan, the birds avoid the Chagai hills and the Raskoh Range. They have not been observed very often in the eastern Kharan, suggesting that the cra- nes entering the Chagai through diffused routes move into the Kharan mainly through its western part, and probably pass into the Khuzdar area and finally to Sibi, Kachhi, Nasirabad and the Rann of Kutch. Further studies are needed to confirm the exact route exploited for the migration in the area. The population entering through Zhob probably directly enter Dara Ghazi Khan and to other parts of the country. Though considerable trapping of the cranes is done in the northern areas of Baluchistan, i.e. Zhob, where cranes happen to pass through very defined routes and through narrow valleys, no such regular trapping has been reported in southwestern Balu- chistan, except for some very sporadic shooting. This is understandable as in this area, the migration routes are very diffused, extending over 300 km. 100 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 making it hard to select points for organized trapping parties for mass trapping. This may suggest that this migratory route exploited by the cranes is rather safe and may help in the survival of the species. It is not possible on the basis of the presently available information to decide whether the selec- tion of this route is made at random by birds in the different Russian breeding populations, or whether some definite populations pass through this route, leaving the other populations to use the migratory route located in the north. Further ringing data may yield interesting information regarding this aspect of the biolgy of species of cranes. It may yield some positive clue regarding the exploitation of this route by the endangered Siberian Crane, if concentrated efforts are taken to determine the extent of exploita- Refer Ali, S. Ripley, S.D. (1969): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Oxford University Press, Bombay, London, New York, Vol. Ill pp. 137, 145 and 147. Archibald, G. (1979): Unpublished book, pp. 374-375. Landfried, S.E. (1982): Crane hunters in Pakistan. The Brolga Bugle, Baraboo, WI. Spring, p. 1. (1983): Saving the Siberian Crane: Another step. World Wildlife Fund Pakistan Newsletter, Vol. 2, No. 1: 2-7. tion of this migration route by the Siberian Cranes, which may be a considerably safer route for the few individuals of the species now left for future genera- tions. Acknowledgements I feel greatly indebted to Mr. K.M. Shams, Chief Conservator and a number of workers of the Balu- chistan Forest Department for their whole hearted support during our tours of the area and to the World Wildlife Fund, Pakistan, for providing partial finan- cial support. November 21, 1986. AFSAR MIAN E N C E S (1983): Unpublished paper, p. 4. Roberts, T.J. (1977): Crane catchers of the Kurram Valley. London. Roberts, T.J. & Landfried, S.E. (1982): Hunting pressures on crane migrations through Pakistan, pp. 1-9. (unpublished typed script). 10. UNUSUAL INTERACTIONS FOR FOOD While watching raptors in Keoladeo National Park during the 1985-86 winter, an interesting beha- viour among other birds was observed. Around the end of January, painted stork ( Mycteria leucocep ha- la) young, though fully fledged and out of their nests were still dependent on adults for food. The young in large groups on bare mounds would clamour noisily to be fed on seeing any adult alighting nearby with a begging display that involves deep bowing undula- tions of the head with wings wide-spread. Egrets on noticing this would hopefully alight nearby waiting patiently ready to pirate or snatch a morsel with a lightning dash during the actual regurgitating feeding act should the opportunity arise. They would then move position from one repleted young to another that was being fed. This behaviour was consistently observed as long as the young continued to be fed. On other occasions egrets were observed to fly in from neighbouring blocks solely on hearing painted stork young begging for food. I have seen egrets flying over from B block to L block, this behaviour being activated on hearing the young’s begging vocal display as they could not have witnessed the food bringing arrivals of the adult painted storks, who were observed to delay and sometimes even inter- rupt feeding to drive off nearby egrets. This beha- viour appears odd in the light that the egrets were rarely successful in grabbing a beakfull. They were almost totally dependent on their own hunting abili- ty and yet persisted with this activity. As soon as feeding was over they would promptly leave the immediate area. On another occasion a painted stork adult was chased and driven up again into the air by a Black- necked Stork (. Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) just as it was approaching its young clicking its mandibles. The blacknecked stork followed it persistently for about 15 seconds till it disgorged a few small fish meant for its young. The Blacknecked Stork was then rejoined by its mate and as they flew across the bund separating L. W. from B block they were deter- minedly mobbed and chased by the pirated painted stork. October 29, 1986. RISHAD NAOROJI MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 101 ll.HOUBARA BUSTARD CHLAMYDOTIS UNDULATA: A RARE RECORD FROM KERALA (With a photograph ) Photo Houbara Bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata) from Kerala. On 7th Nov. 1986, a local Malayalam newspaper carried a report with a small photograph about the capture of a rare bird at Kanhangad (c 12° 25' N; 75° 5' E) in Kasaragod District, the northernmost dis- trict of Kerala. From the photograph, it was obvious that the bird belonged to the Bustard family. A bird- watcher from Cannanore, Mr. C. Jayakumar, went to the place and investigated. The bird was found on 5th Nov. by one Mr. Bhaskaran, an agricultural labourer, in a tobacco field near the seashore at Chettukundu, a coastal village near Kanhangad town. As it was being mobbed by crows, Mr. Bhas- karan captured the bird and took it home, where it attracted a lot of people including the local press, and hence the report. The bird did not accept any food, though water, boiled rice (!) etc. were offered. On 8th Nov. 1986, the flight feathers of the bird were clipped to prevent it from flying away. The bird, which was alive and active till then, suddenly bled from its notrils and died soon after. It was later identified as a Houbara Bustard. Chlamydotis un- dulata. According to Ali & Ripley (1983) the Houbara Bustard is a common winter visitor to Pakistan, straggling east to Delhi. It is commonly seen in wes- tern Rajasthan and Gujarat, especially Kutch. It has never been reported from south India, and this is the first record. As November is the migratory season, I think the bird accidentally drifted away, got disori- ented and landed up in Kerala. The bird was being mobbed by crows it was easily picked up; this pro- ves that it was injured and lost. Acknowledgement I wish to thank Dr Asad R. Rahmani of the BNHS for commenting on the manuscript. July 14, 1987. C. SASIKUMAR References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. (Compact edition). Oxford Univer- sity Press, Bombay. 12. ON THE OCCURRENCE AND STATUS OF RINGED PLOVER CHARADRIUS HIATICULA (LOWE) IN MADRAS CITY (SOUTHERN INDIA) In the last eight years of active birdwatching in Madras, I have observed and recorded the Ringed Plover ( Charadrius hiaticula ) in Madras, at the Adyar Estuary, on no less than 53 occassions. This species closely resembles the Little Ringed Plover ( Charadrius dubius), a more common and widespread species, but hiaticula could always be distinguished from the former by the following cha- racteristics: the more robust appearance, the brigh- ter (orange) leg colour, the orange-based black bill, the presence of the white wing-bar seen in flight, the facial pattern and by its distinctive call-notes. On several occasions, both species were noticed side by side and a comparison was possible. The Ringed 102 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Plover (hiaticula) was usually present on the mud- flats of the river in small groups of 4 or 5 birds and occasionally up to about a dozen or so. It is very interesting to note from Table 1 that all the sightings of this species have been in the four months from January to April, although I have a doubtful record of it on 2nd September 1984. The earliest recorded date of the hiaticula in Madras was on 2nd January (1983) and the last on 29th April (also in 1983). The water level of the Adyar river is quite high between the months of May and October and the sandbars and mudflats remain inundated during this period, depriving the Ringed Plover of its favourite habitat. I presume that this is perhaps the reason why I have not been able to record hiaticula here earlier in the season. The sandbar blocking the river mouth is washed off during the course of the (Nor- theast) monsoon that is normally active between October and November. Thereafter the river comes under tidal influence and mudflats and sandbars ap- pear at low tide. My observations indicate that the Ringed Plover is not ail that uncommon as is suggested by Ali and Ripley (1983) - to quote: “Straggler or very rare winter visitor, possibly sometimes confused by ob- servers with Little Ringed Plover, and in immature plumage with Lesser Sand Plover. So far recorded with specimens only from Gilgit (1881, GF9 : 359), Sultanpur near Delhi (1879, SF 8 : 197) and Maidive Islands (1958, JBNHS 60 : 571). Authentically sight- Table 1 SUMMARY OF SIGHTINGS OF THE RINGED PLOVER AT THE ADYAR ESTUARY, MADRAS CITY Year Jan. Feb. Mar. April Total 1979 1 1 1980 - - - 2 2 1981 - - 3 3 6 1982 3 2 4 - 9 1983 3 2 4 7 16 1984 - - 1 3 4 1985 1 3 - 1 5 1986 1 1 5 3 10 Total 53 recorded: Karachi Harbour (C.B. Ticehurst, Ibis 1923 : 655), Jaffna Peninsula, Ceylon (G.M. Henry 1944, Loris 3 : 132).” Abdulali and Hussain (1971) have recorded this species in February 1970 at Mu- thupet, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu. Subse- quently, I understand that the Avifauna project has also come across this species at Pt. Calimere. Howe- ver, no further information could be elicited on these records. It would be interesting to compare the dates of arrival and frequency of sightings of the Ringed Plover in the two areas. December 20, 1986. V. SANTHARAM References Abdulali, Humayun & Hussain, S.A. (1971): Occur- Ali, Salim & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the rence of Eastern Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula tun- Birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford drae (Lowe) in Tamil Nadu. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 68: University Press, New Delhi. 450-51. 13. AN HITHERTO UNRECORDED NESTING SITE OF A REDVENTED BULBUL PYCNONOTUS CAFER (LINNAEUS) On 25th July 1986, 1 noticed a nest of a Redvented Bulbul in an unusual habitat. It was placed on a dried Acacia arabica twig which was lying on a thick mat of floating water hyacinth (. Eichhornia eras sipes), in the Manasarovar area of the Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, and was well concealed by the water hyacinth. The water hyacinth was about 72 cm tall, and the nest, cup-shaped and made of dried grass, was about 22 cm above the water level. The acacia twig acted as a base of support to the nest, around which it was wrapped. On the day it was found it contained one egg. Another was added the following day. But unfortunately on the 28th the eggs were missing, probably predated. Considering the fact that as a rule Redvented Bulbuls build their nests in shrubs, hedges and on slender branches of trees, normally at heights bet- ween one and three metres, the present nesting site appears unique. September 26, 1986. C. NANJAPPA MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 103 14. REDVENTED BULBUL PYCNONOTUS CAFER (LINNE) EATING PETALS OF MAGNOLIA Redvented Bulbuls Pycnonotus cafer (3 pairs) live in and around our cottage, breed in low bushes and raise their young. We enjoy watching them. Magnolia gradijlora is an introduced tree in the gardens in Nilgiris. We have one medium-sized tree in the compound. The tree is in flower during No- vember, December, February and March. The Red- vented Bulbuls feast on the petals, regularly, all day. There are other birds, in and around our cottage, like the spotted doves, sparrows, the Jungle Crows and Black Bulbuls. But only the Redvented eats the petals. At one sitting, one bird eats up the exposed half or more, of one petal .The petals of Magnolia are large: to give an idea of size, a - bulbul can be wrapped up in one petal. Petal feeding of an exotic is interesting adaptation. December 10, 1986. J. MANGALRAJ JOHNSON 15. A NOTE ON ROSERINGED PARAKEET PSITTACULA KRAMERI FEEDING ON THE LEAVES OF SALVADORA PERSICA IN THE POINT CALIMERE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY. On 29th November 1986 at 0610 hrs, while obser- ving birds visiting a Fluggea leucopyrus shrub in fruit on the north side of Muniappan Eri, I saw five Roseringed Parakeets suddenly land on a nearby Salvadora persica tree with no flowers or fruits. Two of the parakeets perched on a branch facing me and the other three on another branch facing in a different direction. The two parakeets (both fe- males) started eating the fresh leaves of the plant. At 0616 hrs when I stood up to watch the three para- keets on the other branch, all the five birds flew away. Fruits, cereal, grain, seeds of all kinds, flower petals and nectar of Salmalia malabarica, Erythrina indica, Butea monosperma, Bassia latifolia have so far been recorded as food items of Roseringed para- keets (Ali & Ripley, handbook 1983). The lea- ves of Salvadora persica now form an additional food item of the Roseringed parakeet. December 20, 1986. P. BALASUBRAMANIAN References Ali, Salim & Ripley, S.D. (1983) : Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition, p. 222. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. 16. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE BREEDING OF PARADISE FLYCATCHER, TERPSIPHONE PARADISI (LINNAEUS) (MONARCHINAE) The Paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is very uncommon, though widely distributed, in Ban- gladesh. It generally inhabits the cool, damp areas shaded by bamboo groves, mango trees, tamarind trees, etc. So far, we have recorded the occurrence of this bird from Cox’s Bazar forest, Modhupur forest, Sardah near Rajshahi, Rajshahi University campus and Dhasara, Manikganj near Dhaka. On 5th May 1986, during one of our field trips, we found a breeding pair of Paradise flycatcher (brown phase) at Dhasara, Manikganj about 63 km west of the metropolitan capital, Dhaka. The nest was com- plete and empty. It was built in the extreme fork of a small branch of a mango tree (Mangifera indica) about 4 m in height. The area was shaded by bamboo groves, lofty Tamarind indica, Delonix regia, Arto- carpus integrifolia, Cocos nucifera, Phoenix sylves- tris, Boras sus flabellifer, mandar (local name), gua- va, etc. The area also supported some climbers, creepers, bushes, herbs, shrubs and epiphytes. The- re was a nest of a Bronze-winged drongo (Dicrurus aeneus) with four hatchlings, about 3 m away and 1 .5 m higher than the nest under observation. Also there was a nest of a Pied myna ( Sturnus contra) about 5 m away. Moreover, there was a nest of Toddy Cat ( Paradoxurus hermaphroditus bondar Desmarest) with three young on top of a date-palm tree (Phoenix sylvestris) at the height of about 7 m from the ground and 5 m away from the Paradise flycatcher’s nest. A busy village bridle-path went near the nest and all 104 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 through the day people were utilising it. A village home was also located about 12 m away. The overall picture of the area was that of the backyard of a village. The four eggs were laid over a six-day period in May 1986. The measurements and weights of the eggs and the dates on which they were laid, are given in Table 1 . The colour of the eggs was a light pinkish white with brown blotches. These irregular blotches were more concentrated at the round end rather than at the pointed end of the eggs. The breeding Paradise flycatchers showed feeble territorial behaviour. On several occasions they cha- sed the jungle crow, magpie robin, tailor bird, jungle myna, common myna, etc. which came near the nest. In most of the cases the breeding pair used to fly to the nearest high branch and gave alarm calls, something like chen-n-nk, che-n-nk. The pair of D. aeneus, which were nesting nearby would come to their help and drive the intruder out of sight.... some kind of symbiotic relationship. Observations from 13th May to 28th May 1986 were not possible as we had to leave for the Sunder- bans to survey the saltwater crocodiles there. So we are unable to calculate the time spent by the bree- ding birds to incubate the eggs. We started observing them from 29th May. On 30th May, 1986 the first young was hatched at 1 105 hours (BST). At that time the male bird was at the nest incubating the eggs. The male got up from the eggs and observed them very minutely with neck stretched and head inclined on the left side. Then it pecked at one of the eggs, breaking the shell and we saw the swaying neck and head emerge from the egg. The male helped the young out of the shell. Then the male flew away, taking with it the shell remnants to dispose them off far away. He produced certain sounds probably informing the female that he had become a father. The nest was then visited by the female, who too seemed to be excited as it surveyed the nest very keenly and hopped around the nest flickering and spreading the tail and wings. Then it flew away. After some time the male visited the nest with a very small, yellow coloured insect larvae at the tip of his beak. The chick with closed eyes ins- tinctively opened its mouth at the approaching calls of the male. The male fed it - the first meal of the chick. Both the parents incubated the remaining eggs and fed the chick frequently. The feeding fre- quency was 10 times per hour. Hatching dates are shown in Table 2. Again there was a break in our observation from 3rd-5th June, 1986. We went to the nest site on the morning of 6th June and were quite amazed to find only two chicks in the nest. After some long, patient observation we Table 1 MEASUREMENTS OF THE EGGS OF PARADISE FLYCATCHER Egg No. Laid on Length (cm) Breadth (cm) Weight (grm) 1 May 7, 1986 2.4 1.8 2.913 2 May 9, 1986 2.3 1.6 2.730 3 May 10, 1986 2.3 1.6 2.725 4 May 12, 1986 2.1 1.5 2.195 Average: 2.275 1.625 2.640 Table 2 INCUBATION PERIOD OF EGGS (IN DAYS) Egg No. Laid On Hatched On Incubation Period 1 May 7 1986 May 30 1986 23 days 2 May 9 1986 May 31 1986 22 days 3 May 10 1986 May 31 1986 21 days 4 May 12 1986 June 2 1986 21 days Average: 21.75 days understood that the chicks were predated by the jungle crow (Corvus macrorhynchos). It was further confirmed by the absence of the Bronzewinged Drongo, which had left the nest along with its four fledgelings and has made it easy for the jungle crow to attack the Paradise flycatcher hatchlings. During our observation from 1000-1600 hours (6th June) we observed some attacks on the nest by jungle crows but they were chased by the male. Most of the time the male used to sit on a nearby branch giving fre- quent alarm calls and the female remained busy in feeding the hatchlings. This behaviour- has some significance, where the male guards the nest by kee- ping off the predators and the female feeds the hat- chlings. The following day (7th June) one more hatchling was taken away by the jungle crow. The parent birds tried their best to chase it away but all their cries and pecks were in vain. Due to some unavoidable rea- sons we left that place in the evening so we are unable to inform about the fate of the last hatchling. We can assume that it did not survive. This work could have been done more satisfac- torily had we been able to devote more time in the field or had some student who could spend his time observing and taking notes on these breeding birds but it was not possible. We do expect that what we have observed would be of use to somebody who studies the Paradise flycatcher in detail in the future. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 105 Acknowledgements for his help in making and fixing the hide-out. We are grateful to Mrs. Fatema Khatun for her cordial reception, hospitality and making our stay comfortable. We also thank her grandson, Swapan S. M. A. RASHID ANISUZZAMAN KHAN November 21, 1986. RAGUIBUDDIN AHMED 17. OCCURRENCE OF THE WHITECOLLARED KINGFISHER, SAUROPATIS CHLORIS OCCIPITALIS (BLYTH), IN THE GREAT NICOBAR ISLAND There is some confusion regarding the occur- rence of Sauropatis1 chloris occipitals (Blyth) in the Great Nicobar Island. Hume found it on all the Nico- bar Islands, and in his general account (1874 : 75) mentions seeing it along with other birds at Galatea Bay, Great Nicobar. Abdulali (1967 : 175) said, “We did not notice it on Great Nicobar and I cannot trace any specific record of its occurrence there, nor is any specimen from Great or Little Nicobar listed in Sharpe’s Catalogue (Sharpe 17 : 265). It is possible that Hume has erred as in the case of the Cattle Egret.” Ali & Ripley (1970 : 406) restricted its distri- butional range to Camorta, Central Nicobar. Again, he stated (1979 : 762), “We saw it too at Galatea Bay, Great Nicobar Island”. Ripley (1982 : 210) maintai- ned its occurrence in the Nicobar Islands. While working out a recent collection of birds from South Bay, 45 km post on NS Road, Great Nicobar Island, made on 4 and 15 July 1984 by our colleague, Shri S. S. Saha, we came across four Table 1 Wing Tail Bill from skull Bill from anterior margin of nostril 2 Females 105, 108 69, 72 49. 53 37, 39 2 Males 104, 109 68. 75 50, 55 37. 39 Refer Abdulali, H. (1967) : The birds of the Nicobar Islands, with notes on some Andaman birds. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.64 ( 2) : 175-176. (1971) : Narcondam Island and notes on some birds from the Andaman Islands, ibid. 68(1) : 405-406. (1979) : The birds of Great and Car Nicobars with some notes on wildlife conservation in the islands. ibid. 75 (3) : 762. Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1970) : Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan, together with those of Nepal, Sik- 1 Regarding the use of the Generic name Sauropatis in preference to Halcyon , see Mukherjee and Dasgupta (1973). examples of kingfishers which proved to be Sauro- patis chloris occipitals (Blyth). All the specimens which had non- breeding gonads, measure (in mm). as shown in Table 1 Of these four, a male and a female bearing Z.S.I. Reg. Nos. 35691 and 35692 appear to be young birds having the feathers of the breast narrowly edged with black; upperparts resemble those of the adult but are not so brilliant in colour; lower parts are more fulvous than in the adult. These examples, therefore, serve as the first au- thentic collection of the bird from the Great Nicobar Island. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Director, Zoological Sur- vey of India, for giving us the opportunity to study the material. We express our deep sense of gratitude to Dr. B. Biswas, Joint Director (Retired), for criti- cally going through the manuscript and suggesting improvements. It is pleasure to thank Shri S. K. Sett for typing the manuscript. J. M. DASGUPTA December 3, 1986. SIPRA BASUROY N C E S kim. Bhutan and Ceylon, 4 : 98. Oxford University Press, Bombay. Hume, A. O. (1874) : Contributions to the ornithology of India : The islands of the Bay of Bengal. Str. Feath. 2 : 29-324. Mukherjee, A.K. & Dasgupta, J.M. (1973) : On the taxonomic status of the genus Sauropatis Cabinis and Hei- ne (Family Alcedinidae). Bull. Br. Orn. Cl. 95(2) : 79-81. Ripley, S.D. (1982) : A synopsis of the birds of India and Pakistan. 203-210. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. Sharpe, R.B. (1892) : Catalogue of birds in the British Museum. 17 : 265. British Museum, London. 106 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 18. FIRST RECORD OF A SKIN NEMATODE ON AN INDIAN MUGGER CROCODILE ( CROCODYLUS PALUSTRIS) ( With a text-figure) Fig. 1. Skin nematode “tracks” on the ventral skin of a Crocodylus palustris at Madras Crocodile Bank. The presence of “serpentine tunnels” on the belly skin of crocodilians has been reported in literature on the skin trade (King and Brazaitas 1971). More recently Ashford and Muller (1978) described a new genus and species of nematode (Paratrichosoma crocodilus) found on skins of the New Guinea croco- dile ( Crocodylus novaeguineae). In their paper they describe their morphology and what little is known of the habits of these nematodes and point out that similar nematodes have been found in monkeys and tree shrews. While the worms may not cause any pathological effects in crocodilians, their trails or tunnels can damage the skin significantly in commercial terms (see Figure 1 ). The first record of such a nematode in India was made at the Madras Crocodile Bank in 1983 on the mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palus- tris), when one living animal was found to have nematode trails on portions of its ventral scales as shown in Figure 1 . No worms were collected, so it is not certain which nematode we have here, but it is planned to attempt to collect the parasite the next time it is detected in one of our crocodiles. Acknowledgement We wish to thank Romaine Andrews for typing the manuscript. ROMULUS WHITAKER April 23. 1988. HARRY ANDREWS MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 107 19. MUGGER (CROCODYLUS PALUSTRIS) EATING SOFT-SHELL TURTLE On 4 August 1988, as I sat watching crocodiles from Jogimahal in the Ranthambhor National Park, together with Shri V.D. Sharma, Chief Wildlife War- den of Rajasthan and Shri J.S. Nathawat, Field Director of the Park, I saw a large soft-shell turtle floating upside down. Close by was the snout of a fair sized mugger. The legs and the head of the turtle jutted out in rigor mortis. The crocodile grabbed these protuberances and pivoted around on the sur- face of the water, rotating the large flat carapace of the turtle also into a spin, amidst considerable splashing. This, the crocodile did on a number of occasions with respites in between and with the shell coming to rest sometimes on its back with the under- surface showing and sometimes with the carapace in view. A powerful monocular lens showed that the crocodile had been able to tear out certain portions of the legs, which showed dark blood and torn pieces of flesh. There was no attempt to crush the flat and narrow though outsize soft-shell. It is possible that the very large sized body of this soft- shell turtle had resulted in its floating on the top and prevented the crocodile from pulling it under water. Its actions had aroused the interests of 8 other crocodiles, which swam and watched it while floating on the water from a distance of 2 to 20 metres. One crocodile, almost as large as the one which was in possession of the carcass, swam almost within touching distance of the floating carcass, but did not actually grab it. Its attentions prompted the crocodile-in-possession to swim away with the carcass of the turtle into a bed of reeds and thus out of view. It progressed with the shell with the carapace upwards being held in the jaws of the crocodile and being pushed from behind as the crocodile swam. While the distance prevented the precise identifi- cation of the species of turtle, its flat, oval shape, plain surface of the carapace on the back and the yellow colour of the underside seemed to indicate that it was a very large Indian Flapshell Turtle (Lis- semys punctata punctata). It was most definitely a soft-shell turtle. August 27, 1988. RANJITSINH 20. THE GANGES SOFT-SHELL TURTLE ( TRIONYX GANGETICUS CUVIER) FROM VADODARA CITY Gujarat State has been affected by drought for the last three years. Most of the rivers, lakes and ponds have been going dry. I record here occurrence of a species of turtles not reported previously from Va- dodara city1. The Ganges soft-shell turtle ( Trionyx gangeticus) occurs in the River Tapi andR. Narmada (Das 1985), River Mahi, R. Vishavamitri and in R. Sabarmati at the confluence with River Vartak, Temple tank of Daker (Panch Mahals) and lakes and ponds around Vadodara city. Also reported from the Malegaon forest of the Dangs district (Sharma 1982). The Raja Rani talao ( = pond) near the Panigate area of Vadodara city dried up during the month of April 1988. The turtles were in a difficult situation as only a small muddy puddle remained. During the day the turtles moved in the puddle and the turtle’s head was often seen coming out for breathing. They tried to migrate from the talao at night and were seen on the adjoining road, but there is no other water reser- voir nearby. ‘A report that more than one hundred Indian roofed terrapin, Ka- chuga tecta (Gray) were collected by Mr. Dev Raj Matang and Mr. Jayanti Golaniya from the Sabarmati river near the Indroda village & Koba village of the Gandhinagar district. We removed 67 (Table 3) of the turtles from the Raja Rani talao and after measurement (Tables 1 & 2) released them in the Sarasiya talao near the Vara- siya area of Vadodara city. The turtle transfer opera- tion was done by the zoo staff. The carapace colour is dark olive-green above with no markings on the shell. The head dark gree- nish, with three to five oblique black streaks and a black bar from the eye to the nape. These markings are broken in most of the specimens and entirely lost in old specimens, with carapace length above 85.0 cm. The plastron was pale yellow and some were light pink- white. The callosities were not well de- fined. The shape of carapace was low humped and oval, and in old specimens, well humped. A deep groove on the middle line of the carapace and two tumbler- shaped bones developed near the bridge of the cara- pace and plastron on the marginal scute between fore and hind feet, in some of the old specimens. 56 (84%) out of 67 turtles were excess of size mentioned in the available literature (71.0 cm. cara- pace length; Das 1985). During the operation smaller turtle’s size, carapace length (CL) 35.0 cm.; cara- pace width (CW) 30.5 cm., and plastron length (PL) 108 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 THE CARAPACE SIZE (IN CM) OF GANGES SOFTSHELL TURTLES ( Trionyx gangeticus) ;e Width No. Carapace Length Width 70.0 39. 85.0 70.0 69.5 40. 77.0 67.0 64.0 41. 72.5 63.0 75.0 42. 79.0 64.0 62.0 43. 82.5 71.0 65.5 44. 86.0 72.0 76.0 45. 82.0 73.0 62.0 46. 77.0 64.0 64.0 47. 83.5 72.0 63.0 48. 77.0 66.0 67.0 49. 80.0 67.0 67.0 50. 82.0 69.0 68.0 51. 42.0 35.0 70.5 52. 49.0 41.0 65.0 53. 39.0 31.0 65.5 54. 35.0 30.0 75.0 55. 75.5 63.0 61.0 56. 36.5 32.0 72.0 57. 73.0 64.0 Table 3 Date of Collection Number of Turtles 13th April, 1988 16 15th April, 1988 13 19th April, 1988 16 20th April, 1988 17 21st April. 1988 5 Total 67 No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Carapace Length 78.0 79.0 79.0 80.0 82.0 82.5 83.5 75.0 82.0 79.0 79.0 80.0 75.0 79.0 84.0 82.0 87.5 79.0 81.0 Width 62.0 64.0 68.0 66.0 73.0 66.0 72.0 60.0 70.0 67.0 64.0 70.0 67.0 67.0 78.0 67.5 75.0 67.0 70.5 Table 2 THE SHELL SIZE (IN CM) OF GANGES SOFTSHELL TURTLES ( Trionyx gangeticus) No. Carapace size Length Width Plastrol size Length Width 1. 87.5 75.0 59.0 62.0 2. 94.0 78.5 61.0 61.0 3. 88.0 73.5 61.0 61.0 4. 84.5 73.0 58.0 57.5 5. 86.0 76.0 59.0 59.0 6. 83.0 67.5 55.0 58.0 7. 86.0 72.0 58.0 57.0 8. 81.0 68.0 55.5 53.0 9. 77.0 63.5 52.5 55.0 10. 77.0 62.0 53.0 52.5 (Weight 67.0 kgs.) 25.0 cm; plastrol width (PW) 22.6 cm were also collected. The largest turtle had a size CL 94.0 cm., CW 78.5 cm. , PL 61 .0 cm., and PW 61 .0 cm., and a weight 67.0 kg. I am thankful to the Curator and other staff of the Sayaji Baug Zoo, Vadodara city. July 14, 1988. RAJU VYAS References Das, I. (1985): Indian Turtles Field Guide. India- Eastern Region, p. 1-119. W.W.F. Sharma, R.C. (1982): Taxonomic and Ecological Stu- dies on the Reptiles of Gujarat. Rec. Zool. Surv. India 80: 85-106. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 109 21 SOME OBSERVATIONS ON GROWTH OF THE TRAVANCORE TORTOISE (< GEOCHELONE TRAVANCORICA ) Since 1977 we have been keeping 2 males and 2 females of Geochelone travancorica in captivity. They are housed in concrete floored cages along with birds. They are fed on vegetable scraps, spinach leaves and lucerine grass. The birds are fed “bird seed" and soaked grarn and the tortoises were seen eating soaked gram. They were also observed eating a dead parrot, and thereafter they were also fed minced meat. The tortoises laid eggs on the concrete floor, and these were never damaged. The eggs were collected and placed in a dry terrarium with a tray of water. The terrarium was kept indoors and did not receive direct sunlight. Eggs were laid for the first time in 1980. On 14 January 1981. three eggs, weighing 47 gm, 46 gm, and 47 gm each were laid. One of these hatched on 1 1 June 1981. The young weighed 32 gm, but it died soon after hatching. The hatchling looked abnormal, its body being broader than long. In late January 1983 three eggs were laid, out of which one egg started pipping on 22 June 1983, 16.00 hrs. The hatchling was seen to be upside down. When seen again at 20.00 hrs. the shell had broken, and the tortoise was still upside down. Cockroaches had started attacking the placental remains and unabsorbed yolk sac, hence the hatchling was removed and kept in a polythene bucket with moist moss from the terrarium where the eggs had begi kept for incubation. The hatchling was not very active and remained partially within the shell. When seen last on 23rd June at about 22.10 hrs., the yolk sac was still protruding. On 24th June (07.00 hrs.) the hatchling had moved out of the shell, and by evening the yolk sac was absorbed but the suture was not completely closed. When the tortoise had hatched, its body was broader than long but it came to normal shape by 24 June 1983, evening. The young did not survive for more than a week. In 1985 three eggs were laid on 18 January 1985, and their weights were 47 gms each. The eggs were candled every week. In the late 4th week one was showing definite development. On 7th June 1985 the OBSERVATION OF LENGTH, WIDTH AND WEIGHT OF TFT HATCHLING Date Length (cm) Width (cm) Weight (gm) 7 June 1985 5.5 6 35 14 June 1985 35 22 June 1985 6 6 35 29 June 1985 43.5 6 July 1985 6.3 6.3 43.5 13 July 1985 43.5 20 July 1985 6.5 6.3 55 27 July 1985 59 3 Aug. 1985 7.1 6.6 64 10 Aug. 1985 67 24 Aug. 1985 7.4 6.7 78 8 Sep. 1985 7.7 7 84 22 Sep. 1985 83 fertile egg started pipping, and next morning the young had hatched. The young tortoise was 5.5 cm. long and 6 cm. broad, weighed 35 gm. and the empty shell 10 gm. The hatchling was offered Farex mixed with bread and milk several vegetables like tomato, cabbage, lucerine and spinach leaves, cucumber and minced meat in the 4th week. Out of this only Farex mixed with bread and milk was taken regularly, and ripe tomatoes and minced meat were taken occasionally. The only record of the smallest juvenile, probably an hatchling, is by J. Vijaya (Hamadryad 8, No. 3, page 13) of carapace length 60 mm. A record was maintained of the weight and size of the young from the day of hatching (7 June 1985). It was observed that for the first two weeks there was no increase in weight, and the weight increase staned from the third week onwards. In the sixth week there was a sudden increase in weight by 11.5 gm. From the sixth week onwards a continuous increase in weight was observed. LEENA S. SANE July 20, 1988. S. R. SANE References Vijaya, J. (1983): The Travancore Tortoises Geochelone travancorica. Hamadryad 8 (3) : 11-13. 8 110 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 22. RANGE EXTENSION OF CHRYSOPELEA ORNATA SHAW (REPTILIA : COLUBRIDAE) WITH COMMENTS ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF SOME SNAKES IN NORTH INDIA Chrysopelea ornata Shaw, variously named Gol- den Tree Snake (Smith 1943) and Ornate Flying Snake (Whitaker 1978) has been recorded to range over the whole of the Indo-Chinese region extending in the northwest to Daijeeling district in Bengal, Patna, Buxar in Bihar and Orissa (Smith 1943). It has also been recorded from the Western Ghats south of Goa (Whitaker 1978) and recently from the “Dangs” (Rao 1987). In a collection of snakes at the Gharial Rehabilita- tion Centre, KatemiaGhat, District Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh (long. c. 81° 1 5* E) collected by Ajay K. Srivastava, a specimen unmistakably of Chryso- pelea ornata was noticed. Since the specimen was poorly preserved, some basic scale counts were made and the pattern of cross-bars noted to confirm the identification. Given below are some scale counts in the specimen along with those reported by Smith. Katernia Ghat specimen Smith Ventrals 214 213-234 Caudals 115 120-138 Scale rows 18:16 17:17:15 The Katernia Ghat specimen had 70 cross-bars on the body with an enlarged vertebral spot at the position of the tetra- petalous spot in the live snakes. In view of all these points of resemblance, there is very little doubt that the specimen was one of Chry- sopelea ornata. This is the first time that this species has been reported from an area which lies some 350 km. in a westerly direction from Buxar, the western extremity of its range in the Gangetic plains reported so far. Smith’s zoogeographic scheme for the herpeto- fauna of North India assigns extant species to mainly the Indian subregion of the Oriental region. This sub-region has been further distinguished into areas of different faunal characteristics, north and north- central India being covered by five such areas, viz. t- * £ « £ o «« g ■- ■“ o oo -r 9> £ 5 « £ S o> u o w J= — ’C c ■*“* 3 4) cd JS?i DC -a a-5 o S 3 * WO)/ 5 S3.| § |S (« « « o x a o. ^ 5/3 IS ■- £ £ « | o ° > - -o a'^ £ « 13 *c £ 2 « X O C H -a 3 fa o 2 C/3 C .5 C c/5 ° o - a C/5 C/5 §s 5b S £ * -3 4> £ J .2 o| £*S ll§ 1^2 C cd cd aj cd _ . £ 2> 5 « " cd « ■= — 1/5 > © 3 — > © © cd vo c/, *g? £ « cd cd cd "O DC E I— 1 *35 8|| "2 4> © C J X f * * e.2 iS o.2 u S © £ 2 u £ ©£ld3 g * £ £ Q !§•§•§ 4) £- c/5 3 „ O 2 -O a3 © cd .S Zg If 11 3 C/5 "T 3 O « 1/5 l3 u 3 O — Q ^ > g JS iS ‘5b cd « £ a C/D i 4) 4) 32 cd ^ E o. ’7) 4) 3 j= ■£ a 8 *5 4) ^ 4> e 2 ^ O 0DT3 a £ Id "S a > < T3 4> V; on 3 — O 2 O « u ed .£ Is . 2 *0 jf 4> 4> 2 -S £ « f H on > cd •— i C « e S © s •© a> < on 3 i— i C *_ 1 S © E 2 5) -© 45 <'C0 c* ^ 2 £ 4> 3 cd 2 “3 cd 8 £ S ^ 73 £ — «> cd 1/5 C/5 _ is ^ O u- Q jd "O g ~ JZ 3 3 4) u. u 4> 3 3 *5? 3 8 £ ©J! ■© 3 o c Q £ -a M 3 4) 3 ^ 3? cd © ■© on w £ Si si H 4> g g '§- cd 2 e-2 o ^ •C £ 4> oo o5 c O C/5 °-3 c/5 £ cd H J= 4) © u t 3 X) cn .A O. OD 3 ! * 11 4) to x 4> 3 ?d £!l 4> 15 « 2 c c fc- 4, on CU - V S°— V XL oo F «.Eo O C/5 C4- 3 2 « cn C x Cd 4> H x 3 C w E S © E 2 5> x 4) < OO "cd ** c ^ E S © E X 4) < cn 3 ^ C w C © E 4> © E S W> x 4) < 00 116 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 3. Pupa: Pale yellow to deep yellow and not pro- tected by larval skin (Fig. 7). The anal end of the pupa is covered by larval exuvium. Pronotum with two large spots, mesonotum without any spots. Metanotum with two large black spots dorsally. The subhumeral and basal areas are Fig. 3. The newly hatched I instar larvae, many of them clinging to the egg shells. Fig. 4. II instar larva. Fig. 5. Ill instar larva. Fig. 6. IV instar larva. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 117 Fig. 7. Prepupae (PRP) and pupae (P). Fig. 8. Adult beetles. a. C. bisellata Mulsant nominate form. b. C. bisel- lata Muls. var. nudipennis Sicard. Fig. 9. The egg cluster. pale and median area black. Dorsal abdominal region with six large black spots. Pupae are often seen attached to the undersurface of the leaves, avoiding exposure to light and enemies. The average maximum length and breadth of the pupa are 5.80 ± 0.13 mm and 3.94 ± 0.21 mm respectively. 4. Adult: The pronotum has four black spots, of which the lateral ones are smaller. Each elytron has six spots, of which two are sutural (Fig. 8). The pronotal and elytral spots show intraspeci- fic variations (Kapur 1959). In freshly emerged beetle, the ground colour of elytra is pale yel- low. With increasing age, it changes from pale Refer Kapur. A. P. (1959): Geographical variations in the colour patterns of some Indian lady bettles. Part I. I All India Congr. Zool. Pt. II. 479-492. Miszczak, M. (1974): The key for the identification of the different larval instars of ladybirds in the field. Pols. yellow through deep yellow to orange. The no- minate form with all the spots (Fig. 8a) is abun- dant throughout the year and the variate nudi- pennis Sic. , in which the elytral spots are altoge- ther absent (Fig. 8b), occurs predominantly during summer. Acknowledgement Thanks are due to Dr. T.G. Vazirani, of Com- monwealth Institute of Entomology, London, for the help in the identification of the beetle. February 27, 1987 M. RHAMHALINGHAN N C E S pis. Entomol. 44 : 447-460. Storch, R.H. (1970): Field recognition of the larvae of native Coccinellidae, common to the potato fields of Aro- ostook county. Univ. Maine Tech. Bull. 43 : 1-16. 18 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 27. HITHERTO UNRECORDED PLANT FROM UPPER GANGETIC PLAIN WITH ITS ETHNOBOTANICAL USES ( With a text-figure ) During the survey of Flora of Basti district in res. In India, only two species were reported till the Uttar Pradesh which is very close to Nepal territory middle of this century from the plains upto 1650 m in with the geographical limits of 26° 30’ and 27° 30’ Himalaya (Hooker 1885). But Chatteijee (1960) and North latitude, 82° 12’ and 83° 50’ East longitude, Maheshwari and Ghosh (1971) have added one more the senior author collected an interesting plant from species which is indigenous to tropical America, i.e. the area, which was later identified as Aeschyno- Aeschynomene americana L. from Hazaribagh and mene americana L. Ranchi districts in Bihar. After a decade an additio- The genus Aeschynomene L. is represented by 30 nal locality has been reported by Mohanan (1981) species, distributed in tropics of both the hemisphe- from Quilon district of Kerala. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 119 Aeschynomene americana L. Sp. PI. 713. 1753; Chatterjee, Sci. & Cult. 25 : 488-1960. A. mexicana Birali ex Calla, Herb. Podem. 2 : 195. 1834. (Fig. 1). An erect or decumbent, glandular-hispid to sub- glabrous annual herb with purple flower, frequently found in marshy places along ponds and lakes in association with Aeschynomene aspera L., Cyperus imbricatus Retz., Eleocharis palustris R. Br., Hy- drolea zexlanica Vahl and Melochia chorchorifolia L. FIs. & Frts. : August - January; Sohratgarh (Nau- garh); D.C. Saini, 5899. Uses : The leaves and tender branches are coo- ked and eaten as vegetable. The small pieces of stem are used as fishing-floats. R E FE Chatterjee, D. (1960): Records of Aeschynomene americana L. from India. Sci. & Cult. 25 : 488-489. Hooker. J.D. (1872-1897): Flora of British India, 7 Vols. Reeve and Co. Ltd., England. Maheshwari. J.K & Ghosh, T.K. (1971): New distri- Acknowledgements We thank Prof. S.N. Mathur, Head, Botany De- partment, Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, for providing laboratory and library facilities during the course of the study. Thanks are also to Dr. J.K. Maheshwari, Deputy Director, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, for confirming the identity of specimens. D. C. SAINI S. K. SINGH July 7, 1988 SURESH SINGH E N C E S butional areas of Aeschynomene americana L. (Faba- ceae). Torreya 98 (2) : 1 1 1-1 12. Mohanan, C.N. (1981): A contribution to the Botany of Quilon district, Kerala. Bull. bot. Surv . India 23 (1-4): 60-64. 28. ALTERNANTHERA PHILOXEROIDES (MART.) GRISEB. - A NEW RECORD FOR NORTH-WESTERN HIMALAYA (With a text-figure ) The genus Alternanthera Forsk. of the family Amarantaoeae comprises of about 200 species in the tropics and subtropics and is best developed in America. Sorpe of the species have been introduced in India, Burma, Australasia and Malaysia. The ge- nus is represented by six species in India. * Alternan- thera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., a south Ameri- can weed, probably Brazilian in origin, was introdu- ced long ago in Malaysia and quite naturalized in Java. Maheshwari (1984) reported this species for the first time from India from lakes and waterpools in the eastern parts of India mainly from West Ben- gal and Bihar. Bennet (1979) recorded this species from Howrah district (West bengal) commonly gro- wing in marshy ditches, sides of ponds and along water-courses, while Varma (1981) reported it from Bhagalpur (Bihar) growing frequently in ponds and ditches and Deb (1983) reported it from Agartala (Tripura) growing in stagnant or slow moving shal- low ditches forming large communities. Very recen- tly, Gupta and Murty (1986) reported it as a new record for Upper Gangetic Plain growing abundantly along the Hindal and Jamuna river. During the course of preparation of the flora of Kumaun Himalaya, a few specimens were collected from Champhawat in Pithoragarh district growing commonly near stagnant or slow moving shallow water, ditches and marshes. After a critical study, it was identified as Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. A critical study and herbaria and published literatures indicate that this species has not been reported so far from mountainous regions of north-western Himalaya (Hooker 1885, Collett 1902, Duthie 1906, Gupta 1968, Singh and Kachroo 1976, Sharma and Kachroo 1981, Chowdhary and Wadhwa 1984, and Naithani 1985). Therefore, the collection of species from Kumaun is an important addition to the flora of Kumaun Himalaya in parti- cular and the flora of north-western Himalaya in general. The present paper provides a description of this species with illustration to facilitate easy identifica- tion. Field number along with collector’s name is given in brackets. The voucher specimens are depo- sited in the Herbarium, Department of Botany, D.S.B. College, Kumaun University, Naini Tal. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., Abh. Ges. Wiss. Goett. 24: 36. 1879; Kunze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2: 540. 1891; Schinz. in Engl, and Prantl, Nat. Pfam. 3. la: 115. 1893; Backer in FI. Males. 120 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 1. Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. 1. Flowering plant; 2. Flower. Ser. 1. 4(2): 93. 1949; Maheshwari, Bull. Bot. Surv. Ind. 6(2-4): 313. Figs. 1-9. 1964; Gupta & Murty, Indian J. For. 9(3): 282. 1986. Bucholzia philoxeroi- des Mart., Nova Acta Acad. Leop.- Carol. 13(1): 315. 1826. Telanthera philoxeroides Moquin- Tandon in DC. Prodr. 13: 362. 1849 inch vars. Achranthes philoxeroides (Mart.) Standi., Joum. Wash. Acad. Sci. 5: 74. 1915. Refer Bennet, S.S.R. (1979) : Flora of Howrah District. New Delhi. Chowdhery, H.J. & Wadhwa, M.B. (1984): Flora of Himachal Pradesh. Vol. 2. Howrah. Collett, H. (1902) : Flora Simlensis. London. Deb, D.B. (1983) : The Flora of Tripura State. Vol. 2. New Delhi. Duthie, J.F. (1906) : Catalogue of the plants of Ku- maun and adjacent portions of Garhwal and Tibet, based on the collections made by Strachey and Winterbottom during the years 1846-1849. London. Gupta, R.K. (1968) : Flora Nainitalensis. New Delhi. Gupta, A.K. & Murty, Y.S. (1986) : New plant re- cords for Upper Gangetic Plain. Indian J. For. 9 (3): 281- 282. Perennial aquatic or marshy herbs, 50-100 cm long, decumbent or ascending from a creeping and floating base, often much- branched forming dense masses. Stem simple or branched, fistular, longitu- dinal striated, with longitudinal hairy grooves on two opposite sides, otherwise glabrous. Leaves op- posite, lanceolate, oblong to nearly obovate, acute to rounded, submucronate, base cuneate, 4-10 x 0.5-2. 5 cm, entire, thin, glabrous and glabrate, with a transverse row of white, smooth hairs in the axils. Petiole 1-6 mm long. Inflorescence usually solitary axillary, pedunculate, ovoid to globular-ellipsoid, white heads, also terminal sessile, peduncles un- branched, with a longitudinal hairy groove on the adaxial side, otherwise glabrous. Flowers dense. Bracts and bracteoles subequal, 1 -nerved, glabrous, white, persistent. Perianth 5 tepals, subequal, 3-4 times as long as bracts, oblong, acute, mucronate, 1 -nerved. Stamens 5, united below into a tube. Pseu- dostaminodia distinct, lacerate exceeding the sta- mens. Ovary shortly stalked, turbinately globose, compressed, rounded at the apex. Stigma globose, capitate, glandular. Style short, cylindrical. Flowering : May - Nov. Common name : Alligator weed. Ecology : Gregariously growing weed in stagnant or slow- moving water, pools, ditches and marshes at Champhawat around 1400 m in Pithoragarh dis- trict. Specimens examined : Pithoragarh district; Champhawat (Samant 1613). Acknowledgement We are grateful to the Head, Department of Bo- tany, D.S.B. College, Kumaun University, Naini Tal, for facilities and encouragements. Y. P. S. PANGTEY October 10, 1987. S. S. SAMANT E N C E S Hooker, J.D. (1885) : The Flora of British India. Vol. 4. Ashford. Maheshwari. J. K. ( 1984): Alternanthera philoxeroi- des (Mart.) Griseb. - A new record for India. Bull. Bot Surv. Ind. 6 (2-4): 313-314. Naithani, B.D. (1985) : Flora of Chamoli. Vol. 2. Ho- wrah. Sharma, B.M. & Kachroo, P. (1981) : Flora of Jammu and plants of neighbourhood. Vol. 1. Dehra Dun. Singh, G. & Kachroo, P. (1976) : Forest Flora of Srinagar and Plants of neighbourhood. New Delhi. Varma, S.K. (1981) : Flora of Bhagalpur, Dicotyle- dons. New Delhi. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 121 29. A NOTE ON THE SYNONYMY OF HYPTIANTHERA WT. & ARN. AND PETUNGA DC. WITH HYPOBATHRUM BL. (RUBIACEAE) Recently Robbrecht (1980) postulated the tribe Hypobathreae near Gardenieae and coffeeae in the subfamily Pavettoideae of the family Rubiaceae. He placed in it several genera of which Hyptianthera wt. & Arn., Petunga DC. and Morindopsis Hook.f. occur in India. He treated Petunga DC. as synony- mous with Hypobathrum Bl., as considered by Ba- khuizen f. (1965). The genera Petunga DC. (1830) and Hyptianthe- ra Wt. & Arn. (1834) are treated as distinct by De Candolle (1830), Hooker f. (1873, 1880), Schumann (1891) and others. Workers on Indian regional floras followed them. Hooker f. (1880) further introduced the genus Hypobathrum Bl. in key to the genera of Rubiaceae “because it most probably occurs in the Malay Peninsula, though it is as yet unrecorded.” On study of the genera Petunga DC. and Hyp- tianthera Wt. & Arn. , the author of the present note hesitated to recognize their generic distinction and was inclined to treat them as the same genus. On consulting literature, he was surprised to find that Kurz (1877) had more than a century ago merged Hyptianthera Wt. & Arn. with Hypobathrum Bl. and that Hook.f. (1880) and Robbrecht (1980) proba- bly overlooked this merger as they were silent about such a treatment of the genera. Very recently Ba- khuizenf. (1965) in Backer and Bakhuizen, FI. Java, merged Petunga DC. with Hypobathrum Bl. This treatment also appears to have been overlooked by the recent Indian workers in their respective works. The present worker fully agrees with Kurz (1877), Bakhiuzen f. (1965) and Robbrecht (1980), and con- siders that the merger of these three genera is taxo- nomically justified. As they did not give a full syno- nymy it is worthwhile to present it here. Hypobathrum Bl. Bijdr. 107. 1826; DC. Prodr. 4: 459. 1830; Miq. FI. Ind. Bat. 2 ; 236. 1861 & in Ann. Mus. Lugd. Bat. 4: 243. 1869; Kurz, For. FI. Brit. Burma 2; 50. 1877; Hook.f. in Benth. & Hook.f. Gen. PI. 2: 93. 1873 & FI. Brit. Ind. 3: 19. 1880 (in key); Schumann in Eng. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzen- fam. IV. 4: 80. 1891; Robbrecht in Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 50: 75. 1980. Petunga DC. Prodr. 4: 398. 1830; Walp. Ann. 2: 792. 1843; Miq. FI. Ind. Bat. 2: 200. 1861 & Ann. Mus. Lugd. Bat. 4: 130 & 269. 1869; Hook.f. in Benth. & Hook.f. Gen. PI. 2: 93. 1873 & FI. Brit. Ind. 3: 120. 1880; Schumann in Eng. & Prantl., Nat. Pflazenfam. IV. 4: 79. 1891. Higinsia Bl. Bijdr. 988. 1826, non Pers. Hyptianthera Wt. & Arn. Prodr. 399. 1834; Ho- ok.f. in Benth. & Hook.f. Gen. PI. 2: 94. 1873 & FI. Brit. Ind. 3: 121. 1880; Walp. Rep. 2: 518. 1843; Schumann in Eng. & Prantl., Nat. Pflazenfam. iv. 4: 80. 1891 ; Robbrecht in Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 50: 75. 1980. Type: H. frutescens Bl. Distribution: About 10 species; India, Bangla- desh to Phillippine Islands; 2 species in India. Key to the Indian Species Flowers in dense clusters; drupes berry-like, ses- sile H. strict um (Wt. & Arn.) Kurz. Flowers in spike like racemes; drupes berry-like, stalked H. racemosum (Roxb.) Kurz. February 26, 1988. D. B. DEB 30. AN ENUMERATION OF FERN-ALLIES OF NAINI TAL (WESTERN HIMALAYA) Duthie (1906) was the first to catalogue the ferns and fern- allies of Kumaun and adjacent portions of Garhwal and Tibet based on the collections made by Strachey and Winterbottom during the years 1846- 1849 covering a total area of 18,400 sq kms. From this vast area, a total of 13 species belonging to 4 genera of fern- allies were recorded. Out of 13 spe- cies of fern-allies, 3 species namely Selaqinella chry- socaulos (Hook, et Grev.) Spring, S. pallidissima Spring and Equisetum diffusum D.Don were repor- ted from Naini Tal. Since then, no further work on the fern-allies of Naini Tal has been carried out so far. Although the fern flora of Naini Tal is very well explored by a number of workers none of them have studied the fern-allies of Naini Tal. In order to fill up this lacuna, the present study was initiated to collect and study the fern-allies of Naini Tal and its adjacent areas, covering an altitudinal range from 900- 261 1 m during the last three years. In all, 3 genera and 7 species belonging to 3 families were collected from Naini Tal and its adjacent portions. These species 122 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 were identified with the help of available literature and later all the species of Selaginella P. Beauv. were confirmed by Dr. R.D. Dixit, Regional Bota- nist, Botanical Survey of India (Central Circle), Al- lahabad. The present paper enumerates the fern-allies of Naini Tal along with other relevant information. Field number of each species is given in brackets and voucher specimens are deposited in the Herbarium, Department of Botany, DSB College, Kumaun Uni- versity, Naini Tal. Enumeration Family : Huperziaceae Huperzia pulcherrima (Wall, ex Hook, et Grev.) Sen et Sen, Fern Gaz. 11(6): 419.f. 2i-r. 1978; Dixit, Census Indian Pterid. 8. 1984. Lycopodium pulcher- rimum Wall, ex Hook, et Grev., Icon. Fil. t. 58. 1831. L. setaceum Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don var. su- bulifolium Wall, apud Clarke, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 2(Bot.) 1: 590.1880. L. gramineum Spring, Monog. Lycopod. 2: 19. 1848. Ecology: Rare but locally frequent between 1,300-1,400 m and grows both lithophytically and epiphytically in shady, moist ravines near Bajoon (YPSP 105). Distribution: North-west Himalayas, Eastern In- dia, Nepal, Bhutan and China. Family : Selaginellaceae Selaginella chrysocaulos (Hook, et Grev.) Spring, Bull Acad. Brux. 10 : 232. 1843. Duthie, Cat. PI. Kumaun 232. 1906; Dixit, Census Indian Pterid. 12. 1984. Lycopodium chrysocaulos Hook, et Grev. in Hook. Bot. Misc. 2: 401. 1831. Selaginella philip- pina var. khasiensis Bak., Journ. Bot. 22 : 298. 1884. Ecology: Very common throughout the area bet- ween 900-2,500 m and grows in open as well as moist-shady places (YPSP 415, 243). Distribution: Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunanchal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Kerala, Nepal and Bhutan. S. involvens (Sw.) Spring, Bull. Acad. brux. 10 : 136. 1843, emend. Hieron., Hedw. 50 : 2. 1911; Dixit, Census Indian Pterid. 14. 1984. Lycopodium involvens Sw., Syn. Fil. 182. 1806. Selaginella cau- lescens (Wall, ex Hook, et Grev.) Spring, Bull. Acad. brux. 10 : 137. 1843; Duthie, Cat. PI. Kumaun 232. 1906. Ecology: Frequent throughout the area between 900- 1 ,300 m and grows on moss-laiden wet and moist rocks. The branches get involutely rolled up during dry period (YPSP 73, 341, 558). Distribution: Throughout India in mountainous regions except in the northern part, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Indo-China, Malaysian Islands. S. pallidissima Spring, Bull. Acad. Brux. 10: 231 . 1943; Duthie, Cat. PI. Kumaun 232. 1906; Dixit, Cen- sus Indian Pterid. 15. 1984. S. integerrima sensu Strachey in Gaz. North- West Prov. 66. 1882 (non Spring 1850) Ecology: Quite frequent around Naini Tal above 2,000 m and grows on moss-laiden wet rocks, under the shade of large boulders and even on man-made cemented walls (YPSP 306). Distribution: Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. S. subdiaphana (Wall, ex Hook, et Grev.) Spring, Bull. Acad. Brux. 10 : 232. 1843; Dixit, Census Indian Pterid. 17. 1984. Lycopodium subdiaphanm Wall, ex Hook, et Grev. in Hook. Bot. Misc. 2:401. 1831. Ecology: Very common between 900-1,400 m throughout the area and grows on wet rocks and walls along roadsides and forest margins (YPSP 396). Distribution: Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Nepal. Family: Equisetaceae Equisetum diffusum D. Don, prodr. FI. Nepal 19. 1825; Clarke, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 2(Bot.) 1 : 594. 1880; Duthie, Cat. PI. Kumaun 246. 1906; Dixit, Census Indian Pterid. 19. 1984. Ecology: Quite common between 900-1,700 m and grows luxuriantly near sandy situations along the banks of streams, rivers and marshy localities (YPSP 412, 455). Distribution: Himachal Pradesh to Kumaun, Sik- kim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and China. E. ramosisimum Desf. subsp. debile (Roxb. ex Vauch.) Hauke, Amer. Fern Journ. 52: 33. 1962; Dixit, Census Indian Pterid. 20. 1984. E. debile Roxb. ex Vauch., Mon. Preles 387. 1821; Clarke, Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 2(Bot.) 1 : 594. 1880; Du- thie, Cat. PI. Kumaun 246. 1906. Ecology; Rare and grows gregariously on sandy soils and marshy localities around 900 m near Bhujia Ghat (YPSP 429, 430). Distribution: India (throughout the mountainous regions), Nepal, Burma, South-China, Formosa, Hainan, Indo-China, Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Fiji. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr. R.D. Dixit, Regional Bota- nist, Botanical Survey of India (Central Circle), Al- MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 123 lahabad, for confirming the identity of Selaginella species and for the help in the preparation of this paper. Thanks are due to Head, Department of Bo- tany, D.S.B College, Kumaun University, Naini Refer Duthie, J.F. (1906): Catalogue of the plants of Kumaun and adjacent portions of Garhwal and Tibet based on the Tal, for facilities and encouragement. Y. P. S. PANGTEY June 10, 1987. S. S. SAMANT E N C E S collections made by Strachey and Winterbottom during the years 1846-1849. London. INDEX OF AUTHORS, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES PAGE AHMED, RAGUIBUDDIN Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka - 2 (Bangladesh). 103 ANDREWS, HARRY Madras Crocodile Bank, Vadanemmeli Village, Perur Post, Mahabalipuram Road, Madras - 603 104 (India). 106 BALASUBRAMANIAN, P. Junior Field Biologist, Avifauna Project, Point Calimere, Thanjavur (Dist.), Tamil Nadu (India). 103 BASU, D. Gharial Rehabilitation Centre, Kukrail Picnic Spot, P.O. Indira Nagar, Lucknow - 226 016 (India). 110 BASUROY, SIPRA Zoological Survey of India, Indian Museum, Calcutta - 700 016 (India). 105 DASGUPTA, J.M. Zoological Survey of India,Indian Museum, Calcutta - 700 016 (India). 105 DEB,D.B. Botanical Survey of India, Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah (India). 121 DEV AS AH A YAM, S. Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Regional Station, Vittal, Karnataka - 574 243 (India) 112,113 GHOSH, M.K. Zoological Survey of India, New Alipur Road, ‘M’Block, Calcutta - 700 053 (India). 93 HAQUE, MD. NAYERUL Junior Field Biologist, BNHS Ecological Research Centre, 331, Rajendra Nagar, Bharatpur - 321 001 (India). 95 JANG, HAIDER C/o Hamid Sheikh & Sons, No. 2, Cheema Market, Railway Road, Faisalabad (Pakistan). 96 JOHNSON, J.MANGALRAJ Wildlife Warden, Templeton Cottage, Vannarpet, Udhagamangalam (India). 103 KHACHER, LAVKUMAR Centre for Environment Education, Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad - 380 054 (India). 97 KHAN, ANISUZZAMAN Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka - 2 (Bangladesh). 103 MIAN, AFSAR Department of Zoology, University of Baluchistan, (Pakistan). 98 MURLIDHARAN, S. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, S.B. Singh Road, Bombay - 400 023 (India). 97 NANJAPPA, C. Biologist, BNHS Ecological Research Centre, 331, Rajendra Nagar, Bharatpur-321 001 (India). 102 NAOROJI, RISHAD Belha Court, 24, Ramchandani Marg, Bombay - 400 039 (India). 100 PANGTEY, Y.P.S. Department of Botany, D.S.B. College, Kumaun University, Naini Tal - 263 002 (India). 119, 121 PREMKUMAR, T. National Research Centre for Spices, Marikunnu P.O., Calicut - 673 012 (India). 112 RAMACHANDRAN, K. Wildlife Biology Division, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi Kerala - 680 653 (India). 94 RANJIT SINH Joint Secretary (W), Ministry of Environment & Forests, Paryavaran Bhavan, C.G.O. Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi - 110 003 (India). 107 RAO, PRAKASH Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, S.B. Singh Road, Bombay - 400 023 (India). 97 RASHID, S.M.A. Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka - 2 (Bangladesh). 103 RHAMHALINGHAN, M. Department of Zoology, Government Arts College, Ooty, Tamil Nadu - 643 002 (India). 1 14 SAINI, D.C. Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow (India). 1 18 SAMANT, S.S. Department of Botany, D.S.B. College, Kumaun University, Naini Tal - 263 002 (India). 119. 121 SANE, LEENA S. Department of Zoology, Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College, Ghatkopar, Bombay - 400 086 (India). 109 SANE, S.R Sachetan, L 4/5, Sitaram Building, Palton Road, Bombay - 400 001 (India). 109 SANTHARAM. V. 68 (I Floor), Santhome High Road, Madras - 600 028 (India). 101 SASIKUMAR, C. 9, Subhash Nagar, Cannanore - 670 002 (India). 101 SINGH, S.K. Department of Botany. Gorakhpur University. Gorakhpur (India). 1 18 SINGH, SURESH National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow (India). 118 SUNDARARAMAN, V. I.T.R.C. Gheru Campus, P.O. Box 80, Lucknow - 226 001 (India). 95 URFI, ABDUL JAMIL Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, New Delhi (India). 96 VYAS, RAJU Zoo Inspector, Sayaji Baug Zoo, Vadodara - 390 018 (India). 107. 1 12 WHITAKER, ROMULUS Madras Crocodile Bank, Vadanemmeli Village. Perur Post, Mahabalipuram Road. Madras - 603 104 (India). 106 THE SOCIETY'S PUBLICATIONS The Book of Indian Animals, by S. H. 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Natural History Society VOLUME 86(2): AUGUST 1989 Date of Publication: 15-12-4989 CONTENTS Page THE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL WILDLIFE HABITAT (With six plates) By Sejal Worah, E.K. Bharacha and W.A. Rodgers .. 125 GROWTH, MATURATION, AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NILGIRI TAHR, Hemitragus hylocrius (OGILBY) (With two plates Sc three text-figures ) By Clifford G. Rice 129 RECENT ORNITHOLOGICAL RECORDS FROM PAKISTAN (With a text figures ) By TJ. Roberts 135 STATUS OF THE SALTWATER CROCODILE (Crocodyhts porosus SCHNEIDER) IN THE BHITARKANIKA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ORISSA, INDIA (Withfour text figures ) By S.K. Kar and H.R. Bustard 141 MONKEYS OF THE OLD CITY OF JAIPUR, INDIA (With two text figures ) By Reena Mathur, R. Manohar and A. Lobo 151 BIOLOGY OF THE PREDACEOUS BUG Rhinocoris marginatus FABRICIUS (INSECTA-HETEROPTERA REDUVIIDAE) (With three text figures ) By Dunston P. Ambrose and David Livingstone . . 155 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIOLOGY OF HOUBARA BUSTARD: 1983-84 POPULATION LEVELS IN WESTERN BALUCHISTAN (With a text figure ) ByAfsarMian 161 BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE WILD GOAT AND THE URIAL AT A WATER POINT IN KIRTHAR NATIONAL PARK, PAKISTAN (With two text figures ) By W. Daniel Edge, Sally L. Oison-Edge and Nasir Ghani 166 ON THE BASKING BEHAVIOUR OF THE MUGGER Crocodylus palustris LESSON (REPTILIA : CROCODIUA) AT BKORSAINDA CROCODILE SANCTUARY, HARYANA STATE (With two text- figures Sc a map ) By R.C. Gupta and P. Sri Hari 170 MATERIALS FOR FLORA OF MAHAB ALESWAR - 6A By P.V. Bole and M.R. Almeida 175 TERRITORIALITY IN INDIAN BLACKBUCK Antilope cervicapra (LINNAEUS) (With a text figure ) By N.L.N.S. Prasad..... , 1 87 FIELD GUIDE TO THE AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA — PART 4 (With two plates Sc six text figures ) By J.C. Daniel and A.G. Sekar 194 APPLICATION OF SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY IN THE TAXONOMY OF CLADOCERA (With eight plates containing forty-nine figures ) By K. Venkataraman and S. Krishnaswamy 203 IN DEFENCE OF THE MUCH-MALIGNED (ALPHA) TAXONOMY IN INDIA By A.N. Henry and P. Daniel.... 206 NEW DESCRIPTIONS Page Barilius nelsoni , A NEW CYPRINID FISH (PISCES : CYPRJNIDAE) FROM TRIPURA, NORTH-EASTERN INDIA (With a text- figure ) By R.P. Barman 213 A NEW FROG OF THE GENUS Phil out us GISTEL, FROM THE PROPOSED NAMDAPHA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, NORTHEAST INDIA {With a text-figure ) By S.K. Chanda and A.K. Ghosh 215 A NEW SPECIES OF Pinnotheres LATREILLE (DECAPODA : BRACHYURA) FROM VISAKHAPATNAM COAST OF BAY OF BENGAL, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA {With eight text-figures ) By K. Nirmala Devi and K. Shyamasundari 217 ON SOME RARE SPIDERS OF THE FAMILY ZODARUDAE (ARANEAE : ARACHNIDA) FROM COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA ( With two text-figures ) By B.H. Patel and T.S. Reddy 221 TWO NEW SPECIES OF Stdmmia (RUTACEAE) FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH JNDIA {With two text-figures) By Anil K. Goel andB.N. Mehrotra 226 Eria lohitensis, A NEW SPECIES OF ORCHID FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA {With a text-figure ) By A. Nageswara Rao, K. Haridasan and S.N. Hegde 229 REVIEW Birds to watch: The ICBP World Checklist of Threatened Birds Reviewed by Bharat Bhushan 232 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES MAMMALS: 1 . A preliminary note on the survival status of Hanuman Langur Presbytis entellus in some villages of Nadia District, West Bengal By A.B . Das-Chaudhuri & B .N. Roy 233 2. An interesting way of a tiger treating its wound By A.S. Parihar 235 3 . On a hunting pair of Snow Leopards in western Nepal By Karan Bahadur Shah 236 4. Caracal Felis caracal Sohrober sighted in Panna forests By A.S. Parihar.. 237 5. Some interesting aspects of wolf Canis lupus Linn, behaviour observed at Guda near Jodhpur (Rajas- than). By Erach Bharucha, Kiran Asher & Rajeev Jugtawa 237 6 A note on the Pygmy Shrew S uncus etruscus ByR.V. Ranade 238 BIRDS: 7 . Sight records of Storks and Ibis in Kerala By D. Narayanakurup 239 8. A possible range extension of Horsfield’s Goshawk Accipiter soloensis in India By Vibhu Prakash & Asad R. Rahmani 240 9. Ringtailed Fishing Eagle feeding on wasp larvae By C. Nanjappa 240 10. Range extension of Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gyps fidvus By Prakash Rao, Robert B. Grubh & S . Muralidharan 240 1 1 . Occurrence of the Redbreasted Falconet Microhierax caerulescens (Liime.) in the Simlipal Tiger Reserve, Orissa By Vibhu Prakash & Asad R. Rahmani 241 12 Mysterious death of Demoiselle Cranes Anthropoides virgo at Veer Dam By Sattyasheel N. Naik 241 13. Belly-soaking and nest wetting behaviour of Red- wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus (Boddaert) By V. Sundararaman 242 14. Swmhoe’s Snipe Gallinago megala: A new species for Nepal By S.C. Madge 243 1 5 . Accumulation of lead, zinc and cadmium in the nest ling feathers of Hoopoe Upupa epops By Sarbjit Kaur 244 16. Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti from Harike Lake, Punjab By Vibhu Prakash & Syed Asad Akhtar 245 17. Rubythroat Erithacus calliope (Pallas) sighted in Udaipur, Rajasthan By Raza Tehsin & Manoj Kulshreshtha 246 18. Streakeyed Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba ocularis Sw inhoe from Harike Lake, Punjab By Vibhu Prakash & Syed Asad Akhtar 246 19. House Sparrows Passer domesticus Linn, as predators of army worm Mythimna separata (Walker) infesting wheat at Ludhiana, Punjab By J.S. Bhalla & G.S. Mann 247 20. Southern wintering range of some waterbirds By C. Perennou 247 REPTILES: 21. Twinning abnormality in Gavialis gangeticus (Rep- tilia, Crocodilia) By L.N. Acharjyo & L.A.K. Singh 248 22. Observations on stranded Green Turtles Chelonia my das in the Gulf of Kutch By J. Frazier * 250 23 . Contribution to the morphometry of the Indian Rap- shell Turtle Lissemys punctata andersoni By S. Bhupathy 252 24. New locality record for the Indian Pinkringed Ter- rapin By Karmvir Bhatt 253 25. A peculiar food habit of the Garden Lizard Calotes versicolor (Daudin) By S. Devasahayam & Anita Devasahayam .. 253 26. New evidence of the occurrence of Water Monitor Varanus salvator in Meghalaya By Indraneil Das 253 27. Range extension of the Painted Bronzeback Tree Snake Dendrelaphis pictus (Gmelin) By Ravi Sankaran 255 AMPHIBIA 28. Some more species of Anurans from Dharwad, north Karnataka By J.C. Uttangi 256 FISHES 29. Occurrence of Anthias taeniatus (Pisces: Serranidae) from Indian waters By K. Sujatha 257 INSECTS 30. Eating of males by female H ierodula membranacea Burmeister (Dictyoptera, Mantidae) By E. Narayanan 259 3 1 . Redescription of the Whitefly Aleyrodes shizuoken- sis Kuwana (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) By B.V. David & R.W.A. Jesudasan 260 32. Redescription of two Whitefly species (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) from Burma By B .V. David & R.W.A. Jesudasan 261 33. A study of some little known Chalcid wasps (Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea) By T.C. Narendran, Thresiamma Vargheese & Titus T. Jacob 263 34. Mating behaviour of land leeches in Western Ghats, south India By M. Gladstone 266 35. A first record of the araneid genus Poltys C.L. Koch (Araneidae) from Pune, Maharashtra By D. Bastawade 267 36. Flower-visitors and pollination of Adhatoda zeylanica (Acanthaceae) By C. SubbaReddi, B.R. Thatiparthi, S.N. Reddi & A.H. Munshi 268 BOTANY 37 . A note on Acacia canescence complex By R.P. Subhedar 271 38. Mezo neuron hymenocarpum Prain - A new distribu- tional record to the Indian mainland By K.N. Subram anian , B. Gurudev Singh & K.R. Sasidharan 271 39. Synedrella vialis (Less.) A. Gray - A new record for Uttar Pradesh, India By H.B. Naithani & Sumer Chandra 272 40. Some new combinations in the subtribe Lactuceae (Asteraceae) By S.K. Mamgain & R.R. Rao 273 41 . Plants in relation to socio-culture of Ladakh By G.M. Buth & I. A. Navchoo 273 42. On the occurrence of Dimeria acutipes Bor (Gramineae) in Tamil Nadu By S.J. Britto 273 43. Diodia Linn. (Rubiaceae) - A new generic report from India By N. Ravi, N. Anilkumar & T.K. Balachandran.. 277 44. A note on the anomalous flowering behaviour in Curcuma caesia (Zingiberaceae) By VA. Amalraj, K.C. Velayudhan & V.K. Muralidharan 278 45. Paspalum longifolium Roxb.- A grass new to Uttar Pradesh, India By Som Deva & H.B. Naithani 279 JOURNAL OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY August 1989 Vol 86 No. 2 THE USE OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL WILDLIFE HABITAT Sejal Worah1 2, E.K. Bkarucha3 and W.A. Rodgers4 ( With 6 plates) The possibilities of using a Geographic Information System and Systematic Reconnaissance Flight in wildlife conservation is discussed. Potential habitats for four key wildlife species of the Dangs District have been identified using these techniques. The model is based on five habitat parameters which were assessed during the SRF. Analysis of this data was carried out using the GIS software ARC/INFO and results obtained in the form of grid maps showing habitat suitability. Introduction This paper discusses how a Geographic Infor- mation System (GIS) and Systematic Reconnaisr sance Flight (SRF) can be used to predict locations of potential habitat for wildlife. The technique can be especially useful in large areas where it is not pos- sible to carry out intensive field studies over the en- tire area due to constraints of time or funds. In this case, the study area is the Dangs District in South Gujarat, an area of approximately 1800 sq.km (Fig. 1). Potential habitats for four key species, namely Tiger (Panthera tigris ), Spotted Deer (Axis axis), Rustyspotted Cat (Felis rubiginosa) and Giant Squirrel (Ratufa indica dealbatus) have been mapped. Each of these species is extremely rare in the Dangs and, in fact, the giant squirrel is known only from past reports (Appendix I). The main pur- pose of this paper, however, is not to identify actual habitats of these species, but to demonstrate how GIS and SRF can be used as tools in wildlife con- servation. 1 Accepted September 1989. 2 Research Fellow, School of Environmental Science, University of Poona, Pune 411 005. 3 Principal Investigator, Dang Ecological Project, "Saken", Valentina Society, Koregaon Park, Pune 411 001. 4 Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. New Forest, Dehradun 248 006. Geographic Information Systems A GIS is usually a computer based system used for storing, manipulating and analysing large volumes of spatial data. The geographic database can be stored in the form of thematic maps and re- lated attributes such as site data, topographic data, land use types and linear structures. These data can then be retrieved as required, manipulated, overlaid and presented in a map or table form for a specific purpose. One of the important functions of a GIS is to allow the results of data processing for intensive test areas to be transferred over the entire study area. In this way, the characteristics of the entire study area can be mapped in one form in one databank which can be easily manipulated for later computer modelling (Haber & Schaller 1988). However, in this particular case, a different ap- proach was used. Information on the habitat require- ments of the target species was obtained both from literature and from actual field surveys carried out in the Dangs. The data obtained was used to prepare models of the possible distribution of the Tiger, Spotted Deer, Rustyspotted Cat and Giant Squirrel. These models can later be checked in the field and updated as required. The GIS thus provides some basic guidelines on where the species are likely to 126 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 occur, and identifies areas where specific manage- ment to protect their habitat is likely to provide max- imum conservation gains. Methodology Th6 study was carried out in two main phases: 1 . An aerial survey was carried out over the entire study area. Sixteen parallel north-south transects were flown over the study area at an altitude of 300 m above the highest point on each transect. (However, due to operational difficulties and the hilly nature of the terrain, transects 6, 8 and 9 could not be completed. These gaps in the information can be filled in by ground checking). Visual obser- vations on key habitat parameters were recorded continuously along the length of each transect on a proforma. These observations were divided into 30 second subunits. The information collected in this manner was then transferred onto a series of grid maps of the Dangs wherein each grid cell cor- responded to one subunit. The size of the grid cells was calculated based on the speed of the aircraft and elapsed time. Each grid cell corresponds to ap- proximately 4.5 sq.km. Since a relatively simple and coarse grained system based on systematic grid square sampling was used, it necessitated the use of major habitat variables only. We used two physi- cal variables: topography and degree of dissection; two vegetation variables: vegetation type and cover values, and the pattern and intensity of land use. Water is not a limiting factor in the Dangs. We believe these variables can present an adequate overview of large mammal habitat. 2. The information from these maps was later entered into a database file and models were built to demonstrate habitat requirements for each of the species. These models were based on the five habitat variables that were recorded during the flight. The habitat requirements were based on ac- tual sightings of the species, reports from the area and information obtained from literature. The GIS software ARC/INFO (ESRI-Califor- nia 1983) was used to process this data. First a grid of the required size and structure was generated. The information from the database file was then su- perimposed onto this grid and coded to obtain a set of maps showing the various habitat parameters. The constraints for habitat requirements for each species were entered in the required format and four maps showing the potential habitats for each species were generated. Finally, by overlaying these four maps, a single map showing the combined habitat requirements for all four species was obtained. Results Figs. 2-5 show the classification of the dif- ferent habitat parameters as recorded during the aerial survey. Fig. 2 shows topographical features which are classified into five categories, namely, ridge, slope, plain, valley and catena. (A feature was classified as a catena when it consisted of a com- bination of features which could not be classed into any one category). Fig. 3 depicts the degree of slope of each of these features and is classified into flat, gentle, undulating, steep or precipitous slopes. Fig. 4 shows the amount of vegetation cover and is divided into three percentage classes, 1-30%, 31-70% and > 70%. Fig.5 shows vegetation type, which has been simplified into five classes. These are: Forest: Most of the area covered by natural Rarest or old plantation which cannot be differen- tiated from a forest from the air. Permanent (P) Field: Fields with regular, dis- tinguishable boundaries and few lopped trees within them. Temporary (T) Field: Fields with no distin- guishable boundaries and with several lopped trees within them. Forest/Agriculture: Part of the area under forest cover and part of it under P. or T. Fields. Plantation: Teak or bamboo or mixed planta- tion, usually quite young. Fig. 6 shows the intensity of agriculture, which has been divided into four percentage classes, 0%, 1-30%, 31-60% and > 60%. The models for the habitat requirements for the four species are based on combinations of these 22 habitat variables and are summarised in Table 1. A high and medium quality combination is used for each species. For instance, for the tiger, high quality habitat must have the following characteristics: topography can be either a ridge, slope, plain, valley or catena; the slope should be flat, gentle or undulating; cover should be > 70%; vegetation should be forest, and agriculture 0% For medium quality tiger habitat, the J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Worah et ai. Geographic Information Systems Plate 1 THE DANGS — showing locations of Purna Wildlife Sanctuary & Bansda National Park. TOPOGRAPHY J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Worah et al : Geographic Information Systems Plate 2 SLOPE VEGETATION COVER J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Worah et ah Geographic Information Systems Plate 3 VEGETATION TYPE INTENSITY OF AGR I CULTURE J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Worah et al : Geographic Information Systems Plate 4 POTENTIAL HABITAT P a n t h e r a t i g r i s HABITAT QUALITY HIGH MED I UM LOW POTENTIAL HABITAT Axis axis HABITAT QUALITY MEDIUM LOW J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Worah et ah Geographic Information Systems POTENTIAL HABITAT Ratufa indica Plate 5 POTENTIAL HABITAT Felis rubiginosa HABITAT QUALITY HIGH MEDIUM LOW HABITAT QUALITY HIGH MEDIUM LOW J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Worah et al: Geographic Information Systems Plate 6 COMBINED POTENTIAL HABITATS OF KEY SPECIES: P . t i g r i s R . i n d i c a F. rubiginosa A . axis USE OF GIS IN IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL WILDLIFE HABITAT 111 Table 1 POTENTIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIES BASED ON A COMBINATION OF HABITAT PARAMETERS SPECIES HABITAT PARA HAB. QUALITY TOPOGRAPHY SLOPE COVER VEGETATION AGRICl JLTURE o vo o i VO rn A RIDGE SLOPE PLAIN VALLEY CATENA FLAT GENTLE UNDUL. STEEP PRECIP. ^ f f o r- O m • r- i-ti m A FOREST P. FIELD T. FIELD for/agr. | PLANT. 0% 1-30% Tiger HIGH • MED • e • • • • Rusty- spotted Cat HIGH • MED • • Giant Squirrel HIGH • • • MED • • • • Spotted Deer HIGH • • • c • • • • • • MED 9 • • • • • • • • • • • • • All combinations of marked cells correspond to high & medium quality habitat for the respective species; unmarked cells represent unsuitable habitat. topography and slope remain unchanged; cover can be either 31-70% or > 70%; vegetation could be either a forest or a plantation and agriculture could be 0 or 1-30%. Unsuitable habitat would be areas with steep and precipitous slopes, cover values of 1- 30%, P. fields, T. fields or forest/agriculture and areas having 31-60% or > 60% of land under agriculture. These habitat requirements are depicted as maps in Figures 7-10. Each shaded cell corresponds to a combination of variables marked with an asterisk in Table 1 for high and medium quality habitat for each species. The unshaded cells repre- sent unsuitable habitat. Fig. 11 is obtained by combining the high and medium quality habitats of all the four species to give the combined potential habitat for these species in the Dangs. Discussion It can be seen from the results that suitable habitat for each of the species individually and for all the four species combined is very patchily dis- tributed. In most of the cases, the best habitat seems to be concentrated in the northern and western part of the Dangs, i.e. around the proposed Purna Wildlife Sanctuary and the Bansda National Park. The only species that seems to have a fair amount of contiguous habitat is the rustyspotted cat. This is supported by the fact that of the four species, this was the one most frequently reported by local people during our surveys. A possible reason for this is that the cat uses steep, rocky, forested areas. From the maps showing slope and vegetation, it can be seen that a large amount of the forest cover is located on the steeper slopes, creating a suitable habitat for this species. There is hardly any suitable habitat left for the giant squirrel, a likely reason why this species has not been reported for the last 40 years. There are very few spotted deer left in the Dangs today, and this can be attributed to excessive hunting and the fact that most of the suitable habitat for this deer is now under agriculture. The small and patchy distribution of the suitable tiger habitat is obviously not enough to sup- port a population of tigers and these reports need to be confirmed. However, on combining all the suitable habitats, a fairly large and contiguous block of suitable habitat is obtained which, if given ade- 128 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 quate protection, might serve to conserve these species in the Dangs. Another possibility which must be explored is to connect different forest patches by means of corridors. In conclusion, it should be emphasised that this is mainly a theoretical exercise to demonstrate the potential use of GIS and SRF in wildlife con- servation and management. These results as per- taining to the Dangs are by no means claimed to be completely accurate as both the recording of the habitat variables as well as the modelling was rela- tively subjective. Further ground work will be un- dertaken in order to determine actual habitat preferences of these and other wildlife species. We hope to be able to modify and update the existing maps and upgrade them from the present coarse grid form to a finer scale of maps based on vectors. However, two facts do emerge: the fragmenta- tion of the habitat and the importance of the Puma forest. Acknowledgements The aerial survey was funded by a grant from the Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund of the BNHS and the Seth Purshotamdas Thakurdas and Divaliba Charitable Trust. We are grateful to Dr Pratap Saraiya for his encouragement and help in arranging for the latter grant.. The computer analysis was made possible by a grant from Tata Steel. Dr. Werner d’Oleire-Oltmanns and Dr. Walther Ber- berich from the Berchtesgaden National Park, West Germany, spent a lot of time and effort in demonstrating the possibilities of analysing this data using ARC/ info. Special thanks to Dr Anna Loy, Dr. Fabio Corsi, and Piero Genovesi from the Department of Animal Biology, University of Rome for taking time off from a busy conference to help with data analysis and for getting the maps plotted in record time. References Clarke, R. (1986): The handbook of ecological monitor- ing. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Corsi, F. (1989): GIS in wildlife management : is it worth it? Paper presented at the Fifth International Theriological Con- gress, Rome. August 1989. Haber, W. & Schaller, J. (1988): Ecosystem research Berchtesgaden - spatial relations among landscape elements quantified by ecological balance methods. Paper presented at the Third Annual European ESRI User Conference, Munich. Oc- tober 1988. Marble, D. F. (1987): GIS an overview in Ripple, W. J. (Editor) GIS for resource management : a compendium, American Soc. for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing and American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, Virginia. Prater, S. H. (1980) The book of Indian animals. Bom- bay Natural History Society, Bombay. Ripple, W. J. (1987): GIS for resource management: a compendium. American Soc. for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing and American Cong, on Surveying and Mapping, Vir- ginia. Appendix I NOTES ON FOUR ENDANGERED SPECIES OF THE DANGS Rustyspotted cat (Felis rubiginosa ): A highly endangered cat with a very restricted distribution in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. It is a very small, nocturnal cat which favours dense vegetation on broken ground. Atleast four specimens have been collected from the Dangs in the past. It is still known to the local people, but is very difficult to see. The Dangs must offer the best chance for long term survival of this species, based on proper con- servation inputs to Puma WLS and other localities. Giant squirrel {Ratufa indices, dealbatus ): An endemic race of the Indian giant squirrel with distinctive yellow colouring. There have been no collections or confirmed sight records for the past 41 years. It is known by the older local people, but no recent reports were obtained. We have been unable to locate any nests which were earlier concentrated in the Puma region. Loss of habitat, including the felling of large trees for timber is a possible reason for the decline of this species. Tiger ( Panthera tigris ): Tigers have been reported from the Dangs for several years, but no concrete evidence of their ex- istence in this area has been obtained. A census conducted in April 1989 reported the presence of about six tigers in this area. Presence of tigers in this area in the past is reported by almost all the local people. It is possible that a small population of tigers does still exist in the Dangs, and these reports need to be con- firmed. Spotted deer ( Axis axis): This common species of deer has been practically exterminated in the Dangs due to hunting and loss of suitable habitat. The only remaining population is now found in the Bansda National Park. With proper management in- puts and adequate protection, reintroduction of this species could be attempted in the Dangs. ( GROWTH, MATURATION, AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NILGIRI TAHR, HEMITRAGUS HYLOCRIUS (OGILBY) Clifford G. Rice 1 2 * (With, two plates & three text-figures) Horn growth and changes in pelage patterns were monitored doling a 2-year study of Nilgiri tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius ) in Eravikulam National Park, Kerala.. India. In Nilgiri tahr, mature males have longer horns than do females. It was found that this was primarily because males maintained the high juvenile hom growth rate about 1 year longer than females did. The pelage of females changed little throughout their lives, but the coats of males gradually changed from the grey coat with black carpal patches of subadults and adultfemales todeep brown legs, chest aijd flanks, white carpal patches and silvery back saddle. Mature males also had striking facial markings and larger horns than females of comparable age. On the basis of body and hom size and pelage colour, nine sex and age clas- ses were differentiated In considering the facets of Nilgiri tahr biology in the context of their environment, it was concluded that in female Nilgiri tahr body configuration and pelage colour are determined primarily by selection incurred by ecological factors. Body size in males has a strong component of sexual selection, and pelage colour in adult males seems to be affected primarily by sexual selection. Introduction In sexually dimorphic ungulates, it is typical for subadult males to have an appearance very similar to that of adult females (e.g. Geist 1971). As males mature, they gradually acquire distinctive pelage patterns. As such maturational characters are an indication of age, they can be useful in describ- ing the age structure of a population. Nilgiri tahr males have a distinctive pelage, the most conspicuous feature being a light “saddle’4 across the back. Males showing this pelage are com monly termed saddlebacks (Davidar 1971, Schaller 1971). Yet, because these maturational characters develop gradually over a period of several years, the potential exists for differing assessments as to what characterizes a “mature” male, or saddleback. Thus Davidar (1972, 1976) and myself (Rice 1984) es- timated that saddlebacks made up 4 - 6% of the populations we surveyed, whereas Schaller (1971) reported 9-11% saddlebacks in the same popula- tions (albeit in different years). Nevertheless, the number of adult (age 2 years) males per adult female in all counts was nearly constant, averaging 0.58 (maximum = 0.62, minimum 0.54), while the number of saddlebacks per adult female showed 1 Accepted May 1987. 2 Present address: Caller, Box PPP 255, Saipan, MP 96950, U.S.A. substantial variation (0.27 and 0.33 for Schaller, 0.10-0.14 for Davidar and myself). It therefore seems likely that Davidar (1972) was correct in at- tributing these discrepancies to different standards used in classifying males. Nevertheless, neither Davidar nor Schaller gave more than minimal descriptions of the characteristics they employed in classifying male Nilgiri tahr. One objective of this paper is to delineate specific characteristics which can be used in sex and age classifications of Nilgiri tahr. As with any physical traits, the body size and pelage of an animal are influenced by natural selec- tion. The second objective of this paper is to inter- pret the physical characteristics of Nilgiri tahr in light of the social and physical environment in which they live. Study Area and Methods The findings presented here are based on ob- servations made in Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India, between August 1979 and September 1981. At Eravikulam, Nilgiri tahr inhabit the fringes of a rolling grassy plateau. Adjacent cliffs are used primarily as escape terrain and for giving birth. Nil- giri tahr occurred in large groups (up to 150 in- dividuals) and during the rut numerous males com- peted for access to oestrous females. During the course of the study one subpopula- 130 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 tion of about 120 animals was habituated to my close proximity. To facilitate individual recognition, 51 colour coded collars were placed on adult females. Adult males were recognized on the basis of natural marks (broken and chipped horns, scars). The iden- tities of individual young (less than 1 year old) tahr were determined through interactions with their mothers. Initially, I followed Schaller’s (1971) outline of sex and age classes, but as the study progressed I refined this system, dividing the initial 6 classes into 9 by the end of the study (see below). Nilgiri tahr >2 years old could be aged on the basis of body size and horn length. Individuals >2 years old were aged by counting horn rings. Horn lengths of young were visually estimated. Results Male Nilgiri tahr grow to about 1 10 cm at the shoulder (Prater 1980), and weigh about 100 kg (Wilson 1980), a stature they reach at about 6 years 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 AGE OF YOUNG (WEEKS) STAGE = □ PRETAN eiTAN □ POSTTAN Fig. 1. Observations of Nilgiri tahr young pelage stages. of age. Measurements from photographs indicated adult females were 75% the size of males, or about 80 cm at the shoulder. Females weigh about 50 kg (Wilson 1980). Nilgiri tahr were bom with an overall grey coat (which I termed the pretan stage), with carpal patches and facial markings absent or incon- spicuous. At about 10-14 weeks of age they grew a light a tan fluffy coat (tan stage), which was shed at an age of about 20 weeks (post tan stage, Fig. 1). The first records of tan young came 3 weeks later for female young than for males; the mean age of tan female young was 2.6 weeks greater than that for male young (18.6 v. 16.0 respectively), and female young were last recorded in tan phase 3 weeks later than male young. Although the first female young were recorded in post tan phase at the same age as the first male young, the first peak in female young post tan observations is 2 weeks after the first peak in male young post tan observations. Overall, there was an evident trend for females to pass through these stage changes about 2 weeks later than males did. The post tan coat was the same as seen in adult females and young males. The black patch on the anterior of the forelegs, just above the carpal joint, contrasted with the overall grey pelage. The abdomen and centre of the chest were off-white, as were the insides and backs of the legs. A narrow mane of black hairs extended from the top of the nape to the tail. An ill- defined stripe of light coloured hairs dropped from just anterior to the eye toward the mouth. Light brown hairs covered the tip of the muzzle and the area around the eyes. As females matured there was virtually no change in this pelage pattern. Males, however, con- tinued to change as they grew older. At about four years of age (when they surpassed females in body and horn size), the top of the black carpal patch began to turn white. The proportion of white in the patch increased until it was all white by about 5 years of age. At the same time the fronts of all four legs changed to a dark brown as did the lower flanks, the ridge of the muzzle between the light stripes, and a patch below the eyes. A saddle-shaped area of light hair was also usually present, but was not con- spicuous at this time. These changes then inten- sified, as the fronts of the legs turned black (contrast- ing markedly with the white carpal patch), the facial MATURATION AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NILGIRI TAHR 131 pattern became more prominent, and the general body pelage darkened to brown. The mane grew longer along the neck and the light coloured saddle stood out. In the final stage of development, reached at an age of about 8 years, the black coloration ex- tended onto the shoulders, chest, and neck, and the saddle was a silvery colour. Males reached their ful- lest development in these traits during the rut (mon- soon), and regressed an equivalent of about half a year’s maturation during the winter. In both sexes horns were first visible in the field as buds at the age of 3-4 weeks. Horn length was first estimated at 1 cm about 8 weeks after birth. Homs of females grew slower than those of males, but this difference was not great during the first year. A linear regression model fitted to estimated horn length for male young under the age of 30 weeks gave the equation: horn length = age ( in days) x 0.01940 - 0.09859. The comparable equation for females was: horn length = age x 0.01843 - 0.25533. Assuming continued growth at these rates, the horns of males were 7.0 cm long at the age of 1 year, and 14.1 cm long at 2 years of age, while the horns of females were 6.5 cm long at the age of 1 year, and 13.2 cm long at 2 years of age. Horn rings were present, but the first was usually indistinguishable, as is the case with Himalayan tahr (Caughley 1965). It was sometimes difficult to count the horn rings precisely in older FEMALES ■----■MALES Fig. 2. Annual growth of Nilgiri tahr horns. Growth for the first year was estimated based on visual estimation of hom lengths made during the first 30 weeks of life for 1981 young (see text). Subsequent values are averages from both horns from two individuals in each sex. females, as the later rings were not always clearly demarked. Measurements of intervals between hom rings from skulls collected during the study gave an indication of the growth of horns from the second year onwards (Fig. 2), with growth during the first year estimated on the basis of the above equations. The rate of hom growth had decreased by the second year in females, whereas in males the original rate persisted until the second or third year. After the sixth year the growth rate in males was only slight- ly greater than that for females. In other words, males grew longer horns than females primarily be- cause they maintained the original growth rate about 1 year longer. The small difference between the predicted and measured lengths for 2 years of hom growth in- dicated that hom rings were put down at about the same time of year as births occurred, that is January and February. The largest horns I measured were 32 cm long, considerably shorter than the 44 cm maximum listed by Ward (1910). The horns of males were also wider and deeper than those of females. The horns of adult males measured about 7. 2-7. 5 cm front to back. Those of adult females measured 4. 6-5.0 cm. Except for the last few centimetres, where the hom is nearly straight, Nilgiri tahr horns show a con- stant curve (Fig. 3), indicating a constant ratio through time between growth rates for the front and back of the hom. There is an anteriorly projecting rib on the medial anterior comer of the hom. This is first evident during the second year of growth, and is fully developed sometime in the third year. Homs are conical during the first year of growth, after which they develop a flattened inner margin (Rice 1984, Schaller 1971). The horns do not curve out- ward or flare, and can be laid on a flat surface with the inner margin facing down. Relative to the skull, the horns are rotated away from the longitudinal plane so that the flattened surfaces form an angle of about 20x, and the hom tips are further apart than the bases of the horns. Based on these maturational changes, the fol- lowing sex and age classes were recognized. Ab- breviations adopted during this study are given in parenthesis. Young ( Yg ). Age up to 1 year. Homs less than 7 cm. Overall pelage grey. Yearling (Y l ). At the start of the birth season. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 10 cm Fig. 3. Outline of Nilgiri tahr horns. all Yg were advanced to Yl. Age usually 1-2 years. Horn length usually 6-14 cm. Overall pelage grey. Adult female (F, Plate 1 ). Age 2 + years. Stand- ing about 80 cm at the shoulder. Homs upto 30 cm long, and more slender than those of adult males. Overall pelage grey. Light brown male (Lbm). Age 2-4 years. About the same size as adult females. Distinguished from them by presence of scrotum and penis sheath or (with experience and at close distances) by heavier horns. Overall pelage grey with black carpal patch. Large light brown male (Llbm, Plate 2 ). Age c. 4 years. Slightly larger and stockier than F’s. Homs slightly larger and heavier. At least half of car- pal patch white. Overall pelage grey. Dark brown male ( Dbm ). Age c. 5 years. Horn and body size greater than in females. Carpal patch white against dark brown lower forelegs. Facial markings distinct. Overall pelage brown. Light sad- dle may be present, but not distinct. Saddleback (5, Plate 1 ). With three sub- divisions: 1 (SI ): Age c. 6 years. Off-white or tan saddle distinct. Black on legs but shoulders and neck dark brown. 2 (Si -2 ): Age c. 7 years. Saddle may be sil- very. Black extending onto shoulders but not to withers. 3 (S2 ): Age 8+ years. Saddle silvery. Black ex- tending to withers and neck. Duringthe 1981 rut I aged all the males present in the Vaguvarrai study area (Table 1). The distribu- tion of ages by class showed that the male classes were closely related to age. Discussion and Conclusions Body size and configuration can be viewed as the combined results of selection for ecological fac- tors and sexual selection (Selander 1965). In polygynous species, both types of selection in- fluence the traits of males, while the characteristics of females are mostly the result of selection for ecological factors (Clutton-Brock et al. 1982). In Nilgiri tahr (and other Caprinae) sexual dimorphism in body size can be explained a result of differences in these selection pressures, particularly escape ability (selection for ecological factors) and com- petition between males over access to oestrous females (sexual selection). In caprids, the impor- tance of escape ability as a factor in natural selec- tion is evidenced by the degree to which the availability of escape terrain determines habitat use. For instance, mixed groups of Nilgiri tahr confine their activities to the steep cliffs and the grasslands within 500 m of the cliffs despite the availability of otherwise appropriate habitat at greater distances. Size is an important factor affecting ability to negotiate precipitous terrain, as was evident when courted Nilgiri tahr females led hesitant males over difficult ground. Males were apparently less physi- cally fit in terms of using steep slopes as escape ter- rain. This was overcome by increased reproductive fitness through sexual selection for large males, as size affects fighting ability and dominance, both of which determine access to oestrous females, and hence reproduction. Large size may have also in- creased the ability of males to outrun or confront predators on open ground and this may be one reason why they were seen further towards the Adult female (left) and saddleback (male) Nilgiri tahr. (Photo: Author) J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Rice: Hemi tragus hylocrius Plate 2 Large light brown male Nilgiri tahr. The carpal patches are in the first stages of changing from black to white, (, Photo : Author) MATURATION AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NILGIRI TAHR 133 centre of the plateau than were mixed groups (Rice 1984). The grey coats of female and subadult Nilgiri tahr blended extremely well with the gneiss cliffs which were escape terrain of the tahr. These animals were surprisingly easy to overlook even on the open grassy slopes, especially in the overcast and rainy conditions common throughout much of the year. Such cryptic coloration is widespread in the Caprinae (Schalier 1977); the most obvious con- clusion is that it serves to make detection by predators less likely. Saddlebacks, in contrast, were very conspicuous. Their deep brown coats and sil- very saddles stood out at distances of 1 km or more. Whereas male body size may be considered a com- promise between the dictates of selection for ecological factors and sexual selection in Nilgiri tahr, selection for ecological factors seems to have been overwhelmed by sexual selection in affecting pelage coloration of mature males. Male maturational changes are closely related to age and hence size and fighting ability. They may, therefore, be considered as a static (or continuous) dominance display, making them analogous to the horns of bighorn sheep ( O . canadensis, Geist 1971). This was supported by the response of dominant saddlebacks in mixed groups to the arrival of a new saddleback, which consisted of staring, spraying urine, and object aggression (such reactions were not elicited by other animals). Maturational charac- ters were also accentuated in another dominance dis- play, the hunch (Rice 1984, 1988). The hunch was given in broadside orientation,displaying the dark flanks and contrasting saddle, and the erected mane flipped back and forth with the steps of the display- ing male. Table 1 NUMBER OF MALES OF EACH AGE AND CLASS IN THE VAGUVARRAI INTENSIVE STUDY AREA ON 20 JULY 1981 BASED ON HORN RING COUNTS. SEE TEXT FOR CLASS AB- BREVIATIONS Class Age (years) S2 Sl-2 SI Dbm libra Lbm 2 - - - - - 2 3 - - _ _ 2 3 4 - - - 1 6 _ 5 _ _ _ 5 _ _ 6 — — 3 _ _ _ 7 - 2 - - - - 8 1 — — — — — Male Himalayan and Arabian tahr also have maturational characters. These species have long bushy growths of hairs, particularly on the shoulders (Harrison 1968, Schalier 1977). Such a long, thick covering would be a serious impediment when saturated with rain, which may be why male Nilgiri tahr lack such pelage. Both sexes of Nilgiri tahr have distinct carpal patches, those of each sex contrasting sharply with the colour of the surrounding pelage. These patches remain nearly constant throughout life (except in males during the switch from black to white), so they are not solely of maturational significance. Their distinctiveness would seem to indicate some func- tion, but they are not employed in any particular dis- plays and their importance remains unknown. Con- spicuous markings are present on the forelegs of several Capra species and bharal ( Psuedois nayaur, Schalier 1977), where it is prominently displayed as these animals rear to clash - something Nilgiri tahr rarely, if ever, do (Rice 1984, 1988). The function of the tan coat Yg Nilgiri tahr grow and shed at 3-6 months of age is also unclear. The length and fluffiness of the coat suggest in- creased insulation, but the advantages of such a coat would be greatest during the first couple of months of life when body size is smaller, minimum tempera- tures are lower. It is probably significant that most Yg shed their tan coats just before the monsoon, thus avoiding the costs of thermal and energy losses which would probably be incurred by carrying a water-logged shaggy coat. The tan coat may be a so- cial signal which serves to reduce aggression by adults (Hrdy 1976), but there was no obvious indica- tion of this in Nilgiri tahr. The tan coat of Nilgiri tahr young differs significantly from the juvenile coats of most mammals. Young mammals are typically bom with their juvenile coloration and lose it as they mature. The coats of neonate Nilgiri tahr are much like those of adult females and they subsequently ac- quire the tan coat. Annual horn growth in Nilgiri tahr is nearly asymptotic at about 1 cm/year for both males and females (Fig. 2). This differs from Dali sheep (Bun- nel 1978) where horn growth in males is greater than that of ewes at all ages. It is hoped that the sex and age classifications oudined here will serve as a reference for further in- 134 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL IIIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 vestigations on this species. Acknowledgements The American Institute of Indian Studies, the Caesar Kleberg Program in Wildlife Ecology, and Wildlife Conservation International of the New York Zoological Society provided funds for this study. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assisted with essential logistical support. I gratefully ac- knowledge the permission to work in Eravikulam Refer Bunnell, EL. (1978): Horn growth and population quality in Dali sheep. J. Wildl. Manage. 42: 775. Caughley, G. (1965): Horn rings and tooth eruption as criteria of age in the Himalayan tahr ( Hemitragus jemlahicus). New Zealand J. Science 8: 333-351. Clutton- brock, T.H., Guinness, RE. & Albon, S.D. (1982): Red deer. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago. Davidar, E.R.C. (1971): A note on the status of the Nil- giri tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius) on the Grass Hills in the Anamal- lais. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 68: 347-354. (1972): Nilgiri tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius ) ‘saddle backs’, ibid. 69: 173-174. (1976); Census of the Nilgiri tahr in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. ibid. 73: 142-148. Geist, V. (1971): Mountain sheep. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago. Harrison, D.L. (1968): The mammals of Arabia. Vol. n. Emt Benn. Ltd., London. Hrdy, S.B. (1976): Care and exploitation of nonhuman primate infants by conspecifics other than the mother, pp. 101- 158 In: J.S. Rosenblatt, R.A. Hinde, E. Shaw, and C. Beer (Eds). National Park granted by the Government of India and the Kerala State Government. Invaluable assis- tance with daily logistical needs was provided by members of the High Range Wildlife Preservation Association. V. Geist, M. Hutchins, F. Koontz, S. Lovari, J. Stover, C. Wemmer, and an anonymous reviewer provided valuable criticism of an earlier draft of this report. ENCES Advances in the study of behaviour. Academic Press, New York. Prater, S.H. (1980): The book of Indian Animals. 3rd. ed. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. Rice, C.G. (1984): The behaviour and ecology of Nilgiri tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius Ogilby, 1838). Phd. diss. College Sta- tion: Texas A&M University. (1988): Agonistic and sexual behaviour of Nil- giri tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius). Ethology 87: 89-1 12. Schaller, G.B. (1971): Observations on Nilgiri tahr ( Hemitragus hylocrius Ogilby, 1838). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 67: 365-389. (1977): Mountain monarchs. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago. Selander, R.K. (1965): On mating systems and sexual selection. Amer. Nat. 99: 129-141. Ward, R. (1910): Records of big game. Rowland Ward, Ltd., London. Wilson, C.G. (1980): The breeding and management of Nilgiri tahr Hemitragus hylocrius at Memphis Zoo. Internat. Zoo Yearb.20: 104-106. RECENT ORNITHOLOGICAL RECORDS FROM PAKISTAN1 T.J. Roberts 2 (With a text-figure) This note is complementary to previous con- tributions to the Journal on the available informa- tion about the distribution and status of certain bird species from this region. Vide: Roberts 1984, JBNHS Vol. 81 and Roberts et. al. 1985, JBNHS , Vol. 82. Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus In mid-January 1984, 1 carried out waterfowl surveys around the two principal lakes in central Baluchistan, which province covers the south- western region of Pakistan. Due to good rains Zangi Nawar Lake (29° IT N, 65° 47’ E) comprised an ex- tensive series of lagoons which could only be sur- veyed effectively from a boat, which in this instance was an ill- designed bath-tub sized affair. While returning on January 17th evening from an extended afternoon in this craft, during which more than 200 Blacknecked Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) had been counted, a single bird, swimming by itself, at once attracted attention by its seemingly more con- trasting black and white plumage and more upright neck carriage. It appeared to all intents to be a Slavonian Grebe. Due to the precarious nature of the boat, neither prolonged nor careful observation was possible, and this, coupled with general fatigue, I am ashamed to confess, made me decide to forget the incident, knowing that the species had never before been recorded from the subcontinent. However, on January 20th a visit was made to the much smaller Kushdil Khan lake in Pishin district, where it was possible to conduct waterfowl counts from the shore, using a tripod mounted telescope. Imagine my delight, therefore, when in a secluded arm of the lake I found a pair of Slavonian Grebes, which I was able to sketch and to watch for over an hour. My home, on the island of Anglesey (North Wales), offers shelter each winter, around the coast, to a number of Slavonian Grebes and Rednecked Grebes (Podiceps grisegena). I was therefore well 1 Accepted April 1987. 2 Cac Gors, Rhoscefnhir, Near Pentracth, Anglesoy, Gwgncold, LL75 BYU, UK. aware of the extreme similarity in appearance be- tween P. auritus and P. nigricollis from past ex- perience. Indeed, juvenile birds might well be indis- tinguishable in their first winter unless observed at very close range. Some commentary on their distin- guishing field marks may therefore be of interest to the reader. P. auritus has the same rather dumpy ap- pearance and fluffy rear end as the Blackneck- ed Grebe. It is smaller, shorter necked and looks more black-and-white than the Rednecked Grebe in winter plumage. It is only slightly larger than P. nigricollis but tends to appear more straight necked and larger in the head with a heavier bill. This bill is straight or slightly recurved along the cul- men, black in colour, with a pale, homy tip. The tip is very small in area and difficult to see in the field. In nigricollis the bill is more slender than that of auritus and is slightly uptilted along the culmen without any paler tip. The white wing bar in auritus is considerably wider than in nigricollis ; but this is generally not helpful unless the bird flies, as it is in- visible in most swimming birds. Perhaps the best distinguishing characters re- late to the pattern of black on the crown and white on the cheeks and foreneck. In auritus the white area on the cheeks is much more extensive, especial- ly extending towards the hindneck or auricular region and extending up around the base of the eye. In nigricollis the black of the crown tends to extend to just below and around the eye and onto the auricular region. It is significant that the dark colour of the crown and hind neck in the Asiatic population of P. auritus is less silvery grey and more black than in the North American population, in winter plumage. I have, however, seen juvenile wintering specimens of auritus in Anglesey with equally extensive amounts of grey-black on the hind crown as in nigricollis. The view of auritus from the back of its head and neck does, however, present a very characteristic pattern when compared with nigricollis , and to my mind, is the best distinguish- ing field character. (Fig.l). 136 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 1. A-F: A: Podiceps auriius — winter plumage; B. Same, view from rear of head; C .Podiceps nigricollis — winter plumage; D. Same, view from rear of head; E. Captive Bewick’s swan, copied from photograph presumed to be Jankowski’s Swan Cygnus columbianus jankowskii ; F. Same, front view. Due to other writing commitments, I failed to submit any account of this (presumed) first record for the species. In January 1987, Mr. Mark Mallaiieu and Mr. Ashiq Ahmad, while conducting waterfowl counts in the Punjab Salt Range lakes, encountered a pair of Slavonian Grebes on Khabbaki lake (M. Mallaiieu, pers. comm., February 1987) and this new record has been submitted for publication. Coincidentally, a single Slavonian Grebe was captured on film in January 1986 by Mr. Naseer Tareen, the distinguished wildlife photographer. This bird was filmed on Kand lake, a very small body of water close to the sea coast in Las Bela dis- trict of Baluchistan, near the village known as Habb Chowki. Mr. Tareen was unaware of the species he was photographing until he showed his film to me in February 1987. It was a close-up view and fol- lowed earlier shots of a party of 7 or 8 Blacknecked Grebes. This film clip was then shown to R. Passburg,an ornithologist with considerable ex- perience of P. auritus from its wintering grounds on the Caspian sea, and he confirmed my identification. This, therefore, constitutes the third reliable record for this species within the past several years. Normally the species spends the winter along coastal areas and in the sea and for this reason has probably not been recorded hitherto from the Indian subcontinent. Now that some of its haunts have been located, it may well turn out to be a regular, though uncommon, winter visitor. ORNITHOLOGICAL RECORDS FROM PAKISTAN 137 Alpheraky’s Swan or Jankowski’s Swan Cygnus columbianus jankowskii There is still some disagreement amongst taxonomists and experts about the classification of this eastern Siberian breeding population of Bewick’s Swan. The Editors of Volume I, BIRDS OF THE WESTERN PALE ARCTIC (S. Cramp et al 1977) do not consider jankowskii to be a valid subspecies (p. 385), but it is listed separately as Jankowski’s Swan in Ali andRipley ’s handbook (Vol. 1, 1968, p. 135). The winter of 1984-85 was a swan year for the region, with several local newspaper reports of swans (not identified as to species) being sighted in Baluchistan and Sind. Two were seen in January of that year on a temporary lake near Turbat, in southern Baluchistan, by Ashiq Ahmad, one of them (regrettably) killed by a local hunter (A. Ahmad, pers. comm, to author, 1986). A single swan was ob- served and photographed by a number of keen bird, watchers in January 1985, on Haleji Lake, a wildlife sanctuary 72 km northeast of Karachi. It later flew to the adjacent Hadiero lake, approximately 16 km further east. Its relatively small size and short neck suggested that it was a Bewick’s Swan rather than a Whooper Swan (Rolf Passburg in litt. to author, January 1985). When I visited Pakistan in May 1985, 1 dis- covered this same bird being exhibited in Karachi zoo, having been trapped and sold to the zoo by local professional fishermen who live on the shores of Hadiero Lake. I took photographs of this captive bird and sketches are presented herewith. Regrettab- ly it succumbed during the hot weather of 1985. Alpheraky’s Swan is not distinguishable from other populations of the Bewick’s Swan by differences in body size, but rather by the more extensive area of yellow on the upper mandible (J. Delacour, water- fowl of THE WORLD, Vol. I and Dementiev and Gladkov, birds of the soviet union, Vol. 4, 1952). Based upon these published descriptions and Peter Scott’s painting in Delacour ’s book, the swan which visited lower Sind was from this eastern Siberian breeding population, and could be described as Jankowski’s, Bewicks, or Whistling Swan. Indian Cuckoo Cuculus micropterus In Ali and Ripley’s Handbook (Vol. 3, 1969, p. 205) the distribution of this cuckoo implies that it does not occur in the Himalayan foothill region of Pakistan, but that it does occur in the less arid plains portions of the country and in the foothills from Kashmir eastwards. The author, during 34 years of continuous residence in Pakistan, mostly in the Pun- jab, never came across it, nor did Hugh Whistler in- clude it in his published account of the birds of Rawalpindi district and the Murree hills (Whistler, Ibis , 1930, p. 252). In the late summer of 1984, however, one did turn up around Islamabad and haunted the wooded shores around Rawal Lake during late June upto early August, where David Corfield saw it and tape-recorded its calls. Playback of its calls heard in August 1984, compared with my own recordings made from Malaysia, revealed no dialectical differences, the four- noted song being identical in time sequence and pitch in both the Rawal Lake and Malaysian birds. It would appear to be a rare straggler this far west in the outer foothill or Shiwaliks zone of the Himalayas. Spotted Piculet Picumnus innominatus In Ali and Ripley’s handbook, the distribu- tion of this piculet is given as extending from about Abbottabad in Hazara district and eastwards (Vol. 4, 1970, p. 172). In fact, around Abbottabad, there is no suitable habitat as it is a relatively open, wide, treeless valley with rice and tobacco cultivation in the summer, and wheat crops predominant in winter. It is known, however, as an occasional wanderer into the outer foothill zone around the Murree hill range with two definite sightings in recent years in the Margalla hills (covered by dry tropical deciduous scrub forest). This region has been well surveyed by birdwatchers since the estab- lishment of Islamabad as the capital city. A single bird was seen in July 1977 by Kamal Islam (pers. comm., 1977) and in April 1982 (again a single bird, probably a female) by D. Corfield (pers . comm., 1982). The author never encountered it in the Mar- galla hills during over 15 years of intermittent ob- servations at all months of the year and spanning many hundreds of hours, nor did H. Whistler include it in his account of the birds of the region (Whistler, Ibis, 1930). In April 1984 , Richard Grimmett and Craig Robson, whilst conducting pheasant surveys in the Kaghan valley (Hazara district), saw several piculets in Malkandi forest (34° 41’N, 73° 35’E), 138 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 which is located at the bottom of the valley at about 1200 m elevation and 64 km northwest of Abbot- tabad town. This patch of forest is atypical for the region in having a preponderance of deciduous tree species and a luxuriant undergrowth with bushes of Sumac (Rhus cotinus ), many Sycamore ( Acer pen- tapomicum) and Mountain Ash (Fraxinus xan- thoxyloides) trees. Realising that this was a most ex- citing discovery I made a visit to the same locality in June 1984, and after staying two days in the forest hut, was able to locate 3 or 4 pairs, which were again seen in May 1985. Judging from calling males, there might be a small colony at Malkandi comprising of as many as 7 or 8 pairs and they undoubtedly occur here as an isolated and disjunct population, as also is the case in northeastern Afghanistan, where a small population was discovered by Dr. Kulmann in 1963 near Pechtal, Nuristan. These were again lo- cated in the same locality in Nuristan in 1965 by Jochem Niethammer (Niethammer, J. Journ. Fur Ornith :, 1967). Grey Hypocolius Hypocolius ampelinus This strange and little-known bird is a desert adapted frugivore, endemic to the harshest regions of the Middle East. It is believed to be quite nomadic in its habits, according to local rainfall pattern and food availability and there are hardly 3 or 4 records for the whole subcontinent since it was first dis- covered on 6 March 1875 by W.T. Blanford from a wintering bird found in the Kirthar hill range on the Sind/Baluchistan border (Blanford, Stray Feathers , 1875, p.352). In the winter of 1983-84 there must have been an irruption of this species westwards across Baluchistan, as it was regularly encountered on the Sind/Baluchistan border in the Habb river valley by the author during several visits to the area, from early February up to mid-March. In a day’s search, 5 or 6 could always be located and on one occasion with R. Passburg a flock of 17 birds were watched feeding at close range. Their principal food was the ripe berries of Zizyphus mauritiana , but the last mentioned flock settled in a grove of Prosopis spicigera trees where they were actually nipping off and eating the leaf buds of this thorny Acacia. In the winter of 1984-85, diligent search in the same area failed to reveal any. During a visit to Zangi Nawar lake in the Chaghai desert of western Baluchistan in early May 1985, the author was thrilled to encounter, at sunset, a flock numbering between 30 and 40 of these birds, which came into roost together in a patch of tamarisks and tall Phrag- mites reeds. This area, some 644 km northwest of the Habb valley, comprises an extensive sand-dune desert tract, seeming to lack any suitable fruit bear- ing bushes or trees such as would attract these birds. They might have chosen the area for roosting be- cause of the proximity of water and thick cover. They are very strong flyers, preferring a fairly high trajectory when moving from one feeding spot to another, which does suggest that they are well able to forage over a wide area, and that like all birds adapted to exploit an abundant food source (such as berries), once located, they probably find that gregarious roosts outside the breeding season are ad- vantageous. Unlike the relatively silent birds en- countered in the Habb valley, these birds in May were very noisy, the males singing persistently and excitedly and individuals already consorting in pairs as they went to roost. This suggested that they were getting ready to breed soon. Blackbrowed or Golden Spectacled Flycatcher Warbler Seicercus burkii Though Ali and Ripley’s HANDBOOK (Vol. 8, 1973, p. 182) gives the distribution of this species as including Murree, I had never come across it in Pakistan. Having consulted H. Whistler’s com- prehensive manuscript notes, lodged in the Bombay Natural History Society’s library, I knew that he had come across no records or specimens from the Mur- ree hills and considered that the western boundary of its range was around Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. Bates and Lowther did not. come across it in Kashmir (BREEDING BIRDS OF KASHMIR, 1952) and the only known record is the reported sighting by Dickinson of a bird near Sonmarg, Kashmir (J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., Vol. 63, 1966, p. 204). In late December 1982, D. Corfield came across a single bird in a stream bed ravine just on the borders of Islamabad city and at the foot of the Mar- galla hills. It remained in this locality until the end of March 1983 and was shown to the author. It was seen alongside Seicercus xanthoschistos which is common in the area, and it was interesting to note that, whilst xanthoschistos foraged often in the upper canopy of fairly tall trees, burkii had a ORNITHOLOGICAL RECORDS FROM PAKISTAN 139 preference for the shadier forest understorey and especially shrubs and tall weeds along the stream bank. It was quite tame, allowing close observation, and its continued occupancy over nearly 3 months of this small area indicated that they maintain rela- tively confined winter territories. In late March 1985, two years later, I saw another individual in one of the side ravines of the Margalla hills some 1.5 km north of the previous bird. Richard Grimmett and Craig Robson saw this species during pheasant surveys in the Kaghan val- ley. This was in late April 1984, just below the sum- mit ridge of Kadir Gali at an elevation of slightly under 3000 m. It is presumed that at such a high elevation and late date, they would be approaching, or near to, their intended nesting territory. I made two subsequent camping trips to this spot (Kadir Gali) but failed to locate any Seicercus burkii. It is certainly very rare in Pakistan but probably a small breeding population exists in Hazara district and winters in the foothills around Rawalpindi. During a visit to Pokhara in western Nepal, the author found this species quite abundant in late March at lower elevations. Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa latirostris This is a very widely distributed flycatcher in southeast Asia, extending as a winter visitor down to Sri Lanka, and eastwards to Taiwan, Thailand, southern Burma and Malaysia (Ben King et a/., FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1975). On the Indian subcontinent it occurs mostly down the eastern parts, rarely extending into the dryer northwestern region. In the HANDBOOK (Ali & Ripley, Vol. 7, 1972, p. 146) its breeding range is given as spreading across the Himalayan foothills from Chamba in the west (Himachal Pradesh) to Kulu. It occurs in the autumn on passage in the east- ern Punjab parts of India, e.g. in Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur (specimens in the Waite collection, British Museum). I first encountered it in the summer of 1983 on the summit ridge of the extreme southern spur of the Murree hill range, above Lehtrar. Here a single bird was seen in a mature stand of sub-tropical ‘Chir’ pine ( Pinus roxburghii) at 1370 m elevation in mid- May. Later a pair were found nesting near Samli forest rest house on 3rd June, about 9 km from the previous location. A pair were again watched on 23 May 1986 in the same locality (Samli Forest Rest House) with Mark Mallalieu, who was able to take very clear photographs. This species is almost identical in size and ap- pearance to the Sooty Flycatcher {Muscicapa sibirica) with which it is quite sympatric in tropical pine forest during the early summer, so that it was only after repeated sightings that I was able to con- vince myself that it was not sibirica. The best field characters which distinguish latirostris are the clear, bright yellow lower mandible which is dark and homy in sibirica , coupled with the absence of dis- tinctive dark greyish streaking along the flanks and in the pectoral region, which can always be seen in specimens of sibirica. Both species tend to show a comparatively large dark eye with a paler whitish eye ring. The habits of M. sibirica in Pakistan are in- triguing. It is typically a forest nesting flycatcher but chooses the upper limit of the tree-line by preference, normally being encountered between 2400 m right up to the sub-alpine birch forest zone at 3500 m, where I have watched it nest building as late as mid- June. But in early summer it can be en- countered in the sub- tropici Chir pine zone up to late May even though I have no evidence as yet that it breeds at these lower altitudes. On the same day (23rd May) that Mallalieu and I saw and photographed the pair of Brown Flycatchers at 1200 m, we had watched a single Sooty Flycatcher lower down the slope at 900 m. Their very gradual migra- tion in summer to higher breeding areas may there- fore somewhat parallel the habits of Carduelis spinoidesy the Himalayan Greenfinch, which nests both at low and high altitudes over an extended breeding season. Jungle Crow Corvus macrorhynchos and Carrion Crow Corvus corone orientalis In May 1984 I managed to visit the Shingar range in the extreme northern boundary of Baluchis- tan province, in Zhob district. This fascinating range of hills is clothed with a forest of the Edible Seed Pine or Chilghoza {Pinus gerardiana ), and rises to 2600 m in height. It was here that A.F.P. Christison encountered crows and found a nesting pair on the summit ridge. He took these to be Carrion Crows, even shooting a specimen (not preserved) for- iden- tification (Christison, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 140 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Vol.43, 1942, p.478). This distribution range for C. corone is also given in Ali and Ripley’s hand- book (Vol. 5, 1972, p. 259). The Crows are still there, but to the author’s surprise and even disap- pointment, they were all Jungle Crows , at once dis- tinguishable by their longer wedge shaped tails, more heavy bills with distinctively recurved culmen and especially by their repertoire of calls exactly similar to familiar Himalayan birds. Puzzled by this, I was later able to get in touch with Sir Philip Christison (as he now is) who was kind enough to invite me to his home in Scotland in November 1985. After discussing the problem he expressed the opinion that he was probably mistaken in his identification and that they had in fact been Jungle Crows. This southern extension of their range is not so surprising as the Jungle Crow breeds com- monly above 2400 m on the Safed Koh range fur- Refer Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1968-72): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, Vol. I (1968), Vol. HI (1969), Vol. IV (1970), Vol. V (1972), Vol. VII (1972). Oxford Univ. Press, Bom- bay. Bates, R.S.P. & Lowther, E.H.N. (1952): Breeding Birds of Kashmir. Oxford University Press, Indian Branch. Blanford, W.T. (1875): ‘Hypocolius ampelinus in Sind’ Stray Feathers, Vol. 3, Nov. 1875, pp. 358-361, Calcutta Central Press. Christison, A.F.P. (1942): Some Additional Notes on the Distribution of the Avifauna of Northern Baluchistan. J. Bombay not. Hist. Soc., 43 478-87. Cramp, S. et al. (1977): Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. Delacour, J. (1954): The Waterfowl of the World, Vol. I. Country Life Ltd., London. ther north (Whitehead, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., Vol. 20, p. 177 and author obs.). The only places where Carrion Crows breed in Pakistan are at the upper end of the Kurram valley in the villages around Parachinar at about 1770 m elevation. This is at the bottom of the valley below the coniferous forest level. Similarly, it nests in Baltistan (to the west of Ladakh) around some of the villages in the larger, wider valleys such as Shigar and Shyok (Mathews, JBNHS , Vol. 42, p. 658) In winter at Parachinar and in Baltistan in the Indus valley, Carrion Crows and Jungle Crows are sympatric, the latter frequenting valley bottoms and the outskirts of villages, but in summer mac- rorhynchos ascends to the forested slopes to nest and the nest found on the Shingar by General Sir Philip Christison was 9 m up in a Chilghoza Pine at 2600 m elevation. n ce s Dementiev, G.P., Gladkov, N.A., Isakov, Y. A., Kar- tashev, N.N. et al ., (1952): Birds of the Soviet Union, Vol. 4, Moscow. Dickinson, E.C. (1966): Notes on some Birds seen in Kashmir, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 63 (1): 203-204. Niethammer, Von G., Und J., (1967): ‘New Records of Afghanistan’s Bird Fauna’ (In German). Journal fur Ornithology , Vol. 108, No. 1, Bonn, W. Germany. Roberts, TJ. (1984): Recent Ornithological Records from Pakistan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 82 (3): 567-572. Whistler, H. (1930): The Birds of the Rawalpindi Dis- trict, N.W. India, The Ibis , Part I, pp. 67-119, January 1930. Part n,pp. 247-279, April 1930. Whitehead, C.H.T. (1910): On the Birds of Kohat and the Kurram Valley, Northern India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 20 (1): 169-197. STATUS OF THE SALTWATER CROCODILE ( CROCODYLUS POROSUS SCHNEIDER) IN THE BHITARKANIKA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ORISSA, INDIA S.K. Kar2and H.R. Bustard3 ( With four text-figures ) The status of the saltwater crocodile in the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary of Orissa was determined by com- bined day and night counts. The adult population (29 individuals) was extremely low, and subadults numbered only six, indicating very poor recruitment in recent years. However, the number of juveniles (61) was good, indicating the likelihood of better recruitment in the years ahead. This enhanced survival of juveniles is a result of management activities, particularly banning the use of nylon gill nets throughout the Sanctuary. A prelimi- nary attempt was made to correlate crocodile numbers with features of the habitat. The mean density for all non-hatchling size classes was 0.87 individual/km. Introduction The saltwater crocodile in India suffered a dramatic decline in numbers as a result of a com- bination of poaching and habitat loss (Bustard 1974). The mangrove ecosystem, to which this species is tied in India, is one of the country’s most threatened ecosystems. Once cleared and bunded, the fertile alluvium built up by the mangroves provides rich agricultural land. There was a long tradition of bunding and farming on the landward side, combined with rigid protection of the mangrove forests themselves under the Raja of Kanika in Orissa. The mangroves slowly reclaimed land from the shallow waters of the Bay of Bengal and protected the coastline from cyclonic damage. The problem now is that population pressure on good agricultural land combined with the need for fuel wood has resulted in increasing destruction of the mangrove forests. The rarity of the saltwater crocodile in India was apparent by the late 1960s (Daniel 1970). Bus- tard and Choudhury (1981) pointed out that the saltwater crocodile is now extinct in the South In- dian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, restricted to the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa, and very rare in the Sundarbans in West Bengal. Bhitarkanika has been renowned for its Accepted July 1986. Office of the Chief Wildlife Warden, Orissa, 315-Kharaval Nagar, Bhubaneswar-751001, Orissa, India. ^Ex-Chief Technical Advisor to Government of India. Present Address: Airlie Brae, Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland, PH 11 8 AX (UK). saltwater crocodiles. Daniel and Hussain (1975), based on field work during 1973, recorded the con- tinued existence of the Bhitarkanika population of the saltwater crocodile and pointed out the need to stop all felling of mangroves if the habitat for the crocodiles was not totally to disappear. Bustard (1974) strongly recommended that this area be declared a Sanctuary, and then managed in the interests of the crocodile. Bustard also high- lighted the need to protect the mangroves, recom- mending a total ban on their felling. A similar recom- mendation was also made by de Waard (1975). At this time the State Forest Department was opening coupes for working by the local people on a 5 year rotation cycle. Such a short rotation cycle (the nor- mal one is 20 years) was contributing to the destruc- tion of the mangrove forests. Furthermore, Bustard pointed out the necessity of stopping all fishing within the area, especially a serious threat to recruit- ment in the crocodile population, an observation since confirmed (Kar 1981). The State Government of Orissa accepted these proposals. The area was gazetted a Sanctuary on 22 April 1975; in the following month, fishing was banned throughout the Sanctuary. In 1975, the State Government of Orissa set up a Saltwater Crocodile Research and Conservation Centre at Dangmal in the heart of the Sanctuary with the pur- pose of quickly multiplying the population using the ‘grow and release’ techniques for archaic reptiles as recommended by Bustard (1974). An early account of this work is given in Bustard (1975). In 1976, fol- lowing consideration of the above reports, and ad- vice from the Government of India, the State Government of Orissa completely stopped all fell- 142 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol. 86 ing of mangroves. The saltwater crocodile population was known to have suffered heavy exploitation in the past but no data were available as to its present status. The present paper describes the results of a detailed cen- sus carried out throughout the Sanctuary in the period 1 December 1976 to 30 January 1977. Surveys for saltwater crocodiles were reported on by Bustard (1967, 1970) for Papua New Guinea and Western Australia respectively. Survey methods for C. porosus in Australia have been discussed by Messel (1977) and Messel et al. (1978) as the basis for extensive surveys of the saltwater crocodile resource of Northern Australian river systems. These methods were then used as a basis of at least 14 monographs now in print, in press, or in prepara- tion, under a general title “Surveys of Tidal River Systems in the Northern Territory of Australia and their Crocodile Populations”, plus two monographs referring to selected rivers in Western Australia (Messel et al. 1977, Burbidge and Messel 1979). Fig. 1. Map of India showing location of Orissa and the Bhitarkanika Sanctuary (solid black circle). The Sanctuary The Sanctuary, comprising 176 sq.km of Reserve and Protected forests, is located in the del- taic region of the Bitarani-Brahmani rivers in Cut- tack District, orissa (Fig. 1). The habitat consists of deltaic mangrove swamps growing on rich al- luvium. Some areas have been bunded for cultiva- tion purposes, in all unbunded areas, however, mangrove vegetation is dominant. Annual rainfall averages 1670 mm/annum with the main rainfall occurring during the monsoon months of August and September. In summer the temperature range is from the high 306C to high 20*C (day and night respectively) whereas during the short winter it is upper 20°C to 15-20°C respec- tively. The mangrove habitat is intersected by numerous creeks and creeklets, the water flow in which is influenced twice daily by the tide. The main mangrove species are Avicennia alba (a first coloniser), Avicennia officinalis , Rhizophora mucronata, Excoecaria agallocha, Acanthus ilicifolius , Sonneratia apetala and Heritiera minor. The palm Phoenix paludosa , the fern Acrostichum aureum, and Hibiscus teliaceus are widespread throughout the mangrove forests. The human population of the Sanctuary and of the villages in the area adjacent to the Sanctuary to- tals 354,000, resulting in considerable encroach- ment problems. The mammalian fauna includes the leopard (Pant her a pardus), striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) and the lesser cats (Felis chaus , F. bengalensis ); spotted deer (Cervus axis), sambar (Cervus unicolor) and wildboar (Sus scrofa). Large troops of rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatto) also occur in the Sanctuary. Both deer species, wildboar and maca- ques are taken by crocodiles (Kar and Bustard 1981). The larger reptiles include the Indian Python (Python molurus) and the monitor lizards (V aranus salvator , V. flavescens and V. bengalensis). The avifauna is rich and varied (Kanungo 1976). Methods Winter was chosen for the survey as during the short winter in coastal Orissa, extending from late November to mid-February, the larger saltwater crocodiles bask regularly, whereas at other times of SALTWATER CROCODILE IN BHITARKANIKA SANCTUARY 143 the year basking by these large individuals is reduced and sporadic (Kar 1981). Diurnal enumera- tion during basking is the only reliable method of censusing large crocodiles in the Sanctuary (see Dis- cussion). Furthermore, during the winter, the postcrepuscular activity is telescoped into two to three hours following dusk allowing effective cen- sus of juveniles and immature year classes. Exten- sive field work in the Sanctuary has shown that night spotting is the effective method of censusing juveniles and subadult year classes (see Discussion). Diurnal census was carried out during the basking hours each morning (0800-1100 hrs.) and night spotting between 1800 and 2100 hrs., at which time the crocodiles are likely to be present at the surface close to the bank in maximum numbers. During the day, it was a straight-forward matter to estimate the size of crocodiles sighted. Crocodiles of under 0.6 m do not bask and individuals of be- tween 0.6-1 m could be estimated within 0.5 m. At night, using a powerful spotlight it is possible to ap- proach light-blinded juveniles provided silence is maintained and experienced people control the boat and spotlight. However, only individuals of less than 2 m can be sighted at night with any regularity. Such individuals can usually be approached to within touching distance permitting at least as accurate size estimation as during the day. Adult crocodiles are very rarely seen during night spotting. All census work here reported was carried out by boat, no other method being practicable due to the dense mangrove forest fringing the creeks. Local country boats used in the normal protection patrols within the Sanctuary were used for the census. These vessels are eight metres overall and are crewed by three boatman - two on the oars and one on the rud- der. One of us (S.K.K.) operated the sealed beam, pre-focused spotlight as used by the Indian Navy and powered by a 12 volt car battery. At night the tapetum of the crocodile’s eyes reflect light enabling individuals floating at the water’s surface (the normal alert posture after dark) to be sighted at distances of over 0.5 km with a powerful spot. The colour of the reflection enables an experienced observer to make a preliminary es- timate of the size. The reflection of small crocodiles is pinkish in colour, becoming more reddish as the crocodiles grow. Very large crocodiles reflect a very dark red. However, all size estimates given in this paper were confirmed by close approach. Familiarity with the habitat will greatly en- hance the accuracy of survey results. We have in- timate knowledge of the river and creek systems of the Sanctuary which are regularly patrolled using the same ‘country boats’ used in the actual survey work. Survey in tidal rivers and creek systems, ir- respective of whether they are conducted by day or by night, are greatly affected by the state of the tide. When the tide is high crocodiles will be missed: (a) by day because the basking mudbanks will be inundated and any crocodile which has emerged will be within the vegetation zone where they are likely to be missed. (b) at night because smaller crocodiles (less than2 m) usually remain close to the creek-banks. When the tide is high the reflection of their eyes may be hidden by overhanging vegetation and if the tide has flooded the bank these crocodiles may be in the vegetation zone itself. In either situation the eye reflections are like- ly to be missed. Accordingly all surveys were car- ried out when the tide was half tide or less, that is when there was a drop of at least 1.6 m from the fortnightly high tide level. In night survey work it is important to carry out the surveys during the darker phases of the moon. Nights on which work can be completed prior to the moon rising are best. When the moon is visible and there is little or no cloud cover, good results cannot be expected with a moon more than one-quarter full, since the spotlight is less effective under such con- ditions and the crocodiles are more likely to detect the approaching vessel (and hence not permit close approach). Using the above techniques, it was readily pos- sible to bring the dinghy to within 1 .5 m or less of crocodiles of below three years of age (1.2- 1.4 m) and to within 6 m or less of larger subadults. There is no external sexual dimorphism in the saltwater crocodile. However, there is a marked dif- ference in size between the sexes. Females do not exceed a total length of 4 m whereas males grow to in excess of 7 m and the average size of males within the Sanctuary is 5.5 m. All crocodiles in excess of 4 m were scored as males, and crocodiles in excess of 2.5 m but below 4 m scored as females. This method gives a much more accurate separation of the 144 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 sexes Table 1 CROCODILE POPULATION IN RELATION TO HABITAT. RIVER DISTANCES (KM), SEX OF ADULTS BRACKETED (M, F). Location Habitat Ranking Crocodiles Present Number Length River Mangroves Disturbance Total Adults Sub-adults Juveniles Total 1. 6.2 1 1 1 3 0 2 1 3 2. 12.4 3 3 3 9 2 (1M, IF) 0 3 5 3. 7.8 3 3 3 9 2 (1M, IF) 0 15 17 4. 7.5 3 3 3 9 4 (2M, 2F) 0 10 14 5. 8.7 2 2 2 6 1 (M) 2 16 19 6. 12.8 3 3 1 7 5 (3M, 2F) 0 2 7 7. 6.7 3 3 3 9 2 (1M, IF) 1 5 8 8. 10.0 2 1 1 4 3 (2M, IF) 0 2 5 9. 7.5 1 1 1 3 2 (1M, IF) 0 4 6 10. 8.0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 11. 1.5 2 0 1 3 1 (M) 0 1 2 12. 23.0 2 3 2 7 3 (2M, IF) 1 2 6 13. 11.0 2 1 0 3 1(F) 0 0 1 14. 7.5 2 2 1 5 3 (1M, 2F) 0 0 3 Total 130.6 - - - - 29 (16M, 13F) 6 61 96 within the Sanctuary than might be anticipated, since as a result of severe hunting in the past, al- most all the present adults are older individuals which have survived by becoming extremely wary. In the case of males, this means that they have at- tained a very large size. Concurrent with the census, the major com- ponents of the habitat were evaluated. For the crocodiles, these are considered to constitute the river, the fringing mangrove forests, on which depends the creation of mudbanks for basking, as well as the cover so essential for young crocodiles and for nesting and the degree of human distur- bance. These were scored 0-3. Where the river was very poor, the mangrove cover had been complete- ly lost, or human disturbance was maximum, a score of 0 was given with an ascending score for progressively better habitats. Results The Crocodile Population Details of individuals recorded during the survey are given in Table 1 which also sum- marizes the results of the habitat evaluation dis- cussed above. Although individuals between 0.8 and 2 m may represent six year classes, the majority of juveniles in the Sanctuary are the progeny of the 1974 and 1975 nesting seasons which have survived as a result of Sanctuary gazettement, especially the banning of set gill nets. The individuals referred to as juveniles in Table 1, totalled 61. Those in the 1.6 - 3 m size class comprise six subadult individuals (size range 1.6 - 2.1 m) together with individual con- sidered to be a female. In the 3-4 m size class, it is thought that all are females. As described above, those in excess of 4 m are considered to be males. The presence of 1 1 individuals between 5-7 m, all of which are undoubted males, should be noted. Table 1 indicates that adult males slightly exceed adult females numerically, that subadult (six) are very few in number, and that juveniles (61) account for more than 63.5% of the popula- tion, being more than twice as numerically abun- dant as adults. The distribution of the population The numbers refer to habitat areas (Figs. 2-4). Location 1: This area is considered unsuitable for permanent residence by adults due to the excessive water flow (the left hand portion was a man-made cut dug to improve the water flow in the main river system and for easier transportation of goods). The mangroves are degraded on one bank. Crocodiles present: Adult - 0, Subadults - 2, Juveniles -1. Location 2: This creek system provides good habitat with good mangrove cover. Crocodiles present: Adults -2 (one male and one female), Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 3. Location 3: Good habitat. Very low human distur- bance. Good mangrove cover. Crocodiles present: Adults - 2 (one male, one female). Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 15. SALTWATER CROCODILE IN BUTT ARK AN IK A SANCTUARY 145 Fig. 2. The creek systems in the heart of the Sanctuary. Location numbers refer to the text. The lines bisecting the creeks indicate the limits of each numbered location. Location 4: Very good habitat with excellent mangrove cover. Low human disturbance. Crocodiles present: Adults - 4 (two males, two females). Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 10. Location 5: Good habitat. Good mangrove cover, especially on interior side. Some human distur- bance. Crocodiles present: Adults - 1 male , Subadults - 2, Juveniles - 16. Location 6: Excellent habitat, good mangrove cover. Some human disturbance. Crocodiles present: Adults - 5 (three males, two females). Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 2. Location 7: Very good habitat, good mangrove cover. No human disturbances. Crocodiles present: Adults - 2 (one male, one female) Subadults - 1, Juveniles - 5. Location 8: Habitat no longer good. Mangrove cover totally absent on outer bank and on interior bank is poor. Substantial human disturbances. Crocodiles present: Adults - 3 (two males, one female), subadults - 0, Juveniles - 2. Location 9: Habitat now poor due to high level of human disturbance. Mangrove cover becoming degraded. At low tide water depth is very low. Crocodiles present: Adults - 2 (one male, one female). Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 4. Location 10: Habitat poor since the river system is dry at low tide. Mangrove vegetation absent on outer bank and poor on interior. Much human dis- turbance. Crocodiles present: No crocodiles of any size class. Location 11: This area no longer offers any good habitat. Substantial human disturbances with cul- tivation right to river bank. Crocodiles present: Adults - 1 (Male), Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 1. Location 12: River habitat good. Excellent 146 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 mangrove cover. Low human disturbance. Crocodiles present: Adults - 3 (two males, one female). Sub- adults - 1, Juveniles - 2. Location 13: Good river habitat spoiled by maxi- mum human disturbance and with poor mangrove cover. Crocodiles present: Adults - 1 (female), Subadults - 0, Juvenile - 0. Location 14: Good river. Northern bank complete- ly denuded of mangroves with much illicit felling on the southern bank. The reserve forest of Kalib- hanjadian has been subject to heavy illegal felling. Human disturbance high, particularly on the north- ern bank which has been developed into a fishing port. Disturbance on Kalibhanjadian Island is much less. Crocodiles present: Adults - 3 (two females, one male), Subadults - 0, Juveniles - 0. The above information is summarized in terms of habitat ranking of the river, mangroves and degree of disturbance in Table 1. Table 2 gives the density of the total crocodile population (num- ber/km) in their fourteen areas of the Sanctuary. The crocodile density varies from 0/km to 2.18/km (mean 0.87). This is an extremely low figure (see Discussion). Discussion The topics for discussion fall into four main categories (1) survey techniques, (2) the crocodile population, (3) the distribution of the population in relation to habitat, and (4) implications of the above three topics for/in management of this crocodile Sanctuary. 1. Survey Techniques. The techniques used here, are based on Bus- tard^ 15 years1 * * 4 experience of C. porosus in the Asian/Pacific region with suitable modifications for local conditions. The survey was more intensive than those reported previously by Bustard (1967 : 1970) or those of Messel et al. (see Introduction). This was possible since the area studied is relative- ly small and has been the subject of continuous monitoring since 1975. It was found that effective census of this population of saltwater crocodile required a com- bination of diurnal and night-spotting techniques. Table 2 NUMBERS AND DENSITIES OF CROCODILES IN THE VARIOUS HABITATS. DISTANCES (KM), DENSITY/KM. Location Crocodiles Numbe Length Total Number Density 1. 6.2 3 0.48 2. 12.4 5 0.40 3. 7.8 17 2.17 4. 7.5 14 1.86 5. 8.7 19 2.18 6. 12.8 7 0.54 7. 6.7 8 1.19 8. 10.0 5 0.50 9. 7.5 6 0.80 10. 8.0 0 0 11. 1.5 2 1.33 12. 23.0 6 0.26 13. 11.0 1 0.09 14. 7.5 3 0.40 Total 130.6 96 0.87 Either approach by itself did not give an ade- quate census figure of both the adult and the juvenile/subadult components of the population. In Bhitarkanika, in the case of large crocodiles, the eyes are not even observed at a distance during night surveys. This is because adults have learned to sub- merge immediately they hear the sounds of a boat or see a light (even before the light strikes their eyes). This reflects learning (Bustard 1968), as a result of experience gained during previous human hunting activities. So, although night-spotting gives a much better guide to the number of immature crocodiles present ( m) than during day-spotting, the latter is the only way to census the adult cohort of the population. At night all large adults come into the “eyes only” category of Messel et al. We feel that Messel’s workers could get much more reliable data on large animals - both on their numerical abundance and their size (that is detailed clarification of the “eyes only” category, which in some of their surveys form an important part of the whole) - by using combined data from day and night censuses as carried out here. Furthermore, it is important to standardize not only the methodology of the census but also the time of the year of censusing, if subsequent recensuses are to be compared with the original census data in any meaningful way. We recommend carrying out the censuses only during winter (as done here) at the time of maximum basking by large adults and at a time when evening activity is concentrated into a SALTWATER CROCODILE IN BHITARKANIKA SANCTUARY 147 Fig. 3. Larger river systems towards the coastal side of the Sanctuary. Location numbers in the text. 148 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol. 86 narrow time span probably resulting in more total coverage of the available population. We also stress that increased population counts could well result from intimate familiarity with the habitat, and that phase of the moon per se (that is the effect of moonlight as opposed to the moon‘s effect on the tides) is important. Surveys should ideally be carried out in the dark phase of the moon or when the moon is less than full. We agree with Messel et al that proper counts cannot be carried out at high tide when the water has overflowed the bank and is in the vegetation zone. We operate only when the water is at least 1 .6 m below the fortnightly high tide level whereas Messel et al do not commence sur- vey until the water level has dropped 60 cm below a hypothetical line demarcating vegetation for the exposed mudbank. This hypothetical line is placed so that approximately as much vegetation remains below as mud is exposed above it. Due to the intensive nature of the study being conducted at Bhitarkanika we are able to check and fully corroborate the survey data on the basis of regular basking sightings, nesting female numbers etc. 2. Crocodile Population. The population is characterised by a numerical excess of males over females (16 as compared to 13). Under natural conditions (a population without a recent history of hunting) we would expect 16 adult males to be associated with at least 30 breed- ing females. The paucity of females in Bhitarkanika is thought to reflect differential human predation on females as compared to males. Females are readily killed at the nest (Bustard 1967, Bustard and Choud- hury 1980, 1981). As mentioned above, at other times the adults are very vary, making capture ex- tremely difficult as hunting methods in this area prior to its gazettement as a Sanctuary were by torch at night. The number of subadults (six) is extremely low. This is considered to reflect very high loss levels of 2-3 years old as a result of use of set gill nets in this area until recently. This practice was stopped at the time of Sanctuary declaration when a total ban was placed on fishing within the Sanctuary (May 1975, see below). The population of juvenile porosus (mostly in their second and third years) has increased many-fold as a result of good survival of the 1974 and 1975 hatching year classes following cessation of fishing (see Section 4 and Kar 1981). This should result in greatly enhanced survival of subadults in the future, particularly since the adult population is numerically so depressed. The overall abundance in the numbers of C. porosus (other than hatchlings) in Bhitarkanika at 0.87 individuals/km is of a similar order to the data of Messel et al (see for instance Monographs 3, 4, 5 and 7). Since these figures are enhanced by approximately 50% by better recruitment of juveniles, the figures prior to commencement of management of the Sanctuary must have been ap- proximately 0.4 km. Messel, Gans, Wells & Green (1979) gave comparable figures of respec- tively 0.48 and 0.55/km for the Victoria and Fitzmaurice rivers of the Northern Territory of Australia. 3. Distribution of the population in relation to the habitat. If the three habitat criteria of the river, the mangroves and disturbance are examined together the correlation between the apparent ‘health’ of the habitat and the density of crocodiles/km (total figures for all size classes) is not well marked. There was a good correlation between river characteristics and density (Table 1), as would be expected. There was also some correlation between the degree of dis- turbance and crocodile population density. There was no apparent correlation between crocodile den- sity and mangrove cover. Examining the number of adults in relation to the habitat ranking, it was found that a low habitat ranking was associated with a low number of adults/habitat. However, when the habitat ranking was high the number of adults/habitat could be either high or low. One possible explanation for the persistence of adults in poor habitat areas would be that they took up their present home range when the non-river components of the habitat were much dif- ferent from what they are today. The habitat chan- ges, as they affect the mangrove forests and degree of disturbance have changed drastically in the last two decades, which probably reflect a short time span in the life of an adult saltwater crocodile. For examination of the data for juveniles showed a close agreement with that for adults which may be an- ticipated since juveniles can only occur in the SALTWATER CROCODILE IN BHITARKANIKA SANCTUARY 149 presence of adults and dispersal to more favourable habitats had not occurred in this size class. Unfor- tunately the extremely limited number of subadults (six) precludes correlation analysis of their presence with habitat factors. It should be noted, however, that of the six subadults two occurred in location 1 in the absence of any adults and a further two in loca- tion 5 in the absence of any adult females. The remaining two occurred in separate habitats where there were one male and one female and two males and one female respectively. Thus their recruitment may perhaps be enhanced in the absence of adults, particularly females. However, due to the very low number of subadults this can only be conjecture at this stage. 4. Implications of the above three topics for management of this crocodile Sanctuary. The total crocodile population is very low. The adult cohort of the population is miniscule. There are virtually no subadults. The only hope for the popula- tion lies in the survival of the present young crocodiles and their recruitment to the breeding population combined with the release of captive- reared crocodiles back into the wild when they have reached a size at which they are safe from most potential predation in order to boost this recruitment. Hence, if the crocodile population is to survive, let alone recover, both the habitat and the crocodile will require very rigid protection together with the removal of all inimical factors (see Recommenda- tions). There is a sexual imbalance in the small population of adult crocodiles, resulting in the need to build up the female cohort of the population. This is being done by releasing mostly young females from the Dangmal Centre (Kar and Bustard, in prepn.) Survival prognosis for the immature crocodiles, resulting from both natural recruitment and release from captivity, is now good as a result of the banning of nylon gill nets throughout the Sanctuary. This is borne out by the sighting of no less than 61 crocodiles in the 1-1.5 m size class within the Sanctuary (Kar and Bustard, in prepn.). These individuals represent the hatching predominantly of the 1975 year class and to a lesser extent 1974. The virtually complete loss of the pre- vious year classes as a result of their capture in fish- ing nets prior to banning of fishing throughout the Sanctuary in April 1975 should be noted. Whereas the six subadults represent at least six year classes indicating a survival of the order of only one per year, the 6 1 individuals represent only two year clas- ses indicating a survival of about 30 individuals /year, an increase of 30 times over the previous figure when nylon gill nets were in use. The implica- tions of this in management are obvious - it is essen- tial to retain the legal ban on fishing in the Sanctuary and to ensure that under the new management plan this ban is effectively enforced throughout the Sanctuary. The habitat degradation which has taken place may not yet be fully reflected in the numbers of adult crocodiles present as there is likely to be a time lag in that existing crocodiles continue to inhabit their traditional home range however degraded. It may not be possible, however, for new recruitment to take place under such conditions. Hence the situa- tion facing the saltwater crocodile population of the Sanctuary may be even more critical than it appears. Recommendations 1 . The ban on the use of set gill nets throughout the Sanctuary should be maintained. 2. No further encroachment on the mangrove habitat within the Sanctuary should be per- mitted. 3 This Sanctuary, as a unique floral/faunal ecosys- tem, should be declared as a Biosphere Reserve by the Government of India. Acknowledgements We wish to express our thanks to the Orissa Forest Department, the Government of India, F.A.O. and U.N.D.P. for assistance. References Burbidge, A. A. & Messel, H. (1979): The status of the and Wildlife. Western Australia Report No. 34: 1-38. saltwater crocodile in the Glenelg, Prince Regent and Ord River Bustard, H.R. (1967): Report on the Crocodile Skin Trade System, Kimberley, Western Australia. Department of Fisheries in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea with Recommenda- 150 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 tions for the Future Development of the Industry. Unpublished confidential report to Australian Minister of External Territories. (1968): Rapid learning in wild crocodiles ( Crocodylus porosus). Herpetologica 24(2): 173-175. (1970): Report on the current status of crocodiles in Western Australia. Department of Fisheries and Fauna. Government of Western Australia, Report No. 6: 1 -29 pp. + 5 Appendices. (1974): A preliminary survey of the prospects for crocodile farming (India). FO:IND/ 71/-033 October 1974. FAO, Rome. (1975): Gharial and crocodile conservation management in Orissa (India), ibid. December 1 975. FAO, Rome. Bustard, H.R. & Choudhury, B.C. (1981): Conservation future of the saltwater crocodile (i Crocodylus porosus Schneider) in India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 77(2): 201-214. Choudhury, B.C. & Bustard, H.R. (1980): Predation on natural nests of the saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus Schneider) on North Andaman Island with notes on the crocodile population, ibid. 76(2): 311-323. Daniel, J.C. (1970): A review of the present status and position of endangered species of Indian reptiles. In Proceedings of the IUCN 11th Technical Meeting, New Delhi. IUCN Publica- tions New Series No. 18: 75-76. Daniel, J.C. & Hussain, S.A. (1975): A record (?) saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus Schneider). J. Bombay nat. Hist . Soc. 71 (2):309-3 12. De Waard, J.N. (1975): Economic potential of gharilal and saltwater crocodile schemes in Orissa (India) with notes on the sea turtle industry. FO:IND/7 1/033. Project Working Docu- ment. FAO, Rome. Kanungo, B.C. (1976): An Integrated Scheme for Conser- vation of Crocodiles in Orissa with Management Plan for Sat- koshia Gorge and Bhitarkanika Sanctuaries. Forest Department, Cuttack, Orissa. Kar, S.K. (1981): Studies on the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus Schneider). Ph.D. Thesis submitted to Utkal University, Orissa, India. Kar, S.K. & Bustard, H.R. (1981): Crocodile kills taken as human food. British Journal of Herpetology. 6: 137. Messel, H. (1977): The crocodile programme in Northern Australia: population survey and numbers. In: AustralianAnimals and their environment. Shakespear Head Press, Sydney. Messel, H., Burbidge, A. A., Wells, A.G. & Green, W.J. (1977): The status of the saltwater crocodile in some rivers sys- tems of the north-west Kimberley, Western Australia. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Western Australia Report No. 24: 1-50. Messel, H., Wells, A.G. & Green, W.J. (1978): Crocodylus porosus population studies. Survey techniques in tidal river systems of Northern Australia. Presented at the 4th Working Meeting IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group, held at Madras, India. February 6-12. Messel, H., Gans, C., Wells, A.G., Green, W.J., Vor- licek, G.C. & Brennan, K.G. (1979): Surveys of tidal river sys- tems in the Northern Territory of Australia and their crocodile populations. Monograph No. 2. The Victoria and Fitzmaurice river systems. Pergamon press (Australia) No. 2:1-52. MONKEYS OF THE OLD CITY OF JAIPUR, INDIA1 Reena Mathur, R. Manor ar and A. Lobo2 {With two text-figures ) This report presents preliminary data on the density of Macaca mulatto and Presbytis entellus based on road transects in the city of Jaipur, India. The sampled area covered 7.8% of the total area of the old city of Jaipur. Transects were run during the morning hours of the winter season. The results indicate a much higher density of Macaca mulatto than of Presbytis entellus (346.4 and 36.6 per sq. km respectively). The number of rhesus groups in 7.26 sq. km is 21, while that of langurs is 5. The higher density of M. mulatto is attributed to its omnivorous and terrestrial habits. P. entellus is folivorous and arboreal; its habitat requirements are best met in the city’s outskirts. In the old city they are mainly found in the temple areas. This investigation suggests that the monkeys in the inner old city should be managed by rehabilitation into the forest before they outstrip food supply and living space, and before they are treated more and more as pests by city inhabitants. Introduction The present study is the outcome of a longfelt desire to take up census survey of primates of a city which has an abundance of two monkey species. Monkeys are abdundant in Jaipur, but there are very few reports on their population density and structure (Prakash 1962, Wolfe and Mathur 1987). The present investigation (October 1985 to February 1986) was initiated to provide preliminary infor- mation on the density of M. mulatta and P. entellus within the city. Study Area The city of Jaipur (26°55’N and 70°55’E) lies within the semi-arid zone. The climate is sub-tropi- cal and characterized by three distinct seasons, with almost all rain falling from July to September, the annual rainfall being 70 cm. The winter season ex- tends from October to February with temperature dropping to about 4°C. The summers are dry and hot, and temperatures may reach as high as 45 6C. The total city area (urban agglomeration) is 210.09 sq.km and has a human population of 1,015,160 (density 4832 per sq.km). The city is divisible into an inner old city and a surrounding new city. Of par- ticular interest in the present investigation is the old city which encompasses an area of 7.26 sq. km and has a high human density (33,480 per sq.km). This Accepted April 1988. department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302 004. area has markets, tourist spots and residences. For this study, ten roads were selected as the sample for density estimates in the old city (4 east- west, 6 north-south; Fig. 1). These roads were selected as transects because of the ease with which the monkeys could be counted. Hence the sample is not entirely random. Each transect was 1 km long (total 10 km). All transects except the sixth had a fixed width. Their widths were estimated by taking into account (i) width of the road, (ii) width of the pavements on both sides of the road, (iii) width of the shops on both sides, and (iv) parts of houses seen beyond the shops. Transect 6 was of the same length as the others but on each trip the transect width was determined by estimating the perpendicular distance of the animal farthest from the road. The mean value of all these widths provided the approximate width of transect 6. The area of each transect was calcu- lated by multiplying transect width by length. The sampled area covered 7.83% of the total area of the old city (7.26 sq km). Methods Each transect was run 20 times at a fixed time of the day (0630 hrs.). The direction of movement along each of the transects was the same during all visits. On each survey the investigators drove along these road transects on a two wheeler (monkeys here are habituated to all urban noises) at slow speed (15 km/hour), stopping whenever there were monkeys to count, individuals and groups of both species. All precautions were taken not to count any individual twice. The following sequence of transect censuses was followed: transects 1, 5, 8, 2, 6, 9, 3, 7, 10, 4 152 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol.86 OLD CITY OF JAIPUR INDEX //V Transect ggVery high density ^ Hi gh §gg Moderate £$ Low Very low ^Almost n,l Hshops £3 T*mpLM(.angur group ®Rhesus group Fig. 1. Distribution and density of monkeys along the transects and its association with provisioning sites. (Fig. 1). This sequence was established to avoid the possibility of counting individuals twice and was based on a consideration of the movement of monkeys along the transects. Collectively, the tran- sects covered a total area of 0.57 sq.km (56.94 ha). This method provided a quick estimate of primate density in the study area. The total survey time was 160 man hours; the cumulative transect length was 200 km, and the total survey area was 7.26 sq.km. Driving a vehicle slowly on the road is probab- ly the best way to census monkeys in the city. Monkeys sometimes keep moving rather rapidly in the same direction; if the transect is walked, monkeys may pass the investigator and be counted twice. Long broad roads were chosen for the transects because on narrow, congested lanes the houses are very close and monkeys easily jump from one house to another and even from one lane to another, thus increasing the chances of counting the same monkey twice. Morning hours during the winter months are the best time to count monkeys in Jaipur because most individuals are huddled together and sit bask- ing on the rooftops. Results The total density of monkeys in the old city of Jaipur is 383.0/sq.km. Langurs contribute a very small fraction to this total, i.e. 36.6/sq.km. The remaining 356.4 is constituted by rhesus monkeys alone (relative density 0.12 and 0.88 respectively). Twenty-one rhesus and five langur groups were encountered and identified. Biomass calcula- tions show that mean weight per sq.km for langurs is 522 kg while for rhesus it is 3117.6 kg (X wts. Prater 1980, Napier and Napier 1967). This suggests that, within the inner city, food is much more util- MONKEYS OF JAIPUR 153 ized by rhesus than by langur. Whether calculated on the basis of number of individuals or biomass per sq.km., rhesus are clearly dominant in the inner city. The maximum mean number of rhesus and lan- gurs (175.3 ± 14.3 and 34.6 ± 2.2 respectively) was found in transect 6. Rhesus were seen in all 10 tran- sects, whereas langurs were absent in transects 5, 7, 9 and 10 (Fig. 2). Therefore, the frequency of sighting langurs is as low as 0.6 and that of rhesus is L0. If transect 6 is excluded from die analysis, density estimates are reduced from 383.0 to 278.5 monkey s/sq. km. (262.1 rhesus/sq.km and 16.4 langurs/sq.km). Tran- sect 6 is the only transect which includes a temple, where people not only protect animals but also feed them. Discussion The spatial distribution of M. mulatta and P. entellus in the city of Jaipur is distinct. The old city has a very high density of rhesus; though they MEAN NUMBER OF MONKEYS IN EACH TRANSECT are found all over the old city, their greatest con- centration is in transect 6 because of the presence of a temple and a tourist spot in that area. The con- centration of rhesus in the old city is attributed to their omnivorous, terrestrial feeding habits and more aggressive nature. They raid shops and pilfer goods from people. The distribution of langurs is restricted mainly to transect 6 (temple-tourist area) probably because more vegetation is found there (as compared to the rest of the old city). In brief, both species are most abdundant in temple-tourist area because of protection generally offered to them. In other areas of the old city the rhesus is found as men- tioned earlier but sighting a langur group is rather rare. The shop keepers and vendors keep chasing monkeys away. The rhesus, which is more aggres- sive, withstands this, while langurs flee. The distribution and density of M. mulatta along the road transects has a close association with the wholesale fruit, vegetable, grain and jaggery shops (Fig. 1; Table 1). M. mulatta would often be found concentrated around these shops. The highest concentration of Af. mulatta and P. entellus at tran- sect 6 is probably due to the facts that (i) the tran- sect passes through the area of a large temple where provisioning is high, (ii) there are few residential houses along this transect, so that monkeys are sel- dom chased or otherwise harassed, and (iii) the area has many trees to give refuge to both species and provide food to langurs. Otherwise, langur groups are generally seen on the city outskirts, probably due to two reasons: (i) there is virtually no confrontation with the more aggressive rhesus, and (ii) the out- skirts provide more food (leaves, fruits etc) of the type eaten by the langurs. After talking to inhabitants of the old city and completing the density study, the authors support suggestions made by Southwick and Siddiqi (1983, 1984) that excess numbers of monkeys should be translocated from areas of high human population. This is necessary to protect both the monkeys and the people from mutual harassment and reduce the potential of disease transmission (Mohnot 1978, Hall 1955) and also to reduce human influence on monkeys (Neomi et al. 1981). Acknowledgements Pig. 2. Mean number of monkeys at each site. We are thankful to Dr. Rudy Rudran, Research 154 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Associate, NZP Washington DC and Dr. Walter training and advice. Auffenberg, University of Florida, Gainesville, for Table 1 DISTRIBUTION AND CONCENTRATION OF Macaca mulatta AND Presbytis entellus ALONG THE TRANSECTS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH PROVISIONING SITES Transect No. Area Habitat Concentration of rhesus and langur 1. 0.048 sq.km Chandpole to Choti Chopad Jaggery, grain and vegetable markets; temple Moderate 2. 0.048 sq.km Choti Chopad to Badi Chopad Tourist area High 3. 0.048 sq.km Badi Chopad to Ramgunj Jaggery, vegetable and fruit markets High 4. 0.048 sq.km Ramgunj to Surajpole No shops selling eatables Very low 5. 0.044 sq.km Choti Chopad to Brahampuri No shops selling eatables Low 6. 0.16 sq.km City Palace to Govind Deoji City Palace; temple; high provisioning Very High 7. 0.04 sq.km Ramgunj to Char Darwaza No shops selling eatables Almost nil 8. 0.04 sq.km Choti Chopad to Kishanpole Few sweet shops Very low 9. 0.04 sq.km Badi Chopad to Johari Bazar Vegetable and fruit markets Moderate 10. 0.04 sq.km Jaggery and grain markets Low Ramgunj Chopad to Ramgunj Bazar References Hull, T.G. (1955): Diseases transmitted from animals to man. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, 111. Mohnot, S.M. (1978): Conservation of primates in India. pp. 47-53. In: D.J. Chivers and W. Lane Petter (eds) Recent Advances in Primatology. Vol. II Conservation, Academic Press. Napier, J.R. & Napier, P. H. (1967): A Handbook of Living Primates. Academic Press. New York. Neomi, B., Blaffer, Hrdy, S., Jane, T. & Moore, J. (1981): Measures of human influence in habitats of south Asian monkeys. Int. J. of Primat. ID 2: 153-167. Prakash, I. (1962): Group organization, sexual be- haviour and breeding season of certain Indian monkeys. Jap.J.ofEcol.12: 83-86. Prater, S.H. (1980): The book of Indian Animals. Bom- bay Natural History Society, Bombay. Southwick, C.H. & Siddiqui, M.F. (1983): Status and conservation of rhesus monkeys in India, pp. 227- 237. In: P.K. Seth (ed) Perspectives In Primate Biology. Today-Tomorrow Printers and Publishers, New Delhi. (1984): A proposal for conservation of rhesus monkeys in agricultural habitats in northern India. pp. 553-561. In: Roonwal, M.L., Mohnot, S.M. & Rathore, N.S. (eds) Current Primate Researches, Depart- ment of Zoology, University of Jodhpur, India. Wolfe, L.D. & Mathur, R. (1987): Monkeys of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 84(3): 534-539. BIOLOGY OF THE PREDACEOUS BUG RHINOCORIS MARGINATUS FABRICIUS (INSECTA - HETEROPTERA - REDUVIIDAE)1 Dunston P. Ambrose2 and David Livingstone3 ( With three text-figures ) Rhinocoris marginatus Fabricius lays pale yellow eggs in batches in an orderly sequence. Eggs are glued to each other and to the substratum with cementing material. Sanguineous nymphs hatch from the eggs in 9 to 13 days. Stadial period from first instar to adult ranges from 68 to 115 days. Adult females live longer than males. Observations on laboratory-raised bugs for four generations indicate that the sex ratio of R. marginatus is not biased. Introduction Rhinocoris marginatus Fabr. is an alate, en- tomosuceivorous, polyphagous, multivoltine, crepuscular, brightly coloured assassin bug occur- ring in the scrub jungles and semi-arid zones of peninsular India. It is not found in the adjacent tropi- cal rain forests or on hillocks. It manifests as three different recorded morphs, namely niger, san- guineous and nigrosanguineous, and a number of ecotypes. The morphs are distinguished based on the colours of the connexivum (Ambrose 1980). This polyphagous bug is a predator on various insect pests like Calocoris angustatus Leth., Cyrtacan- thacris succincta Kirby, Dysdercus cingulatus Dis- tant, Earias vitteia (Fb.), E. insulana Boisd., Heliothis armigera Hubn. and Mylabris pustulata Lefroy both in the laboratory and in field conditions. Bioecology of a few species of oriental reduviids is known. They include Coranus spinis- cutis Reuter (Bose 1949); Rhinocoris lapidicoia Samuel and Joseph and R. nysiphagus Fabricius (Joseph 1959); Lophocephala guerini Laporte (Ambrose and Livingstone 1979); Acanthaspis pedestris Stal (Livingstone and Ambrose 1978) and A. quinquespinosa Fabricius (Ambrose 1983). The biological details presented here are related to a niger morph, collected from Kangayampalaya, a semi-arid zone of Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu. Accepted November 1985. department of Zoology, St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai - 627 002. department of Zoology, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore - 641 041 Material and Methods Adults of niger morph of R. marginatus were collected from Kangayampalayam semi-arid zone in Coimbatore District. They were reared in plastic containers (12 cm x 6 cm x 4 cm) on house flies, camponotine ants, carabid beetles and grasshop- pers. The batches of eggs laid were reared separate- ly in plastic containers with wet cotton swabs for maintaining optimum humidity (85%). The cotton swabs were changed periodically in order to prevent fungal attack. Observations on oviposition, incuba- tion and stadial periods, nymphal mortality, adult longevity and sex ratio were recorded. Four genera- tions were raised in the laboratory. Results and Discussion Microhabitat: Adults and nymphs of R. marginatus are found underneath stones and in crevices, but no parental care has been observed, unlike in other as- sassin bugs, viz. Rhinocoris albospiius Signoret (Od hi am bo 1959) and Zeius sp. (Ralston 1977). Dif- ferent species of Carabidae and Tenebrionidae, the common yellow scorpion ( Buthus sp.), and on rare occasions venomous reptiles, such as Echis carinata , are also found in the same microhabitats. Very rarely, R. marginatus is found in pairs but not more than two adults are found at a time in the same microhabitat, even though up to five nymphs are found to congregate. Oviposition pattern: R. marginatus deposits its first batch of eggs 33.33 ± 2.87 days after imaginal moult. Eggs are laid in batches, each attached to the other and glued basally to the substratum with a gelatinous cement- 156 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vcl. 86 100©®©©] O® 0 ©_© ©I Fig. 1. Ovipositing R. marginaius ing material. The eggs are pale yellow and cylindri- cal, with an operculum which is white, comb-iike, highly reticulate and completely enveloped by a mantle of highly reticulate (hexagonal) collar that develops abruptly from the mouth of the egg. It very much resembles the egg of R. olfugus (Cobben 1968). The egg is 1.01 mm long, 0.463 mm wide, the operculum being 0.409 mm long and 0.363 mm wide. R. marginaius does not glue its eggs to flesh excreta unlike Acanthaspis pedestris and A. siva Distant (Ambrose 1980) and in A. quinquespiriosa (Ambrose 1983). There is no seasonal influence on oviposition behaviour as reported in Rhinocoris albospilus (Odhiambo 1959) and Zelus sp. (Ralston 1977). R. marginaius lays eggs in an orderly se- quence (Figs. 1 and 2) as reported by Odhiambo (1959), Edwards (1962) and Swadener and Yonke (1973) in other species. The female selects an area free from foreign materials, and it remains at that particular spot with legs wide apart, wings slightly raised, pedicel and scape erect, with drooping flagel- lar segments. The genital segments alone move ver- tically up and down as the eggs are conveyed one after another. The non-opercular end of the egg comes out first with a little gelatinous cementing material. The egg is placed gently on the substratum with the tip of the genital segments one after the Fig. 2. Pattern of oviposition in R. rnarginatus other by touching the available place by its ab- dominal tip nearer to the already deposited egg. In one instance (Fig.2) it took 41 minutes to lay 48 eggs at a stretch without taking any rest, requiring on an average 51.25 seconds for each egg. During oviposition the only movement is the up and down movement of the abdominal tip. The pattern of oviposition indicates that with one tilting of ab- domen three eggs are laid in a particular direction. Tne entire oviposition pattern is somewhat zigzag in nature. Table 1 summarises the oviposition pattern and hatchability rate of the bug. An index of oviposi- tion days has been prepared by calculating the per- centage of number of egg laying days during the adults’ life-span. The unfertilized eggs are normal when laid but shrink after some days as in Coranus vitellinus Distant (Ambrose 1980). Neither the males nor the females of R. marginaius guard the eggs or show any parental care towards nymphal in- stars as reported in Rhinocoris albospilus (Od- hiambo 1959) and Zelus sp. (Ralston 1977). Incubation and hatching: Under laboratory conditions (32°C, RH 80- 85%, Photoperiod 11-13 hr) the eggs hatch in 9 to 13 days. Hatching usually takes place in the after- noon and very seldom in the forenoon. The nymphs do not probe the egg shell soon after eclosion as BIOLOGY OF R. MARGXNATUS 157 Table 1 MEAN (18 ± SE) VALUES OF OVIPOSITION PATTERN AND VIABILITY IN R . marginatus Range Mean 1. Adult female longevity in days 111 to 129 120 ± 10.63 2. Age at which first batch of egg laid in days 30 to 54 33.33 ± 2.87 3. Index of oviposition days 2.33 to 10.58 9.22 ± 3.08 4. Total number of batches of eggs laid 4 to 15 7.33 ±2.47 5. Minimum number of eggs per batch 1 to 14 9.80 ±4.74 6. Maximum number of eggs per batch 37 to 52 43 ± 6.72 7. Average number of eggs per batch 20 to 28 22.36 ± 2.17 8. Total number of eggs laid 110 to 280 154.67 ±52.8 9. Total number of nymphs hatched 78 to 114 88.33 ±23.64 10. Hatching percentage 58 to 71 66.9 ± 5 7.48 MEAN INCUBATION AND Table 2 STADIAL PERIODS IN R. marginatus Genera- tion Incubation period in days I-II II--XII Stadial period in IXI-IV IV-V days V Male V Female I Adult 10.51 ± 22.83 ± 14.9 ± 14.08 ± 15.25 ± 24.22 ± 27.33 ± 93.83 ± 1. 0.19 0.67 0.13 0.62 0.68 1.03 0.17 3.52 (77) (12) (12) (12) (12) (12) (9) (3) 8.74 ± 20.77 ± 16.62 ± 14.61 ± 19.15 ± 29.0 ± 31.1 ± 102.08 ± 2. 0.88 1.14 0.56 0.32 0.53 3.05 1.64 2.01 09) (13) (13) (13) (13) (13) (13) (10) 9.80 ± 18.87 ± 13.00 ± 15.62 ± 21.07 ± 35.0 ± 36.2 ± 105.93 ± 3. -0.3 0.65 0.18 0.57 0.09 0 1 1.02 (21) (15) (15) (15) (15) (15) (5) (10) 9.19 ± 15.67 ± 12.42 ± 12.42 ± 18.1 ± 36.35 ± 33.92 ± 96.9 ± 4. 1.29 0.26 0.29 3.26 0.26 0.65 1.18 0.9 (65) (59) (59) (59) (59) (59) (28) (31) (Figures in parentheses indicate the number of observed individuals). reported for Rhodnius prolixus Stal. (Ereecher and Wiggles worth 1944). Stadia! period: It is interesting to report that both moulting and adult emergence occur only in the afternoons, corresponding to the eclosion periodicity. Table 2 summarises the stadia! periods . As in Coranus vitellinus (Ambrose 1980), the stadial period of the third instar is the shortest and that of the final instar of the female the longest. The complete stadial period from first instar to adult ranges from 68 to 115 days. Description of the nympfaal instars: Sanguineous; scape and pedical, dorsal surface of abdomen, wing pads, median band and lateral mar- gins beneath the abdomen, apical half of femur, tibiae and tarsomeres black (Fig. 3). Head finely pubescent with straight and clubbed hairs; transverse impression in between eyes; delimiting anteocular and postocular areas both similar in extent; four-segmented filamentous antenna, scape the longest, first flagellar segment the shortest; rostrum three segmented, terminal seg- ment the shortest, middle segment the longest. Prothorax sanguineous and finely pubescent, width greater than length, median longitudinal impres- sion both in the prothorax and pterothorax prominent; legs richly pilose and devoid of tibial pads, mid-tibia the shortest and hind-tibia the longest; abdomen longer than wide, 3 dorsal median inter segmental scent gland orifices located in between 3rd and 4th; 4th and 5th; and 5th and 6th abdominal segments. Nysnpfia! mortality: The highest rate of mortality is recorded in the first instar (43.58%) followed by the second 158 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 3. Nymphal instars of R. marginatus. BIOLOGY OF R. MARGINATUS 159 Table 3 MEAN ADULT LONGEVITY AND SEX RATIO IN R. marginatus Adult longevity in days Sex ratio Generation Male Female Male Female 1. 20.2 ± 8.2 120 ± 10.63 1 0.3 (9) (3) 2 19.67 ±7.17 75.29 ± 8.82- 0.3 1 (3) (10) 3. 18.6 ±5.15 43.43 ±12.84 0.5 1 (5) (10) 4. 29.71 ±5.59 45 ±7.14 0.9 1 (28) (31) (Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of observed individuals). 34.09%) and the fifth (20%). Third and fourinstars record 17.24% and 16.66% mortality respectively. As in other Harpactorine species (Ambrose 1980) the first instars fall easy prey to other co- instars and thus record the highest rate of mortality. Nymphal mortality is mainly due to the pronounced cannibalistic tendency among nym- phal instars. Abnormalities and natural hazards in hatching, moulting, combat against powerful prey etc. are a few other causes of nymphal mortality. Adult longevity and sex ratio: The life span of adult males is very short when compared to that of females (Table 3). R. mar - ginatusis multivoltine. Sex ratio of males and females was 1:0.3, 0.33:1, 0.5:1 and 0.91:1 respec- tively in the first, second, third and fourth genera- tions raised in the laboratory. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the authorities of the Univer- sity of Madras for facilities and encouragement. One of us (DPA) thanks the Council of Scientific and In- dustrial Research for financial assistance. Technical assistance from Mr. P. Ramakrishnan and Mr. S. John Vennison is gratefully acknowledged. KEY TO NYMPHAL INSTARS: 1. First flagellar segment half as long as the pedicel, second flagellar segment twice as long as the pedicel; basal segment of rostrum less than twice the length of terminal segment; wing pads notdeveloped (2) First flagellar segment more than half the length of pedicel, second terminal segment less than twice the length of pedicel; basal segment of rostrum more than twice the length of terminal segment; wing pads developed (3) 2. Both anteocular and postocular areas (independently) equal to the width between eyes in length; diameter of eyes half of the width between eyes; terminal segment of rostrum half as long as its basal segment FIRST INSTAR Both anteocular and postocular areas (independently) more than width between eyes in length; diameter of eyes more than two thirds of width between eyes; terminal segment of rostrum two thirds of basal segment in length.. SECOND INSTAR1 3. Scape thrice the length of the first flagellar segment, wing pads not reaching abominal segents THIRD INSTAR Scape less than thrice the length of first flagellar segmenting pads reaching abdominal segments (4) 4. Postocular area slightly longer than anteocular area, first flagel- lar segment two thirds of pedical length, wing pads reaching first abdominal segment, width of abdomen two thirds of its length FQURTHINSTAR Postocular area shorter than anteocular area, first flagellar seg- ment almost equal to that of pedical, wing pads extending beyond 3rd abdominal segment, width of abdomen less than two thirds of its length FIFTH INSTAR References Ambrose, D.P. (1980): Bioecology, ecophysiology (1983): Bioecology of an alate assassin and ethology of Reduviids (Heteroptera) of the scrub bug Acanthaspis quinquespinosa (L.) Fabr. (Heteroptera: jungles of Tamil Nadu. Ph.D thesis, Unversity of Madras. Reduviidae). Proc. Sym. Ins. Ecol & Resource Manage: 160 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 107-115. & Livingstone, D. (1979): On the bioecology of Lophocephala guerini Laporte (Reduviidae: Harpactorinae), a coprophagous reduviid from the Palghat gap, India. J. nat. Hist. 13: 581-588. Bose, B.A. (1949): On the biolgov of Coranus spiniscutis Reuter an assassin bug (Fam.: Reduviidae). Ind. J. ent. 11: 203- 208. Breecher, G. & Wiggles worth, V.B. (1944): The transmission of Actinomyces rhodnii Erikson in Rhodnbis prolixusS tal. (Hemiptera) and its influence on the growth of the host. Parasitol. 35: 220-224. Cobben, R.H. (1968): Evolutionary trends in Heteroptera, Part I. Eggs, architecture of shells, gross embryology and ecolosion, Centre. Agri. Publ. Doc. Wageningen. Annu. Rep.:\ - 465. Edwards, J.S. (1962): Observations on the develop- ment and predatory habits of two reduviids (Heteroptera) Rhinocoris carmelita Stal. and Platymeris rhadamanthus Gerst.TVoc. R. ent. Soc. London A 37: 89-98. Joseph, M.T. (1959): Biology, Bionomics and economic importance of some reduviids collected from Delhi. Ind. J. ent. 27(1): 46-58. Livingstone, D. & Ambrose, D.P. (1978): Bioecol- ogy, Ecophysiology and Ethology of reduviids of the scrub jungles of Palghat gap Part VII Bioecology of Acan- thaspis pedestrisS tal. (Reduviidae: Acanthaspidinae) a micropterous entomophagous species. J. Madras. Univ. 41 (3): 97-118. Odhiambo.T.R. (1959): An account of parental care in Rhinocoris albospilus Sign. (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) with notes on its life history. Proc. R. Entornol. Soc. Lon- don A 41: 21-24. Ralston, J.S. (1977): Egg guarding by male assas- sin bugs of the genus Zelus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Psyche 84: 103-106. Swadener, S.O. & Yonke, T.R. (1973): Immature stages and biology of Zelus socius (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Can. ent. 105: 231-238. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIOLOGY OF HOUBARA BUSTARD: 1983- 84 POPULATION LEVELS IN WESTERN BALUCHISTAN1 Afsar Mian2 (With a text-figure ) The analysis of 6 quadrats in western, 2 in central, 6 in eastern Chagai and 13 in Kharan administrative districts (Baluchistan, Pakistan) suggested that in the latter half of February 1984 the density of the Houbara Bustard ( Chlamydotis undulata macqueenii ) was highest in western Kharan (1.1 125 birds/km2), followed by eastern Chagai (0.4375), central Chagai (0.3438), eastern Kharan (0.1250) and lowest in western Chagai (0.0208). The quadrat data suggests that there are still some 1 5,000 - 20,000 birds wintering in Baluchistan. Introduction The flat, open, desolate valleys of western Baluchistan with loose sandy background and op- timal sparse distribution of shrubs are known to har- bour a good wintering population of the Asian race of the Houbara Bustard, Chlamydotis undulata mac- queenii (Ali and Ripley 1969, Anonymous 1972). Our previous studies have tended to suggest that this region harbours a comparatively rich population of the bustards, as compared with various other known populations of such a large bird (Mian and Surahio 1983, Mian and Rafique 1984, Mian and Dasti 1985). We did attempt to develop a map of the region depicting the tentative relative concentration, depending upon the hunting successes of the Arab falconers (Mian 1984). However, no scientific sur- vey of the population levels has been undertaken. This paper attempts to report the results of a partial and preliminary survey of this bustard species in cer- tain favourable areas, which are known to hold a sizeable population of this species, specially in Chagai and Kharan districts. Material and Methods A survey of the favourable areas in Chagai, i.e Nokkundi (28° 85’N, 62° 76’E), Yakmuch (28° 79*N, 63° 90’E), Padag (29° 03’N, 65° 14’E) and Nushki (29° 56’N, 66° 06’E); andKharan, i.e., Jal- war (28° 53’N, 64° 92 *E) and western Kharan (28° 33 *N, 65° 00’E), districts was undertaken in the lat- 1 Accepted July 1987. department of Zoology, University of Baluchistan, Quetta, Pakistan. Present address: Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan. ter part of February 1984. The quadrat method was employed in all these areas in order to find the population levels of the Houbara Bustard. A party of three workers (the author along with two prominent local hunters of the area) travelled in a jeep for a predecided distance of 16 km, at a moderate speed (15—25 km per hour), tending to maintain a straight line. Each looked for the bird in a predecided direc- tion, so that a maximum band was covered efficient- ly. Whenever one of us spotted a Houbara Bustard, it was almost immediately reported to the others. Generally, on spotting the jeep in the vicinity of the located bird, all the birds present around in an area of 200 m would lake to their wings. These flying birds were easily counted. It was believed that by this technique, on an average, a band of some 500 m could be covered efficiently. Thus, the calculations regarding the density of the Houbara present in a quadrat was based upon the assumption that each quadrat covered an area of some 8 km2 (16 x 1/2 km). Different numbers of quadrats were studied in different areas in accordance with the total area of the favourable tract and the time at our disposal. Each quadrat area was at a distance of half an hour *s free drive from the finish point of the last quadrat area. The overall density of the bird population, in an area was calculated by pooling the data of all the different quadrats in the specific area. Sokal and Rohlf (1969) were followed for statistical analysis. The observations on the three quadrats were carried out starting soon after sunrise upto 1100 hrs. and on two/three from 1600 hrs. till a little after sun- set, with the assumption that during these compara- tively cooler parts of the day, the birds would be out of their roosting places, picking up food in the field, thus providing a greater chance of seeing all the birds present in the area. 162 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol .86 A selected number of the hunters, shepherds and nomads in each of these areas were also inter- viewed. They were questioned regarding the num- ber of the birds seen during the last few days and the approximate distance travelled for such an observa- tion. It was believed that a casual observer could ob- serve the presence of the bird in a band of some 200 m. The records were, however, maintained as a check to our observations, and were never subjected to a detailed analysis. Our quadrat data generally agreed with the observations of the local populace. Results Table 1 presents the data regarding number of birds observed, and the calculated population den- sity, in each of the quadrats studied in Chagai and Kharan districts. The table indicates that the population density of the Houbara Bustard is very low in otherwise quite favourable tracts of the western region of Chagai, i.e., Nokkundi and Yak- much. The overall density of the bird population, calculated from six different quadrats examined in the region, is worked out to be 0.0208 birds per km2. These observations were corroborated by the fact that, despite our best efforts, we could spot foot- prints of the bird at only four places. Further, the in- formation from the local hunters and shepherds also indicated that they had hardly seen a bird in the area since January 1984. The data obtained from the two other quadrats, in the central Chagai, i.e., Padag, in- dicated that there was an adequate population of the Houbara, with a calculated density of 0.6875 birds per km2. The quadrat data seems to be rather an overes- timation of the actual bird population density in the area, as small plains with almost equal areas under hilly terrain are alternately distributed in this region. We could spot many foot-prints on the loose soil present in almost all the dried water courses scat- tered in the hilly terrain, and we are of the opinion that almost all the birds move to the hilly terrain during the hotter part of the day, coming out into the plains for picking up food during the morning and evening. Tims our quadrat data, collected in the eve- ning session from the plain areas would include the birds which are actually dispersed in both hilly and plain areas. In the light of these facts, a reasonable estimate of the population of this bird would be half of the one obtained through our quadrat analysis. Hence the overall population density of the bird in this area comes to about 0.3438 birds per km2. The favourable tract of the eastern Chagai, i.e. Nushki, bears a reasonable population density and the pooled data obtained from six different quadrats analysed in the area suggest an overall density of 0.4375 birds per km2. The major part of the population of the east- ern Chagai is the migratory flock, which is at this part of the year on a return migration towards their summering grounds. Table 2 presents a reasonable estimate of the Houbara Bustard, expected to be present in different areas of Chagai and Kharan. The presently available information suggests that, towards the latter part of February 1984, some 14,840 birds were present in the area of Chagai and Kharan, permitting a reasonable guess that some 15,000 birds are present in these two districts and their adjacent areas. Different quadrat areas are remarkably dif- ferent from one another with regard to the topog- raphy, background soil and the general vegetation. Generally, all these areas bear loose background soil with sandy or loose stony cover. All these areas are flat, with different degrees of scattered sand dunes or small hills. The vegetation of these plains can be regarded as wasteland steppe, having scattered shrubs of Haloxylon ammodendron, Anabasis sp., Pennisetum dichotomum, Calligonum c onto sum, Koehleria phloeoidesmd Ephedras. p., which are distributed to varying degrees in the different areas. Persistent drought in the western Chagai had stopped the sprouting of shrubs, annual herbs and grasses. However, a moderate precipitation during the winter months has caused a reasonable vegeta- tion in the central and eastern Chagai as well as in Kharan. It was believed that the Houbara was at- tracted towards the wheat fields during the night and we could confirm the presence of a single bird in the wheat field at about 2100 hrs. However, it T^ould not be confirmed whether the Houbara does consume parts of the wheat plant or is attracted to some associated vegetation or insects. Discussion The results of the quadrat data collected from the different areas of Chagai and Kharan suggest that towards the latter half of February 1984, HOUBARA BUSTARD IN BALUCHISTAN 163 Table 1 OBSERVED NUMBERS AND CALCULATED DENSITY OF THE HOUBARA BUSTARD IN DIFFERENT QUADRATS (8 KM2 )IN CHAGAI AND KHARAN DISTRICTS (BALUCHISTAN, PAKISTAN), AS STUDIES IN FEBRUARY, 1984 General Area Approximate Location of quadrat Number of birds observed Calculated density (bird s/km 2 ) Overall calculated density in general area (birds/km2+ s.e) Nokkundi Koh-i-Sultan 0.00 Yakmuch Gut Game Reserve — 0.00 (Western Non Reserved area ___ 0.00 0.0208 ± Chagai) Ghala Chah 1 0.125 0.0208 Gonnakoh — 0.00 Dalbandin — 0.00 Dalbandin — 0.00 Padak Masseti Railway — (Central Land! 6 0.75 0.6876 ± Chagai) Pul Chotao Dak 5 0.625 0.0616 Nushki Dak (Zanghi Nawar) 2 0.25 (Eastern Chagai) In am Bostan Dak 4 0.50 Jal Kilghi 5 0.625 0.4375 ± Amir Dal 3 0.375 0.0089 Amir Dal 3 0.375 0.0089 Amir Dal 4 0.500 Amir Dal 3 0.375 Kharan Kiss an Pat 7 0.875 (Western, Bengalzai 9 1.125 high density Garruk 8 1.000 area) Tagab Dal 4 0.500 1.1125* Tagab Dal 3 0.375 0.1692 Bedi 6 0.750 Chinie 10 1.250 Haji Chah 12 1.500 Kill Wafa 13 1.625 Shahugheri 17 2.125 Kharan Tatagar — 0.000 (Eastern, Baz Pat 2 0.250 0. 125 ± low density area Shelli Pat 1 0.125 0.0510 Table 2 APPROXIMATE ESTIMATES OF THE POPULATION OF THE HOUBARA BUSTARD IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF CHAGAI AND KHARAN DISTRICTS, IN FEBRUARY 1984 General Area Approximate area* with bustard habitat (km2) Density of** Houbara (bird/km2 ) Estimated Population Western Chagai 10,000 0.0208 208 Central Chagai 3,500 0.3438 1,193 Eastern Chagai Kharan (Western, 1,700 0.4375 748 high density area) 12,.750 1.1125 12,515 Total . . ... 27,950 14,664 ^Excluding the areas under steep hills and about l/4th of the area rendered unfavourable by human settlements in the area. From Table 1. 164 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol .86 Fig. 1. Line sketch of Baluchistan, showing relative population density of the Hou’oara and approximate location of the areas mentioned in text. l.Nokkundi 2. Yakmuch 3. Dalbandin 4. Padag 5. Nushki 6. Panjpai 7. Mashkhel 8. Plantak 9. Washuk 10. Shamshi ll.Tagab 12. ShelliPat 13. BazPat 14. Kharan 15. Tatagar 16. Jalwar 17. Garruk. the density of the Houbara was highest in western Kharan (1 . 1 125 birds per km2) followed by eastern Chagai (0.4375)* central Chagai (0.3438) and east- ern Kharan (0.125). Western Chagai had a very scanty population with overall density of just 0.0208 birds per km2. The preliminary results allow us to suggest a tentative distribution map of the Houbara population in these two districts (Fig. 1). The population density of the wintering Houbara in central and eastern Chagai and western Kharan, during February 1984, is thus higher than the one estimated for the Punjab (Pakistan, 0.12 birds per km2 in Cholistan; Goriup 1980) and the Sind (Pakistan, 0.333 birds per km2; Surahio 1981, 1982). It would also suggest that the favourable tracts of Chagai and Kharan harbour a very rich population of this bustard species (overall density of 0.5580 birds per km2). Thus this is the richest population of the Houbara Bustard throughout the world (Goriup 1980,1981). The population of die bird seems to be the highest in Kharan and the region suggests an over- all density of 0.8846 birds per km2 (pooled for the total area of Kharan). A band of very favourable bus- tard tract extends over an extensive area running from Garruk, in the southeastern Kharan, through Sham si Lorha, Ahmad Shah, Zangi and Sabzab to Siahkoh in northwestern Kharan (Mashkhel), and Washuk and Planktak in southwestern Kharan. All these areas have a very high bustard density, which is estimated to be around 1. 1 125 birds per km2. Cer- tain other areas around Kharan exhibited a compara- tively low density of the bird population with 0.00, 0.125 and 0.250 birds per km2, in Tatagar, Shelli Pat and Baz Pat respectively. The overall density in these comparatively low bustard areas of Kharan is calculated to be 0.125 birds per km2, and this low density is attributed to human disturbances in the HOUBARA BUSTARD IN BALUCHISTAN 165 area (Fig. 1). Our results tend to suggest that some 15,000- 20,000 birds of this bustard species were present in Chagai and Kharan districts and adjacent areas in February 1984. These estimates provide a reasonable idea regarding the total number of the birds which spend the winter in southern and south- western Baluchistan and the adjacent areas, because the return migration of this bustard towards the northern latitudes had already started. The birds of the southern and western (comparatively hotter) regions, like Punjgur, Mekran, Sibi, Kohlu, Mari and Dera Bughti had already moved into the north- ern areas of Kharan and Chagai. Our discussions with the local hunters in the southern parts of Kharan, i.e., Tagab Dal, indicated that whereas some 3-4 birds were seen in the two quadrats studied by us, one could easily observe 15-20 birds during a walk of some 20 km during the month of January. Further, the declining population levels in the southern areas like Washuk and Plantak might have forced the visiting Arab falconry party to move to the northern areas of Urmagai in northeastern Kharan towards the end of February. Similarly, the area around Nushki (eastern Chagai) is known to have had a very meagre population of the bird till January, but the present population density of the bird was quite high (0.4375 birds per km2) in the Refer Ali, S. & Ripley, S.B. (1969): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Oxf. Uni. Press, Bombay, Lond., Vol. I: pp. 191-193, Anonymous (1972): Houbara in Baluchistan. Outdoor- man , 2: 15. Goriup, P.D. (1980): Report to tire secretary, Sind Wildlife Management Board on the Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis un- dulata) in Pakistan. (Unpublished working document). (1981): The Houbara Bustard, Houbara conser- vation and research in Pakistan. Western Tanager, Los Angeles Audubon Soc., 48(4): 3-6. Mian, A. (1984): A contribution to biology of Houbara: 1982- 83 wintering population. J. Bombay nat. His. Soc., 81(3): 537-545. Mian, A. & Dasti, A. A. (1985): The Houbara and Baluchistan: 1982-83: A preliminary review. Bustard Studies (ICBP), No. 3. Proc. Int. Sym. Bustard, Peshawar, Pakistan, 4-6 October 1983: 45-49. Mian, A. & Rafique, S. (1984): Conservational perspec- region during this part of the year. The only other area expected to hold a population of the Houbara during this part of the year are towards Panjpai (29° 46’N, 66° 46’E), Patao Dal (30° 82’N, 68° 47’E, ap- prox.) and Zhob, which are comparatively smaller tracts with a capacity of holding not more than 400- 500 birds. The present estimate regarding the total population of the Houbara Bustard in Baluchistan comes reasonably close to our previous density es- timates regarding this population, which were main- ly based upon the hunting successes of the Arab fal- coners in the area (Mian 1984). Further, one cannot expect the visiting hunters in the area to claim very high bag sizes in a small population. These estimates also fall close to the one suggested for a 250,000 km2 tract in the Kyzyl Kum province of the U.S.S.R., which is regarded as the main breeding grounds of the bustard (one pair per 15-20 km2, giving a total population of 28571 birds; Ponomareva 1979). Acknowledgements Thanks are due to M/s K.M. Shams (Chief Conservator), M. Shafiq (DFO, Wildlife), Arbab In- ayat Uiiah (SDFO, Wildlife) and a number of workers of the Provincial Forest Department, for their kind help. NCES live of Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undvdata macquecnii) with reference to Baluchistan. Pakistan (Peshawar), No. 10; 37-44. Mian, a. & Surahio, M.I. (1983): Biology of Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata macqueenii) with reference to Baluchistan. J. Bombay nat. His. Soc., 80 (1): 111-118. Ponomareva, T. (1979): The Houbara Bustard: present status and conservation perspectives. Okhotai okhotnoch’s khozyaistvo, 11:21 (original text in Russian, English translation by M.G. Wilson, ICBP, Bustard studies. No. 3: 93-96). Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F.J. (1969): Biometry. The Prin- ciples and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research. W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, pp. 778. Surahio, M.I. (1981): Houbara Bustard in Pakistan - Research and Conservation: Project No. 855. Ann. Rep. WWI7IUCN (Unpublished). (1982): Houbara Bustard in Pakistan - Research and Conservation: Project No. 855. Ann. Rep. WWF/IUCN (Un- published). BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE WILD GOAT AND THE URIAL AT A WATER POINT INKIRTHAR NATIONAL PARK, PAKISTAN W. Daniel Edge* 2, Sally L. Olson-Edge2and Nasir Ghani3 (With two text-figures) The biology and behaviour of the wild goat (Capra aegargrus) and the urial (Ovis orientalis Gmelin) at a water point in Kirthar National Park were studied from 21 March to 21 May 1986. The water point was ob- served for a total of 4 16 hours during 32 days. Thirty-four wild goats and 8 urial were captured and marked for individual identification. Average group sizes of wild goats and urial were 18.8 and 3.8 respectively. Only 49% of the wild goat and 36% of the urial groups that approached water actually drank. The mean number of wild goats visiting the water point per day increased from March through May. Wild goats showed no preference for time of the day during which they visited the water point, but the majority of the urial visits occurred in the late afternoon and early evening. The behaviour of both species as they approached the water pointis described. The management implications of the results are discussed. Water points that are developed in arid regions to benefit wild goats and sheep should have reservoirs which will provide sufficient water under drought condi- tions. The security of the 2 species should be considered when locating water developments. Introduction Kirthar National Park was created in 1974 for the preservation of wild goats and the urial, but it had been a game reserve with restricted hunting since 1930 (Stockley 1936). With the exception of brief studies by Schaller (1977, 1979) and natural history notes by Roberts (1967), little is known about the ecology and biology of these two species in Pakistan. Kirthar National Park is an arid desert environ- ment in which water is probably a limiting resource for animal populations. The purpose of this paper is to examine aspects of biology and behaviour of wild goats and the urial around a water point in the Kar- chat Hills of Kirthar National Park. Study Area Kirthar National Park is located in the south- western portion of Sind Province, Pakistan, and is 150 km northeast of Karachi, between latitudes 25°10’N and 26°05’N and longitudes 67°10’E and 67°55’E. The western border is formed by the Accepted August 1986. 2Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit and Department of Zoology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA. Present address: Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 92331-3803 (USA). 3Zoological Survey Department, Block 61, Pakistan Secretariat, Sharah-e-Iraq, Saddar, Karachi.. Baluchistan provincial boundary and the eastern by the Suijan, Sumbak, and Hothiano Game Reserves. The mean maximum and mean minimum tempera- tures from March through May were 27°C and 38°C respectively. No weather station was maintained in the park, but local residents reported that there had been very little rainfall for two years. The 308,733 ha. area encompasses the Karchat Hills, of which Schaller and Laurie (1974) give a detailed descrip- tion. Janko water point is located in the southern por- tion of the Karchat Hills. This natural permanent spring occurs in a wooded dry wash, running north to south, bounded by limestone cliffs on either side which widen at the vicinity of the water point. Water collects in a series of pools formed from natural depressions in the limestone bedrock in combination with concrete that was added to increase the capacity of the pools. Most of the water is held in 3 main pools, each approximately 1 .5 m in diameter and 20-30 cm deep when full, with an approximate capacity of 400 litres. These lie directly under the eastern cliff face, which is 6-7 m high at that point. Water flows into the upper two pools from fissures in the cliff base at approximately 10 litres per hour. Seven metres to the north of the pools is a seep area where a small amount of water collects in shallow depressions in the bedrock. One additional small pool lies 11m north of the seep; it is about 60 cm in diameter and 10 cm deep, and holds about 30 litres when full. The east cliff wall reaches a high point of 10 m just north of this pool; this slopes gently to the east and BEHAVIOUR OF WILD GOAT AND URIAL 167 provides a good overlook of the waterholes. We refer to this as the staging area. A ridge runs paral- lel to, and east of the wash. Seventy metres east of the staging area, the ridge is topped by a distinctive layer of rocks which we called the rimrock. A shaded area referred to as the cave is found under the east cliff where the wash makes a bend towards the west, 200 m north of the water point. Another ridge runs parallel to the first, on the w'est side of the wash; a permanent rock and a thatch machan is located near the top and is 66 m southwest of the waterholes. Methods Wild goats and the urial were observed with 10 x binoculars or a 15-35 x spotting scope. Obser- vations at the water point were made from the machan. Systematic surveys were conducted at weekly intervals throughout the southern third of the Karchat Hills. Goats and urial were captured with a remotely fired net-gun aimed at the upper waterhole, or with two Aldridge leg-hold snares placed around the lower waterholes. Sex and age of each captured animal was determined, and plastic ear tags, num- bered and colour- coded for individual identifica- tion, were placed in each ear. The lead animal in a group was the focal animal used for timed events. Age classifications followed Schaller (1977). Dif- ferences in sample means were determined by use of T-test, and correlation analysis was used to test the relationship between group size and time re- quired to reach the water point. Results We watched the Janko water point for a total of 416 hours, over 32 days of dawn to dusk obser- vations, between 21 March and 21 May 1986. During this period, we captured and marked 34 wild goats (26 females and 8 males), 10 in snares, and 24 with a net- gun. Eight urial (4 males and 4 females) were captured with the net-gun. Wild Goats One hundred and fifty-two groups of wild goats approached the water point during our obser- vations, but only 75 (49%) of these actually drank. The adult female-young ratio in May was 100:27. The mean size of the 152 groups was 18.8 (S.D. = 22.8) and was significantly larger {t = 3.38, P 0.01) than the group size ( X =10.4, S.D. = 11.9) of wild goats observed away from the water point. The mean number of wild goats drinking from the water point increased from March through May (Fig. 1). Wild goats approached the waterhole throughout the day (Fig. 2)with no apparent preference for any time period. Wild goats used three main routes when ap- proaching the water point. The majority of groups (79.9%) approached the water by moving from the rimrock directly to the staging area and from there down the cliff face to the water. The second route, used 8.6% of the time, involved moving from the rimrock down to the cave in the cliff face, then along the top or bottom of the cliff to the staging area, and then to the water. This route was used primarily during midday, apparently because the cave and cliff face provided shade. The third route was used 6.7% of the time, mostly by male groups. This route began at the far end of the east cliff; the goats walked along the top of the cliff and either stopped at the cave, or continued along the top of the cliff to the staging area. Several other routes were used 4.8% of the time, with animals approaching the water from along the west cliff or down the wash. Regardless of the route, wild goats approached the water cautiously and remained alert throughout their approach. The average time from when they were first seen until they reached the water was 58 minutes (S.D. = 43.7), and was not related to group size (r = 0.20, P 0.1). Goats would stand or bed down at various places along each route, and often 30 minutes or more was spent at the staging area above the water. Lactating females and young were usually the First to drink. However, once 1 or 2 animals reached the water, the majority of the group would rapidly follow. Once at the water, wild goats drank quickly, rarely spending more than two minutes drinking. Based upon the number of goats that drank from a basin of known volume, adult females consumed approximately 5.5 litre of water. This represents 17% of the average weight of an adult female (n = 20). Once an animal finished drinking, it moved away from the water point at a steady pace, usually towards and over the rimrock, and out of sight to the east. Eighteen marked goats were observed ap- proaching the water point 117 times. Individual marked goats returned to the water point every 1.7 days. Because the number of consecutive days we 168 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 0900 1200 1500 1800 Dusk MONTH Time of Day (tours) Fig. 1. Mean number of wild goats drinking water per day at Janko waterpoint, by month. watched the water point rarely exceeded 5 days, this estimate is probably biased on the low side. Every 3 days is probably a more realistic estimate. Urial Twenty-eight groups of urial approached the water point during our observations, but only 36% of these drank. Average size of urial groups at the water point (X = 3.8, S.D. = 2.88) did not differ (/ = 0.945, P 0.1) from 14 groups observed away from the water point ( X = 4.7, S.D. = 2.9). In May, the adult female-young ratio was 100:53. Urial approached the water point from several different routes, but 70% of all approaches were directly down the wash. The average time from first observation until drinking was 50 minutes (S.D = 52.6). This value is not directly comparable to the average approach time for wild goats because the route, down the wash, taken by the majority of urial, kept them out of view until they were 30 m from the water. It was our impression that urial were much more wary than the wild goats when approaching the water point. Urial approached the water primari- ly in the late afternoon and early evening. Interspecific Behaviour Interspecific behaviour was noted on seven oc- casions during our observations. These resulted in physical contact twice. A class IV male goat butted a class IV male urial in the ribs, pushing him down from a 3 m cliff. The urial ran rapidly off, but ap- parently was not injured. The second physical con- Fig. 2. Time of day of visits by wild goat groups to Janko waterpoint, March through May 1986. tact between the two species occurred when an adult female goat threatened a young urial with a head- down display. An adult female urial immediately turned and butted heads with the goat, after which they both walked away. The other five interactions resulted in the urial being displaced by either head- down threats or stiff- legged approaches by goats. In one case, a class IV adult male urial was displaced by an adult female goat. Discussion The importance of water to wild goats and urial in the desert habitat of Kirthar National Park cannot be overstated. Water was especially important to wild goats during our study because the Janko water point was the only permanent water available within the herd’s home range after two years of drought. The urial were probably just as dependent upon free water, but our observations do not bear this out be- cause other sources of water were available to urial. A small water point 400 m south of the Janko water point was used by urial, but not by wild goats, apparently because of the lack of steep escape topography. The urial in this area were also reported by local game watchers to use a small stream on the plains, 5 km west of the Janko water point, but we were unable to verify that claim. Individual wild goats visited the Janko water point every 2 to 3 days, and lactating females and young appeared to be the most dependent upon free water. Herd productivity may be directly related to BEHAVIOUR OF WILD GOAT AND URIAL 169 the availability of water. Roberts (1967) and Schaller and Laurie (1974) both reported that natality was highest during years following a rut which occurred after abundant rainfall. Schaller (1979) also suspected that survival of young may be low during years of drought because of poor nutri- tion. We believe that survival of young may also be dependent upon the availability of free water. The low adult female-young ratio (100:27) observed by us was probably directly related to drought condi- tions. The higher female-young ratio (100:53) for urial may reflect a better adaptation to drought con- ditions. Population size of desert bighorn sheep in the United States is limited by the distribution of water (Welles and Welles 1961, Russo 1956, and Hansen 1965). Leslie and Douglas (1979) reported that desert bighorn ewes in the River Mountains of Nevada restricted their movements and showed a high degree of fidelity to water sources. During drought years the demand for free water may exceed the supply; mortality would therefore be expected to increase. Based upon our rate of flow estimates for the springs at Janko water point, the average number of wild goats drinking per day, and our estimated consumption of water per animal, by May the demand for water exceeded the rate of flow. During May, the reservoir of water in the pools dropped noticeably and was severely- depleted on several occasions. This condition demonstrates the need for construction of reservoirs whose capacity exceeds demands under the most severe drought conditions. Use of these sites by domestic livestock should be discouraged. Both the urial and wild goats approach the Janko water point very cautiously. This behaviour is Refer Hansen, C.G. (1965): Management units and bighorn sheep herds on the Desert Game Range, Nevada. Desert Bighorn Council Trans. 9 : 11-14. (1980): Habitat. Pages 64-79 in G. Monson and L. Sumner, eds.. The desert bighorn: Its life histoiy, ecology, and management. Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson. 370 pp. Leslie, JR., D.M. & Douglas, C.L. (1979): Desert bighorn sheep of the River Mountains, Nevada. Wildl. Monogr. 66: 56 pp. Roberts, TJ, (1967): A note on Capra hircus hlythi Hume, 1875. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 64: 358-365. Russo, J.P. (1956): The desert bighorn sheep in Arizona. Ariz. Game and Pish Dept. Wildl. Bull. No. 1. 153 pp. normal and probably reflects a relatively high poten- tial for predation when animals are concentrated around a water point. During our observations, wild goats and urial were scared away from the water point 8 times by jackals ( Canis aureus ) and twice by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). On one occasion a jackal killed a young wild goat. Thus, when con- structing future water catchments for wild goats and urial, the animals’ security must be considered. However, what is considered safe by one species- may not be by the other. The cliffs surrounding the Janko water point, which make the site attractive for wild goats, may be a reason the water point is rare- ly used by urial. Desert bighorn sheep in North America prefer open space around water points to enable them to spot potential danger (Hansen 1980). The urial probably has a similar preference, but this needs to be examined further. The interspecific encounters we observed in- dicate that urial almost always defer to wild goats. This behaviour, especially at water points during drought conditions, may give wild goats a competi- tive advantage over urial. This again emphasizes the need for water points of sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of all wildlife species. Acknowledgements Funding for this study was provided by the United Stales Fish and Wildlife Service’s Special Foreign Currency Programme. Housing and transportation were provided by the Sind Wildlife Management Board. We wish to thank Shamus Uddin for his assistance in animal capture, and the staff at the Karchat Visitor Centre, Kirthar National Park, for their logistic support. ENCES Schaller, G.B. (1977): Mountain monarchs: Wild sheep and goats of the Himalaya. The Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago. 425 (1979): Ecology and behavior of high-altitude mammals in South Asia. Natl. Geog. Soc. Res. Rep., 1979 Projects. 461-47S p. Schaller, G.B. & Laurie, A. (1974): Courtship behavior of the wild goat. Z. Saugetierkunde 39: 115-127. Stockley, C.H. (1936): Stalking in the Himalayas and Northern India. Herbert Jenkins Ltd., London. Welles, R.E. & Welles, F.B. (1961): The bighorn of Death Valley. U.S. Natl. Park Serv. Fauna Series No. 6. Washington D.C. 242 pp. ON THE BASKING BEHAVIOUR OF THE MUGGER CROCODYLUS PALUSTRIS LESSON (REPTILIA : CROCODILIA) AT BHORSAINDA CROCODILE SANCTUARY, HARYANA STATE R.C. Gupta and P. Sri hari1 2 * (With two text-figures & a map) Basking behaviour of Crocodylus palustris has been studied at Bhorsainda Crocodile Sanctuary in Kurukshetra District, Haryana State. Basking was observed for one complete winter season (1985-86) at week- ly intervals. The animals were observed continuously for 12 hours. Maximum basking takes place for 8 hours in February and 7 hours in November. Minimum basking takes place for 1 hour in April and 2 hours in Oc- tober. Basking patterns are of three kinds: (1) Individual basking which takes place in October and November, (ii) Group basking which takes place in December and January, and (iii) Mating pair basking which takes place in February and March. Introduction Dharmakumarsinhji (1947), Singh (1979, 1983), Whitaker and Whitaker (1976) and Yadav (1979) studied various aspects of the behaviour of the mugger (Crocodylus palustris). However, there appear to be no studies on the basking behaviour of these animals. The present paper deals with the important aspects of basking behaviour of Crocodylus palustris at Bhorsainda Crocodile Sanctuary in Kurukshetra District, Haryana State. Basking is crucial for crocodiles during cold months as it enables them to warm up, thus bypass- ing the dormant stage so common in reptiles during winter. Description of study site: ( Fig. 1, Map 1). The crocodile Sanctuary is situated on Kurukshetra-Pehowa Road near Bhorsainda village at a distance of 13 km west of Kurukshetra Univer- sity Campus, Kurukshetra (29845*N, 76°44’E). The total area of the sanctuary is 8 acres. The main topographical features are: (i) circular water body, (ii) mound of settled sand. The water body is approximately 1.25 m deep in the center. It is artifi- cially fed by a feeder originating from Bhakra- Saraswati Canal. This water level is maintained throughout the year. The flora consists of species of Nilumhium , Ipomoea , Pistia and Eichhornia 1 Accepted August 1987. 2Department of Zoology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra- 132 119, India. species. The submerged weeds ar tValisneria, Hydrilla , Char a and Potamogeton species. The nec- tonic fauna comprises of fishes, mmn\yLabeo-sp. and Channa sp. Birds like the Weaver bird (Ploceus philippinus) and the Cattle Egret (Bub ulcus ibis) nest on the nearby trees. The mound is circular in shape, 243.60 m in circumference and 5 m in height. The soil is settled and has grassy patches. The circular canal is inter- rupted at one place by a longitudinal stretch of earth, which provides a passage to approach the mound. The various tunnels scattered round the mound are significant features of the sanctuary and have been dug by the crocodiles. The distribution (direc- tion and distance from water), use and disuse of various tunnels at the Sanctuary complex is shown in Table 2. The main seasons are winter (October to March), spring (April to May), monsoon (June to August) and autumn (September). The maximum and minimum temperatures recorded during these seasons are: Season Maximum temperature Minimum temperature °C °C Winter 29 11 Spring 41 21 Monsoon 42 30 Autumn 38 29.5 Description of basking site: The basking site chosen by the crocodiles of the Sanctuary is unique as it provides them the safest un- disturbed site, with maximum solar radiation and BASKING BEHAVIOUR OF C. PALUSTRIS 171 172 JOURNAL, BOMBA Y NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 TIME DEVOTED FOR BASKING BY C. palustris FROM 13 OCT 1985 TO 26 MAR 1986 AT WEEKLY INTERVALS SELECTED WEATHER PARAMETERS ALSO SHOWN Sr. Date(s) Time of Time of Time Temperature Rainfall Humidity (%) No. arrival departure spent for Maximum Minimum Wet Dry on land into water basking (hours) CO CC) 1. 13 Oct 85 1500 hrs. 1630 hrs 1.5 35 32 7th, 8th & 9th 85 85 2. 20 Oct 85 1600 hrs. 1700 hrs. 1.0 29 24 Oct, rainfall 84 84 3. 27 Oct 85 1200 hrs. 1600 hrs. 4.0 29 24 was 4 mm, 7.1 mm 84 86 4. 4 Nov 85 1130 hrs. 1700 hrs. 5.5 27 25 & 23.1 mm. 84 85 5. 12 Nov 85 1130 hrs. 1630 hrs. 5.0 25 21 83 84 6. 18 Nov 85 1100 hrs. 1800 hrs. 7.0 24 21 83 ’ 84 7. 24 Nov 85 1100 hrs. 1830 hrs. 7.5 24 21 10th & 11th Dec, 82 84 8. 30 Nov 85 1030 hrs. 1830 hrs. 8.0 22 18 rainfall was 82 83 9. 7 Dec. 85 1100 hrs. 1830 hrs. 7.5 21 16 10.5 mm & 1.2 mm. 82 83 10. 13 Dec 85 1000 hrs. 1700 hrs. 7.0 19 17 25th 8c 26th Dec, 82 82 11. 31 Dec 85 1130 hrs 1700 hrs. 5.5 15 12 rainfall was 82 82 12. 7 Ian 86 1100 hrs. 1600 hrs. 5.0 14 11 10.5 mm & 1 1.1 mm. 82 83 13. 14 Jan 86 1 100 hrs. 173G hrs. 6.5 17 13 78 82 14. 24 Jan 86 1000 hrs. 1730 hrs. 7.5 20 14 79 82 15. 1 Feb 86 0930 hrs 1800 hrs. 8.5 20 14 9th, 10th & 13th 79 83 16. 4 Feb 86 0830 hrs. 1700 hrs. 8.5 23 16 Feb, rainfall was 78 83 17. 14 Feb 86 0900 hrs. 1800 hrs. 9.0 19 16 18.2 mm, 9.8 mm 78 83 18. 24 Feb 86 1000 hrs. 1730 hrs. 7.0 21 15 & 2.2 mm. 78 83 19. 2 March 86 0800 to 1500 to 21st Feb, rainfall 1200 hrs. 1800 hrs. 7.0 24 19 was 3.8 mm. 83 84 20. 23 Mar 86 0730 to Disconti- 11th, 14th & 18th Mar, 1000 hrs. nuous 4.0 26 21 rainfall was 3.3 mm 83 85 0.6 mm & 13.6 mm. 21 27 Mar S6 Disconti- Disconti- nuous nuous 4.00 31 27 83 86 '986 MONTHS O Fig. 2. Time spent in tunnels by C. palustris at Bhorsainda Crocodile Sanctuary (Sept. 1985-Aug. 1986). minimum wind currents. The site is a sort of plat- form situated in the west of the Sanctuary, where- Eucalyptus plantations serve as wind breaks in the cold season, thus enhancing the effect of solar radiation on the crocodiles. Results Details of the time spent by the animals on land for basking are given in Table 1 and Fig. 2. Details of climatic parameters are also given in Table 1. Discussion Basking lasts for six months, beginning in the second week of October and ending in the last week of the following March (Table 1). BASKING BEHAVIOUR OF C. PALUSTRIS 173 Table 2 DETAILS OF DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTION, DIAMETER AND UTILIZATION OF TUNNELS FROM 22.9. 1 985 AT BHORSAINDA CROCODILE SANCTUARY Tunnel No. Direction Distance from wat level 1. South 27.10 m 2. South 27.80 m 3. South 27.80 m 4. West 3.50 m 5. West 1.50 m 6. West 14.50 m 7. West 4.00 m 8. West 16.40 m 9. North 16.00 m 10. North 17.50 m 11. North 23.20 m 12. North 23.20 m 13. East 0.40 m Periphery of the tunnel(s) Abandoned months 3.80 m Dec, Jan, Feb 2.60 m Dec, Jan, Feb. 2.20 m Dec, Jan, Feb. 3.00 m Sept, March, April, June, July, Aug. 3.50 m Oct, March, April, June, July. 2.10 m Sept, Nov, Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug. 2.80 m Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June. 2.40 m Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June. 2.15 m Sept, March, June, July. 2.40 m Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April. 3.20 m Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April, May. 3.00 m Dec, Jan, Feb, March, May, June, July, Aug. 2.00 m Oct, March, April, May, June, July, Aug. Utilized months Sept, Oct, Nov, March, April, May, June, July, Aug. Sept, Oct, Nov, March, Apr, May, July, Aug. Sept, Oct, Nov, March, Apr, May, June, July, Aug. Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, May. Sept, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, May. Oct, Dec, Jan. Sept, May, June, July. Sept, July, Aug. Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, April, May, Aug. Sept, May, June, July. Sept, Oct, Nov, April. Sept, Oct, Nov, April. Sept, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb. The maximum time spent at the basking site was in February followed by November (Table 1; Fig. 2). The minimum time spent was in April. However, the beginning of basking seems to be of longer duration in October than in April (Fig. 2; Table 1). The time devoted to basking by crocodiles is also relatively high in January and December (Table 1). The basking patterns observed during the in- vestigations are of three kinds: (i) Individual bask- ing, (ii) Group basking, and (iii) Basking during mating season. Individual basking is prevalent during Oc- tober. In this category, the animals prefer to bask alone. Another salient feature of this period (Oc- tober to November) is that crocodiles bask at dif- ferent times at different places. Group basking is prevalent in December and January. The salient features of this kind of basking are that the animals prefer to bask in a single group at a time, and that basking takes place in a single stretch of time at the basking site. The animals, after arriving at the basking site,seldom leave for the water again during December and January. However, in sharp contrast to this pattern, during October and November they may first come out on 174 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol. 86 land for basking, then return to the water for a short span of time and finally come again to the basking site to resume basking. The basking pattern in February and March is similar to that found in October and November, i.e basking is interrupted. There are fourteen crocodiles in this Sanctuary. During the mating season it was found that crocodiles pair up (five pairs) at different places during the basking time. It is considered that this period was ‘mating basking period’. The other four crocodiles remained unpaired, scattered at dif- ferent places. Conclusions Basking takes place for six months (October to March). Maximum basking takes place in February followed by November. Minimum basking takes Refer Dharmakltmarsinhji, K.S. (1947): Mating and the paren- tal instinct of the Marsh Crocodile (i Crocodylus palustris Les- son). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 47 (1): 174-176. Singh, L.A.K. (1979): Sexual attraction of a wild mugger {Crocodylus palustris Lesson) towards captive muggers, ibid. 76 { 1 ): 167-172. (1984): The Indian Mugger ^Crocodylus palustris Lesson ( Reptilia , Crocodilia): Observation on the be- place in April. Basking, therefore, is perhaps not directly correlated with the lowest temperatures, as it is more in February and November than in Decem- ber and January. The findings suggest the possibility of existence of a most favourable spectrum of low temperatures in winter. The lowest temperatures evi- dently serve as inhibitors for basking. Basking is of three kinds: (i) individual basking, (ii) group bask- ing, and (iii) mating pair basking. Acknowledgements Thanks are due to the Vice-Chancellor of Kurokshetra University and the Chairman of Zool- ogy Department, for providing necessary facilities. We are also grateful to the staff present at the Sanctuary. EN CE S haviour of a female from nature, ibid. 80 (3): Whitaker, R. & Whitaker, Z. (1976): Collection and hatching of Marsh Crocodile (C. palustris ) eggs. ibid. 73 (2): 403-407. Yadav. R.N. (1979): A further report on breeding the mug- ger crocodile {Crocodylus palustris ) at Jaipur Zoo. Int. Zoo Year- book. 19: 66-68. MATERIALS FOR FLORA OF MAHAB ALESWAR - 6A RV. Bole and M.R. Almeida Plantaginaceae 1. PlantagomajorLinn.Sp.Pl. 112, 1753;FBI4:705; Birdwood, 23; Cooke, T. 2:597 (2:560); Puri & Mahajan, 130. P. asiatica Linn. Sp. PI. 163, 1753; Wight, I11.L177. Rare herb along the banks of Yenna River. flowers: September- February. local name: Bartang. Besides the species mentioned above, Lisboa (p.220) has reported P. minus as being cultivated at Mahabaleshwar. This may be P. ovata Forsk. (Isab- gol), which is sometimes grown in Maharashtra for its medicinal husks. However, we have not seen it in cultivation at Mahabaleshwar in the recent past. Nyctaginaceae Bougainvillea Comm. 1. Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. Sp. PI. 2:348, 1799; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 72; Cooke, T. 2:483(2:567). Occasionally cultivated in gardens as an or- namental plant. flowers : April- May. local name : Bogan Vel. Amarantiiaceae 1. Leaves all opposite 2 2. Anthers 1 -celled Alternanthera 2. Anthers 2-celled Achyranthes 1 . Leaves not all opposite 3 3. Stamens with interposed staminodes Aerva 3. Staminodes absent 4 4. Ovary 1 -ovulate Amaranthus 4. Ovary 2-many ovulate Celosia Achyranthes Linn. 1. Achyranthes aspera Linn. var. porphyrostachya Hook.f., in FI. Brit. India 4:730, 1885; Birdwood, 23; Puri & Mahajan, 130; Santapau, 224. A. aspera Cooke, T. in Bombay Gazet. 19:65 1 , 1885 & FI. Bombay Pres. 2:495 (2:580). (Pro parte). A. porphyrostachya Wall, ex Moq., in DC. Prodr. 13 (2):316, 1849. Common in partially shady places, along hedges and along forest paths. flowers, fruits: October— December. local names: Aghada, S errata, Sarata. Aerva Forsk. (nom. cons.) 1. Climbing undershrubs without terminal spikes At. sanguinolenta 1 . Erect or diffuse herbs with terminal spikes A. lanata 1. Aerva Janata (Linn.) Juss., in Mus. Par. 2:131, 1803; Graham 168; Dalz. & Gibs. 217; FBI 4:728; Lisboa, 221. Achyranthes lanata Linn., Sp. PI. 204, 1753 A. floribunda Wightjcon. t. 1776 bis, f.A, 1852. This species is reported here on authority of Lisboa. We have not seen it at Mahabaleshwar; neither have we seen any reliable herbarium specimen. 2. Aerva sanguinolenta (Linn.) Blume, Bijdr. 547, 1825; Santapau, 223. Achyranthes sanguinolenta Linn., Sp. PI. ed. 2, 294, 1762. A. scandensRoxb. FI. Ind. 1:676. 1832. Aerva scandens Wall Ex Moq., in DC. Prodr. 13(2):302, 1849; Dalz. & Gibs. 217; Wight, Icon. t. 724 (pro parte); FBI 4:727; Cooke, T. 2: 493(2:577). Common herb on hill-slopes and on roadsides along Fitzgerald Ghat. flowers : December - January. Alternanthera Forsk. 1. Alternanthera sessilis (Linn.) R. Br. prodr. 417, 1810; Graham, 168; Dalz. & Gibs. 220; Wight, Icon. t. 727; FBI 4:731; Birdwood, 23;San- tapau,225. A.triandra Lamk.Encycl.l:95.1783;Cooke, T. 2:499(3:584) Gomphrena sessilis Linn. Sp. PI. 225, 1753. Common and gregarious along the moist grounds along the margins of the ponds and ditches at Chinaman’s falls, Lodwick Point and near the bus- stand. flowers : Throughout the year. 176 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 local name : Kanchri, Jaljambha. Amaranthus Linn. 1. Amaranthus tricolor Linn. Sp. PI. 989, 1753; Merrill, Enum. 2:14, 1923; Baker, 77, t. 2, 1949; Santapau, 222. A. gangeticus Linn. Syst. ed 10, 1268, 1759; FBI 4:719; Cooke, T. 2:489 (2:574). A. oleraceus Wiild. Sp. PL 4:386, 1805 (non Linn. 1753); Graham, 169; Wight, Icon. t. 715, 1844-5. A . blitum var. oleraceus Hook.f., in FI. Brit. Ind. 4:721, 1885; Puri & Mahajan, 131. Occasional in wastelands along roadsides and in cultivated fields. flowers & fruits : December - March. Celosia Linn. 1 . Celosia argentea Linn. Sp. PI. 205, 1753; Graham, 167; Dalz. & Gibs. 215; Wight, Icon. 1. 1767, 1852; FBI 4:714; Cooke, T. 651 & 2: 485(2:570); Bird wood, 23; Puri & Mahajan, 130. Common in wastelands and along roadsides. flowers & fruits: October— November. LOCAL NAME : Kurdu. Chenopodiaceae 1 . Flowers all similar, usually hermaphrodite, without bracts and bracteoles Che nopodium 2. Flowers dimorphic; female flowers with persistent, enlarged bracteoles. AJriplex Chenopodium Linn. 1 . Stigmas 2 C. album 1 . Stigmas 5. C. ambrosioides 1. Chenopodium album Linn. Sp. PI. 219, 1753; FBI 5:3; Cooke, T.2:501(2;586); Ulrich . in Planzenfam . ed. 2, 16c:487,t. 1- 2; Santapau, 226. C. viride Linn. Sp. PL 219, 1753; Graham, 171. Rare weed in wastelands. FLOWERS: April. local name Chakvat. 2. Chenopodium ambrosioides Linn. Sp. PL 219, 1753; Dalz. & Gibs. Suppl. 73; Wight, Icon. 1. 1786, 1852; FBI 5:4; Birdwood, 23; Cooke, T. 2:502(2:587). Airiplex ambrosioides Lisboa, As. Soc. (Bombay) 15:220, 1883. Fairly common and abundant weed in cul- tivated fields, in gardens and in wastelands. A na- tive of tropical America, it was introduced in India as an ornamental aromatic herb. flowers : December 19 - June. Atriplex Linn. 1. Atriplex hotensis Linn. Sp. PL 1053, 1753; Dalz. & Gibs suppl. 73; FBI 5:6; Cooke, T. 2:503(2:588). A. heterantha Wight, Icon.t.1787, 1852. Rare annual herb. Known from a single col- lection from Chinaman’s falls. FLOWERS: April. POLYGONACEAE 1 . Stem green, with flattened phylioclades Homalocladium 1 . Stems not flattened, cylindrical 2 2. Stigma capitellate Polygonum 2. Stigma fimbridate. Rumex Homalocladium (F.V. Muell.) Bailey 1. Homalocladium platycladum (Muell.) Bailey, Man. Cult. PL 351, 1947. Muehlenbeckea platy dados (Muell.) Meissn., in Bot. Zeit. 23:313, 1865; Cooke, T. 2:519(3:11). Coccoloba platyclada F. V. Muell., in Bot. Mag. 19:t. 5382, 1863. Rare in cultivation in gardens. flowers : Throughout the year. common name : Centipede Plant. Polygonum Linn. 1. Inflorescence axillary; flowers solitary or in small clusters P. plebeium 1. Inflorescence terminal, racemose or spicate or capitate 2 2. Inflorescence of branched spikes or of spike-like racemes... 3 3. Racemes stout, compact 4 4. Nutlets orbicular or biconvex P . glabrum 4. Nutlets trigonous. ....P.barbatulumvar. gracile 3. Racemes slender, lax P.mite 2. Inflorescence of compressed spikes, capitate 5 5. Heads in the axils of involucral leaves....../’, alatum 5. Heads not in the axils of involucral leaves 6 6. climbing unarmed undershrub..... P. chinense 6. Erect herbs, with prickles on the angles of stem P. strigoswn var. angustissima 1 . Polygonum alatum Buch.-Ham., in Don, Prodr. FI. Nepal. 72, 1825; FBI 5:41; Birdwood, 23; Cooke, FLORA OF MAHABALESWAR 177 T. 2:516(3:8); Puri & Mahajan, 131. P, pactatum Buch-Ham. Lc. 1825 (non Ellioit, nec Baffin, 1836). P. nepalense Meissn., Monogr. 84, 1826; Steward, in Contr. Gray Herb. 88:74, 1930; Wight, Icon. t. 1804; Cooke, T. 651, 1885; Santapau, 401, 1962 & 305, 1963. Common and gregarious anneal herb in moist places. flowers : August- February. 2. Polygonum barbatulum Linn. var. gracile (Danser) Steward, in Contrib. Gray Herb. 88:55, 1930; Santapau, 227. P. serrulatum auct. (non Lagascd, 1816); Hook.f. in FI. BriL Ind. 5:38, 1886; Cooke, T. 2:515(3:7); Puri & Mahajan, 131. P rivulare Graham, Cat. Bombay PL 172, 1839 (non Koenig. 1806); Dalz. & Gibs. 214; Cooke, T. 651; Lisboa, 221. P. barbatum Woodrow, in Journ Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 12:365, 1899 (non Li.nn. 1753); Puri & Mahajan, 131. P. flaccidum Roxb., FI. Ind. 2:291, 1832. P. barbatum Linn. var. gracile Danser, Polygon, Neinderland. Ostond. 146, f, 2. 1927, A rare herb along watercourses near Chinaman’s falls. flowers: May. local name: Dhakta Sheral. 3. Polygonum chinense Linn,, Sp. PL 863, 1753; Graham, 172; Dalz. & Gibs. 214; Cooke, T. 651, 1885; Lisboa, 221; Birdwood, 23; Puri & Mahajan, 131; Santapau, 401, 1962 & 305, 1963; Steward, in Contr. Gray Herb. 88:71, 1930. P. chinense Linn. var. ovalifolia Meissn., in Wall. PL As. Rar. 3:60, 1832; FBI 5:45; Cooke, T. 2:517(3:8). Fairly common and abdundant among hedges and along roadsides. flowers: March - December. local names: Narali, RarulL 4. Polygonum glabrum WilkL, Sp. PL 2:447, 1799; Graham, 172; Dalz. & Gibs. 214; FBI 5:34; Wight, Icon. 1. 1799, 1852; Birdwood, 23; Cooke, T. 651, 1885 & 2:514 (3:5); Lisboa, 221; Puri & Mahajan, 131; Steward, 43. Common and abundant perennial herb along watercourses, sometimes forming large clumps. flowers: Throughout the year. local names: Sheral, Rakta-roda. 5. Polygonum mite Schrank, FI. Baier. 1:668, 1789; Cooke, T. 2:516(3:7); Puri & Mahajan, 131; Clapham et a!., in FI. Brit. Isle, 697, 1952. Very common and abdundant herb in water- logged places. Very often the whole plant is found submerged in water with only the inflorescence visible above the water. A native of British Isles. Ac- cording to Dr. T. Cooke, it might have been intro- duced in India along with shipment of food-grains. flowers: November - January. 6. Polygonum plebeium R. Br. Prodr. 420, 1810; FBI 5:27; Cooke, T. 2:512(3:4): Steward, 24. P. plebeium R. Br. var. indica Hook.f., in FI. Brit. India 5: 28, 1886; Cooke, T. 2:512(3:5); Puri & Mahajan, 131. P. indicum Heyne, in Roth. Nov. PI. Sp. 208, 1821; Wight, Icon. t. 1808, 1852. P. elegans Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 214, 1861 (non Roxb., 1 832) ; Lisboa. 221; Cooke, T. 651, 1885. P. plebeium var. elegans Birdwood, in Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. : 23, 1897. P. plebeium var. brevifolia Hook. f. in FI. Brit. India 5:28, 1886; Cooke, T. 2:514(3:5). Very variable species. Common and abundant diffuse herb in drying rice-fields and in wastelands along watercourses. Rev. Fr. H. Santapau, in Khan- dala Flora (ed. 3, p. 226) observes, "The varieties and formas of this species vary depending on the amount of moisture and shade". He keeps all varieties and formas under P. plebeium R. Br. without further classification. However, two varieties of our Mahabaleshwar specimens could be distinguished: 1 . Stipules and leaves covering intemodes var. brevifolia 1 . S tipules and leaves not covering intemodes var. indica flowers: November- June. 7. Polygonum strigosumR. Br. prodr. 420, 1810. var. angustissima (Hook.f.) comb. nov. P. pedun- culare Wall. var. angustissima Hook.f.FL BriL Ind. 5:48, 1886; Birdwood, 23; Cooke, t. 2:517(3:9); Puri & Mahajan, 131. Rare herb, occasionally found at Lingmala falls and near Bhilar. flowers: November. Steward (in Contrib. Gray Herb. 88:91, 1930) has reduced P. pedunculare Wall, ex Meissn (in 178 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Wall. PL As. Rar. 3:58, 1832) to the varietal rank under P. strigosum R. Br. Therefore, P. pedunculare Wall. var. angustissima Hook.f. has to be treated as another variety of that species. Rumex Linn. 1. Rumex dentate Linn. Mant. 2:226, 1771; FBI 5:59; V.D. Vartak, in Joum. Univ. Poona, 10:11, 1959. This species has been reported to have been seen in cultivation at Mahabaleshwar, by V.D. Var- tak. PODOSTEMONACEAE Griffithella (Tul.) Warm. 1. Griffithella hookeriana (Tul.) Warming, Fam. PodosL Aflandal. 6:13, 1901; Cooke, T. 2:521 (3:13). Mniopsis hookeriana Tul., in Ann. Sci. Nat. Sen 3, 11:105, 1849; Wight, Icon. 1. 1918, f. 4, 1852; Dalz. & Gibs. 245. Podostemon hookerianusWodd., in DC. Prodr. 17:74, 1873; FBI 5:65. Common, flat, thalloid water plant attached to rocks in running waters. This species has been col- lected from Koina River, below Mahabaleshwar. We have not seen it on the plateau. flowers: October- December. local name: Khadak-Phul . Aristolochiaceae 1 . Petioles less than 1 .5 cm long A. indica 1 . Petioles more than 4 cm long A . tagala Aristolochia Linn. 1. Aristolochia indica Linn. Sp. PI. 960, 1753; Graham, 178; Dalz. & Gibs. 224; FBI 5:75; Cooke, T. 2:254 (3:16). Rare species at Mahabaleshwar. Only known from a single collection. flowers: November. local names: Sapsund, Sampsun. 2. Aristolochia tagala Cham., in Linnaea 7:207, 1832; Cooke, T. 2:255 (3:17). A. roxburghiana Klotzch, in Monastb.-Berl. Akad. 696, 1859; FBI 5:75. A. acuminata Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 489, 1832 (non Lamk., 1791; Graham, 178; Dalz. & gibs. 224; Wight, Icon. t. 771, 1844-5. Dalzell & Gibson have reported this species from Par-Ghat, leading to Mahabaleshwar. We have not seen this on the plateau. flowers: October- November. PlPERACEAE Piper Linn. 1. Leaves haiiy beneath, membranaceous P.hookeri 1 . Leaves glabrous on both surfaces, texture thick, leathery 2 2. Leaves rounded at the base; ripe fruits red P. nigrum 2. Leaves acute at the base; ripe fruits yellow. P. Irichostachyon 1. Piper hookeri Miq., in Hook. Lond. Joum. BoL 4:437, 1845; FBI 5:88; Dalz. & Gibs. 315; Cooke, T. 651, 1885; Birdwood, 23; Cooke, T. 2:527 (3:19); Puri & Mahajan, 131; Santapau, 399, 1962 & 305, 1963. Common and abundant clinging climber in forest areas. flowers: April- September. local name: Ran Mirvel. 2. Piper nigrum Linn., Sp. PL 28, 1753; graham, 198; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 84; FBI 5:90; Cooke, T. 2:527(3:19); Santapau 229. P. triocum auct. (non Roxb., 1820) Graham, Cat. Bombay Pl. 199, 1839; Wight, Icon. t. 1935, 1852 (non Lamk. 1791); Birdwood, 223. Rare climber in forest areas. Rarely cultivated in gardens for fruits. flowers: July- September. local name: Kala Miii, Mirvel 3. Piper trichostachyon (Miq.) C. DC. in DC. Prodr. 16(1):242, 1869; FBI 5:80; Cooke, T. 2:526 (3:19). Mulder a trichostachyon Miq., in Hook. Lon- don Joum. Bot. 5:556, 1846; Wight, Icon. t. 1944, 1852. Common climber in forest areas. flowers: Throughout the year. local name: Ran Mirvel, Kankol. Peperomiaceae Piperomia Ruiz & Pav. 1. Plants succulent, terrestrial herbs P.pellucida 1. Plants non-succulent, epiphytic herbs.... P. portulacoides 1. Peperomia pellucida (Linn.) H.B.K., Nov. Gen. FLORA OF MAHABALESWAR 179 Sp. 1:64, 1815; Cooke, T. 2:529(3:21); Santapau, 229. Piper pellucidum Linn. Sp. PI. 30, 1753. Common weed in wastelands near human in- habitation and in cultivated fields. It is a native of S. America. flowers: August - October. 2. Peperomia portulacoides (Lamk.) A. Dietr., Sp. PL 1:172, 1831 (nOn Miq., 1846); Birdwood, 23. Piper portulacoides Lamk., Tab. 1:82, 1791. Peperomia wiqhtiana Miq., in Hook. Lond. Joum. Bot. 5:548, 1846; FBI 5:98; Cooke, T. 2:529 (3:21); Santapau, 229. Small epiphytic herb rarely found in deeply shaded forests. flowers: May— October. Laura ceae 1. Rowers hermaphrodite or polygamous 2 2. Anthers 2-celled.. Beilschmiedia 2. Anthers 4— celled 3 3. Perianth in fruits with persistent tube and usually with deciduous segments Cinnamomum 3. Perianth in fruit with persistent reflexed segments Machilus 1. Rowers dioecious 4 4. Rowers clustered in densely imbricating bracts (not whorled) Actinodaphne 4. Rowers umbellate; the heads supported by 4-6 whorled bracts.. 5 5. Leaves penninerved Litsca 5. Leaves 3 -nerved from base Neolitsea Actinodaphne Nees 1. Actinodaphne angustifolia Nees, in Wall. PI. As Rar. 3:31, 1832; Wight, Icon. 1. 1841, 1852; Puri & Mahajan, 131; Santapau, 399, 1962. A. hookeri Meissn., in DC. Prodr. 15(1):218, 1864 (excl. var. longifolia and including vars. das - sypoda and glabrata ); FBI 5:149;Cooke, T. 2:537 (3:31); Birdwood, 24. A. lanceolata Dalz. & Gibs. FI. Bombay 312, 1861; Lisboa, 221. Tetranthera lanceafolia Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 174; 1839 (non Roxb.). ,Litseafuscata Lee Bom- bay Gazett. 19:645, 1885 (non Thwaites, BirdwOod, 24; Cooke, T. 648, 1885. One of the commonest trees on the plateau. rowers: December-January fruits : January- May. local name: Pisa. Beilschmiedia Nees 1. Beilschmiedia Roxburghiana Nees, in Wall. PI. As. Rar. 2: 69, 1832; FBI 5: 121; Dalz. & Gibs. 222. B. roxburghiana var. dalzellii Haines, Bot. Bihar & Orissa 798, 1924. B. faqifolia var. dalzellii Meissn., in DC. Prodr. 15(1): 64, 1864; FBI 5:122; Cooke, T. 2:534 (3:27). B. dalzellii (Meissn.) Kosterm. in Reinwardtia 6:282, 1962. Rare tree at Mahabaleshwar. Only known from a single collection. flowers: February - March. LOCAL NAME: Kajllri. Rev. Fr. H. Santapau, accepts the name#, dal- zellii (Meissn.) Kosterman for this species in FI. Khandala, ed. 3, 230, 1967. Later (in Dist. Flower PI. India, 22, 1973), he calls plants from the Western Ghats a sB. roxburghiana Nees. Cinnamomum Blume 1. Cinnamomum verum Presl. Priroz. Rostl. 2:36, L 7, 1825; Kosterman, in K.M. Manilal, Bot. Hist. Hort. Malabar, 163, 1980. C. zeylanicum Blume, Bijdr. 568, 1825; FBI 5:131; Wight, Icon. tt. 123, 134, 1844-5; Cooke, 2:525 (3:28). C. aromaticum Graham, Cat. Bomb. PI. 173, 1839 (non Linn., 1753). C. iners Graham, l.c. 173 (non Blume, 1826, nec Wight, 1839). Few trees are planted at Bhilar in a private gar- den. Probably introduced from elsewhere. 2. Cinnamomum camphora T. Nees, & Eberm. Hndb. Hed.-Pharm. Bot. 2:430, 1829. Rarely cutlivated in gardens. LOCAL NAME: KapOOr. Litsea Lamk. (nom. cons.) 1. Stamens 18-20 /. deccanensis 1. Stamens 12 2 2. Filaments glabrous; leaves glaucous beneath L. vertakii 2. Filaments hairy; leaves rusty-tomentose beneath L.floribunda 1. Litsea deccanensis Gamble, FI. Madras, 1235, 1925; Santapau, 232. 180 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 L. tomentosa Heyne ex Meissn., in DC. Prodr. 15(1): 177, 1862 (non Blume, 1825); Birdwood, 24; Cooke, T. 2: 539(3:32); Puri & Mahajan, 131. Tetranthera apetala Graham, Cat. 174, 1839; Dalz. & Gibs. 222 (non Roxb., 1832). T. tomentosa Roxb., ex Wight, Icon. t. 1834, 1852. L. tomentosa van glahrescens Cooke, T. Bom- bay Gazett. 19:648, 1885. This species has been reported from Rotunda Ghat by Birdwood and T. Cooke. Talbot reports it from Mahabaleshwar plateau. We have not seen the plant on the plateau, nor have we seen any reliable herbarium specimen. flowers: October- January. 2. Litsea floribunda (Blume) Gamble, FI. Madras, 1234, 1925;) K.N. Gandhi, in fl. Hassan Dist. 48, 1966. Calycodapkne floribunda Blume, Mus. Bot. 1:387,1857. L. wightiana Hook, f., in Gen. PI. 3: 162, 1880; FBI 5: 177 (p.p.); Birdwood, 24; Cooke, T. 2:540 (3:33); Puri & Mahajan, 131 (non C. wightiana Nees, 1829). Calycodapkne wightiana auct. (non Nees, 1829); Dalz. & Gibs. 222; Wight, Icon. t. 1883, 1852. Tetranthera wightiana Wall, ex Bedd. Fl. Syl- van t. 293, 1873 (non C. wightiana Nees, 1829). This species has been reported by Birdwood on authority of Simonds, from Bombay Point. Plants labelled as this species in Blatter Herbarium have all turned out to be L. stocfcsii Hook.f. 3. Litsea vartakii Almeida nom. nov. Litsea stocksii Hook, f., in Fl. Brit. India 5: 176, 1886 (nom. illeg.); Birdwood 24; Cooke, T. 2:539(3:33); Puri & Mahajan, 131. Actinodaphne lanceolata auct. (non Dalz. & Gibs., 1861); Naime, PI. West. India, 279, 1894 (As a synonym). Very common tree all over Mahabaleshwar. Leaves turn reddish on drying. flowers: October- December. In the original protologue of this species, J. D. Hooker has cited Tetranthera lanceaefolia Graham as one of the synonyms of the new species which is nov/ synonymised with Actinodaphne angustifolia Nees. Therefore L. stocksii Hk.f. becomes an il- legitimate name. The new specific name is given after Dr. V.D. Vartak for his interest in Mahabalesh- war flora. Besides the species mentioned above, Birdwood has reported Litsea polyantha Juss. (Kala Pisa), from Arthur’s Seat, leaves having Cin- namomum smell and L. cookii Fairbank, from Arthur’s Seat. We have not been able to confirm the identity of these species. Neolitsea (Benth.) Merrill 1. Neolitsea zeylanica (Nees) Merrill, Gamble, in Fl. Madras, 1:240, 1925. Litsea zeylanica Nees, Cinnamomum. Disput. 58, 1823; Dalz. & Gibs. 223; Wight, Icon. tt. 132 & 1844; FBI 5:178; Birdwood, 24; Cooke, T. 2: 541 (3:34); Puri & Mahajan, 131. L. foliosa Nees, Syst. Laurin. 622, 1839. Common tree all over Mahabaleshwar, espe- cially near Arthur’s Seat and Dhobi’s falls. flowers: November- December. local name: Kanvel, Chirchira. Persea Miller 1 Persea macrantha (Nees) Kosterman, Rein- wardtia 6:193, 1962; Santapau, 231. Machilus macrantha Nees, in Wall, PL As. Rar. 2:70, 1831; Dalz. & Gibs. 221; Wight, Icon. 1. 1824, 1852; Bed d., Fl. Sylvat. t. 264, 1872; Lisboa, 221; Birdwood, 24; Cooke, T. 2:536 (3:29). M. glaucescens Wight, Icon. t. 1825, 1852; Dalz. & Gibs. 221. Rare tree occasionally seen in forest areas near culverts. flowers: January. LOCAL NAME: Gulum. Proteaceae Grevillea R. Br. 1 . Grevillea rcbusta Cunn., in R. Br Prodr. suppl. 24, 1830; Puri & Mahajan, 131 (in Laumceae); San- tapau, 233. Ornamental tree, occasionally cultivated in gardens. common name: Silver Oak Thymelaeaceae Gnidia Linn. 1. Gnidia glaeca (Fresen.) Gilg, Bot. Jahrb. SysL 19:265, 1894, in obs., CJ. Saldanha, in Fl. Hassan FLORA OF MAHABALESWAR 181 DisL 275. 1977. Lasio siphon glaucus Fresen., FI. 21:603, 1838. L. eriocephalus Decne, in Jacq., Voy. Bot. 148, 1844; FBI 5:197; Cooke, T. 649 & 2:542(3:36) Lis- boa 221; Birdwood, 24; Puri & Mahajan, 131; San- tapau, 398, 1962 & 309, 1963. Gnidia eriocephala Graham, Cat. Bombay PL 176, 1839; Wight Icon. 1. 1859, 1852. L. speciosa Decne l.c, 147, 1. 150. 1844; Baiz. & Gibs. 221; Markham, 385, 1880. Fairly common in open forests and along the forest borders in thick forests. The bark is used by local people for stupefying fish. flowers: November- January. local name: Rametha, Rametta. Elaeagnaceae l.Elaeagnus confer ta Roxb., FI. Ind. 1:440, 1832; Graham, 178; Puri & Mahajan, 132; San- tapau, 399, 1962 & 294, 1963. E. latifolia auct. (non Linn., 1753); Wight Icon. 1. 1856, 1850; FBI 5:202; Cooke, T. 649, 1885; Birdwood, 24; Lisboa, 221 Cooke, 2:543(3:37). E. koiaga Schletch., in DC. Prodr. 14:611, 1857; Dalz. & Gibs. 224; Markham, 385, 1885. Common and abundant scandent or straggling climber all over in forest areas. Ellipsoidal, silvery berries are edible and are sold in local markets. flowers: December-Fcbruary ; fruits: March- April. local name: Amgul, Nurgi. LORANTHACEAE 1 . Flowers bisexual; leaves well developed with prominent mid-rib....... ..2 2. Bracts cup-shaped, forming an involucre enclosing inflorescence... Tolypanthes 2. Bracts not involucrate 3 3 . Each flower with 2-3 bracts Macrosolen 3. Each flower with a single bract 4 4. Petals free Helixanthera 4. Petals united 5 5. Flowers regular. Dendrophthoe 5. Flowers irregular. ....6 6. Leaves opposite Loranthus 6. Leaves alternate Taxillus 1. Flowers unisexual; leaves absent, (when present without a mid-rib) Viscum Dendrophthoe Martius 1. Dendrophthoe faScata (Linn.f.) Etting. in Denkschr. Akad. Wissen, Math.-Natural. Cl. 32:52- 3, 58, 1 13, f. 14, 1872; Merrill, in Am. Arbor. 8:53, 1934; Santapau, 234. Loranthus falcatus Linn. f. suppl. 211, 1781. L. longiflorus Desr. in Lamk. Encycl. 3:598, 1789; Graham, 86; Dalz. & Gibs. 110; Wight, Icon, t. 302, 1840; FBI 5:214; Cooke, T. 2:548 (3:42); Lis- boa, 222. L. amplexifolia DC. Prodr. 4:305, 1830; Graham, 86. L. longiflorus var. amplexifolia Thwaites, Enum. 134, 1859; FBI 5:215. Quite frequent parasite on Syzyqium cumini Skeel (Jambul Tree). flowers: July- January. local name: bandguL Banda. 2. Dendrophthoe trigona (WL & Am.) Danser ex Santapau, in Rec. BoL Surv. India 16(1): 263, 1953; Santapau, 299, 1963. Loranthus trigonus Wight & Am., Prodr. 386, 1834; FBI 5: 219; Cooke, T. 2:249(3:43). Macrosolen trigonus Van Tiegh, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 42:442, 1895. Rare parasite on Xantolis tomentosa Rafin. along Fitzgerald Ghat. flowers : January- February; FRUITS: April. Helicanthes Dans. 1. Helicanthes elastics (Desr.) Danser, in Verhand. K. Akad Western. Amsterd. Sect 2, 29(6):55, 1933; Santapau, 299, 1963. Loranthus elasticus Desr., in Lamk. Encycl. 3:599, 1789; Graham, 86; Dalz. & Gibs. 109; FBI 5:216; Wight, Icon, l 343; Cooke, X 649 & 2:547 (3:41); Birdwood., 24; Puri & Mahajan, 132. Very common parasite on Flacourtia indica Merrill and Syzyqium cumini Skeels. flowers: October- December. Helixanthera Lour. i . Flowers more than 2 cm. long H. obtusata 1 . Flowers less than 1 cm long H. wallichiana 1. Helixanthera obtusa (Schult.) Danser, in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitens. Ser. 3, 10:317, 1929; Santapau, 300, 1963. Loranthus obtusatus Schult., Syst. 7(2): 1650, 1830; Graham, 86; Dalz. & Gibs. 109. 109; Lee, 645; FBI 5:205; Cooke, T. 649 & 2:546 (3:39); Lisboa, 222; Birdwood, 24. 182 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Common parasite on Memecylon umbellatum Burm., Flacourtia indica Merrill and Syzygium cumini Skeels. flowers: May- June. 2. Elixanthera wallichiana(Schultes) Danser, Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg Ser. 3, 10:317, 1929; TP. Ramamoorthy, in FI. Hassan DisL 307. 1976. Loranthus wallichiana Schultes Syst. 7:100, 1820; Wight, Icon. 1. 143, 1839; FBI 5:204; Cooke, T. 545(3:40). Phoenicantherum wallichiana Schultes Syst. 7:100, 1820; Wight, Icon.t. 143, 1839; FBI 5:204; Cooke, T. 545(3:40). Phoenicantherum wallichiana (Schult.) Blume in Schult.f., Syst. 7:1729, 1828. Rare parasite on Memecylon umbellatum Burm.f. Loranthus (nom. cons.) 1. Loranthus philippensis Cham. & Schultes, in Linnaea 3:204, 1828; scurrula philippensis (Cham. & Schult.) G. Don, Gen. Hist. 3:442, 1834; San- tapau, 236. L.scurrula Kurz., For. FI. 2:319, 1877; FBI 5:208 (p.p); Cooke, T. 2:546(3:40) p.p.; Birdwood, 24 (non Linn., 1753). L. budleoides Desr., in Lamk. Encycl. 3:600, 1792; Graham, 86; Dalz. & Gibs. 110 (p.p) (non Thwaites, 1859). Scurrula parasitica Linn. Sp. PI. 110, 1753; Wien, in Abeywick., FI. Ceylon 1:73, 1973 (non L. parasitica Linn., 1753). Rare species along Fitzgerald Ghat on Bridelia squamosa (Lamk.) gerhn. trees. flowers: December- April. Macro so len Blume 1 . Corolla less than 3 cm long M. capitellatus 1 . Corolla more than 3.5 cm long M. parasitica 1. Macrosolen capitellatus (Wt. & Am.) Danser, in Blumea4: 36, 1936; Santapau, 300, 1963. Loranthus capitellatus Wight & Am., Prodr. 382, 1834; Wight, Icon. t. 304, 1840; Dalz. & Gibs. 109; FBI 5:221; Cooke, T. 2:550(3:44); Puri & Mahajan, 132. Common parasite on Actinodaphne hookeri Meissn. flowers: April-June. Balanophoraceae 1. Balanophora elkinsii Blatter, in Joum. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 33:309-10, 1929; Santapau, 289, 1963. B. indica auct. (non Wall, ex Griffith., 1846); Hart, Joum. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 1:75, 1886; Birdwood, 25; Cooke, T. 2:557(3:52). Common root-parasite on Syzygium cumini Skeels. flowers: October- November. Euphorbiaceae 1 . Flowers aggregate-monoecious in heads resembling a single flowers Euphorbia 1 . Flowers dioecious or separate-monoecious 2 2. Cell of the ovary 2-ovuled 3 3. Petals present, small 4 4. Fruit a capsule; calyx imbricate Actephila 4. Fruit a drupe; calyx valvate Bridelia 3. Petals absent 5 5. Disc present 6 6. Disc central, orbicular or combined with calyx lobes, eglandular. 7 7. Stamens 4-many Drypetes 7. Stamens 3 in a column Breynia 6. Disc glandular. 8 8. Fruit a berry 9 9. Fruits of 3-6 hard cocci in a fleshy epicarp Emblica 9. Fruits with 6-12 crusta-ceous seeds Kirganelia 8. Fruit a dry capsule of 3 or 2-valved cocci 10 10. Stamens 3 Phyllanthus 10. Stamens 5 Securinega 5. Disc absent Glochidion 2. Cells of the ovary 1 -ovuled 1 1 1 1. Calyx in male flowers valvate 12 12. Filaments not branched 13 13. Anthers not vermiculiform or linear. Mallotus 13. Anthers vermiculiform or linear linear. Tragic 12. Filaments branched 14 14. Leaves entire, penninerved Ricinus 14. Leaves palmatilobed, palminerved Ricinus 11. Calyx in male flowers imbricate 15 15. Stamens 2-3 Sapium 15. Stamens numerous Jatropha Actephila Blume 1. Actephila Excelsa (Dalz.) Muell.-Arg., in Linnaea FLORA OF MAHABALESWAR 183 32: 78, 1863; FBI 5:282; Cooke, T. 2:575(3:71) Anomospermum excelsum Dal z. in Kew Joum. BoL 3:228, 1851; Dalz. & Gibs. 233. Actephila neilgherrensis Wight, Icon. t. 1910, 1852. This species is known from a single collection of Chibber. We have not seen this species at Mahabaleshwar. flowers: August - September. Breynia Forster (nom. cons.) 1. Breynia Retusa (Dennst) Alston, Ann. Roy. BoL Gard. (Peradenia) 11:204, 1929; T.P. Ramamoor- thy, in FI, Hassan Dist. 333, 1976. Phyllanthus retusus Dennst., Schluess, Hort. Malab. 24, 1818. Melanthesa retusa Kostel, Allg. Med.-Pharm. Flora 5:1771, 1835. M. turbinata (Koen. ex Roxb.) Wight, Icon. 5(2):26, 1. 1897, 1852; Dalz. & Gibs. 234; Santapau, 296, 1963. M. obliqua Wight, Icon.t.1898, 1852. P. turbinatus Koen. ex Roxb., FI. Ind. 3:666, 1832; Graham, 180. B . patens Rolfe, in Joum. Bot. (N.S.) 11:359, 1852; FBI 5:329; Cooke, T. 2:583(3:79); Birdwood, 25. Quite frequent along roadsides along Kelgar Ghat. flowers: June— July. common English name: Cup-in-saucer plant. Bridelia Willd. 1. Inflorescence axillary in clusters; stipules long and broad. B squamosa 2. Inflorescence terminal and axillary spikes; stipules short and narrow B. retusa 1. Bridelia retusa (L). Spreng., Syst. Veg. 3:48, 1826; FBI 5:268.1887; Cooke 2:572-3(3:68); Puri & Mahajan, 132. Cluytia retusa Linn. Sp. PI. 1042, 1753. B. spinosa Willd. Sp. PL 4:949, 1805; Graham, 184. B. montana Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 184, 1839 (non Willd., 1905); Dalz. & Gibs. 233. This species is included here on authority of Puri & Mahajan. In various herbaria, the specimens identified as belonging to this species have been now corrected as belonging to B. squamosa (Lamk.) Gehrm. We have not seen any authentic specimen of this species from Mahabaleshwar. flowers: March- May. 2. Bridelia Squamosa (Lamk.) Gehrm., in Engl. BoL Jahrb. 41: Beilb. 95, 1908; Santapau, FI. Khandala, ed. 3,243, 1967. Cluytia squamosa Lamk. Encycl. 5(2): 54, 1790. Occasional tree found along Fitzerald ghat and Kelgar ghat. flowers: December- May. Drypetes Vahl 1. Drypetes venusta (Wight) Pax & Hoffm., in Pfireich. 81: 268, 1922; Santapau, FI. Khand. ed. 3,247, 1967. Astylis venusta Thwaites in Kew J. Bot. 7:272, 1855; Dalz. & Gibs. 229, 1861; FBI 5: 339, 1887; Cooke, 2:591(3:87). A rare tree along Fitzgerald Ghat. There is only one specimen of this species in Blatter Herbarium from Mahabaleshwar area. flowers: November. Emblica Gaertner 1. Emblica officinalis Gaertner, FrucL, 2:122, 1791; Dalz. & Gibs. 235; Wight, Icon. L 1896, 1852; Puri & Mahajan, 132; Santapau, 295, 1963. Phyllanthus emblica Linn. Sp. PI. 982, 1753; Graham, 189; FBI 5:289; Cooke, T. 2:585 (3:81); Lisboa, 223; Birdwood, 25. One of the common trees all over Mahabalesh- war in forest areas. Fruits used for pickles. flowers: March- May. local names: Aula, Amla. Glochidion Forst. 1 . Glochidion hohenackeri Bedd., For. Man. in Flora Sylvat. 193, 1873; FBI 5:514; Cooke, T. 2:579 (3:75); Puri & Mahajan, 132; Santapau, 399, 1962 & 295,6 1963. G. lanceolarium Dalz. in Dalz. & Gibbs. Bom- bay FI. 235, 1861 (non Voight, 1840). Bridelia sinica Graham Cat. Bombay Pl. 184, 1839. B. lanceolaria Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 697, 1832. Phyllanthus lanceolarius Muell.-Arg. FI. 48, 1865; Cooke, T. 648, 1885; Puri & Mahajan, 132. 184 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 G. velutinum auct. (non Wight, 1834); San- tapau, 295, 1963. Common tree all over on the plateau. flowers: December— March. local names: Bhoma, Boma. Euphorbia Linn. 1. Stems nddeveloped above ground; leaves all radical. 2 2. Cyme single; bracts acute E.fixsiformis 2. Cymes numerous from each stem; bracts rotund ous E. panckganensis 1 . Stems well developed above ground 3 3 Perennial shrubs E.neriifolia 3. Annual herbs. 4 4. Leaves exstipulate, at least lower ones alternate E. rothiana 4. Leaves stipulate or the leaf attachment connected by a transverse interpetiolar line, leaves opposite 5 5. Floral leaves distichously imbricating 6 6. Seeds tubercuiate E. pycnostegia 6. Seeds smooth..... E.pycnosieg ia var. zornioides 5. Floral leaves not distichously imbricating E. parvifiora 1. Euphorbia fusiform is Buch.-Ham. ex Don, FI. Nepal. 62, 1825; FBI 5: 257; Birdwood, 26. E. acaulis Roxb., PI. Ind. 2: 472, 1828; Graham, 179; Dalz, & Gibs. 226; Cooke, T. 651 & 2:472 (3:57); Puri & Mahajan, 132. Common deciduous perennial herb on ex- posed rocky ground at Wilson Point. flowers: April- May. 2. Euphorbia neriifolia Linn. Sp. PI. 45 1 , 1753; Dalz. & Gibs. 226; Lisboa, 25; FBI 5:255; Saniapau, 295, 1963. E. liqularia Roxb. FI. Ind. 2:465, 1832; Cooke, T. 2:563 (3:58). Occasionally used as a hedge plant. FLOWERS: AugUSt- October. local names: Thor, Dudli. 3. Euphorbia panchganensis Blatter & McCann, Jouni. As. Soc. Bengal, N.S. 26:353, 1930; san- tapau, 295, 1963. Quite common in the same localities as the preceeding species. This species is distinguished from E. fusiformis Buch.-Ham. by its numerous cymes on a single stem and its rotundous bracts. We have observed that in the case of Mahabalesh war plants these characters are very variable, giving all intermediate forms. Bracts in Mahabalesh war plants vary from sharply acute to obtuse as well as or- bicular in shape. Cymes in Mahabaleshwar plants vary from a single cyme to as many as ten. We have not been able to isolate any reliable differentiating character and feel that it is only a variable form of the preceeding species. But before merging these allied species or reducing them to varietal ranks as suggested by Rev. H. Santapau, in Revision of genus Euphorbia in Bombay (Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal, 8:3- 4, 1954), we feel that more field studies as well as more data on anatomy, cytology, palynology, etc. may be necessary to decide the status of these taxa. 4. Euphorbia parvifiora Linn. Syst. ed. 10, 2:1047, 1759; Graham, 179; Dalz. & Gibs. 227; Santapau, 243, E. hypericifolia Linn. Sp. PL 454, 1753 (p.p.); FBI 5:249 (p.p.); Birdwood, 25. E. hypericifolia var. parvifiora Prain, Bengal PI. 2:924, 1903; Cooke, T. 2:567(3:63). Common among grasses on rocky ground. flowers: August- September. local name: Dudh- Mogra. 5. Euphorbia pycnostegia Boiss. Vent. Euphorb. 9, 1860; FBI 5:246; Cooke, T. 2:565(3:60); Birdwood, 25 ; Santapau, 24 1 ; Puri & Mahajan, 132. Quite a common herb among the grasses at Lingmala. flowers: September - December. 6. Euphorbia rothiana Spreng., SysL 3:796, 1826; Dalz. & Gibs. 226; Wight, Icon. t. 1864, 1852; Cooke, T. 651, 1885 & 2:565 (3:59-60); Lisboa, 222; Lee, 625; FBI 5:263; Birdwood, 25; Puri & Mahajan, 132; Santapau, Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal, 8: 13, 1955. Common and abundant herb along the edges of forests. flowers: September- October fruits: October- April. 7. Euphorbia pycnostegia Boiss. var. zornioides (Boiss.) Santa- pau, in Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal, 8: 1 1, 1955. E. zornioides Boiss., in DC. Prodr. 15(2): 19, 1862; FBI 5:246; Cooke, T. 2:265 (3:60); Birdwood* 25; Santapau, 295, 1963. Quite a common herb among the grasses at Lingmala. flowers: August - November FLORA OF MAHABALESWAR 185 Homonoia Lour. 1 . Homonoia riparia Lour., FI. Cochinch. 637, 1790; FBI 5: 455; Cooke, T. 649 & 2:620 (3: 1 18); Lisboa, 22; Birdwocd, 25; Puri & Mahajan, 132. Adelia neriifolia Roth., Nov. PI. Sp. 375, 1821; Graham, 185; Dalz. & Gibs. 231; Wight, Icon. 1. 1868, 1852. Common shrub along sides of Yenna river. flowers: January - April. local name: Taniki. Jatropha Linn. 1. JatrophacurcasLinn.Sp.pl. 1006, 1753; Graham, 183; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 77; FBI 5:383; Cooke, T. 2:598 (3:95); Lisboa, 222. Rarely used as a hedge plant flowers: Throughout the year. local name: Mogli Erand, Jambhal Erandi. Kirganelia Baill. 1. Kirganelia reticulata (Poir.) Baill. Etud. Gen. Euphorb. 613, 1858; Santapau, 246. Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. in Lamk. Encycl. 5:298, 1804; FBI 5:288; Cooke, T. 2:585 (3:81). Anisonema multiflora Wight, Icon. L 1899, 1852; Dalz. & Gibs. 234. P. multiflora Willd. Sp. PI. 4:581, 1805; Graham, 180. Sarmentose shrub, rarely used as a hedge plant. FLOWERS: April - October. Macaranga Thouars 1. Macaranga peitata (Roxb.) Muell.-Arg. in DC. Prodr. 15(2): 1010, 1866; Santapau, 250. Osyris peitata Roxb., FI. Ind. 3:855, 1832; Graham, 177. Mappa peitata Wight, Icon, t 817, 1844. Macaranga roxburghii Wight, Icon. 5(2): 23, 1852;FBI 5: 448; Dalz. & Gibs. 228; Bird wood, 26. M. tomentosa Wight, Icon. 5(2): 23, 1832; Cooke, T. 2:619 (3:117), 1906. This species is reported on authority of San- tapau. We have not seen an authentic specimen of the species from Mahabaleshwar. Mellotus Lour. 1. Mallotus philippensis (Lamk.) Muell.-Arg. in Linnea 34: 196, 1865; FBI 5:445; Cooke, T. 2:615 (3:113-4), 1906; Birdwood, 25; Puri & Mahajan, 132; Santapau, 295, 1963. Croton philippense Lamk., Encycl. 2:206, 1786. Rottlera tinctoria Roxb., PL Cor. 2:36, 1. 167, 1798; Graham, 184; Dalz. & Gibs. 230. Common tree on lower slopes of Fitzgerald Ghat. flowers: December- January fruits: January- April. local names: Rohen, Asli. Phyllanthus Linn. 1. Annual herbs 2 2. Stipules peltate P. maderaspatensis 2. Stipules not peltate P. asperulatus 1 . Perennial shrubs P. lavAi 1. Phyllanthus asperulatus Hutchinson, in Kew Bull. 1920: Webster, in Joum. Am. Arbor. 37:14, 1956; Santapau, 245. P. niruri auct. (non Linn., 1753); Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 180, 1839; Dalz. & Gibs. 234; Wight, Icon. L 1894, 1853; Cooke, T. 2: 587 (3:84). P. fraternus Webster, in Contrib. Gray Herb. 176 :53, 1955. Quite common weed in wastelands in town. FLOWERS: AugUSt- October. LOCAL NAME: Bhui- Auli. 2. Phyllanthus lawii Graham, Cat. Bombay PL 181, 1839; FBI 5: 290; Cooke, T. 2:586 (3:82). P. polyphyllus Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 234, 1861 (non Willd, 1805); Lisboa, 223. This species is reported here on authority of Lisboa. We have not seen it on the plateau, although it is found on the bed of Koyna river, below Mahabaleshwar. 3. Phyllanthus maderaspatensis Linn. Sp. PL 982, 1753; Graham, 180; Dalz. & Gibs. 233; Wight, Icon. 1 1895, f. 3, 1853; FBI 5:292; Birdwood, 25; Cooke, T. 2:586, (3:82). Rare weed in shady places in wastelands. flowers: July- August. Ricinus Linn. 1. Ricinus communis Linn. Sp. PL 1007, 1753; FBI 5:457; Graham, 183; Dalz. & Gibs, suppl. 78; Lis- boa, 223; Cooke, T. 2:627 (3: 125); Puri & Mahajan, 132. 186 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Rare shrub, occasionally found growing as a weed along roadsides near the bus-stand. Frequent- ly cultivated in front of village houses. flowers: July- September. local name: Brandi. Sapium R. Br. 1 . Sapium inssgne Benth. var. malabaricum (Wight) Hook, f., in flora Bril India 5:472, 1885; Santapau, 296, 1963. Falconeria malabarica Wight, Icon. t. 1866, 1852. Sapium insigne Cooke, T. FI. Bombay Pres. 2:622, 1906 (non Benth.). Rare tree along Fitzgerald Ghat. flowers: January- April fruits: March- June. LOCAL NAME: Sherod. Securinega A. Juss. 1 . Unarmed shrubs; leaves upto 7 cm. long S. virosa 1 . Armed shrubs; leaves upto 3 cm long S. leucopyras 1. Securinega Seucopyrus (Willd.) MuelL- Arg., in DC. Prodr. 15(2):451, 1866; Santapau, 296, 1963. Fluggea leucopyrus Wild., Sp. PI. 4:757, 1805; FBI 5:328: Wight, Icon. t. 1875, 1852; Cooke, T. 2:581 (3:77). F. virosa Dalz. & Gibs. Bombay FI. 236, 1861 (non Bail!., 1858). This species has been reported by Rev. Fr. H. Santapau, from Mahabaieshwar. We have not seen any authentic specimen from Mahabaieshwar. 2. Securinenga virosa (Roxb.) Pax & Hoffm., in Plam. ed. 2, 19C:60, 1931; Santapau, 244. Phyllanthus virosus Roxb., ex Willd. sp. PI. 4:578, 1805. Flueggea microcrapa Blume, Bijdr. 580, 1825. F. leucopyros Dalz. & gibs. Bombay FI. 236, 1861 (non Willd., 1805). P. retusus Roxb., FI. Ind. 3: 657, 1832; Graham, 180. Chorisandra pinnata Wight, Icon. t. 1944, 1853. Fluggea virosa Baill., Etud. Gen. Euphorb. 593, 1858. Rare shrub along Fitzgerald Ghat. flowers: May- June. local name: Pandharphali. Tragia Linn. 1. Leaves simple T. muelleriana var. urucolor 1 . Leaves palmately 3 -partite T. cannabina 1. Tragia cannabina Linn.f. suppl. 415, 1781; Dalz. & Gibs. 228. T. involucrata var cannabina Muell.- Arg. in DC. Prodr. 15 (2):944, 1866; FBI 5:465. Rare climber along the edges of forests. flowers: May- June. 2. Tragia muelleriana unicolor var. (Muell.-Arg.) Pax & Hoffm. in Pfreich. 68:81, 1935; Santapau, 251. T. nucheliana var. unicolor Muell— Arg., in DC. Prodr. 15(2): 843, 1866. T. involucrata Cooke, T. FI. Pres. Bombay 2:621, 1906; (Pro parte); Birdwood, 25; Puri & Mahajan, 132. Common stinging climber along the edges of forests. Stinging hairs cause blisters and dermatitis. flowers. September- December. local names: Churki, Khajkolti. Santalaceae Osyris Linn. 1. Osyris guadripartita Dalz. ex Decne., Ann. Sci. Nat ser. 2, 6:65, 1836; Hendrich, in FI. Europaea 1:70, 1964. O. wightiana Wall, ex Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 177, 1839; Wight, Icon. t. 1853, 1852; Dalz. & Gibs. 223; Markham, 385; Cooke, T. 649, 1885, Santapau, 399, 1962. O. arborea Wall, ex DC. Prodr. 14:633, 1857; FBI 5:32; Cooke, T. 2: 555(3:501); Birdwood, 25; Puri & Mahajan, 132. Evergreen shrub, sometimes attaining height of a small tree. Common along edges of the forests in open places. flowers: Throughout the year. LOCAL NAMES: Lotal, Popli. TERRITORIALITY IN INDIAN BLACKBUCK , ANTILOPE CERVICAPRA (LINNAEUS)1 N.L.N.S. Prasad2 (With a text-figure) Territoriality in blackbuck, Antilope cervicapra, was investigated for 2 years in six individually-iden- tified territorial bucks at Mudmal, Andhra Pradesh. A total of 12 territories were maintained by these bucks at different times during the study period. Territory size varied from 3.33 ha to 16.65 ha with a mean size of 9. 19 ha. The minimum territorial period was 5 weeks while the maximum was 9.5 months. Some of the bucks shifted their territories abruptly without changing to bachelor status in between. Territories were marked with urina- tion-defecation and with preorbital glands. Interactions of territorial bucks with bachelors showed a higher per- centage being directed against adults, due to apparent threat to the territory from them, than from other age groups. Introduction Territorial behaviour by males is one of the fundamental forms of social behaviour exhibited by ungulates (Estes 1974). This social aspect has been well investigated in the wild as well as in captivity in many African antelopes. Studies in the wild on Thomson’s Gazelle, Gazella thomsoni and Grant’s Gazelle G. granti (Estes 1967, Walther 1972), Im- pala, Aepyceros melampus (Jarman and Jarman 1974), Sable Antelope, Hippotragus niger (Estes 1964, 1969; Estes and Estes 1976); and Springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis (Walther 1981) and captive studies on Blackbuck .Antilope cervicapra (Hediger 1941, Walther 1959, Mungall 1979); Gerenuk, Litocranius walleri (Leuthold 1978); Dorcas Gazelle, Gazella dorcas (Walther 1968) and Dama Gazelle, G. dama (Mungall 1980) are some of the earlier studies. The species studied so far show some common characteristics relating to territoriality, namely: a) only adult males become territorial, but not all of them, b) usually territorial periods alter- nate with non-territorial periods during the life of the same individual, c) owners aggressively ex- clude other males from their territories or at least dominate them within territorial boundaries, and d) usually females only temporarily visit males in their territories (Walther et ai 1983). There have been few scientific studies in the wild on this be- havioural phenomenon of the Blackbuck. These in- clude studies in Kanha National Park (Schaller Accepted September 1987. ^Department of Zoology, Osmania University, Hyderabad -500 007. 1967) and Velavadar National Park (Ranjitsinh 1982) in India and studies in Texas, U.S.A. (Cary 1976, Mungall 1978, 1979). This paper presents the territory size of six individually identified bucks in the wild at Mudmal, Andhra Pradesh, and aspects re- lated to territoriality. Study Area and Methods The 80 km2 study area (c.l6#24’N, 77°27’E) was divided into 500 x 500 m grids on Survey of India maps scaled 1:33000. Cultivated fields and fallow lands occupied 81% of the area. The remain- ing 19% area was occupied by 4 different habitat types. These habitat types and utilization have al- ready been described by Prasad and Ram ana Rao (1984; in press). Features such as rocky elevations, boulders, grassy patches, rainfed tanks and patches of Phoenix sp. in the habitat served as landmarks for identification of grids. Blackbuck were observed from April 1978 to February 1980. They could be easily approached opto a distance of 100 m, and at times even less, without being disturbed by the observer. By the end of the 2-year study, 11 adult bucks were recognized individually out of a population of 105 animals. Details of the population structure have been given by Prasad (1984). The shape of horns, the number of spirals in horns and the intensity of black colour on the coat were the criteria used in individual iden- tification of bucks. Each buck was assigned an iden- tification code such as PB I, PB II, LIMI, PPR I, etc. Of these, eight were territorial at one time or other. Data on bucks PPR II and PPR III was scanty and is hence not dealt with here. 188 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 TERRITORY SIZE AND TERRITORIAL PERIOD OF BLACKBUCK AT MUDMAL Territorial buck Total sightings No. of days territorial behaviour seen Location on Fig. 1 Territorial period (weeks) Territory size (ha) PB I 265 13 A 11 Nov 1978-31 Jan 1979 (11) 7.8 9 B 2 Feb 1979-13 Apr 1979 (10) 13.0 PB n 336 18 C 12 Sep 1978-21 Mar 1979 (26) 12.28 34 D 25 May 1979-17 Feb 1980 (38) 16.65 PPR I 42 4 E 3 Feb 1979-2 May 1979 (14) 7.80 5 F lOJun 197946 Jul 1979 (5) 8.53 LIMI 349 8 G 15 Sep 1978-31 Oct 1978 (7) 5.93 6 H 4 Nov 1978-27 Dec. 1978 ( 8) 11.86 20 I 4 Feb 1979-2 Oct 1979 (34) 10.92 LG III 92 12 J 12 July 1979 -27 Nov 1979 (20) 7.49 PM I 87 8 K Nov 1978 - 25 Feb 1979 (13) 3.33 10 L 12 Mar 1979 - 18 May 1979 (10) 5.41 Combined average of all territories: 9.19 ha. All observations were carried out on foot during daytime and were aided by 8 x 30 and 8 x 40 binoculars. The places at which territorial behaviour was expressed by bucks on different days were iden- tified on gridded maps. The behaviour patterns used for identifying territoriality were: expression of dominance by a buck over conspecifics of the same sex through fights and chases and attempts to drive them from a specified area; vigorous attempts to herd members of the opposite sex within this area; marking the area with urine, faeces, and preorbital gland secretion (Walther et at. 1983). The outermost points where territorial behaviour occurred in the study area during the observation period of in- dividual bucks were joined by straight lines to form the boundary of the territory. The area of the territory was determined by tracing the boundary onto a graph paper to appropriate scale. Dung piles used exclusively by territorial bucks PB I, LIMI, and LG III were identified in- dividually. A paper tag was attached to a bush or a plant near the dung pile. This enabled me to record the visits of the bucks to the dung pile. The dung piles were measured and represented on the map. A total of 269 days were spent from April 1978 through February 1980 and over 780 hrs. of obser- vations made on the activity patterns of different animals. Observations on territorial bucks totalled 366 hrs. The number of hours of observations varied from 1-10 hrs. per day. The method of data record- ing was described in detail by Prasad (1985). X-test was performed to find seasonal differences in the in- teraction of territorial bucks with other members. Results and Discussion Territories The territories of all six bucks were on fairly elevated, open grassland. From these areas, the bucks could have a visibility radius of at least 1 km. This allowed them to see the activities of other blackbuck nearby. Due to the presence of fresh and palatable forage material in these areas and in ad- jacent cultivated fields and fallow lands they formed centres of blackbuck activity. Territorial period The minimum period a buck was observed holding territory was five weeks (PPR I) while the maximum was 9.5 months (PB II; Table 1). Except for LG III, all other bucks changed the location of the territory to a new place at least once. At the beginning of the study, LG III was observed in a bachelor herd and became territorial only during July 1979. Most bucks appeared to shift territories on their own and were not driven from them by another male. LIMI maintained a territory in three different locations at different times (Table 1). On TERRITORIALITY IN INDIAN BLACKBUCK 189 Fig. 1. Distribution of territories of six territorial bucks in Mudmal. A-L: Location of territories at different times (details in Table 1). Dot indicates dung pile location; plus indicates thrashing bushes/preorbital gland marking. 25 February 1979, during the ownership of ter- ritory at location I, he was passing near the ter- ritory K (PM I) and was seeing limping. He was chased away by PM I while the females accompany- ing LIMI strayed into territory K. In subsequent ob- servations., LIMI was alone in an adjacent area which was not occupied by any other buck. On 4 April 1979, and later on, LIMI exhibited courtship behaviour within this area. Although he was seen within this territory during November 1979, courtship behaviour was not observed. On 30 December 1979, he joined a bachelor herd and was seen in association with them till 20 February 1980. PB II changed the location of his territory from C to D on 25 May 1979 after the death of PB I. Part of this newly acquired territory belonged to PB I (Fig. 1). The change of place was mainly due to poor forage quality in the area and a decrease in number of females. On some occasions bucks were tem- porarily forced out of their territories by cultivators. Bucks returned as soon as the cultivators left the area and defended the same boundaries. Size and Shape Territory size varied between 3.33 ha (PM I) and 16.65 ha (PB II; Table 1). The combined average of 12 territories (A-L; Fig. 1) of all bucks was 9.19 ha. PB I, PB II, LIMI and PPR I showed smaller size. The territories were either elliptical or triangular in shape. Boundaries of territories consisted of sheet 190 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 rocks, streams, hedges of cultivated fields and un- cultivated fields with Phoenix trees. These landmarks seem to limit the activity of bucks form- ing a boundary, which possibly enables them to recognize their territories. Schaller (1967) reported a territory size of 8.09 ha in Kanha National Park, and Ranjitsinh (1982) measured territories ranging from 28 x 24 m (0.07 ha) to 380 x 290 m (11.02 ha) at Velavadar Nation- al Park, India. The size of 33 territories in Texas, USA, ranged between 1.2 and 12.8 ha with an average of 4.1 ha (Mungall 1979). Pasture size and distribution of suitable tracts of open pastures were found to determine the territory size. The largest sizes were 12.8 ha and 11.3 ha in large and small pastures respectively. Mungall (1979) also reported territorial periods ranging between 2 weeks and 1 1 months with an average of 4 months, which is com- parable with the territorial periods at Mudmal. Behavioural patterns associated with teritoriality Marking certain areas by urination-defecation and with preorbital glands had special significance in the establishment of blackbuck territorial boun- daries. These behaviour patterns, although ex- pressed by any adult buck, were more pronounced in the territorial bucks. Bung pile Each buck had at least one dung pile within its territory. The dung piles were located eitlier central- ly or near the boundary of the territory. When there were more than two, the distance between them varied from 20 to 100 m. Dung piles were also main- tained by non-territorial bachelor bucks outside ter- ritories. Dung piles were visited by bucks: 1) after the completion of bedding activity, which is a ritualised behaviour and may help the buck to assure its ownership of the territory, 2) before and after in- teraction with females and with adult bucks that would try to intrude into the territory, 3) when they were subjected to human disturbance, and 4) when- ever they passed near the dung piles during other ac- tivities such as feeding. While using a dung pile, the buck approached it, perhaps sniffed, pawed it once or twice with a foreleg, then stood with hind legs stretched rearward and urinated. Later, he squatted and defecated. The whole ceremony lasted between 20 and 38 sec. (X=30.7; n=84). After this the buck usually lay down nearby. The distance from the place of bedding to the nearest dung pile varied be- tween 5 and 150 m. Ranjitsinh (1982) and Mungall (1978), however, have documented many cases of territorial bucks lying directly on the dung pile. At Mudmal, the bucks were never observed to lie on the dung pile itself. The maximum frequency of visits to a dung pile was two per day (LIMI). Some of the dung piles were not visited for 2 weeks. Their use was restricted to summer and winter. After the onset of monsoon in June, bucks stopped using them. However, ter- ritories were maintained by bucks during the rainy season as well. The temporary suspension of dung pile maintenance during the monsoon may be be- cause rains wash off and negate the effect of the scent of the dung piles. Bucks started using them again during the last week of October, establishing a new dung pile very near the old ones. In some cases, however, the previously used ones were re- established. A buck’s dung piles may be used by another buck in the absence of the owner. Bucks scraped the dung piles, though either one or both urination and defecation were omitted on certain oc- casions. This scraping resulted in shallow depres- sions that were oval or round. The average maxi- mum diameter was 86.5 cm when they were oval (n=16). The mean diameter of dung piles ranged be- tween 53.3 cm and 75.3 cm. (n=29; Table 2). The maximum depth ranged from 8.5-15.0 cm. The depth depends mainly upon the number of visits, duration of use and the soil type in which it is lo- cated. For comparison, Nair (1975) observed dung piles 80 cm long, 20 cm wide and 20 cm deep in Point Calimere; Ranjitsinh (1982) measured piles 2.0 m long and 1.6 m wide; Mungall (1978) reported an average diameter of 1 m (n=72), and when oval a maximum length of 4.7 m (n-66) in Texas, USA. Marking with preorbital glands Preorbital gland marking by the territorial bucks was observed only on a few occasions (Fig.l). During prcorbital gland marking, bucks thrashed small bushes or tufts of grass vigorously while chas- ing away the bachelors from their territories. Thrashing of bushes was also observed outside the TERRITORIALITY IN INDIAN D LACKS UCK 191 Table 2 DUNG PILE DATA OF TERRITORIAL BUCKS AT MUDMAL Territorial back No. of dung piles Diameter (cm) Maximum Average Depth (cm) Maximum Average PBI 6 74.0 59.6 13.0 12.0 pb n 4 84.0 57.33 8.5 8.2 PPRI 4 59.0 53.5 9.0 8.3 LEVH 8 86.5 75.3 15.0 12.0 PM I 4 61.2 52.4 11.0 8.6 lg in 3 76.0 60.5 10.0 9.2 territories. Marking with preorbital gland in these areas of bushhoming have not been noticed. Such activities, although less frequent, were also ex- hibited by non-territorial bucks. Interactions of territorial bucks with other members Serious fights between territorial males were very rare. A territorial male would resort to fighting with adults when his challenging threat displays did not drive away the intruder. In most cases the owner of the territory would succeed. A total of 1482 inter- actions of various types between various sex and age groups were recorded during the study period of which 910 (61.4%) were by territorial males, 260 (17.5%) by adult males, 118 (7.9%) were by adult and subadult females, 106 (7.2%) were by subadult males and the rest by adolescent males and fawns (Table 3). This reveals that territorial bucks are so- cially more active than others. Over 900 interactions were observed in which territorial bucks addressed females and males of various age groups (Table 4). Of these, 42.2% were with adult and subadult females, involving pursuit walk, head-up, nose-up displays and other courtship activities. The proportion of interactions with females in three seasons is significantly different (X2 = 22.65; p <.05) with a peak in summer. This could be because more females come into heat in this season. Serious fights between territorial neigh- bours were very few (3.85%). Territorial bucks ad- dressed adult bucks more frequently (27.14%) than bucks of other age groups, apparently due to an im- mediate threat to their territory. This, however, is not significantly different, nor are there seasonal dif- ferences (X2 - 5.87; p >0.05). Interactions in which a territorial buck was an addressee and an adult buck an addresser were only 2.31 %. Territorial bucks ad- dressed adolescent bucks more often (16.37%) than subadult bucks (9.56%). Conclusions Blackbuck territories are reproductive ter- ritories (Mungall 1978). For maximum reproductive success, a territorial buck should occupy an area that is more frequently used by females. The location of territories in all the cases in the present study agrees with this. Once a buck establishes a territory, he may try to enlarge this area to the extent he can defend the territory against the intrusion of nonspecific males. Bucks shift the location of a territory to a new place when the area currently maintained attracts fewer females due to deteriorating habitat condi- tions. A territorial buck faces threat mainly from other adult bucks. Hence he resorts to more frequent encounters with them than with younger males, to keep them off his territory. Acknowledgements I thank: Prof. J.V. Ramana Rao for guidance for my Ph.D. dissertation; the Head, Department of Zoology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, for providing facilities for my field work: the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, particularly Mr. Pushp Kumar, I.F.S., and Mr. D.S. Ganga Khedkar, A.I.F.C., for their personal interest in the study; Mr. V.B. Deshmukh, Mr. S.B. Deshmukh and other local people of Mudmal village and Dr. E.C. Mungall, Texas, USA, for critical comments. Financial assis- tance for the work was provided by the President, F.R.I. & Colleges, Dehra Dun. 192 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 3 % INTERACTIONS INVOLVING HEAD-UP, NOSE-UP, BUTTING IN MALES AND FEMALES DURING 1978-80 ADDRESSEE ADDRESSOR Territorial male Adult male Subadult male Adolescent male Fawn Adult & sub-adult female TOTALS Territorial 3.85 27.14 9.56 16.37 0.66 42.42 100 male Adult 2.31 30.0 16.15. 13.08 7.69 30.77 (910) 100 male Subadul tO.O 0.0 59.43 24.53 4.72 11.32 (260) 100 male Adolescent 0.0 0.0 25.93 59.26 14.81 0.0 (106) 100 male Fawn 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.00 0.0 (54) 100 Adult & 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 39.83 60.17 (34) 100 subadult (118) female Total interactions are given in parenthesis Table 4 % INTERACTION OF TERRITORIAL BUCKS WITH OTHER BLACKBUCK DURING 1978-80 AT MUDMAL Season Territorial buck Adult bachelor buck Subadult bachelor buck Adolescent buck Fawn subadult female Adult & Total Summer 1.41 28.78 10.85 9.90 0.00 49.06 212 Monsoon 4.81 22.12 10.10 15.14 0.96 46.87 416 Winter 4.26 33.33 7.80 23.05 0.71 30.85 282 Whole year 3.85 27.14 9.56 16.37 0.66 42.42 910 References Cary, E.R. (1976): Territorial and reproductive be- haviour of the blackbuck antelope ( Antilope cervicapra). Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation. Texas A & M Univ. College Station, Tex. 220 pp. Estes, R.D. (1967): The comparative behaviour of Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles. J. Mammal . 48 (2): 189- 209. -(1974): Social organization of the African Bovidae. Paper No. 8, 166-205. In: The behaviour of un- gulates and its relation to management, ed. V. Geist and F.R. Walther. IUCN Publ. No. 24. Merges: IUCN. & Estes, R.K. (1976): Behaviour and ecol- ogy of the Giant Sable. National Geogr. Soc. Res. Rep . 1968 Projects. 115 - 129. Hediger, H. (1941): Biologische Gesetzmassig- keiten im Verhalten Von Wirbettieren. Mitt. Naturf. Ges. Bern. 37-55. Jarman, P.J. & Jarman, M.V. (1974): Impala be- haviour and its relevance to management. Paper No. 50, 871-881. In: The behaviour of ungulates and its relation to management, ed. V. Geist and F.R. Walther IUCN Publ. No. 24. Morges: IUCN. Leuthold, W. (1978): On the ecology of gerenuk Lithocranius walleri (Brooke 1878). J. Anim. Ecol. 47: 471-490. Mungall, E.C. (1978): The Indian blackbuck an- telope: A Texas view. College Station. Kleberg Studies in Natural Resources. 184 pp. — (1979): Effect of space limitations on be- haviour expressed by blackbuck antelope ( Antilope cer- vicapra L. 1758). Environmental Awareness 2: 41-53. (1989): Courtship and mating behaviour of dama gazelle (Gazella dama Pallas 1766). D. Zoolog. Garten 50:1-14. Nair, S.S. (1975): A population survey and obser- vations on the behaviour of the blackbuck in the Point TERRITORIALITY IN INDIAN BLACKBUCK 193 Calimere Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc . 73:304-310. Prasad, N.L.N.S. (1984): Seasonal changes in the herd structure of blackbuck. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 80: 549-554 (1985): Activity-time budget in blackbuck. Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. 94(1): 57-65. & RAMANA RAO, J.V. (1984): Evaluation of habitat structure of blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) in. Andhra Pradesh with special reference to Mudmal and its relevance to behaviour. Geobios: if (1): 17 -21. (in press); Conservation of blackbuck in cultivated areas of Andhra Pradesh. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. Ranjitsinh, M.K. (1982): Territorial behaviour of the Indian blackbuck ( Antilope cervicapra Linnaeus, 1758) in the Velavadar National Park, Gujarat. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 79(2): 241-246. Schaller, G.B. (1967): The Deer and the Tiger. The Univ. of Chicago Press. Chicago, 370 pp. Walther, F.R. (1959): Beobachtungen zum sozial- verhalten der Sasin (Hirschziegenantilope, Antilope cervicapraL.). Jahrb. G.V.Opel-Feigehege 2:64-78. (1968): Verhalten der Gazellen. Wilten- berg- Lutherstadt: A Ziemsen. — -(1972): Territorial behaviour in certain homed ungulates, with special reference to the examples of Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles. Zool. Afric. 7(1): 303- 307. (1981): Remarks on behaviour of springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis Zimmerman 1790. D. Zoolog. Garten. 5i:81-103. Walther, F.R. Mungall, E.C. & Grau, G.A. (1983): Gazelles and their relatives: A study in territorial behaviour. Noyes Publ. Park Ridge, N.J., U.S.A. 239 pp. HELD GUIDE TO THE AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA1 PART 4 J.C. Daniel and A.G. Sekar2 (Continued from Vol. 72 (2): 522) (With six text-figures and two plates) Part 3 of this serial described frogs of the sub- genera Rana and Tomopterna of the genus Rana. In this section we describe species of the subgenera Discodeles and Hylorana of the Family Ranidae and tree frogs of the family Rhacophoridae. Subgenus Discodeles Tips of fingers and toes dilated into discs. Ton- gue with a large retractile papilla in the middle (Fig. 1 a.) In western Ghats six species are available and those can be separated by the following key. KEY TO THE SPECIES OF Rana (Discodeles) IN WESTERN INDIA 1 . Toes 1/2 to 2/3 webbed (see fig. 2 c & d) 2 1 . Toes not more than 1/4 webbed (see fig. 2b) 3 2. First finger shorter than second; tympanum 2/3 diameter of the eye leilhii 2. First finger at least as long as second; tympanum 1/2 to 2/3 diameter of the eye beddomii 2. First finger longer than second; tympanum as large as eye and close to it semipahnata 3 . Tympanum very distinct; loreal region very oblique; skin of head smooth, of back with short longitudinal folds; no lumbar spot leptodactyla 3. Tympanum distinct; loreal region feebly oblique; skin of head smooth; of back with short longitudinal folds; a black lumbar spot diplosticta 3 . Tympanum moderately distinct; head and back with large warts phrynoderma 1 Accepted February 1989. 2Bcmbay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay -400 023. 3Abdulali, , H. & Daniel, J.C. (1954): Distribution of Rana leithii Boulenger- A correction./. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 52: 635. 4Daniel, J.C. & Shull, E.M. (1964): A list of the Reptiles and Amphibians of the Surat Dangs, South Gujarat. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 60: 737-743. 5McCann,C. (1932): Notes on Indian Batrachians. ibid. 32: 152- 180 Rana leithii Boulenger, 1888: Leith’s Frog Diagnosis: Small sized frogs; largest specimen in the RNHS collection measured 38 mm. The bifid tongue has a distinct papilla, Head moderate; snout obtuse. Interorbital width a little narrower than the upper eyelid; tympanum 2/3 the diameter of the eye. First finger not extending quite as far as second; toes 2/3 webbed. Tips of fingers and toes dilated into small discs with circum -marginal groove. Tibio tarsal articulation reaching between the eye and the tip of the snout; inner metatarsal tubercle oval; no tarsal fold. The heels overlap when the limbs are folded at right angles to the body. Skin of back with small scattered longitudinal warts; a strong fold from the eye to the shoulder. Colour: Brown above with small dark spots; limbs with dark tranverse bands, lower parts white; throat mottled with brown. Specimens seen in Matheren by Abdulali and Daniel (1954)3 showed variation some being dark grey, blackish or paler and some with golden patches. Distribution: Occurs along the Western Ghats from Surat Dangs, Gujarat in the north, southward to Central Kerala. Breeding: The breeding season coincides with SW monsoon. Specimens collected in June from Math- eran and Kanheri caves had well developed gonads. Tadpoles were collected at hill-streams on rocks wetted by spray. Very active and agile jump- ing several centimetres on the slippery surfaces. The coloration matches so well the dark grey of the rocks that it is very difficult to distinguish them (Daniel and Shull 1964)4. They attain 44.0 mm in total length. Tail 2.5 times the length of body. Den- tal formula is 1:3 +3/2+2: 2. Habits: The species is found at moderate elevation and lives under stones and among ground litter during the day. Me Cann (1932)5 noted that the frog was not uncommon in short grass and in ditches on AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA 195 hill sides and appears to be diurnal, at least during the rains. It was frequently seen hopping about in the grass. Rana beddomii (Gunther, 1875), Beddome’s Frog Diagnosis: Medium sized frogs, the largest specimen in the BNHS collection has a snout to vent length of 50 mm. This species closely resembles Rana leithii but can be separated by the following characters: Inter orbital space as broad as the upper eyelid. Fingers moderate. First at least as long as second. The tibio-tarsal articulation reaches the tip of the snout or a little beyond. The heels strongly overlap when the limbs are folded at right angles to the body. Skin of back with short longitudinal glandular folds; a strong fold (supra tympanic fold) from the eye to the shoulder. Colour: Brown above with rather indistinct darker spots rarely uniform pinkish; sometimes a light ver- tebral band; a dark cross band between the eyes; a black band along the canthus rostralis and a black temporal spot; limbs more or less distinctly cross- barred; lower parts uniform white. Distribution: Specimens in BNHS collection from North Kanara, Talewadi in Karnataka; Mun- nar, Alwaye Ghat, Periyar lake. South Travancore in Kerala; Palni Hills, Courtalum in Tamil Nadu. Breeding: Males without vocal sacs with an en- larged pad on the inner side of the first finger. Specimens collected between December and June have mature gonads. Tadpole remarkable for its long tail, 3 times the length of the body (Boulenger, 1920)6 Tadpoles collected from rock faces made short, skittering jumps across the rock faces when- ever they were closely approached. The principal function of this behaviour is to enable the tadpoles to move from one tiny, shallow pool to another 6BouleNGER, G.A. (1920): A monograph of the South Asian, Papuan, Melanesian and Australian frogs of the genus Rana. Rec. Indian Mas. 20: 1-226. 7Inger, R.F., Shaffer, H.B., Koshy, M. & Bakde, R. (1984): A report on a collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from the Pon- mudi, Kerala, South India.. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81: 406- 427,551-570. 8Abdulali, H. & Daniel, J.C. (1954): Some notes on Rana bed- domii Gunther with an extension of its range, ibid. 52:938. across slightly drier surface irregularities of the home rock face. Dental formula is 4 + 4/2 + 2:2 ( Ing&tetal . 1984)7. Habits: Little known. The species is extremely common and lives under rocks in flowing streams, many of which held a luxuriant growth of Ammania floribunda. In the field it appears very like/?, leithii (common at Panchgani, 1400 m), but/?, beddomii keeps more to the wet rocks and flowing water than leithii , which is often found in grass at the top of hills or alongside hill streams. Frequently seen during the day but more abundant at night (Abdulali & Daniel 1954)8. Inger et al (op. cit.) collected the specimens from different types of forest, banks of permanent streams, dry stream beds, rocks, dead leaves etc. Rana semipalmata Boulenger, 1882 Diagnosis: Small sized frogs measuring upto 28 mm in snout to vent (BNPIS collection). Bifid tongue with a papilla in the middle. Head moderate; snout blunt. Inter orbital width as broad as the upper eyelid or a little narrower. Tympanum equal to the diameter of eye. First finger a little longer than the second; Toes half webbed; Tips of fingers and toes dilated into disks with circum-marginal groove. Subarticular tubercles well developed; a single small oval inner metatarsal tubercle; no tarsal fold. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the tip of the snout or between the eye and snout. The heels over- lap when the limbs are folded at right angles to the body. Skin of back with short longitudinal glandular folds; sides granulate with small warts, a strong glandular fold from the eye to the shoulder; lower parts smooth. Mature males have nuptial pads on the first finger and enlarged glands covering the ventral surface of the thighs. Colour: Brown above, sides of body darker, loreal and temporal regions blackish, limbs with dark crossbars, lower parts white, throat and breast mot- tled with brown. Distribution: Malabar and Anamalai hills, Kerala, South India. Specimens in BNHS collected from Pulloorampara, Calicut in Kerala and Poombarai, Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu. Breeding: Unknown. Habits: This species is found in evergreen and 196 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 moist deciduous forest upto 360 m elevation; specimens collected from small permanent streams, dead leaves and rocks (Inger et al, 1984). Rana leptodactyla Boulenger, 1882 Diagnosis: Small sized frogs; measuring upto 23 mm (male) in the BNHS collection. Tongue with papilla. Head depressed snout blunt. Interorbital width as broad as or little narrower than the upper eyelid. Tympanum 2/3 diameter of the eye. First finger shorter than second; toes 1/4 webbed. Tips of fingers and toes dilated into discs. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the tip of the snout or beyond. Heels overlap when the limbs are folded at right angles to the body. Skin of the back with short longitudinal glan- dular folds; a fold from the eye to the shoulder. Colour: Olive or brownish above, white uniform ventrally or spotted with brown, sometimes brown dotted with white. Distribution: Forests of Malabar,. Anamalais, Travancore (Kerala); Kodaikanal, Palni hills (Tamil Nadu) and Coorg (Karnataka). Breeding: Specimens collected in April and May in Kodaikanal had well developed testes. Annan- dale (19 18)9 collected the tadpoles in a small pool at the edge of a jungle stream in the hills in Septem- ber. Tadpoles normal in shape. Total length was 31 mm. The mouth disc remarkably lacks horny teeth. Habits: Unknown. Rana diplosticta (Gunther, 1875) Diagnosis: Closely resembles Rana leptodactyla , measures upto 25 mm (female). The canthus rostralis is rather more angular and the loreal region not quite so oblique. Toes less than 1/4 webbed; fingers and toes with large discs with strong circum-margina! groove. Tympanum well developed, about 1/2 of eye diameter. Males have a series of 5 very large, black, sharp nuptial spines on the medial surface of the first finger (Inger et al. , 1984). Skin with a series of interrupted, longitudinal, glandular folds on the back. The head, sides and 9 Ann and ale, N. (1918): Some undescribed Tadpoles from the hills of South India, Rec. Ind. Mus. 15: 19. belly are smooth. A strong curved supratympanic fold from eye to shoulder. Colour: Reddish brown dorsally, with a black can- thal and tympanic streak. Entire loreal region from canthus rostralis to upper lip is dark brown. Dark brown blotches may be present on the lateral sur- faces. Ventrally light brown diffused with a fine reticulated pattern of dark brown. A black spot above the loin on each side. Limbs tan crossbarred with dark brown. Distribution: Malabar, Kerala and forest of Srivil- liputtur in Tamil Nadu. Breeding: Unknown. Habits: Inger et al. (1984.) collected the specimens at 950 m elevation, far from streams or ponds in ever green forest and gallery forest, under dead leaves, on bare soil and rock. Rana phrynoderma Boulenger, 1882 This species occurs at Anamalai Hills measured 30 mm. Not available in the BNHS col- lection. Subgenus Hylorana Tips of toes or both fingers and toes dilated into discs, with circum- marginal groove (Fig. lb). Tongue without a papilla; outer metatarsals usually separated by web to the base (Fig. 2e). Three species are described from western India. KEY TO THE SPECIES OF Rana ( Hylorana ) OCCURRING IN WESTERN INDIA. 1. Discs of fingers, if present, without groove or the groove in- distinct curtipes 1 . Discs of fingers bearing a groove separating the upper from the lower surface 2 2. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaching between eye and the nostril ( Fig. 3a) aumntiaca 2. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaching nostril or tip of snout, or a lit- tle beyond (Fig. 3b) temporalis Rana curtipes' Jerdon, 1853, Bicoloured Frog Diagnosis: Medium sized frog. Adult in the, BNHS collection 74 mm (female) in snout to vent length. Head depressed, snout obtusely pointed, canthus rostralis distinct. Loreal region concave. Interorbi- J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Daniel & Sekar: Amphibians of Western India Plate 1 Rhacophorus malabaricus, Malabar Gliding Frog. (. Photo : I. Kehimkar) Above : Polypedates maculatus, Common Tree Frog (Photo: A. G. Sekar) Below: Rana leithi, Leith’s Frog (Photo: I. Kehimkar) J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Daniel & Sekar: Amphibians of Western India Plate 2 AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA 197 tal width broader than upper eyelid. Tips of fingers and toes swollen or dilated into discs with indis- tinct circum-marginal groove. First finger longer than second. Tibia-tarsal articulation reaches the tympanum or eye. Heels meet when the limbs are folded at right angles to the body; toes 3/4 or en- tirely webbed; inner metatarsal tubercle small; no tarsal fold. Males with internal vocal sacs with the fore limb more robust and a small patch of grey vel- vety rugosities on the inner metacarpal tubercle and on the inner side of the first finger. Skin smooth; narrow, moderately prominent glandular dorsolateral fold; another fold behind the tympanum down to the shoulder. Colour: The coloration is distinctive: grey above with or without black dots and black below. Both colours are sharply separated. Distribution: Hills of North Canara (Karnataka), Malabar, and Travancore (Kerala). Specimens from Papanasam, Tirunelveli Dist., Tamil Nadu also seen in the BNHS collection. Breeding: The frogs enter the water during the breeding season, which begins with southwest monsoon, Rao (19 14)10 has reported that the males, which are smaller, are very lively and their call notes may be denoted by the short syllables ‘Thrub, Thrub’ quite characteristic of the species. The large sized tadpoles which move in shoals are plentiful in small jungle streams and occur in April, May & June. The tadpoles are distinctive, being black with a pinkish red well marked glandular patch behind the eye. The maximum total length is 94.0 mm. Dental formula is 2: 4 + 4/1 + 1:5. Enormous num- bers of the metamorphosed young occur on the banks of the many inlets of the Periyar Lake in the summer months and are eaten by the Wild Boar (Sus scrofa ) (V.S. Vijayan , pers. comm.) Habits: It is not essentially aquatic; and is found under stones and dry vegetation on damp soil along streams. They are uncomfortable in water. Accord- ing to Abdulali (1962)* 11 the adults are sluggish in 10Rao, C.R.N. (1914): Larva of Rana curtipes , Boul. Rec. Ind. Mus. 10: 265 11 Abdulali, H. (1962): An account of a trip of the Barapede cave, Talewadi, belgaura District Mysore state with some notes on Rep- tiles and Amphibians. J. Bombay nat. hist. Soc. 59: 228-237. 12Abdulau, H. (1954): Extension of Range of Rana temporalis Gunth. J . Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 52: 636-637. their movements. Rana temporalis (Gunther, 1864), Bronzed Frog Diagnosis: Medium sized frog. Adult in the BNHS collection measured 82 mm (female) in snout to vent length. Head depressed; snout acute, project- ing beyond the mouth; can thus rostralis angular; loreal region strongly concave. Interorbital width broader than upper eyelid. Tympanum very distinct 3/4 the diameter of the eye. Tips of fingers and toes dilated into well developed discs with distinct cir- cum-marginal groove. First finger longer than second. Toes nearly entirely webbed; inner metatar- sal tubercle small; no tarsal fold. Tibio-tarsal ar- ticulation reaches nostril or tip of snout or a little beyond. The heels strongly overlap when the limbs are folded at right angles to the body. Males with inter- nal vocal sacs with the fore limb strong and a large flat gland on the innerside of the arm; a strong pad on the innerside of the first finger, covered during the breeding season with a greyish brown velvet like homy layer. Skin smooth; a prominent glandular dorso- lateral fold from above the tympanum to the hip. Lower parts smooth. Colour: Yellowish brown to dark bronze above; limbs with dark brown cross bands; dorso-lateral fold usually with a dark outer edge; a dark brown, or black streak below the canthus rostralis con- tinued on the temporal region, and some times on theside of the body. Lower parts white, uniform or spotted with brown on the throat and breast. Distribution: Specimens in BNHS collection from Mahabaleshwar, (Maharashtra); Kaller base of Ponmudi Hill, Travancore (Kerala); Papanasam and Nilgiris at c 2000 m (Tamil Nadu). Breeding: Specimens collected between October and December have well developed gonads. Ab- dulali (1954) 12 reported that there is some variation in the calls, but the commonest starts with a guttural croak followed by a series of ‘tuk-tuk-tuks*. They call both day and night and are quite active during the day. He also observed the egg mass in a small pool in the course of the rock- strewn stream. The several masses of eggs were attached to the bottom or sides, all a few centimetres below water. Total 198 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 length of the tadpole was 33.8 mm. Dental formula is 1 : 1 + 1/1 + 1 :2. Head and body dark without dis- tinct pattern dorsally and laterally; tail also dark, with small scattered black spots (Inger et al , 1984). Habits . The species is found on wet exposed rocks in small hill streams shaded by bushes. It leaps for a considerable distance into the water when dis- turbed. Very common during the day at the water- fall at Mahabaleshwar. A female frog contained 2 small frogs and a pebble in her stomach, while a male contained a Rana limnocharis (Abdulali 1962)11. Rana aurantiaca Boulenger, 1904 Golden Frog Diagnosis: Small to medium sized frog; measuring 38 mm in snout to vent length. Slender. Snout long and narrow canthus rostralis distinct; loreal region vertical. Interorbital width very slightly broader than the upper eyelid. Tympanum distinct; 1/2 or 2/3 the diameter of the eye. Tips of fingers and toes dilated into discs with circum-marginal groove. Toes 2/3 webbed; Subarticular tubercles moderate; the outer matatarsal tubercle small and round whereas the inner elongated. Tibio-tarsal articula- tion reaches between eye and the nostril. Males have a darkly pigmented humeral gland close to the axilla and an internal vocal sac. A nuptial pad is present on the 1st finger. Skin smooth or coarsely shagreened with an ir- regular scattering of conical tubercles. A distinct but narrow dorsolateral glandular fold extends from be- hind the eye to the region of the vent. Below this fold is a broad chocolate brown band which runs from the tip of the snout through the nostril eye and tym- panum and fades on the flanks. Throat speckled and the vent is immaculate. Colour: Orange above without spots on the back or bars on the limbs; a black band along each side of the head and body; upper lip; canthus rostralis and dorsolateral fold white; terminal discs of toes black, lower parts white. Distribution: Type collected at Trivandrum, Kerala. Other specimen from Kadnjarkhana, South Kanara, Karnataka. _ Grandison, A.G.C. & Senanayake, F.R. (1966): Redescrip- tion of Rana (Hylarana) aurantiaca Boulenger Amphibia: Ranidae. The Ann. & mag. of Nat. Hist. 9: 419-421. Breeding: Unknown, except the call.The frog calls from the undergrowth at a height of 15-25 cm from the ground, and the call is syllabilised as ‘chick-chick-chick’ Habits: Specimens have been collected from a slow stream and in a pool surrounded by under- growth in a very wet area of rain forest.The descriptions and habits is based on Grandison and Senanayake (1966)13 Family: Rhacophoridae Hoffman, 1932 (1859) Tree Frogs The family Rhacophoridae consists of small to large sized frogs (20-100 mm in snout to vent length) and is primarily of the Oriental region. However, several members of this family have been reported from Madagascar and a single genus Chiromantis from Africa. In India, the family Rhacophoridae comprises two subfamilies ( Rhacophorinae , Philautinae) and five genera (Rhac.ophorus, Polypedates, Philautus, Chirixalus and Theloderma). The members of the family are ar- boreal frogs having sticky digital pads; usually in- habit the dense forests of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalayas. The genera Rhacophorus , Polypedates and Philautus occur in the Western Ghats area. Frogs of this family have horizontal pupil; free and deeply notched tongue. In many species of Rhacophorus elaborate dermal ornamentations such as flap on fore arm and heel are present. Digit tips are distinctly dilated into discs, with the digital pads having a circum-marginal groove. Webbing of fingers variable but generally extensive. Vocal sacs present. An intercalary ossification between the penultimate and distal phalanges. KEY TO THE SUB-FAMILIES OF FAMILY RHACOPHORIDAE Vomerine teeth present (Fig.4) Rhacophorinae Vomerine teeth absent Philautinae Sub-family: Rhacophorinae Hoffman, 1932 (1859) Four species grouped under two genera are recorded from Western India. KEY TO THE GENERA OF RHACOPHORINAE CORRECTION Key to the genera of Rhacophorinae : read as follows : KEY TO THE GENERA OF RHACOPHORINAE Fingers with a slight rudiment of web (Fig. 6) Polypedates Fingers with a distinct web (Fig. 6) Rhacophorus AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA 199 Dermal fold along the forearm absent ,. Polypedates Dermal fold along the forearm present (Fig. 5)..... Rhacophorus Genus Polypedates Tschudi, 1838 Species of this genus are moderate to very large in size, ranging from 50 to 100 mm in snout - vent length. Skin of body and limbs smooth; in many species skin of skull co-ossified to either fron- to-parietal, nasal or squamosal bones. Dermal or- namentations generally absent; digital discs large; usually fingers only webbed at base, nuptial pads al- ways present in males. Vomerine teeth always present. Polypedates maculatus (Gray, 1834) Common Tree Frog. Diagnosis: A slender, medium sized frog. Adults in ihcBNHS collection 50 mm male; 79 mm female in snout- vent length. Vomerine teeth in two more or less oblique series between the internal opening of the nostrils. Skin of head free; a bony arch may be present. Snout obtusely acuminate as long as the diameter of the eye; canthus rostralis distinct; inter orbital width broader than the upper eyelid; tym- panum about 3/4 the diameter of the eye; first finger as long as second; fingers with a rudiment of web (Fig. 6a). Toes 3/4 webbed (Fig. 2f). Tips of fingers and toes dilated into discs; discs of the third finger 1/2 or 1/2 the diameter of the eye. Subarticular tubercles well developed. Inner metatarsal tubercle prominent. Tibiotarsal articulation reaches the nostrils. Heels strongly overlap when the legs are folded at right angles to the body. Males with single vocal sac. Skin smooth above, granulate on the belly and under the thighs a fold from the eye to the shoulder. Colour: Brownish, yellowish, greyish or whitish above with darker spots; and hour glass shaped 14Mohanty-Hejmadi, P. & Dutta, S.K. (1988): Life history of the common Indian tree frog, Polypedates maculatus (Gray, 1834) Anura: Rhacophoridae) with nine text-figures). J. Bom- bay nat. Hist. Soc. 85: 512-517. 15Sekar, A.G. (1986): Ecology of amphibia of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivli, Bombay with special reference to breed- ing behaviour of adults and food habits of tadpoles. M.Sc. Thesis submitted to University of Bombay. figure on the back may present; hinder side of thighs with round yellow spots which are usually separated by a dark brown net work. The species has the ability to change its colour to a certain ex- tend to merge with its surroundings. Distribution: Throughout India except Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Breeding; The tree frog breeds in the monsoon season. The activities begin just before the onset of monsoon. They select a wide range of breeding sites. Trees hanging over the water tanks or pools, rocks, moist ground and grass clumps are used as spawning sites. The call, generally, is heard after sunset, but they call also during the day after heavy showers. The call can be syllabilised as ‘tak-tak — - tak-tak-tak’. This type of note is produced only when the vocal sac is inflated to its full extend. Another call note can be syllabilised as ‘dodo- dodo- dodo’. This note is produced when the vocal sac is partially inflated. Individual frogs can call continuously for 15 to 22 seconds. Amplexus is axillary; the male holds the female at her armpit. The foam-nest is globular in shape with a flat bottom attached to the substrate. The fresh foam is pure white, becoming dirty white or brown on the outer surface with age. The foam- nest measures 65 to 92 mm in diameter. The eggs are pure white and scattered in the foam nest singly and some are exposed on the surface of the mass. The eggs measure c 1.25 to 1.5 mm in diameter. Tadpoles have been collected from rainfed pools, cisterns and ponds. Total length of tadpoles in hind limb stage average 50 mm. Dental formula l:3+3/3. Beak is moderately black. According to Mohanty-Hejmadi & Dutta (1988)14, the tadpoles take 55 days for completing the metamorphosis. The tadpoles mainly feed on Desmids, ( Scenedesmus , Closterium, ScCosmarium), Diatoms and filamen- tous algae ( Oedogonium , Oscillatoria & Scytonema) etc. (Sekar 1986) 15 . Habits: A typical tree frog of moist deciduous forest, which has become semi-urban especially in cities with extensive gardens. Enters houses where it finds the atmosphere of bath rooms congenial. In the suburbs of Madras it has been known to occur in numbers, and bears the common English name of Chunam (= slaked lime used for whitewash) frog from the pale general colouration. The Tamil name is Therai and it is believed that if it lands on a child 200 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 the legs and hips of the child will become as slender and presumably weak as that of the frogs. Though able to swim well they never live in water and are in fact very uncomfortable when forced to remain in this element. When resting all four legs are drawn up well under the body. Genus Rhacophorus Kuhl and Van Hasselt, 1822 The generic characters are: small to very large rhacophorid frogs (30-100 mm in snout- vent length) with usually rounded snout; body usually slender with narrow waist; skin of head never co-os- sified to skull; dermal ornamentations such as flaps on forearm, tarsus,heel, or above anus usually present in most species; digital pad with complete circum-marginal groove. In most species fingers and toes fully webbed. Vomerine teeth usually present. Terminal phalanges Y shaped. KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS Rhacophorus 1 . Fingers more than half webbed 2 1 . Fingers less than half webbed (Fig 6b) pleurostictus 2. Upper surfaces Finely granulated; green above malabricus 2. Upper surfaces with small warts; light reddish brown above calcadensis Rhacophorus pleurostictus (Gunther, 1864) Diagnosis: Medium sized frog. Adult male in the BNHS collection measured 49 mm S V; Female 58 SV. Vomerine teeth present in twosmall groups; snout rounded; canthus rostralis distinct; loreal region concave; interorbital space as broad as the upper eyelid or a little broader. Tympanum 1/2 the diameter of the eye. Fingers with a very distinct web at the base. First finger less than the second; toes al- most fully webbed; tips of fingers and toes dilated into discs with prominent circum-marginal groove; disk of the third finger 1/2 or <1/2 the diameter of eye. Subarticular tubercles moderate. Inner metatar- sal tubercle prominent. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaches the eye. Heels overlap when the legs are folded at right angles to the body. Skin smooth or finely granular; belly and lower surface of thighs granular, a strong fold from the eye to the shoulder. Colour: Greenish above with large blotches with dark edge; groin and sides of thighs purplish brown with yellowish spots or marbling; limbs with dark cross bands. Distribution: Nilgiris and Anaimalai Hills. Breeding & Habits: Unknown. Rhacophorus malabaricus Jerdon, 1870. Malabar Gliding Frog. Diagnosis: Adult male measured 67 mm; female 78.5 mm in BNHS collection. Vomerine teeth in two straight series snout subacuminate; canthus rostralis obtuse; loreal region concave; nostril nearer the end of the snout than the eye; inter orbi- tal width broader than the upper eyelid; tympanum 2/3 the diameter of the eye. Fingers and toes webbed to the discs which is equal the tympanum. Subarticular tubercles well developed. Tibio-tarsal articulation reaches the eye or nostril. Heels over- lap when the legs are folded at right angle to the body. Skin finely granular above; more coarsely beneath; granules under the thighs intermixed with larger ones; outer border of forearm and tarsus with a dermal fold; heel with a triangular dermal process. Colour: Green above; often spekcled all over with black and white. Lower parts whitish, web between fingers and toes reddish. Distribution: In Western Ghats from Ponmudi Hills, Kerala to Goa. Breeding: Breeding coincide with the SW mon- soon. A large group of frogs were observed calling in Goa forests all sitting on bamboo shoots. The call can be syllabilised as ‘tak-tak-tarrik’. The amplexus was axillary. The male holding the female at her armpit. Foamnests were attached to vegetation some metres above the pool. Tadpoles olive brown in colour closely dotted with dark- brown on the body and lighter on the tail; Length of body 16 mm, length of tail 26 mm. Dental for- mula is 2: 4 + 4/1 + 1:2. The toes are nearly entire- ly webbed The tadpoles are carnivorous. (Ferguson 1904)16- 16Ferguson, H.S. (1904): A list of Travancore Batrachians. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 15: 499-509. AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA 202 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 6. Hand of: a. Polypedaies maculatus ; b. Rhacophorus pleurosirictus ; c. Rhacophorus maiabaricus. Habits: The Malabar Gliding Frogs, occur in evergreen and moist deciduous forests of the Western Ghats. They can glide slantingly from, a tree over a distance of 10 m. When jumping/glid- ing the webs of all four limbs are fully extended. According to Nayar (193 1)17 the frogs naturally likes humid surrounding but does not tolerate water. In captivity during the day the frogs usually rested on the leaves with their legs gathered together and body flattened with the fore-feet folded underneath 17Nayar, K.K. (1931): A ‘Flying frog’ (with a plate), ibid 35: 220-225. their body and pupils contracted to tiny slits. This posture and their leaf green colour rendered them almost invisible among the leaves. The frogs fed on house flies at night in captivity (Abdulali & Sekar 1988)18' Rhacophorus calcadensis Ahl, 1927 A medium sized frog measured 50 mm in snout to vent length; Occurs in Kalakaddu forest, Tirunel- veli Dist., Tamil Nadu. Not available in the BNHS collection. 18Abdulali, H. & Sexar, A.G. (1988): On a small collection of amphibians from Goa ibid.85: 202-205. (to be continued) APPLICATION OF SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY IN THE TAXONOMY OF CLADOCERA K. Venkataraman1 2 and S. Krishnaswamy3 ( With eight plates containing forty-nine figures) Taxonomic diagnostic characters of the freshwater Cladocera were examined using Scanning Electron Microscope. The species are characterised by external markings on the surface of the carapace, presence of spines on the posteroventral comer of the shell, the number and arrangement of spines on the postabdomen, number of pores on tire head shield, ornamentation in the ephippial eggs etc. Hie application of SEM to the taxonomic studies of the freshwater Cladocera provides diagnostic capabilities not available with a light micro- scope. It is desirable to develop a key, coupled with a reference atlas of Scanning Electron Micrographs, il- lustrating diagnostic characters of freshwater Cladocera species. Introduction In taxonomic studies of the freshwater Cladocera, morphological criteria have, in most in- stances, provided the bulk of descriptive material used in classification. Surprisingly, Scanning Electron Microsocopy (SEM) has been utilised in only a few instances in examination of diagnostic characters of freshwater Cladocera (Amoros 1980, Dumont 1981a, Dumont et al. 1981b, Frey 1982), although it has been utilised extensively to study other aspects of Cladocera biology (Guldner 1969, Dumont & Van de Velde 1976, Schultz & Kennedy 1976, Schlecht 1977, Schlecht 1979, Seiman & Lar- sen 1979,Zahid 1981, Crittenden 1981). The present study presents a Scanning Electron Microscopic study of the freshwater Cladocera from southern Tamil Nadu. Material and Methods Plankton nets with 36 cm diameter and mesh size 90 m were used to collect the different species of Cladocera. The net was dragged through vegeta- tion and close to the bottom of shallow waters in marshes. Oblique hauls were taken to obtain Cladocera from the shores of man-made reservoirs and ponds. The samples collected from the field were preserved in 5% and 10% formalin with sugar or in 95% glycerine alcohol. The preserved samples 1 Accepted November 1984. 2School of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai-625 021 (India), department of Environmental Biology, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai-625 021. were isolated and cleaned. The dust-free samples were dehydrated with acetone and then air-dried. The specimens were coated with silver in a Hitachi vaccuum coaler HUS 5 GB. The important diagnos- tic features were photographed using Scanning Electron Microscope, Hitachi S 450. Observation The character that differentiates Pseudosida bidentata and P. szalayi is a spine-like projection on the distal margin of the postabdomen. Fig. 1 provides this diagnostic morphological character not available with the light microscope. Figs.2 - 6 show the morphology of sexual eggs of Daphnia projecta , Simocephalus vetulus elizabethae and Simocephalus acutiro stratus. Under high magnification (Figs. 4 and 6; 1500 x) the r xual eggs (ephippia) of S. vetulus elizabethae and S . acutiro stratus show variation in their mor- phology. But these eggs under the light microscope appeared same except for the size. Figs. 7 and 8 show the morphology of Ceriodaphnia cornuta. The honeycomb-like ap- pearance of the surface of C. cornuta is a very im- portant morphological character to identify this species. Fig. 9 shows the hexagonal markings on the surface of sexual egg of Moina micrura which dif- ferentiates this species from M. weismanni , which consists of raised knobs. Likewise, the number of hooks on the tip of the male antennule is one of the diagnostic features to differentiate M. micrura from M. weismanni . Fig. 10 shows the presence of 4 well developed hooks in the antennule of M. weismanni. 204 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 But in the case of M. micrura , there are three. SEM Figs. 11 and 12 show the postabdomen and the pectens in the claw of Ilyocryptus spinifer. The number and arrangement of lateral denticles are clearly seen in the micrograph. SEM Figs. 13 and 14 show the morphology of a chydorid cladoceran Dadaya macrops. The or- namentation on the surface of the shell of this species is unique and the SEM picture provides a clear morphology which is not available with the light microscope. Likewise, the pitted appearance in the shell of Chydorus parvus and fine granular structure of the shell of Ch. ventricosus and its postabdomen are clearly seen in the micrographs 15-18. The presence of postero ventral comer spine is a characteristic feature of a few species of chydoeid cladocesan. This important diagnostic fea- ture can be seen in the species Ch. barroisi, which is not terminal; in Dunhevedia crassa , however, the spine is terminal (Figs. 20 and 22). The surface of the shell of Pseudo chydorus globossus has hexagonal markings which are clear in SEM (Fig. 24). SEM Figs. 25 - 29 show the characteristic fea- tures of Alona monacantha tridentata. The presence of three connected head pores is one of the charac- teristic features of this species and is an important systematic tool to classify whether it belongs to the subfamily Chydorinae, which has iwo main pores plus two small pores in the head shield, or to the sub- family Aloninae, which has three main pores as in the case of Amonacantha tridentata. SEM Figs. 30 and 31 show the shell morphology of A. davidi and its postabdomen. The lateral groups of denticles and the claw pectens are clearly seen in SEM Fig. 3 1 . Grabtolebris testudinaria is one of the rare lit- toral chydorid cladocera present in the marshes of tropical regions. The SEM picture provides a specific ornamentation confined to this species only. The ornamentation appears to resemble a brick wall. The presence of three posteroventral comer spines is clearly shown in Fig. 34. Figs. 36 and 37 show the ornamentation on the head shield and head pore. Leydigia ciliata is a littoral chydorid cladoceran present in reddish-brown turbid ponds of southern Tamil Nadu. Figs. 38- 43 show the morphology of the shell, postabdomen, pectens on the claw, shell surface of the male, male postabdomen with vas- deferens and the ornamentation on the sexual egg. The presence of pectens on the claw is a diagnos- tic feature which differentiates this species from L. acanthocercoides , which has no pectens on the claw (Smirnov 1971). Biapertura karura , a common chydorid present in the marshes of tropical regions, has three spines on the posteroventral comer and the ornamentation on the shell (Figs. 44- 46) are impor- tant morphological criteria which differentiate this species from B. verrucosa , another species co-oc- curring with B. karura. Euryalona orientalis is found throughout the tropical region and has a sinua- tion in the ventral margin and the ornamentation on the surface of the shell is an important character to differentiate this species from others. The size, num- ber and arrangement of pectens on the claw of this species is also unique (Figs. 47- 49). Discussion The distinguishing features of the species of Cladocera are external markings on the surface of carapace, presence of spines on the postero-ventral comer of the shell, the number and arrangement of spines on the postabdomen, number of pores on the head shield, ornamentation in the ephippial eggs etc. It is apparent that the application of SEM to taxonomic studies of freshwater Cladocera can provide a valuable tool to the investigator, par- ticularly if micrographs of diagnostic criteria could be gathered into a reference atlas. While mor- phological criteria should not be relied upon to the exclusion of other methods used in system atics (par- ticularly in a group noted for ccomorphic variation), the SEM provides a diagnostic advantage not available with the light microscope. Acknowledgements We are deeply indebted to Dr. G. Kulain- daivelu, Department of Plant Physiology, for his help in taking Scanning Electron Micrographs. The award of SRF from CSIR New Delhi to one of us (K.V.) is acknowledged. 1. Pseudosida bidentata : female postabdomen; 2. Daphnia projecta: ephippia; 3. Simocephalus vetulus elizabethae: ephippia; 4. Ephippia: surface; 5. Simocephalus acutiroslratus : ephippia; 6. Ephippia: surface. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy Plate 1 zmi&mt Ventral view Lateral denticle J. Bomba? NAT. Hist. Soc. 55 Plate 2 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy 7. Ceriodaphnia cornuta : female ventral view; 8. Female lateral view; 9. Moina micrura : ephippia; 10. Moina weismanni : male antennule; 11. Ilyocryptus spinifer. female postabdomen; 12. Female: postabdomen enlarged. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Plate 3 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy 13. Dadaya macrops : female lateral view; 14. Female: antennule; 15. Chydorus parvus: female lateral view; 16. Chydorus ventricosus : female postabdomen; 17. Female: lateral view; 18. Female claw. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy Plate 4 Antero-ventral view 19. Chydorus sp. : female lateral view; 20. Posteroventral corner; 21 . Dunhevedia crassa: female lateral view; 22. Posteroventral corner; 23. Pseudochydorus globossus: female ventral view; 24. Lateral surface of carapace. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Plate 5 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy 25. Alona monacantha tridentata : female lateral view; 26. Posteroventral corner spines; 27. Postabdomen; 28. Head shield; 29. Head pore; 30. Alona davidi : female lateral view; 31. Postabdomen. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy Plate 6 32. Grabtoleberis testudinaria : female lateral view; 33. Female dorsal view; 34. Posteroventral corner spines; 35. Postabdomen; 36. Head shield; 37. Head pore J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy Plate 7 38. Leydigia ciliata : female lateral view; 39. Female postabdomen; 40. Female claw; 41. Male lateral view; 42. Male postabdomen; 43. Ephippia. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Venkataraman & Krishnaswamy: Scanning Electron Microscopy Plate 8 IBs I ^ I Ventral vigw ' HH- 44. Biapertura karua : female lateral view; 45. Posteroventral corner; 46. Postabdomen; 47. Eurualona orientalis : female lateral view; 48. Ventral view; 49. Postabdomen. SEM IN CLADOCERA TAXONOMY 205 REFERENCES Amoros, C. (1980): Observations morphologiques et ecologiquds sur Baphnia ambigua Scourfield, 1946 (Cladocera), espece nouvelle pour la France. Crustaceana 39 (3): 247 - 254. Crittenden, R.N. (1981): Morphological characteristics and dimensions of the filter structures from three species oi Daph- nia, Cladocera. Crustacea 41 (3): 233 - 248. Dumont, H.J. & Van De Velde, I. (1976): Some types of head pores in the Cladocera as seen by Scanning Electron Micros- copy and their possible functions. Biol. Jb. Dodonaeam44 : 135 - 142. (1981a): Cladocera and free living copepoda from the Founta Djalon and adjacent mountain in West Africa. Hydrobiologia, 85:91 - 116. Dumont, H.J., Pensaert, J. & Van De Velde, I. (1981b): The crustacean zooplankton of Mali (West Africa) ibid. 80: 161 - 187. Frey, D.G. (1982): The reticulated species of Chydorus (Cladocera, Chydoridae) two new species with suggestions of convergence, ibid. 93: 255 - 297. Guldner, F.H. (1969): Electronmikroskopische Unter- suchugen am Intestinaltrakt von Daphnia pulex. Diss. der Med. Fak. der F.U. Berlin. Schlecht, F. (1979): Electronmnoptische- Untersuchungen des Darmtraktes und der peritrophischen Membran von Cladoceren und Conchostracen (Phyllopoda, Crus- tacea). Zoomorphologia 92: 161 - 181. Schultz, T. W. (1977): Fine structure of the ephippium of Daphnia pulex (Crustacea : Cladocera). Trans . Am. Microsc. Soc. 96: 313 -321. Schultz, T.W. & Kennedy, J.R. (1976): The fine structure of the digestive system of Daphnia pulex. Tissue and Cell 8: 475 490. Seidman, L.A. & Larsen, J.H. (1979): Ultrastructure of the envelopes of resistant and nonresistant Daphnia eggs. Can. J. Zool. 57: 1773 - 1777. Smirnov, N.N. (1971): Chydoridae fauna of the world. Fauna of U.S.S.R. Crustacea. English Transl., Israel Program for Scientific translations, Jerusalem, 1 (2), pp. 644. Zahid, Z.R. (1981): A preliminary study on the structure and ultrastructure of the compound eye of Simocephalus vetulus Scholder (Cladocera). Crustaceana 40 (2): 127 - 131. IN DEFENCE OF THE MUCH-MALIGNED (ALPHA) TAXONOMY IN INDIA1 A.N. Henry and P. Daniel2 The origins of botany are in medicine (Schul- tes 1972). In fact they were inseparable for much of man’s history. Medicinal gardens, (gardens of simples, apothecaries’ gardens, physic gardens etc.), forerunners of today’s botanic gardens, were estab- lished in Europe in the middle of the sixteenth cen- tury for providing living specimens for the instruc- tion of medical students and the supply of actual drugs for medicine. A herbarium, which in the modem sense is ‘a great filing system of informa- tion about plants, both primary in the form of actual specimens of the plants and secondary in the form of published information, pictures and recorded notes’, became an indispensable adjunct of such a medicinal garden in due course. With the unprecedented spurt in travelling and voyages of discoveries, and the consequent vying for empire-building in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the holdings in such gardens increased exponentially, and so did those in their herbaria.' The ever increasing holdings made these gardens play the vital role of introduction, cultiva- tion and distribution of both native and alien crops of potential value and promise. Such botanic gar- dens established by the colonial powers in their tropical colonies in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries too faithfully undertook such respon- sibilities. Botanists/taxonomists who manned these gardens were instrumental in the introduction of a host of commercial crops including coffee, jute, rub- ber and tea, and a number of medicinal plants includ- ing Cinchona. And from their herbaria came a treasure of information in the form of floras and other publications by taxonomists (naturalists) who manned them. The scenario narrated was no different in the Indian context. The Flora of British India was published at the end of the last century. This gave the impetus for the publication of some of the regional floras. There is a feeling in certain quarters that these publications marked the end of herbarium Accepted April 1987. 2Botanical Survey of India, Southern Circle, Coimbatore 641 003, Tamil Nadu. taxonomy or alpha taxonomy, more appropriately called practical taxonomy, in India. That this feeling is unwarranted is discussed elsewhere in this paper. Taxonomic research in India was in .the doldrums after the publication of the afore-mentioned floras. It was the reorganization of the Botanical Survey of India in 1954 which gave a fillip to this research. Botany was synonymous with taxonomy till the turn of this century. The scenario began to change soon, with more branches of botany emerg- ing from the increased knowledge of botany through taxonomy. Constance (1964) opined that organisms are viewed merely as relatively uninteresting con- tainers within which interesting physico-chemical processes are taking place, and only the latter are worthy of serious study. In short, this trend toward ‘reductionalism’ has gone to such ridiculous ex- tremes that we are probably about to witness the swing of the pendulum of interest in some other and as yet unperceived direction. This swing of the pen- dulum visualised by Constance has already taken its toll in the developed countries. With the feverish at- tempts of Indian botanists, aping the West, and seek- ing pre-eminence for their chosen more modem dis- ciplines with more sophisticated gadgets, alpha taxonomy, the once glorious and fundamental dis- cipline of botany, has been pushed aside from the mainstream in this country. Some of those who believe that the days of alpha taxonomy are over, and falsely so, have been advocating accent on biosystematics. Is alpha taxonomy irrelevant? Is the upstaging of alpha taxonomy by biosystematics justified in the current Indian situation? Two simple facts, viz., that larger dicot genera such as Astragalus , Cousinia, Ranunculus, Senccio and Solanum have never been monographed since De Candolle’s Prodromus (1824-1874) and the current frenetic flora writing activity in the Neotropics would negate such a proposition. The well- considered observation of Parker (1978) that taxonomists are still far behind with the production of the descriptive and clas- sificatory work, and also with the distributional studies that are necessary both to provide a basis for phytochemical and agronomic surveys and to gain a IN DEFENCE OF ( ALPHA ) TAXONOMY 207 sufficient knowledge of disappearing wild species so that theories appertaining to their phylogenetic relationships may be developed, might further high- light the importance of the role of alpha taxonomy today, particularly in a developing, tropical country like ours. Perhaps in some of the western countries whose not-all-that-rich temperate flora is well- known the supersedure of alpha taxonomy by biosystematics might be justified, but not in India. Taxonomy is the practical result of the basic human urge and necessity to make some kind of comprehensive arrangement of the elements of the environment. Man’s desire to classify lies at the root of the acquisition and care of systematic collec- tions. Afflicted with ataxophobia, to quote Smith (1966), the taxonomist takes upon himself the ar- duous task of putting some order in the tangle of the plant world. One of the main purposes of taxonomy is the ‘intricate, unspectacular, slowly proceeding, meticulous business’ (Jacobs 1974) of piecing together scattered bits of information derived from the field, herbarium and literature into a highly for- mulated schematic set of publications in the form of floras, revisions, monographs, keys, handbooks etc. which provide a means of identification, naming and communication about plants for use by other taxonomists and, more importantly, for non- taxonomists of all sorts. Without such a system of classification and nomenclature many other biologi- cal and non-biological activities would be severely hindered. The service most required from taxonomists/systematists by the general public is the provision of the correct names for species. When an alien species is noticed in one corner of the country and spreads fast to other areas, soon causing public concern as in the case of Fanhenium hysterophorus , it is the alpha taxonomist who is approached first for its identity and nomenclature and not the biosys- tematist. Ecologists, experts on eradication and those who try to find alternative uses and others of that genre step into the scene only thereafter. This basic service of providing correct identification is needed most by research v/orkers in other dis- ciplines of botany/biology who more often than not have a supercilious attitude towards the alpha taxonomist It seems necessary to point out that re- search work on plants, no matter how brilliant, painstaking and accurate, is utterly worthless unless the identity of the plant is fixed. It is not unknown for a chromosome count to be published for a plant whose identity has no greater validity than the name on a seed packet and is not even substantiated by a voucher specimen (Bor 1964). In fact such a count would amount to only a ghost count as it is not verifiable should another worker doubt its authenticity at a later date. Even in ecological studies it is absolutely necessary to get the identity of the plants established and voucher specimens deposited in an established herbarium, failing which such studies will not be of much use. Moore (1978) points out that during the first four decades of this century chromosomal reports were rarely related to particular voucher specimens in herbaria, so that the identity of the plants could not be verified. The situation in India does not seem to have changed much even today. It is a pity that in India many workers are either ignorant of the impor- tance of voucher specimens or just do not bother to deposit them in a herbarium. Biosystematists are sometimes of the opinion that alpha taxonomy is not a science worth the name as the species concept the alpha taxonomist employs is untenable. The concept of ‘morphospecies’ has been an object of derision for the biosystematist. To quote Constance (1964), speculation, imagination and intuition are precious attributes of the human mind and must not be proscribed. It may be pointed out that science is primarily a method rather than a set of abstract truths; that method involves not a fixed adherence to some formal, universal rules, bu rather the judi- cious balancing of such opposites as speculation and observation, quantitative analysis and qualita- tive consideration. Alpha taxonomists need a prac- tical species concept because adequate experimen- tal evidences and even field observations are fre- quently lacking. Hence, they have to deal mostly with morphospecies, as has been pointed out by Davis (1978). Even when we have information on crossability it is mainly useful in tipping the balance in cases of uncertainty of treatment. It is needless to stress that such information is of no use in the field. In short, there should be an acceptable degree of difference between closely related species. Species, as they occur in nature, are the taxonomists’ building bricks to which binomials are applied for convenience, whether they are potentially inter- 208 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL , HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 sterile or not (Davis 1978). We seldom know how constantly exomorphic characters are correlated with cy tological or genetic ones — in many cases an assumed correlation breaks down when more material is examined. In dealing with the flora of the tropics, however, we seldom have any direct evidence of internal breeding barriers. For the majority of plants, binomi als must be applied to rep- resentative populations that can be morphologically distinguished from one another, allowing perhaps for some degree of hybridization, especially in dis- turbed habitats (Davis 1978). Furthermore, it is an over-simplification to try to differentiate consistent- ly between the phyletic and phylogenetic informa- tion derived from the chromosomes, but it is also too facile to give chromosome data an overriding importance in taxonomy. Claims that different chromosome numbers (n ) indicate specific differen- ces while different basic chromosome numbers (x ) signal boundaries between genera (Love & Love 1974) cannot be uniformly justified or applied (Moore 1978). Heywood (1963) has argued that morphologi- cal criteria alone should define species limits and has rejected any definition based on reproductive isolation, despite the fact that morphologically defined species “will represent different kinds of evolutionary situations and will be equivalent only by designation”. This argument is based on the view that species must be visually recognizable to have any widespread practical application, and that in any case our information is far too incomplete to apply the cytogenetic criterion in all but a minute propor- tion of cases (Stace 1978). Favouring the argument of Heywood, Raven (1976) has opined that species should not be redefined in cytogenetic terms. Hence what is required in the present circumstances in a developing, tropical country like India endowed with a rich flora is good representative collections with ample and accurate field data so that we can strive for a flora that is better than that of the past with additional/new information on various aspects including the economic potential of our plants. But then, where does taxonomy, the most relevant discipline of botany stand today in India? It is neither in its infancy nor senility. Perhaps we are yet to complete the exploratory phase. Several areas in the country particularly in the Himalayas, Eastern India and the Western Ghats still remain either under- explored or unexplored. Hence, suggesting stepping into the consolidation phase at this stage would amount to making a compromise and lead to choosing the inevitable via media. Over 3400 species have been added since the publication of the Flora of British India from the present Indian ter- ritory. After the reorganisation of the Botanical Sur- vey upwards of 250 new species have been dis- covered from Peninsular India alone. These should amply testify to how far we have moved from the exploratory phase. Though a number of district floras have begun to appear lately, inventories for larger areas (excluding checklists) are not many. A modest beginning was made by the Botanical Sur- vey in the consolidation phase by bringing out the flora'of India in the form of fascicles. Its publication in the form of volumes is in the offing. What has stymied the progress of alpha taxonomy in India and prevented it from regaining its respectable and legitimate status? A few major factors deserve special emphasis. The lack of large, representative collection has been a deterrent. Europe houses about a third of the world’s herbaria (c. 350) and more than half of the collections in terms of number of specimens (90,000,000). Yet the flora of Europe is some 12-13000 species (Heywood 1980). In India, whose flora is estimated to have 14-15000 species, we have less than two dozen recognised herbaria with less than 2,000,000 specimens. Very few herbaria like CAL, DD and MH have specimens in lakhs. Many herbaria of recent origin in universities and colleges have very small holdings (sometimes few thousands only) of almost exclusively of local collections. That her- baria have a vital role to play has been stressed by Subramanyam and Sreemadhavan (1972). It is necessary that more herbaria financed by public funds are established in the various regions of the country for local collections and the holdings in the existing ones are augmented for a better assessment of the country’s flora and help resource management which is needed more than ever before in the present environmental crisis. A plant is described from a collection, made by a collector, at a place, on a certain date. Yet no one of these four elements in fact needs to be present, and indeed, one to all of these bases have been miss- ing now and then in the history of phytography. Dozens of species in Species Flantarum carry no IN DEFENCE OF (ALPHA ) TAXONOMY 209 locality or only an omnibus phrase that may hold a continent. Pursh, Nuttal and many others of their time published new species without fixing on a col- lector, a collection taken at an exact place, and dates were more often omitted than mentioned. Rafinesque evidently produced his Florula ludoviciana without benefit even of specimens (Ewan 1969). And Rafinesque perhaps was no ex- ception. Roxburgh, the trailblazer in Indian botany, never knew that the confusion galore arising from his indifference towards/ignorance of preserving the plants on which he based his ne\^ descriptions would take generations of European and Asian botanists to undo. To establish the identity and nomenclature of all such plants described after 1753, types and protologues are absolutely essential. The non- availability of type specimens and old taxonomic literature as has been indicated by Santapau (1962) has been a stumbling block for Indian taxonomy. It has been pointed out by Prance (1977) that tropical specimens are lying in herbaria of temperate countries, for historical reasons. In a number of cases we have not been able to even trace the types. And authentic specimens are equally difficult to get. Many plants do not have representative specimens in any of the Indian herbaria. Motivated by parochialism and jingoism (not an accusation as it appears to be a basic human in- stinct), explorers and naturalists of the colonial powers never cared to leave a set of their collections in the country to which they rightfully belonged (did any so-called native bother about such rights at that time, anyway?). Tracing the types becomes all the more difficult when the same botanist donated sets of his collections to different herbaria without proper annotations or maintained more than one her- barium at a time. The original set of the Royle her- barium on which he based his Illustrations, thought to be in the possession of Royle himself, was lost until 1952, when it was rediscovered in the City of Liverpool Museum by Stansfield. However, there are type specimens in the Royle ’s collections at Kew, British Museum and Dehra Dun (Lauener 1978). In many instances plants that were described in century old books which are no longer available even for a fortune and equally old obscure and dis- continued journals including nursery catalogues and other such ephemera protologues are almost impos- sible to get, a factor that has exacerbated the situa- tion. Only in a couple of libraries attached to her- baria in India is there a reasonable collection of old literature. To those non-taxonomists for whom the name change effected by European taxonomists on Indian plants has always remained a riddle, the answer should be obvious. The Botanical Survey is making efforts to procure at least a set of photographs of type specimens and other authentic materials of Indian plants deposited in the Kew her- barium. This should not lead to the mistaken notion that all the type specimens of Indian plants are in Kew. They are in herbaria spread over the whole of Europe and perhaps elsewhere too. Steinberg (1977) tells us that in the holdings of the Herbarium Webb at the University of Florence, Italy, there are specimens from the collections of many pioneer col- lectors in India including Bentham, Falconer, Grif- fith, Jack, Koenig, Persoon, Rottler, Wallich and Wight to name a few. Since the aforesaid venture is a long-term process fraught with difficulties, a sudden change all that soon in this direction is un- likely. A little digression into nomenclature seems necessary at this point The complaints from non- taxonomists about the frequent and vexing name changes in Indian plants and their disparaging the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, which tragically is recondite to many, are not infre- quent. Name changes are brought about usually either due to change in the concept of a taxon or dig- ging through old literature and establishing priority. We do not deny that there was a so-called muck heap of synonyms in Indian taxonomy. But it should be admitted that it has become reduced considerab- ly of late. With numerous explorers and naturalists sending specimens from India to various destina- tions in Europe and most of the taxonomists of temperate countries having no knowledge of the variations in tropical plants and consequently mis- taking each specimen for a distinct species a deluge of synonyms was perhaps inevitable. Lack of com- munication with workers spread over the whole of Europe and Asia and the belated organized efforts towards the standardization and legislation of nomenclatural practices coming to fruition only at the 1st International Botanical Congress in iWis in 1867, and the British taxonomists with their ascen- dancy, by virtue of the vast empire the Britishers had 210 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 built, tragically refusing to cooperate with the rest could not but add much to this muddle. As pointed out earlier, the difficult-to-get old literature, particularly obscure journals, nursery catalogues and other such ephemera and the types have fettered Indian taxonomists in their efforts to clear much of this muck heap. And infraspecific names are almost impossible to trace in many instan- ces as there are no indices for them. However, they have been doing their best with the available, limited facilities along with those with ample facilities at their disposal in Europe. That being the crux of the matter, it is unwise to question the wisdom of the founding fathers of the Code, the objective of which is stabilization of names. Much of the confusion has been already undone by adhering strictly to the Code since 1950s. By some more striving and dig- ging by Indian taxonomists the huge heap that once it was, is likely to become a no-heap in the near fu- ture. The lack of adequate trained personnel in taxonomy has been a hurdle in its progress. Regret- tably, this has yet to receive the effective attention of the competent authorities. There is no gainsaying the observation s of Khoshoo (1980): there is a dearth of qualified teachers in taxonomy; our teaching methods are outdated, resulting in an aver- sion on the part of students of taxonomic courses; the teachers themselves feel hurt if they are ad- dressed as taxonomists, and there is a total lack of eagerness on the part of students for field botany. At least a part of this stems from the fact that taxonomy has already been pushed aside from the mainstream in the country. There is a misconceived notion among non-taxonomists that unlike other dis- ciplines of botany, taxonomy is a discipline in which no proper training is required for research. Perhaps untrained and ill-trained persons are the cause for the accumulation of bits and pieces of specimens with no proper or misleading field notes occupying much of the precious room in herbaria and confusion in taxonomic literature. We would like to dispel the opinion that taxonomic research is the preserve of some of the national institutes like the Botanical Survey. Were it so, it would not have apportioned funds and offered facilities to research workers in universities and col- leges for about 60 District Flora Schemes in. the country. It is heartening that a few centres of taxonomy have come up of late in colleges and universities particularly in Peninsular India. It is too uphill a task for an organisation like the Botanical Survey, with its limited staff, to complete the flora of India, let alone within a specified time. That is why it has sought the assistance and cooperation of academic institutions wherever possible. Again, re- search institutes like the Botanical Survey of India who do not have a formal academic programme can- not be expected to train taxonomists at the post- graduate level. We suggest that the universities come forward to willingly shoulder this respon- sibility. And the Botanical Survey of India, in which a training institute is being established with a couple of staff to begin with, can perhaps assist the universities in an in-service training. It is suggested that the lost importance of taxonomy in the syilabii in colleges and universities is restored before long. In this regard the recommendations made by the Seminar on Teaching and Research in Plant Taxonomy held in Mysore in 1979 and the syllabus devised by Subramanyam and Nayar (1973) with the necessary modifications deserves serious con- sideration and implementation without losing time. The quality of research by a worker depends upon the interest and devotion he has for his chosen discipline. There is a feeling among certain taxonomists that taxonomy has been thrust upon them by circumstances and for that simple reason they have to oblige taxonomy. Hence, it is neces- sary to dispel such a misconceived notion while the researcher is being trained, especially at the doc- toral level. Creating opportunities for the well- deserved, if not for all, to conduct research in floris- tic and monographic work after training becomes a corollary which would attract talent in future. And the ones with a little more acuity, perseverance and enterprise should be encouraged to take up research in much neglected aspects in the Indian context such as botanical history, involving much digging, typification of Indian plants and determining the validity of their names according to the Code, par- ticularly in works like Hortus Bengalensis Catalogues of Wallich and Wight and interpretation of herbaria of the pioneer collectors in India. Letting them languish for want of better opportunities would definitely drive away talent to other disciplines. We suggest that more career opportunities be created in national institutes now engaged in IN DEFENCE OF (ALPHA ) TAXONOMY 21 taxonomic research and that all post- graduate col- leges and universities have a herbarium and a trained taxonimist to man it, who can also have teaching assignments so that his promotion is not curtailed. It is a pity that even the oldest universities like the Madras University do not have an herbarium worth the name. The vital role of trained taxonomists in some of the related establishments may be impressed upon people, so that they can find suitable placements in forestry, agriculture (par- ticularly in exploring for wild allies of crop plants), pharmaceutical and other related industries requir- ing resource development. It is absolutely necessary to insist upon employing taxonomists in environ- mental assessment, and in the scientific manage- ment of biosphere and other such nature reserves. As has been pointed out by Hey wood (1982, 1985) there has recently been a major resurgence of floristic taxonomy, partly stemming from the recognition that such a work is an essential precur- sor of conservation activities and partly from the realisation of the massive scale on which plant resources such as the tropical forests in developing countries are being converted to other uses, con- sumed or destroyed. This has drastically fore- shortened the time-scale against which taxonomists have to operate. The forest cover in the country is far less than the stipulated ideal of 33.3%. It has been estimated, a moderate estimate perhaps, that in India over 850 species of flowering plants are threatened due to habitat destruction and other inter- linked factors (Jain & Sastry 1983). Refer Bor, N.L. (1964): Review. Fiflv Years of Science in India: Progress of Botany. P. Maheshwari & R. N. Kapil, ed. Kew Bull 19: 353. Constance, L. (1964): Systematic Botany - an unending synthesis. Taxon 13: 257-273. Davis, P.H. (1978): The moving staircase : a discussion on taxonomic rank and affinity. Notes Roy. Bol. Gard. Edinburgh. 36: 325-340. Ewan, I. (1969): Historical problems for the working taxonomists. Taxon 18: 194-202. Heywogd, V.H. (1963): The “species aggregate” in theory and practice. Regnum Veg. 27: 26-37. — (1980): Trends and priorities in plant taxonomy. In: P.K.K. Nair ed. Glimpses in Plant Research. V. New Delhi. 9-18. --(1982): Current topics in plant taxonomy - Intro- The tenure of many of the plant species is precarious. As a result, taxonomists are in an unen- viable position of accumulating data on the plants while it is available on priority basis. Vanishing along with the forests are the cultures of some of the tribal peoples. The interest in the cultures of these people has done much to reveal their dependence on die food and drug flora, which is closely inter- woven with all the details of their daily lives. A knowledge of this flora may continue to yield data of great importance to the urban man. The future of botanic gardens and taxonomy is again linked, this time in the common goal of floristic inventory, con- servation and resource studies (Hey wood 1985). In the present environmental crisis taxonomists have to work more closely with ecologists, plant-breeders, conservationists, resource management personnel and environment managers. And Indian taxonomists are not unwilling to shoulder this new, additional responsibility. “Do not try to put two arrows on the string at once - they will both miss. He that would load his gun with two charges cannot expect to be success- ful”. The moral is more than dear. We do not intend to denigrate biosystematics — - or any other dis- cipline of botany for that matter — nor are we op- posed to biosystematics. Our aim is to stress that it is ill-advised to give priority, nay equality, to biosys- tematics over alpha taxonomy under the present cir- cumstances in India. Such a priority would be lop- sided and tantamount to putting the cart before the horse. N CE S ductory review. In: V.H. Hey wood & D.M. Moore ed. Current Topics in Plant Taxonomy. London. (1985): Botanic gardens and taxonomy - their economic role. Bull. Bol. Sun;. India 25: 134-147. Jacobs, M. (1974): Botanical panorama of the Malesian archipelago. Nat. Resour. Res. 12: 263-294. Jain, S.K. & Sastry, A.R.K. (1983): Materials for a Catalogue of Threatened Plants of India. Howrah. Khoshoo, T.N. (1980): Symposium on modem trends in plant taonomy - why this symposium? In P.K.K. Nair ed. Glimpses in Plant Research. V. New Delhi. 1-4. Lauener, L.A. (1978): The typification of Royle’s Ranun- culaceae. Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 36: 127-137. Love, A. & Love, D. (1974): Cytotaxonomical Atlas of the Slovenian Flora. Koenigstem. 212 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Moore, D.M. (1978): The chromosomes and plant taxonomy. In H.E. Street ed. Essays in Plant Taxonomy. Lon- don. 39-56. Parker, P.F. (1978): The classification of crop plants. In H.E. Street ed. Essays in Plant Taxonomy. London. 97-124. Prance, G.T. (1977): Holistic inventory in the tropics: Where do we stand? Ann. Mossouri Bot. Gard 64: 659-684. Raven, P.H. (1976): Systematics and plants population biology. Syst. Bot. 1: 284-316. Santapau, H. (1962): The present state of taxonomy and floristics in India after independence. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 4: 209-216. Schultes, R.E. (1972): The future of plants as sources of new biodynamic compounds. /n.T. Swain ed. Plants in the Development of Modem Medicine. Cambridge, Mass. 103-124. Smith, A.C. (1966): Advice to administrators of sys- tematic collections. Taxon 6: 201-205. Stace, C.A. (1978): Breeding systems, variation pattern and species delimitation. In H.E. Street ed. Essays in Plant Taxonomy. London. 57-78. Steinberg, C.H. (1977): The collectors and collections in the Herbarium Webb. Webbia 32: 1-49. Subramanyam, K. &Nayar,M.P. (1973): Plant taxonomy - its past role and future lines of action in India. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 13: 147-151. Subramanyam, K. & Sreemadhavan, C.P. (1972): The paramount role of herbaria in modem taxonomic research. Bull. Bot. Surv. India 12: 210-212. NEW DESCRIPTIONS BARILIUS NELSONI , A NEW CYPRINID FISH (PISCES : jHYPRINIDAE) FROM TRIPURA, NORTH-EASTERN INDIA R.P. Barman* 2 ( With a text-figure) A new freshwater fish of the genus Barilius Hamilton collected from Tripura, North-eastern India is described and illustrated under the name Barilius nelsoni. The new species is similar to Barilius evezardi Day and Barilius radiolatus Gunther but can be easily separated from the former by the presence of barbels and in having the dorsal fin exactly midway between the hind margin of the orbit and base of caudal fin. The new species differs from the latter species in having fewer lateral line, predorsal and circumpeduncular scales. Introduction The fishes of the cyprinid genus Barilius Hamilton are conspicuous in the fauna of the Indian subcontinent, Thailand, China and Africa. These fishes are, for the most part, inhabitants of hill or mountain streams, although some species live in low-land waters. Usually these fishes have dark spots or bands on a silvery body. Day (1889) recorded 14 species and Jayaram (1981) enumerated 16 species under the genus Barilius from the Indian subcontinent. Recently, Barman (1985, 1986) dis- covered two new species of this genus from Arunachal pradesh (28°N, 95 °E) and West Bengal (23°N, 87#E). Howes (1980) made a very valuable contribution to the anatomy, phylogeny and clas- sification of bariliine cyprinid fishes. During the taxonomic studies on the fishes of Tripura, nine specimens of a species were referable to this genus which, when compared with the known species of the genus Barilius , appeared to represent a hitherto undescribed species. The present species is being described as Barilius nelsoni. In the species descriptions, the mean and, in parentheses, range are given for proportions of body parts to either head length or standard length. Barilius nelsoni sp. nov. Material : Holotype (Fig.l): 62 mm. SL. Regd. No., FF2396 Zoological Survey of India, Accepted July 1986. 2Zoological Survey of Lidia, 27 J L Nehru Road, Calcutta 7 00 016. Calcutta Locality: Gumti River, Udaypur sub- division, South Tripura district. North- eastern India. Collector : R.R Barman and party. Date of collection : 15-8-1985. Paratypes : 8 examples, 42-55 mm. SL. Regd. No. FF2397 ZSI, Calcutta. Locality, collector and date of collection same as in holotype. Diagnosis Dorsal fin origin exactly midway between the hind edge of the orbit and caudal base. Head length 4.54-4.76 and body depth 4.33- 4.58 in standard length. Eye diameter 3.25-3.66 in head length. Least depth of caudal peduncle 1.66-1.85 in its length. Lateral line scales 38-39, predorsal scales 14-16 and circumpeduncular scales 12-14. Barbels 2 pairs. Body with a darkish longitudinal band on its lateral sides. Description Head length 4.65 (4.54-4.76) at the most dis- tant point on the opercular membrane, body depth at pelvic origin 4.46 (4.33-4.58), predorsal distance 1.76 (1.73-1.78), prepelvic distance 2.18 (2.16- 2.21), preanal distance 1.55 (1.52-1.57) and length of the longest ray of the caudal fin from base 4.28 (4.00-4.76) in standard length. Depth of head 1.28 (1.22-1.33) at the occiput and width of head 2.10 (2.00-2.20) in head length. Eye diameter 3.49 (3.25- 3.66) in head length, 1.18 (1.12-1.33) in interorbital width. Snout length 3.75 (3.66-4.00) in head length, 1.27 (1.16- 1.33) in interorbital width. Length of the postorbital part of the head is slightly less than twice 214 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86. the length of the preorbital part of head (or snout length). Cleft of mouth wide, extending to below middle of the orbit. Upper jaw conspicuously longer than the lower jaw which is provided with a poorly developed symphysia! knob. Barbels 2 pairs, anterior or rostral pair slightly longer than the posterior or maxillary pair. Both pairs of barbels shorter than eye diameter. Least depth of caudal peduncle 1.78 (1.66-1.85) in its length. Scales: Lateral line abruptly descending, with 38-39 scales. Lateral transverse scales 12 from the pelvic origin to the dorsum 3 1/2 rows of scales be- tween the lateral line and base of pelvic fin. 14-16 predorsal scales and 12-14 circumpeduncular scales Fins: D.ii, 7; A. iii, 11-12; P. i, 12; V. 1,8; C. 19. Dorsal fin originates exactly midway between the posterior margin of the orbit and base of caudal fin. Pelvic fin commences on a vertical considerably anterior to the dorsal fin. Anal fin originates on a ver- tical posterior to the dorsal fin. Length of the longest dorsal ray 5.76 (5.55-6.11), length of the longest anal ray 6.62 (6.25-6.88), pectoral length 5.21 (5.00- 5.50) and pelvic length 7.42 (7.14-7.85) in standard length. Caudal fin forked with unequal lobes, lower lobe longer than upper. Colour in alcohol: Dorsal surface light grey and sides silvery. A Sight darkish longitudinal band extending from behind the head to the base of caudal fin. All the fins are hyaline. Distribution and Habitat : This species is known only from the River Gumti at Udaypur sub- division, South Tripura district, North-eastem India (23°45’ N, 91°3Q’ E). The holotype and paratypes were collected with cast net from clear, mud- bot- tomed pools with moderate flow. Etymology: For Dr. I.S. Nelson of the Univer- sity of Alberta, Alberta, Canada in recognition of his valuable contribution to the study of the fishes of the world. Discussion Barilius nelsoni is similar to Bari lias evezar- di Day and Barilius radiolatus Gunther in lacking the vertical bars on the body and in almost same head length and body depth. It is considered to be most closely related to these species. The new species can be easily separated from the former species in the position of the dorsal fin which com- mences midway between the hind margin of the orbit and base of caudal fin (vs. hind edge of the orbit and posterior end of the caudal fin), barbels present (vs. absent), lower jaw conspicuously shorter than Fig. 1. Lateral view of holotype of Barilius nelsoni sp. nov. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 215 the upper jaw (vs* lower jaw slightly longer), maxi- lla extending below up to middle of the orbit (vs. anterior margin of the orbit), caudal fin with upper lobe shorter (vs. upper lobe longer). Further, B. net - soni is provided with a darkish longitudinal lateral band extending from behind the head to the base of caudal fin which is lacking ia B. evezardi. The new species can also be separated from B. radiolatus by the fewer number of lateral line scales 38-39 (vs. 56- 62), predorsal scales 14-16 (vs. 24-25) and circum- peduncular scales 12-14 (vs. 18). The presence of symphysial knob on the lower jaw and general appearance of this species with the absence of the characteristic vertical bars so com- mon in the genus Barilius , gives the species a close resemblance to the fishes of the genus Rasbora Bleeker, from which however it may be easily iden- tified by the number of anal fin rays; while its dis- tinctly rounded (not sharp edged) abdomen shows it does not belong to Chela Hamilton. Acknowledgements I am grateful to the Director. Zoological Sur- vey of India, Calcutta for laboratory facilities and to Drs. K.C. Jayaram, Emeritus Scientist and P.K. Tal- war. Scientist “SE’\ Zoological. Survey of India, Calcutta for their encouragement. I am very thank- ful to prof. (Dr.) J.S. Nelson of the University of Al- berta, Alberta, Canada for critically going through the manuscript and for his many valuable comments on the' manuscript. Thanks are also due to Miss Ber- nice Brewster and Dr. CJ. Howes of the British Museum (Natural History), London for lending the syntypes of Barilius radiolatus Gunther for this study. I am also thankful to Mr. D. Pyne and Mr. P. Biswas, departmental artists for making a drawing of this fish. References Barman, R.P. (1985): On a new cyprinid fish of the genus Barilius Hamilton (Pisces ; Cyprinidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India. J. Bombay mi. Hist. Soc. , 82 (1): 170-174. — (1986): A new freshwater fish of the genus Barilius Hamilton (Pisces:Cyprimdae) from West Bengal, India. ibid. 83(1): 171-173. Day, F. (1889): The Fauna of British India, including Ceyiorrand Buraia. Fishes 1: i-xx, 1-584. Taylor and Francis. London. Howes, G.S. (1980): The anatomy, phylogeny, classifica- tion of bariliine cyprinid fishes. Bull. Br. Musi. not. Hist. ( Zool. ) 37 (3): 129-198. Jayaram, K.C. (1981): The Freshwater Fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka - A handbook. Govt, of India, i- xxii, 1-475. pis. XHI. A NEW FROG OF THE GENUS PHILAUTUS GISTEL, FROM THE PROPOSED NAM- DAPHA BIQSPPIERE RESERVE, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, NORTHEAST INDIA S.K. Chanda and A.K. Ghosh1 2 (With a text-figure) During the study of a large collection from the proposed Namdapha Biosphere Reserve, we came across a new species of frog of the genus Philautus Gistel (Family Rhacophoridae), which is described here. Philautus shyamrepus sp. nov. (Fig. 1) Colour varying from grey to brown on the dor- sum. A dorsolateral white band on either side, ex- 1 Accepted January 1988. 2Zoological Survey of India, 27 J L Nehru Road Calcutta 700 016. tending from posterior region of eyes and ending posteriorly near the vent. Limbs dark brown to grey. Eyes blackish; ventral surface dirty white. A dark, narrow line originating from the interorbital region, extends posteriorly to the hindmost part of the body. Skin smooth above. Chest and belly smooth. Ventral surface almost smooth. Head as long as broad; snout obtusely pointed, slightly longer than eyes; canthus ro stralis distinct; nostrils closer to tip of snout than eyes; intemaria! distance less than interorbi- tal space which is equal to diameter of eyes; tym- panum distinct, two-third of diameter of eyes; 216 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86. Table 1 BODY MEASUREMENTS IN MM OF FIVE SPECIMENS OF Philaulus shyamrupus SP. NOV FROM NAMDAPHA 1 2 3 4 5 Length of head and body 25.0 22.0 22.0 19.5 19.5 Length of head 6.5 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 Width of head 6.5 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 Length of snout 4.5 4.0 4.0 3.5 3.5 Length of eye 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.5 Interorbital width 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 Diameter of tympanum 2.4 2.0 2.0 1.2 1.2 Length of forearm 16.5 16.0 16.0 14.0 14.0 Length of first finger 3.5 2.0 2.0 1.2 1.2 Length of second finger 4.0 3.5 3.5 2.5 2.5 Length of third finger 5.0 4.5 4.5 3.5 3.5 Hind limb 33.5 30.5 30.5 27.0 27.0 Length of tibia 12.5 11.0 11.0 9.4 9.3 Length of foot 9.0 7.5 7.5 6.0 6.0 Third toe 3.0 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.0 Fourth toe 4.5 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 Fifth toe 3.0 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.0 Fig. 1. Philaulus shyamrupus sp. nov. A. dorsal view of the body; B. ventral view of the hand; C. ventral view of the foot NEW DESCRIPTIONS 217 tongue free and deeply notched behind. Forelimbs moderately long and slender; fingers free with prominent rounded tips; first finger shorter than second. Hindi imbs fairly long; tibiotarsal articulation reaching nostrils; heels just meeting when hind limbs folded at right angles to body; tibia half the length from tip of snout to vent and three to four times as long as broad; fourth toe longest, longer than snout and with prominent discs; discs of toes broader than long; more than two-third webbed, two distal phalanges of fourth toe free; subarticular tubercles not prominent; both inner and outer metatarsal tubercles absent. Measurements : See table 1. Holotype : Adult female, Regd. Z.S.I. (K.Z. 313) collected from Hombill, Namdapha Tiger Reserve and proposed Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh; 13. xii. 1983, coll. S. Biswas. Paratypes : Four adult males, Regd. Z.S.I. (K.Z. 3 14-3 17), collected from Hombill, Namdapha Tiger Reserve and proposed Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, 13. xii. 1983, coll. S. Biswas. The species is named after Dr. Shyamrup Bis- was, who led the survey team to the area. Comparisons: Eight species of the genus Philautus Gistel, have been described from north- east India, namely Philautus argus (Annandale), P. annandalii (Boulenger), P. andersoni (Ahl), P. cherrapunjiae (Roonwai & Kripalani), P. garo (Boulenger), P. kempiae (Boulenger), P. nam- daphaensis (Sarkar & Sanyal), and P. shiilongensis Pillai & Chanda. Of these, the present species ap- pears close to P. argus , but can be distinguished from it in having toes that are not fully webbed; (fully webbed in argus ); indistinct subarticular tubercles (subarticular tubercles distinct in argus ) and head as long as broad (head longer than broad in argus . Moreover, when compared with all the species of the genus Philautus from the Indo- Australian Archipelago, the present species revealed some affinities with P. aurifasciatus (Schlegel), described from Java, but can be distinguished from it in having a much larger tympanum which is more than half the diameter of eye (one-third to nearly half in aurifasciatus ), nostrils much closer to tip of snout than eyes (nostrils equidistant from eyes and tip of snout in aurifasciatus ) and absence of inner metatarsal tubercle (inner metatarsal tubercle present in aurifasciatus ). A combination of four characters, namely smooth skin, nearly fully webbed toes, indistinct subarticular tubercles and absence of both inner and outer metatarsal tubercles distinguishes Philautus shyamrupus from both Philautus argus and Philautus aurifasciatus . Acknowledgements We thank the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta for providing the necessary facilities to work on the collections and the MAB -India Com- mittee for financing the Namdapha Project. A NEW SPECIES OF PINNOTHERES LATREILLE (DECAPODA: BRACHYURA) FROM VISAKHAPATNAM COAST OF BAY OF BENGAL, ANDHRA PRADESH1 K. Nirmala Devi and K. Shyamasundari2 ( With eight text-figures ) A new species of the genus Pinnotheres Latreille is descnbed from Visakhapatnam. The new species Pinnotheres hanumantharaoi is related to P. pectinicola Burger. The differences between P. pectinicola Burger and P. hanumantharaoi are also given. Introduction The diagnostic characters of the genus Pin- Accepted January 1988. department of Zoology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003. notheres Latreille were given by Miers (1886) and Acock (1900). Burger (1895) described about 30 new species of Pinnotheres and gave a key. Later Rafnbun (1910) examined the Pinnotheres of the Gulf of Siam and added 7 new species. Tesch (1918) enumerated 65 Indo-Pacific species of Pinnotheres inhabiting the mantle cavity of Lamellibranchs and 218 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol. 86. also provided a key to the species. Homell & South- well (1909) furnished a list of species of Pinnotheres with their respective hosts and localities where they occur. Description for a new species of Pinnotheres placunae which lives in Placuna placenta from Okha was furnished. Chhapgar (1957) described a new species of Pinnotheres , P. vicajii collected from the biyalve Paphia malabarica at Bombay. Another new species of Pinnotheres , P. san- guinolaria obtained from the mantle cavity of San- guinolaria diphos inhabiting shallow waters of Travancore was described by Krishna Pillai (1951). Description Tribe Family Subfamily Genus Catometopa PINNOTHERE) AE PlNNOTHERINAE Pinnotheres Latreille Pinnotheres hanumantharaoi sp. nov. Type: Holotype , berried female 10 mm broad and 9 mm long. Walking legs: see Table 1. Paratypes: (1) female 14 mm broad, 13 mm long; (2) berried female 9 mm broad, 8 mmlong; (3) female 9 mm broad, 8 mm long; (4) berried female 8 mm broad, 7 mm long; (5) berried female 10 mm broad, 9 mm long. Average measurement 9 mm broad and 8 mm long Collected from offshore fishing station, Visak- hapatnam, during 1979-80. They were obtained from the mantle cavity of Pecten pleuronectes Lamarck. 110 shells of Pecten pleuronectes were opened and only 20 female Pinnotheres could be collected. No males were ever found and it can be presumed that they are free living. The holotype and paratypes are now in the Zoology Msueum of Andhra University, Waltair. They will be deposited in the museum of Zoological Survey of India, Cal- cutta. Carapace brown, subcircular, convex especial- ly towards the middle region, regions indistinct. Carapace is smooth, completely naked without sculpture and membranous. Front is 2/5 of the breadth of the Carapace, slightly thickened and not prominent (Figs. 1 & 2). Eyes are not visible from above and are pale brown in colour. The external maxillipeds are conspicuous but covered by the seventh segment of abdomen. Merus-ischium of the external maxilliped is broad and its outer border much curved. Along the inner border of merus-is- chium long hairs are implanted. The distal end of its outer border also bears long hairs. Palp of the exter- nal maxilliped is three-jointed. Carpus is shorter than the propodus. The Dactylus is inserted on the inner side of the propodus. Dactylus is narrow, styliform, reaching a little beyond the rounded dis- tal end of the propodus; it carries a few long hairs at its tip. The outer border of carpus is curved and also lined by hairs. Exopodite is conspicuous, shorter than merus-ischium and the tip carries a Pinnotheres hanumantharaoi sp. nov. Fig. 1. Dorsal view; 2. Ventral view. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 219 1.o mm Pinnotheres hanumanlharaoi sp. nov. Fig. 3. Third maxilliped (right); 4. Right chelate leg; 5. Fingers of the right chelate leg; 6. Right fourth walking leg; 7. Dactylus of right fourth walking leg; 8. Abdomen. 220 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 WALKING LEGS OF HOLOTYPE OF P. hanumantharaoi SP. NOV Merus Carpus Propodus Dactylus Total Right : Length of Istleg 3 2 2 2 9mm Length of 2nd leg 5 4 3 3 15 mm Length of 3rd leg 3 2 2 2 9mm Length of 4th leg 3 2 2 2 9mm Chelate leg Arm 3 Wrist 2 Hand 4 Fingers 2 11 mm Lefv. Length of 1st leg 3 2 2 2 9 mm Length of 2nd leg 4 3 3 2 12 mm Length of 3rd leg 3 2 2 2 9 mm Length of 4th leg 3 2 2 2 9mm Chelate leg Arm 3 Wrist 2 Hand 4 Fingers 2 11 mm few (6 to 8) long hairs (Fig. 3). Chelipeds stouter than the walking legs. The arm, wrist and outer- border of hand smooth and devoid of armature, the hand twice as long as fingers; fingers thick, tip of the movabale finger curved, posterior border of the distal half of the hand and entire posterior border of immovable finger bears hairs. The posterior two- thirds border of movable finger also carries hairs, a few hairs also near its tip (Figs. 4 & 5). Small teeth are seen at the distal part of the immovable finger. The walking legs slender, completely naked, second pair of legs the longest, first, third and last pair of legs equal in length, the dactyli of legs ex- cept the second pair equal in length, the dactyli of the first, third and last pairs of legs as long as their propodites, the dactyli of last two pairs of legs as broad as the propodites except the tips which are narrow and incurved as hooks. The dactyli of first and second pairs of legs more slender than their propodites and curved like hooks, the dactyli of second pair longer than the dactyli of remaining walking legs (Figs. 6 & 7). Abdomen seven-segmented, broad covering the bases of the legs, light brown, and naked without any armature (Fig. 8). Eggs numerous, brown in colour, measuring 0.264 mm in diameter. D i s cu s s i o N resembles P. pectinicola Burger to some extent. In the key given by Burger, P. pectinicola comes under section I, group A which is characterised by the dac- tylus of second gnathopod being inserted on the inner comer of the propodus and extending slightly beyond it, and a rectangular carapace. The differen- ces between P. pectinicola Burger and the present species are summarised here The resemblances are (1) legs slender, naked, (2) tips of the dactyli of legs curved inwards, (3) the dactylus of third maxilliped extends beyond propodus, (4) dactylus of third maxilliped inserted on inner margin of propodus. Nobili (1906) also gave a key to the species of Pinnotheres and described P. pectinicola Burger. From the above points it is evident that it dif- fers from P. pectinicola Burger and these differen- ces are sufficient to separate it as a new species. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Masatsune Takeda, Nation- al Science, Museum, Tokyo, Japan for his sugges- tions and Mayadebi of Z.S.I., Calcutta for provid- ing valuable literature. One of the authors (KND) is grateful to the Department of Ocean Development, Government of India for financial assistance. Pinnotheres hanumantharaoi sp. nov. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 221 P. hanumantharaoi sp. nov. P. Pectinicoia Burger 1. Host-Pecten pleuronectes. 2. Breadth and length of carapace 10 & 9 mm respectively 3. Carapace subcircular, convex 4. Eyes pale brown 5. Fingers of chelipeds half the length of hand 6. Second pair of walking legs longer than remaining pairs 7. All segments of walking not of equal length. 8. Hairs present along with inner border of merasischium and outer border of carpus of third maxilliped. Host-Pecten radula. Breadth and length of carapace 8 & 7 mm respectively. Carapace almost rectangular, more or less flat. Eyes lade pigment. Fingers of chelipeds as long as those of hand. Middle two pairs of walking legs longer than others. All segments of walking legs of equal length. In the diagram given by Burger (1985), hairs are not seen on inner border of me ms chi um and outer border of carpus. References Alcock, A. (1900): Materials for a carcinological Fauna of India. No. 6. The Brachyura Catometopa, orGrapsoidea, Jour As. Soc. Bengal , 19 , No. HI, pp. 279-456. Burger, O. (1895): Ein Beitrag sur Kenntniss der Pin- notherinen. Zool-Jahrb. Syst . 8: 361-390. Chhapgar, B.F. (1957): Marine crabs of Bombay State. J. Bombay nat . Hist. Soc. 54(3): 503-549. Horne ll, James & Southwell, T. (1909): Description of a new species of Pinnotheres from P lacuna placenta with a note on the genus. Report on the Marine Zoology of Okhaman- dal in Kattiawar, Ft. 1, pp. 99-103. Miers, E.J. (1886): Report on the Brachyura collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-1876. Rep. Voy. " Challenger " , Zool ., (17): 2:1- 362. Nobili, G. (1906): “Fanne Carcinologique de la Mer Rouge, Decapodes et Stomatopodes”. Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. 4: 1- 347. Pillai, N.K. (1951): Decapoda (Brachyura) from Travan- core. Bull, central Research Institute, University of Travancore, Trivandrum , ii. No. 1 Ser. C: 1 -46. Rathbun, MJ. (1910): The Danish expedition to Siam 1899-1900. V. Brachyura. K. Darts ke. Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. 5 (4): 30-368. Tesch, J.J. (1918): Die Decapoda Brachyura Der Siboga- Expedition. Goneplacidae and Pinnotheridae. Siboga Exped. Rep. xxxixci: 149-295. ON SOME RARE SPIDERS OF THE FAMILY ZODARIIDAE (ARANEAE : ARACHNIDA) FROM COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA1 B.H. Patel and T.S. Reddy2 ( With two text-figures) The family Zodariidae, genus Storena and 5. gujaratensis Tikader and Patel and S. indica Tikader and Patel are recorded for the first time from Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Two new species S. arakuensis and S. tikaderi are described and illustrated. Introduction The spiders of the family Zodariidae are very little known from India. Simon (1893) first recorded the family from Indian sub- continent. Later Pocock (1901), Simon (1905, 1906), Gravely (1921) and Reimoser (1934) described few more species of the family from India. Recently Tikader and Patel (1975) and Tikader and Malhotra (1976) described some new species of the genera Storena and Lutica Accepted October 1987. department of Zoology, Sir P.P. Institute of Science, Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar 364 002, Gujarat, India. from India. In all sixteen species belonging to seven genera are known from our country. While examining the spider collections from Coastal Andhra Pradesh, we came across four species of spiders of this family, out of which two are the new species which are described in this paper. The family, genus Storena and S. gujaraten- sis and S. indica are all recorded for the first time from Coastal Andhra Pradesh. These spiders are found under stones or dead leaves on the ground. All the type specimens will in due course be deposited in the National Collections, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. 222 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 0*5 m m Fig. 1. Storena arakuensis sp. nov. a. Dorsal view of female, legs omitted; b. Sternum, labium and maxillae; c. Epigyne; d. Internal genitalia; e. Right male palp, ventral view; f. Right male; palp inner view; g. Right male palp, outer view; h. Spinnerets. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 223 1. Storena gujaratcnsis Tikader and Patel 1975. Storena gujaratensis Tikader and Patel, Bull. Brit. Arach. Soc. , 3 (5): 138. Specimens examined: 2 Males, Nellore, Dist. Nellore, 13-9- 1986; 1 female, Simhachalam, 7-10- 1986, and 1 female Borraguhalu, 17-10-1986, Dist. Visakhapatnam, Coll. T.S. Reddy. Distribution: INDIA: Napad, Gujarat; Nel- lore and Visakhapatnam Dists., Andhra Pradesh. 2. Storena indica Tikader and Patel 1975. Storena indica Tikader and Patel , Buli. Brit. Arach. Soc., 3 (5): 137-138. Specimens examined: 1 Female, Draksharama, Ramachandrapuram, Dist. East Godavari, 7-9-1986. Coll. T.S. Reddy. Distribution: INDIA: Pavagadh, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat; East Godavari, Dist. Andhra Pradesh. 3. Storena arakucnsis sp. nov. (Fig. 1) General : Cephalo thorax reddish brown, legs yellowish, abdomen brown. Total length 7.13 mm. Carpace 3.63 mm long, 2.45 mm wide; abdomen 3.50 mm long, 2.45 mm wide. Cephalothorax: Longer than wide, slightly narrowing in front, anterior margin round and smooth; middle of cephalothorax provided with a conspicuous fovea. Eyes pearly white, in two rows; both rows procurved but posterior row strongly procurved with equal eyes. Anterior median eyes larger than the others, lateral eyes nearly contiguous. Posterior median eyes closer to each other than to the laterals. Ocular quad longer than wide, slightly wider behind than in front as in Fig. l.a. Sternum heart shaped, pointed behind, clothed with fine hairs, labium longer than wide. Maxillae provided with a tuft of scopulae at the distal end. Sternum, labium and maxillae as in Fig. 1 .b. Chelicerae strong and stout, short, fang groove with a small tooth on each of the two margins. Legs long and strong, clothed with hairs and spines. Tibiae and metatarsus of all legs with three pairs of ventral spines. Tarsal claws three, the median one being very small. Leg formula 4 12 3. Male is similar and practically of the same size of female. Total length 6.66 mm. Male palp as in Fig. 1. f and g. Abdomen: Oval, longer than wide, pointed be- hind, clothed with fine hairs. Anterior dorsal side of abdomen provided with three pairs of conspicuous white patches and posterior end with two incon- spicuous white transverse markings and with three corrugations on posterior lateral sides as in Fig. l.a. Ventral side pale with two longitudinal brown mark- ings. The anterior spinnerets are long and the other two pairs are comparatively short as in Fig. l.h. Epigyne and internal genitalia as in Fig. l.c and d. Holotype: One female, paratype two females, Allotype three males in spirit. Type -locality: Araku valley, Araku, Dist. Visakhapatnam, 28-9-1985. Coll. T.S. Reddy. Diagnosis: This species resembles to Storena indica Tikader and Patel but it is separated as fol- lows: (i) Anterior dorsal side of abdomen provided with three pairs of irregular and posteriorly two median irregular conspicuous white patches but in S. indica anterior dorsal side of abdomen with two pairs of oblong and posteriorly three median con- spicuous white patches present, (ii) Epigyne and in- ternal genitalia are also structurally different, (iii) The structure of male palp is differs. 4. Storena tikadcri sp. nov. (Fig. 2) General: Cephalothorax and legs reddish brown, abdomen dark brown. Total length 6.53 mm. Carapace 2.72 mm long, 1.90 mm wide; abdomen 3.81 mm long, 2.45 mm wide. Cephalothorax: Longer than wide, slightly narrowing in front, anterior margin round and smooth, practically without hairs except for a few spine like hairs on the cephalic region. Middle of cephalothorax provided with a conspicuous fovea. Eyes pearly white, in two rows; both rows procurved and with eyes equal in size. Anterior median eyes larger than the others, laterals nearly contiguous. Posterior median eyes closer to each other than to the laterals. Ocular quad as long as wide, slightly wider behind than in front as in Fig. 2.a. Sternum heartshaped, pointed behind, clothed with hairs. Labium longer than wide reddish, brown. Maxillae roundish, distal end light yellow in colour. Sternum, labium and maxillae as in Fig. 2.b. Chelicerae stout and short, fang groove with a single small tooth on each of the two margins. Legs long and clothed with 224 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86. Fig. 2. Storena tikaderi sp. nov a. Dorsal view of female, legs omitted; b. Sternum, labium and maxillae; c. Epigyne; d. Internal genitalia; e. Right male palp ventral view; f. Right male palp inner view; g. Right male palp outer view; h. Spinnerets NEW DESCRIPTIONS 225 hairs and spines. Tibiae and metatarsus of legs I and II with three pairs of ventral spines. Tarsal claws three, the median one being very small. Leg formula 4 12 3. Male is similar but smiler than the female. Total length 5.35 mm. Male palp as in Fig. 2. e, f and g- Abdomen : Oval, longer than wide, pointed be- hind, clothed with fine hairs. Anterior dorsal side of abdomen provided with three pairs of conspicuous white patches and posterior end with more than two pairs of inconspicuous white transverse markings as in Fig. 2.a. Ventral side pale in colour with two longitudinal deep brown markings. The anterior spinnerets are long and the other two pairs are com- paratively shorter as in Fig. 2.h. Epigyne and inter- nal genitalia are as in Fig. 2.c and d. Holotype : One Female, paratype six Females, allotype one Male in spirit. Type-locality : Araku valley, Araku, Dist. Visakhapatnam, 18-10-1986. Coll. T.S. Reddy. Distribution: 2 Females, 1 Ma!e,Tadikalapudi, Dist. West Godavari, 1-9-1985; 1 Female, Narasaraopeta, Dist. Guntur, 20-3- 1986 and 1 Refer Comstock, J.H. (1965): The Spider Book. rev. W.J. Gertsch: 336- 338. Gravely, F.H. (1921): The spiders and scorpions of Barkuda Island. Rec. Ind. Mus , 22 : 400-421. Pocock, Ri. (1900): The Fauna of British India, Arach- nida London, pp. 153-279. (1901): Description of some new species of spiders from British India. J. Bombay nal. Hist. Soc. , 13 : 498. Simon, E. (1893): Histoire naturelie des Araignees, Paris. 1 (2): 408-439. — (1893): Arachnides in Voyage de M. Simon aux lies Philippines. Annls. Soc. ent. France 62 : 79. — (1905): Voyage de M. Maurice Maindron dans Female, Vellatur, Dist. Guntur, 24-3-1986; 1 Female, Borraguhalu, Dist. Visakhapatnam, 17-10- 1986. Diagnosis : This species resembles to Storena arakuensis sp. nov. but it is separated as follows: (i) The posterior cephaiothorax is provided with radiat- ing cephalic furrows but in Storena arakuensis sp. nov. only the cephalic groove present, (ii) The posterior dorsal side of abdomen is provided with ir- regular white patch but in S. arakuensis sp. nov, posterior dorsal side of abdomen is provided with different type of irregular white patch and also with three corrugations on posterior lateral sides, (iii) The structures of epigyne and internal genitalia are dif- ferent. (iv) Structure of male palp is also different. Acknowledgements We are thankful to Prof. K.B. Tipnis, Principal, Sir P.P. Institute of Science, Bhavnagar for provid- ing laboratory facilities and encouragements. One of us (TSR) is also greatful to the Government of Gujarat for financial assistance. ENCES Flnde Meridional, Arachnides. Annls. Soc. ent. Fr. , 74 : 160- 180. (1906): Voyage de M. Maurice Maindron dans I’lnde Meridional, arachnides. Annls. Soc. ent. Fr. , 75 : 279- 305. Thorell, T. (1895): Spiders of Burma. London, pp. 75-76. Tikader, B.K. & Patel, B.H. (1975): Studies on some rare spiders of the family Zodariidae from India. Bull. Brit. Arach. Soc. , 3 (5): 137-139. — & Malhotra, M.S. (1976): A new species of spider of the genus Luiica (Family Zodariidae) from India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. , 72 (3): 794-796. 226 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 TWO NEW SPECIES OF SKIMMIA (RUTACEAE) FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA1 Anil k. Goel2 and B.N. Mehrotra3 (With two text-figures) Two new species, Skimmia arunachalensis and S. kamengensis , from West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayas are described. Their diagnostic characters with S. arborescens are discussed and the key for the identification of five Indian Skimmias, is provided. Introduction Rutaceae are represented by 150 genera with 900 species. They are distributed in tropical and warm temperate regions, particularly in South Africa and Australia (Hey wood 1978). Skimmia Thunb. has about 18 species, mainly from Japan, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Formosa, Burma, Thailand and the Philippines. So far, three species, namely S. laureola (DC.) Sieb. & Zucc., S. arborescens T. Anders, ex Gamble and S. melanocarpa Rehder are known from the Indian subcontinent (Gamble 1917, Hara 1965). S. laureola is distributed in the whole Himalayan range and the other two species are restricted to the Central and Eastern Himalayas. During the course of plant collection from West Kameng district of Arunachal pradesh, under the biological screening programme of the Central Drug Research Institute, two interesting species belonging to Skimmia , were collected. On critical identification at CAL, DD, CDRI, Assam, LWG and a scrutiny of the literature, they were found to be dis- tinct from the known species of Skimmia. The two species are described and illustrated here. Skimmia arunachalensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1) Skimmia arborescenti affinis, sed differt petiolis 0.5- 1.0 cm longis, paniculis parvis, 0.6- 1.2 cm longis, petalis oblongis 3.0-4.0 mm longis, an- theris majoribus, 2 mm longis, drupis majoribus, 9- 13 mm diam., subglobosis, rugosisque in pedicellis ^.D.R.I. Communication No. 4004. Accepted December 1987. 2Botanic Garden, National Botanical Research Institute, Luck- now 226 001. 3Botany Division, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow 226 001 Ilolotypus lectus a A.K. Goel sub numero 14216 A, ad locum Bomdila, Kameng occ., alt. 2500 m, die April 2, 1984,etIsotypiA.Ar. Goel 14216 B-D,positi in herbario C.D.R.I. Lucknow. Small glabrous, evergreen trees c. 3-4 m high. Twigs bright green. Leaves alternate or crowded towards the end of branches, simple, petiolate; petioles 0.5- 1.0 cm long; lamina 4.5-14.0 x (1.0-) 2. 0-3. 5 cm, lanceolate or oblong lanceolate, acuminate to caudate with cuneate, sometimes obli- que base, thinly coriaceous, sparsely gland dotted on both surfaces, nerves indistinct on both sides. Panicles small, dense, terminal or axillary, 0.6-1. 2 cm long. Flowers yellowish white, polygamous, subsessile or pedicellate. Pedicels 1.0- 1.5 mm long, thick. Bracts and bracteoles 1. 5-2.5 x 1. 0-2.0 mm, ovate, acuminate, with ciliate margins. Sepals 5, im- bricate, 2.0-2.5 x 1.0- 1.5 mm, broadly ovate, with ciliate margins, persistent in fruits. Petals 5, 3.0- 4.0 x 1.0- 1.5 mm, oblong, obtuse. Stamens 5; anthers 2.0 x 0.75 mm, yellowish, dorsifixed; filaments c. 1.25 mm long, white, stout, subulate. Ovary ovoid, rudimentary in male flowers; styles divided at top in 3 short stigmatic branches, c. 0.5 x 0.5 mm, white; female flowers; only 1-2 develop in subglobose drupes. Pedicels enlarged in fruits, 5-10 mm long. Drupes 9-13 x 7-13 mm, rugose with c. 1-2 mm diam. stigmatic scar on top. Seeds ovoid 6-7 x 4-5 mm, whitish cartilagenous. Flowers & Fruits: March -June. Habitat : On open or shady slopes alongwith Salix along forest edges. This species is allied to Skimmia arborescens T. Anders, ex Gamble but differs in having small, 0.5- 1.0 cm long petioles; 0.6- 1.2 cm long panicles; petals oblong, 3. 0-4.0 mm long; anthers larger, 2 mm long; drupes large, 9-13 mm diam., subglobose, rugose on c. 1.5 mm thick pedicels. Type: INDIA: Arunachal Pradesh: Bomdila NEW DESCRIPTIONS 227 Fig. 1. Skimmia arunachalensis sp. nov. 1 . Habit; 2. Rower, 3 & 4. Dorsal & ventral view of bract; 5 & 6. Dorsal & ventral view of sepal; 7 & 8. Dorsal & ventral view of petal; 9 & 10. Stamens; 11. Fruit. (Anil K. Goel, 14216 — A, CDRI). 228 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol.86. (West Kameng Dist.) 2500 m, April 2, 1984, A.K. Goel 14216 A (Holotype); AK. Goel 14216 B-D (Isotypes) - CDRI; Bomdila Camp, April 13, 1957, G. Panigrahi 6885 A-D (Paratypes) - CAL. Skimmia kamengensis sp. nov. (Fig. 2) A Skimmia arhorescenti facile distinguibilis petiolis parvis, 0.8- 1.5 cm longis, foliis obovato- oblongis, coriaceis, cum 10-20 nervis lateralibus non arcuatis secus marginem; paniculis majoribus, 5.0- 8.0 cm, laxis, bracteis parvis, 1.0-1. 5 mm lon- gis, sepalis 1.0- 1.5 mm longis, marginibus non ciliatis, drupis atro-viridibus, parvioribus, 3. 0-6.0 mm diam., pyriformibus. Holotypus lectus a BJN. Mehrotra sub numero 2446 A, ad locum Bomdila, Kameng occ., alt. 3048 m, die May 5, 1970, et Isotypi RJV. Mehrotra 2446 B-C, positi in herbario C.D.R.I. Lucknow. Small trees. Leaves alternate or crowded at the ends of branches, simple, petiolate; petioles 0.8-1. 5 cm long; lamina 7.0-14.0 x 2.5-4 .2 cm, obovate oblong, acute to obtuse with cuneate base, coriaceous, sparsely gland dotted below, thickly gland dotted above; midrib thick, prominent on both surfaces; lateral nerves indistinct. Panicles lax, ter- minal, branched, hispid, 5.0-8.0 cm long, many flowered. Rowers cream coloured. Pedicels 3-10 Fig. 2. Skimmia kamengensis sp. nov. 1. Habit; 2. Flower, 3. Bracts; 4. Sepal in dorsal & ventral view; 6. Stamen in dorsal & ventral view; 8. Gynoecium; 7 & 9. Fruits (B.N. Mehrotra, 2446 — A, CDRI). NEW DESCRIPTIONS 229 mm long, thick. Bracts and bracteoles 1.0- 1,5 x 1.0 mm, ovate, acute with ciliate margins. Sepals 5, im- bricate, 1.0- 1.5 x 1.25 mm, broadly ovate, obtuse, tomentose with ciliate margins, persistent in fruits. Petals 5, 5.0-6.0 x 1. 0-2.0 mm, spathulate, thick, ob- tuse. Stamens 5, excelled; anthers 2-lobed, 0.75-1.0 x 0.75-1.0 mm, yellowish, dorsifixed, opening lon- gitudinally; filaments 4.0- 5.0 mm long, stout, sub- ulate, white. Ovary small, fixed at 0.75 mm across disc, 2 celled; style c. 2 mm long, stout; stigma KEY FOR IDENTIFICATION OF FIVE SPECIES OF Skimmia la. Low trees; leaves caudate, acuminate, thinly coriaceous: 2a Anthers larger, 2 mm long; fruits 9.0- 13.0mm diam., subglobose, rugose S. arunachalensis 2b. Anthers smaller, 0.5 mm long; fruits less than 9.0 mm diam., globose, smooth 5 arbor esce ns lb. Shrubs; leaves acute to obtuse, thickly coriaceous: 3a. Flowers in lax panicles; fruits pyriform S. kamengensis Flowers & Fruits: April - June. Habitat: On shady slopes. It can be readily distinguished from 5. ar- borescens by small 0.8- 1.5 cm long petioles; obovate oblong, coriaceous leaves with 10-20 lateral nerves, without arching along margins; panicles larger, 5.0-8.0 cm, loose; bracts small, 1.0- 1.5 mm long; sepals 1.0- 1.5 mm long with ciliate margins; drupes greenish black, smaller 3. 0-6.0 mm diam., pyriform. With the discovery of these two new species, the total number of taxa described under Skimmia rises to twenty; of these, S. laureola is distributed over the whole Himalayan range and S. arborescens , S. melanocarpa , S. arunachalensis and S. karnengensis are reported from the Central and Eastern Himalayan regions of the Indian sub- continent. To facilitate the identification of the above five species occurring in India, the following key is provided: 3b. Flowers in dense panicles; fruits ovoid to globose: 4a. Leaves elliptic, smaller; drupes black... S. melanocarpa 4b. Leaves oblong elliptic, larger; drapes dark red S. laureola single, capitate. Drupes pyriform, 3. 0-6.0 mm across. Seed 1, cartilagenous. Refer Gamble, J.S. (1917): The Himalayan species of Skimmia. Kew Bull. 40: 301-303. Hara, H. (1965): New or noteworthy flowering plants Acknowledgements We thank the Director, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow for facilities and Dr. N.C Majumdar, Regional Botanist, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah, for help in the Latin diagnosis. : n ce s from Eastern Himalaya (4). J. Jap. Bot. 40: 98-99. Heywood, V.H. (1978): Flowering plants of the world. Oxford University, London, pp. 236. ERIA LOHITENSIS — A NEW SPECIES OF ORCHID FROM ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA A. Nageswara Rao2, K. Haridasan3 and S.N. Hegde2 ( With a text-figure) During a collection trip to Lohit district of Arunacha! Pradesh, one of us (Haridasan) collected an orchid belonging to the genus Eria Lindl. A criti- cal study based on the regional herbarium specimens of allied species and also literature on Asiatic species of Eria has proved it to be quite distinct from species so far known. Hence it is described here as a new species. The new species belongs to the section Cylindrolobus Bl. of the genus Eria and can at once be distinguished from the rest of the species of the section by the presence of lip with ciliate midlobe. Eria lohltcnsis sp. nov. (Fig.l) Affinis E. cristata Rolfe, a qua imprimis dif- fer! sepaiis acuminatis tiinervis, labelli lobis medio oblongo ciliato. Holotypus: lectus ad locum Mailang - Mithumna, alt. 1600 m, die 11-5-1985, Haridasan 2185 (Arunachal Forest Herbarium). Fig. 1. Eria lohitensis sp. nov. 1. Plant; 2. Flower, 3. Dorsal sepal; 4. Lateral sepal; 5. Petal; 6. Lip; 7. Ovary, column, column-foot and lip; 8. Anther cap. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 231 Epiphyte. Stems about 20 cm long and 8 mm thick, clavate. Leaves upto 6, terminal, about 15x2 cm, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, shortly petioled. Inflorescences many, arising laterally from the stem at various intervals from middle on the stem to sub- terminus. Inflorescence 2-flowered, about 3.5 cm long. Rachis white pubescent, with two sterile bracts at short intervals. Floral bract about 8x4 mm, shorter than the pedicellate ovary, acute. Rowers about 2 cm long, white. Dorsal sepal about 10 x 2 mm, lanceolate, acuminate, white pubescent out- side, 3-nerved. Lateral sepals about 10x5 mm, obli- quely ovate-triangular, acuminate, forming a men- tum with the foot of column, white pubescent out- side, 3 nerved. Petals about 8.0 x 1.5 mm, oblong — lanceolate, acute to acuminate, 3-nerved. Lip about 7 mm long 3 mm broad across the lateral lobes, shorter than the sepals and petals, 3-lobed; lateral lobes 4 mm long, rounded, with 2 prominent paral- lel vertical lamellae inbetween on the disc; midlobe 3 mm long, oblong, acute, ciliate at margins, with a median vertical hairy ridge on the disc. Column Refer Hooker, J.D. (1890). The Flora of British India. Vol. 5. L. Reev & Co., Ashford, Kent. Joseph, J., Hegde, S.N. & Abbareddy, N.R. (1983). Eria connata (Lindl.) Joseph, Hegde et Abbareddy — a new species of orchid from Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Bull. bot. Surv. India 24 (1-4). -114-116. King, G. & Pantling, R. (1898): The Orchids of Sikkim about 2 mm long, with a long foot which is in curved at apex. Anther cap semiglobular, 4-celled. Ovary with pedicel about 1 cm long, white pubescent. Flowering: May. Occurrence : Arunachal Pradesh, Lohit district, Mailang - Mithumna (1600 m). Distribution : Endemic. Eria lohitensis is allied to E. cristata Rolfe which is reported from Burma and Thailand but can be easily distinguished from the latter by the presence of acuminate, 3- nerved sepals instead of acute, 5-nerved sepals and oblong ciliate midlobe of lip instead of broadly ovate midlobe of lip which is entire at margin. Acknowledgements Sincere thanks are due to the Chief Conser- vator of Forests, Itanagar and the Conservator of Forests, Banderdewa, Forest Department of Arunachal Pradesh for facilities and encourage- ment. en ce s Himalaya. Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 8. T-342. Kranzlin, F. (1911): Orchidaceae — Monandrae — Dendrobiinae. 2. In A. Engler (ed.) Das Pflenzenreich Hft 50: 1- 82. Seidenfaden, G. (1982): Orchid General in Thailand X. Trie kotos ia Bl. and Eria Lindl. Opera Bot. 62: 1- 157. REVIEW BIRDS TO WATCH: THE ICBP WORLD CHECKLIST OF THREATENED BIRDS by NJ. Collar & R Andrew. ICBP Technical Publication No 8, pp. xvi + 303 + ii. Cambridge, England. 1988. £ 9.50 inclusive of packing and postage. This publication is the latest in the ICBP’s new series of regional bird Red Data books on threatened birds and offers a concise but comprehensive collection of list- ings, easy to cross-check within and between chapters, coupled with short, precise notes. There are no illustrations except on the front cover. Some regions seem to be covered more thoroughly than others. Species accounts have been listed according to current literature available; at times, the authors have gone beyond current literature. The senior author obtained from this reviewer the latest information on the status of the Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus. Thus, the correspondence also finds a place in the listing. Over 11% of the world’s nearly 9,000 avian species, i.e. 1 .000 species are "to varying degrees at risk from global extinction. When viewed on a global level, the presentation is highly disturbing." The threat to avian species underlines the threat to the habitat and the ecosystem. "Since the destruction, modification and fragmentation of habitats are by far the most common types of threat, there is no reason to assume that other life forms — plants, insects and lower animals — that share the habitats of these tlireatened birds are any better off. The birds are in fact just the tip of the iceberg, concealing thousands of other species we know lit- tle or nothing about." From the global scene to India: there are 69 avian species listed as threatened, of which 15 are endemic to India. Some of the paragraphs accompanying the listings (related to the Indian region and the Indian Ocean area) are very interesting and need to be recorded here. Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis is confined as a breeding bird to Amsterdam Island (French territory) in the southern Indian Ocean, where an average of merely five pairs breed every year. Mascarene Black Petrel Pterodroma aterrima is known only from Reunion Island (French territory) by four specimens collected in the nineteenth century and three birdi found dead in the 1970s, and by subfossil remains on Rodrigues Island (Mauritius) in the Indian Ocean. Greater Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos dubius has suf- fered catastrophic decline everywhere, probably no longer occurring in Burma or Thailand, not recently recorded from Vietnam, extinct in Bangladesh, and extremely rare in India, where the only breeding records (and the only recent ones anywhere) are from Assam. Pinkheaded Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea is regarded as extinct. Last sighted at Bihar in June 1935; the possibility that a small population survives in a remote region was raised, and dropped, but rumours persist. Himalayan or Mountain Quail Ophrysia super- ciliosa. The last specimen was in 1876 and the species is presumed extinct, yet perhaps survives. Lesser Florican Sypheotides indica is restricted as a breeding bird to primary grassland patches. Its non-breed- ing distribution in India is not primarily known. Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas rdcobarica Its status is hard to assess as its habitat is infrequently visited and it is known to wander amongst groups of islands, but it is known to have declined markedly in parts of its range. Rothschild’s Parakeet Psittacula intermedia was long based on seven skins of uncertain provenance but recently one or two live specimens, reputed to have come from the plains of Uttar Pradesh, have appeared each year in bird markets in India. Forest O^\o.t Athene blewitti is known from very few specimens, the last of which was collected in 1914. Rufousnecked WovribiAAceros nepalensis is probab- ly extinct in Nepal, reportedly declining in India and restricted to two forest reserves in southwest Thailand. Narcondam Hombili Acer os narcondami is an en- demic resident of Narcondam in the Andaman Islands where the population is estimated to be about 400 in- dividuals. Rustythroated Wren-babbler Speiaeornis badeiqularis is known only from the type-specimen, taken at 1 ,600 m in the Mishmi Hills, Arunachal Pradesh. The authors point out in the introductory chapter that the Red Data Books published earlier received unwelcome commentary like "the publication of Red Data Books may be guilty of engendering a degree of complacency" ( Kukila 3 (1988):77). The authors add that there it took considerable effort to make the analyses as thorough and truthful as pos- sible given the urgency imposed by limited resources. Feedback was time-consuming, "so later evaluations had less time to benefit from written dialogue". The authors admit that "in some cases the selection and rejection of species became necessarily speculative, though certainly never arbitrary ". Finally, the authors stress that "the 1,029 species listed here as threatened are all unquestionably birds to watch, birds to seek out, survey, monitor and con- serve". BHARAT BHUSHAN MISCELLANEOUS NOTES l.A PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE SURVIVAL STATUS OF HANUMAN LANGUR C PRESBYTIS ENTELLUS ) IN SOME VILLAGES OF NADIA DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL Introduction Materials and Methods The Hanuman Langur (. Presbytis entellus) is dis- tributed from Kashmir to Kerala and from Kathiawar to Assam. Sixteen subspecies are recognised (Pocock 1931, Ellerman and Morrison-Scott 1951 and Napier and Napier 1967), of which fourteen are found in India. From its habitation in various geographical areas of India, it ap- pears that P. entellus is the most highly adaptive primate species among the monkeys of the Cercopithecidae fami- ly. Vogel (1977) has rightly mentioned that P. entellus occupies a broader spectrum of habitats than other maca- ques. The distribution and abundance of P. entellus is not well investigated in West Bengal. Oppenheimer (1973) made a study on village dwelling langurs in West Bengal (Proceedings of the Indian Science Congress Association (Abstract)). Surveys of villages in Hooghly, Howrah and Purulia districts of West Bengal during 1972-1973 revealed the presence of P. entellus (Oppenheimer, Akon- da and Hussain 1983). The distribution of P. entellus is probably widespread in West Bengal; one of the authors (A.B.) has observed it in the districts of Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Hooghly, Howrah, Midnapur and 24- Parganas. We initiated a survey of P entellus in the state of West Bengal in respect of its distribution and abun- dance. The present communication is a part of the project related to the field work in Nadia, a southern district of West Bengal. Interestingly, we had first taken up this particular district as one of us (B.R.) is a resident of one of the villages where the field work was conducted. Ac- cording to B .R. P. entellus has existed in villages for many years; his grandfather used to see these animals during his childhood. He is of the opinion that the number of these village dwelling P. entellus is gradually decreasing. This personal observation by B.R. kindled our interest to in- vestigate the reasons for this gradual decrease in num- bers.. Our area of field work consisted of four villages, Gotepara, Nutan Gotepara, Mirzapur and Nakashipara in the district of Nadia, West Bengal, 140 km. from the city of Calcutta and 5 km from Bethuadahari railway station on the Sealdah-Lalgola line. The villages are situated at 88.2° E longitude and 23.80° N latitude. National High- way 34 passes only 7 km away to the north- east of the vil- lages. The villages are, surrounded by paddy fields, and each village has many gardens with mango, banana, jackfruit, coconut trees etc. Some well-to-do villagers of Nutan Gotepara and Mirzapur possess very big gardens with the above- mentioned trees. Moreover, tall trees of Ficus religiosa and Ficus bengalensis are found in all the villages. This communication is based on intensive collec- tion of field data over 84 hours (approx.) of direct obser- vation on free living P. entellus in these villages from 9 to 15 June 1987. On an average, 12 hours observation per day, from 0600 to 1800 hrs.., was made by both of us on the monkeys once they were located in the villages. Results and Discussion The size and composition of the groups identified by us independently after repeated verification are shown in Table 1. The monkeys found in the villages Nutan Gotepara, Mirzapur and Nakashipara; Gotepara and Nutan Gotepara were termed as Group A, B and C respectively. Group A, a unimale bisexual group, consisted of 32 individuals and was the largest. Group B, a unimale bisexual group, con- sisted of 1 1 individuals and Group C, an all male group of 6 individuals. With an alpha male in Group A, all adult females except one were seen to have infants varying in age from 10 to 30 days (approx.). Group B, which is Table 1 SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF GROUPS INHABITING VILLAGES Group Location Adult Adult Juveniles Infants Total males females A Nutan Gotepara, 1 14 4 13 32 Mirzapur and Nakashipara B Gotepara 1 7 1 2 11 C Nutan Gotepara 6 - - 6 234 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY ,Vol. 86 smaller than A had an alpha male and only two females with infants. Interestingly, Group C was an all male group and the individual members were adult and strong. The villagers called Group C by the traditional Bengali name of Sanyasi Pal which means all of them, in a group, were unmarried males like monks in human society. The diets as found by direct observation are presented in Table 2. Table 2 PLANTS AND PLANT PARTS OBSERVED BEING EATEN BY Presbytis erUellus Name of plant Parts eaten Artocarpus inlegrifolia Ripe jack fruits Mangifera indica Ripe mangoes Ficus religiosa New green leaves Ficus bengalensis New green leaves Saccharum cfficinarum Matured stem of plant Musa sapient wn Ripe banana Corchorus olitarious New green leaves Bombax sp. Flower petals Trewia nudiflora Fruits The daily rhythm of activities of Groups A and B appears to be moie or less the same (Prater 1 965 and Krish- nan 1972). Although P. erUellus is quite at home both in trees and on the ground, our observations are in accord- ance with Oppenheimer (1973), who found that in Bengal villages they spend more time in trees. Group C was ob- served at midday for two and half hours on two succes- sive days on 13 and 14 June on a very high tree of Ficus religiosus at N ; nn Gotepara. This group was not found on any other day in the villages covered by our field study, thereby indicating that they probably move to other near- by villages. The movement of individuals of Group A is restricted to the adjoining villages of Nutan Gotepara, Mirzapur and Nakashipara whereas individuals of Group B confine themselves to the village of Gotepara. Thus the home range of Group C appears to be greater than that of Groups A and B. The abundance of food resources in the large gar- dens having different types of trees (Table 2) may probab- ly be one of the major reasons why the langur groups studied chose these villages as their permanent settlement over a considerable period of time. The villagers report that with seasonal changes, especially in winter, these animals change their diet by consuming varieties of vegetables cultivated in the villages. During the field ob- servations it was almost confirmed that Group A and Group B limited their foraging to their respective villages. Intragroup encounters were not observed during the short period of field observations. Besides B.R.’s personal experience mentioned earlier, the older generation of villagers agreed that the P. erUellus population had gradually decreased in the area. In the causes for this decrease the following observations appear to be relevant. During the 12 hours observation on an average per day on either Group A or Group B, we noticed that villagers tried to protect their gardens from the foraging langurs. On an average the monkeys are driven away 4 to 5 times in a day from the gardens of vil- lages Nutan Gotepara, Mirzapur and Nakashipara. The same is true in the case of Group B. It was noted that when the monkeys of Group A were disturbed and driven away from a garden in Nutan Gotepara, they moved to another garden in the same village. If similarly threatened they moved to the garden in the adjoining village Mirzapur and when again driven away they move to the gardens of Nakashipara. This kind of harassment of the monkeys of Group A and B prevent them from foraging as noted during our field work. The villagers do not wish to harm the lan- gurs due to their sacred place in Hindu mythology, but are forced to drive them away to protect their valuable gar- den products such as mango, jackfruit, banana, coconut etc. from which they earn the major part of their livelihood. The monkeys occasionally destroy growing jute plants by eating the green leaves, and naturally the poor farmers desperately try to save their jute plants from the monkeys. It was observed that the monkeys of Group B when similarly threatened move from one garden to another in the same village, Gotepara, which is comparatively larger than Nutan Gotepara, Mirzapur and Nakashipara. As men- tioned earlier, Group B, which is smaller in size than Group A, has a single large village as its habitat. The vil- lagers reported to us that P. erUellus at present sometimes consumes food on moonlit nights. P. entellus is diurnal as is suggested by the published literature. Feeding by night is thus a very unusual habit caused probably by the fact that the animals are disturbed so much by villagers when foraging that they are compelled to consume food at night. In all villages the monkeys were seen to eat fruits of Pituli (Trewia nudiflora). According to the elders of the villages this fruit has become an item of food in the very recent past. The villages under study can be traced back to the days of the Apostle Sree Krishna Chaitanya of Nabadwip and therefore the villages near the bank of the old river bed of the Bhagirati are approximately five hundred years old. In the past, the present Nadia district was covered with vast forests. One of the positive evidences for this state- ment is the 7 sq.km Bethuadahari Reserve Forest, which is merely 5 km away from the villages of our study. It is only after independence and the division of Bengal that the Hindu refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) settled in this district. Nadia is at present a border district with Bangladesh. Gradually, a substantial portion of the forests of the district has been converted into settlements and cultivated by this migrant population. The population MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 235 pressure of the migrants was so acute in the past three or four decades in the villages of our study that many large gardens as (for example ‘Roybagh’) have totally vanished and have been converted into cultivated land in Gotepara. The gradual deforestation for cultivation and settlement by man in this region has had a severe impact on the sur- vival of the langurs. Threat to the survival of monkeys by direct or indirect interference by man is reported in litera- ture in the Indian context. Sugiyama and Parthasarathy (1978) found a significant decrease in langur population at Dharwar by comparing populations of the years 1961 and 1976. According to them this decrease was in cul- tivated land (open land) due to increased human impact Refe Ellekman, J.R. & Morrisqm-Scqt, T.C.S. (1951): Check- list of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals, 1758 to 1946. British Museum, London. KrishnAN, M. (1972): An ecological survey of the larger mammals of peninsular India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. (Part I), 68: 503-555. Napier, J. & Napier, P.H. (1967): A Handbook of Living Primates. Academic Press, New York. Qppenheimer, J.R. (1973): Effects of environmental fac- tors on the activity of village-dwelling langurs (Primates) in West Bengal. 68the Ind. Sci. Cong. Assoc. (Chandigarh), Abstracts, pp. 12-13. Oppenkeimer, J.R., Akonda, A.W. & Husain, K.Z. (1983): Rhesus monkeys: effect of habitat structure, human con- tact and religious beliefs on population size. In ‘Perspectives in Primate Biology (P.K. Seth, ed.) Today & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi. on langurs. Southwick and Siddiqui (1983) suggested that deforestation, increased agricultural development and human population growth were responsible for decline of rhesus populations in Uttar Pradesh. We conclude that deforestation for cultivation and human settlement in this part of Nadia district, along with direct human interference, has had an adverse impact on the village dwelling langurs, leading probably to decreas- ing population. A.B. DAS -CH AUDHURI Aprils, 1988. B.N.ROY ,NCES Pocock, R.I. (1931): The mammal survey of the Eastern Ghats, reports on the monkeys. J. Bombay nat. . Hist. Soc., 35 (1): 51-59. Southwick, C.H. & Siddiqui, M.F. (1983): Status and conservation of rhesus monkeys in India. In ’Perspectives in Primate Biology’ (P.K. Seth, ed.). Today & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi. Prater, S.H. (1965): The Book of India Animals. Bom- bay Natural History Society, Bombay. Sugiyama, Y. & Parthasarathy, M.D. (1978): Popula- tion change of the Hanuman langur ( Presbytis entellus ) 1961- 1976, in Dharwar area, India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 75: 860- 867. Vogel, C. (1977): Ecology and Sociology of Presbytis en- tellus In ’Use of non-human Primates in Biomedical Research’ (M.R.N. Prasad and T.C.A., ed.). Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi. 2. AN INTERESTING WAY OF A TIGER TREATING ITS WOUND Injuries a tiger tries to heal can be classified into the following three categories: (a) Those which can be licked by the tongue, (b) those which cannot be licked but can be reached by front paws, and (c) those where neither tongue nor paw can reach. Application of saliva through the tongue cleans the wounds and keeps away flies. This does not permit the maggots to set in, and the wound gradually dries up. Such wounds are licked many times in a day and each time the duration of continuous licking is quite long. Body parts where the tongue cannot reach are cleaned by licking a front paw several times, and then wiping the wound with the paw. The forehead is the region where this method is applied. Carnivores face real trouble when the injured part is out of reach of tongue or front paw. The shoulder region around the spine is one such place. A friend of mine with a good knowledge of wildlife has told me that injured tigers sometimes eat soil. On 13 May 1987, while observing the mating behaviour of a pair of tigers at Kanha National Park, I saw that the male tiger had an injury above its left shoulder just below the ver- tebral column. This tiger was seen scratching its wound with its rear paw. This seemed to aggravate the wound. For three days male and female were together around the same spot. On the last day the tiger left the tigress and went to a waterhole. I followed, and saw the tiger sitting flush with the ground in a thicket of grass on a nala bed. From elephant-back it looked as if he was eating something. The tiger rolled over and got up after some time. A dark coloured paste was visible on his lips. Since the tiger was after a tigress in oestrous, I thought that he might have licked the urine - spray of the tig: css from the ground. The tiger then took some more water at a second waterhole, climbed a little bit on open ground, again sat flush with the ground, and started chewing the soil (clayey-loam). 236 JOURNAL, BOMBA Y NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 This process continued for about a minute. The s( n\ paste able wounds, not by eating soil, but by applying soil on in the mouth was not put on the floor. Then the tif ;er crept the wound in form of a paste mixed with saliva, forward, drifted a bit to the side and rolled over tl le ‘sput- out’ paste of Soil in such a way that the paste was > applied over the wound. It is likely that tigers treat their unreach- May 10, 1988 A.S. PARIHAR 3. ON A HUNTING PAIR OF SNOW LEOPARDS IN WESTERN NEPAL Hunting attempts by snow leopard {Panther a imcia ) have been observed by several naturalists (D ang 1967, Haughton 1913, Schaller 1972, Shah .1986, Stockley 1928 and Ward 1923). Among others, Dang (1967) reported repeated sightings of pairs of snow leopands hunting and feeding together. Other observers, however, neither sup- port nor refute this viewpoint. Recently I observed a pair of snow leopards hunting together in the Langu valley of western Nepal. On 10 May 1987, at 0750 hrs, I was monitoring the daily activity pattern of a herd of 41 Himalayan tahr ( Hemitragus jemlahicus ) in the Langu valley of western Nepal. The animals were feeding and moving 1 lorizontal- ly on a steep (more than 40°) scrub slope at 3 300 m. At 0755 hrs I saw an adult snow leopard slowly c lescending towards the feeding tahr. When the snow leopard was about 20 m above the tahrs it started stalking. At 0756, I saw another adult, but smaller, snow leopard c lescending through the same route used by the previous on e. For con- venience I will call the larger snow leopard as leopard A and the smaller one as leopard B. When the sm aller snow leopard neared the larger one, it moved to the right and, without stalking, descended towards the feeding tahr. When about 10 m, from the uppermost feeding tahr, it made a sudden rush and chased them straight do wnwards. Leopard B and the tahr ran about 120 m dowmvards and once the snow leopard was as close as 3 m to one of the large adult males. But it could not attack as i t was off balance. At last the leopard halted on a small rock and looked upwards. Then leopard A started chasing downwards the tahr individuals which had mov ed to the left when leopard B had given chase. The running tahrs and leopard A passed around the waiting leopard B but the latter could not attack the tahrs due to their high speed. Leopard A could not catch the tahr either, andl finally halted 20 m below leopard B. The entire chase s, A. (1923): Game animals of Kashmir and adjacent hill province :s. J. Bombay nat. His t. Soc. 28: 334-344. 4. CARACAL ( FEUS CARACAL SOHROBER) SI GHTED IN PANNA FORESTS I was searching for a man-eater with a search light on the night of 16 March 1987, in Panna district, Madhya Pradesh, when the gleam of a pair of eyes attracted my at- tention. Initially, from a distance, I thought it was a jungle cat (Felis chaus), which is common in the area. As I went nearer, the animal stood up and gave me a frontal view; then it turned to run away, allowing me to observe its tail as well. Its colour was sandy brown, with whitish underside; the ears were large and tapered. I could not see the ear tuft. The legs were long and the tail hung down almost to the knee of the rear limbs. The tip of the tail (about 10 cm) was darker than rest of the tail. A few years earlier, H.S. Pabla, the then Director of Panna National Park, was able to procure a skin of cara- cal ( Felis caracal ) from the same area. There is no doubt in my mind that the animal I saw was a caracal. Ajit Sonakia , the then Director, Sanjay National Park, Sidhi, had also two years earlier seen a caracal near Raisen, while driving at night from Bhopal to Sagar. A ccording to Prater (1948, THE book of INDIAN ANIMAL S), the caracal is common in the north and north w< :st of Cutch and in the drier pants of Punjab, Rajas- than, TJi ttar Pradesh and Central India. O n the basis of this evidence, it can now be said that, conti nui ing from Rajasthan and Gujarat (Cutch), caracal are four id upto Bhopal, Raisen, Sagar and Panna districts of Madl iya Pradesh, and are confined to the Vindhya mountai] ns in Madhya Pradesh. They have not been seen in the Sa tpuda range on the southern side of the Narmada Riv er. May 10, 1 988. A.S. PARIHAR 5. SOME INTERESTING ASPECTS OF WOLF (CANIl S LUPUS LINN.) BEHAVIOUR OBSERVED AT GUDA NEAR JODHPL JR (RAJASTHAN) While on a survey to assess Blackbuck habitats in Rajasthan we were told about a pack of wolves that in- habited an area not far from Guda village. The village has a Bishnoi settlement were the Blackbuck and chink ara have been protected through local sentiments. The local forest guards claimed that there were about 13 wolves in the vicinity. We sighted a wolf on 9 June 1987 at 0700 hrs near a small waterbody frequented by Blackbuck. Its approach was heralded by a scattering of the animals and birds that were in and around the water. The wolf came out of the area, which is overgrown with Prosopis juliflora, and headed for the water. The animal was in good condition and appheavier than the wolves one of us has observed in Maharashtra. It loped quickly over about 45 m of open space looking straight ahead, and had not noticed us sit- ting motionless on the opposite bank. As it approached to within 5 m of the water’s edge its gait changed, and in a slow crouch! fig f ashion it entered the water and sat down. At this point it either saw us, or heard the click of the camera shuttei r. Jumping hastily out of the water it headed back the way it had come, using a small watercourse as cover. The sig h ting made us want to leam more about the wolves. On 1 4 June at 0600 hrs we headed for the area with the local forest guard, a Bishnoi who was very well versed with lo cal conditions and wildlife. We four id 3 lair sites. They all had been dug in more or less the san te way. Each lair consisted of 2 to 4 tunnels dug into sand] r mounds around Prosopis bushes. One of them had certa inly been used very recendy. The openings appeared smal l when compared to the height of a wolf, indicating that they enter and leave by crouching or creep- ing. (This won Id be similar to the way the wolf we ob- served on the p revious occasion creeping into the water.) Wolf pugmark: ; of various sizes were seen entering and 238 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 leaving the holes. Thus we concluded that a family was using the lair. We located fresh pugmarks of a wolf moving rapidly and followed the tracks around several Prosopis bushes into a small clearing. Here there were marks of a scuffle, in which the wolf’s paw marks were intermixed with the hoofprints of a chinkara. There was very little blood and no evidence of the kill being eaten on the spot. The wolf, after making the kill, had dragged it off over several sand dunes and dry watercourses for about a kilometer in more or less a str aight line. On either side of the pugmarks was a single line of hoof marks, indicating that the wolf was strong enough to lift its prey and carry it with 2 of its legs off the ground. We came across the dis- membered head of an adult male chinkara. Only the skull & horns were left. The dragmarks continued over another 100 m towards a raised area on the bank of a river bed. Here the wolf was apparently joined by several others, as indicated by tracks converging from different directions. The hooves, legbones, and parts of the skin and tail of the chinkara were all that was left. Every scrap of meat had been cleaned off the bones. Another interesting feature we came across was that there were the remains of at least 5 or 6 (probably more) old kills in the area. The wolves seemed to have used the raised river bank frequently as an eating area. The other kills were remains of a male chinkara, several females or young male chinkara, and a peacock. Wolf faeces found in die area also contained what appeared to be hair of hare. A most unusual find, not far from the eating place, was a small hole dug in the bed of the dry river. There were wolf tracks all around it. At the bottom of the hole (which was not as large as the lair burrows seen earlier), there was a little water. The guard informed us that the wolves dug such holes to get water from the river bed. I cannot recall a reference to any animal apart from elephants digging for water in dry river beds. The Forest Department personnel who were with us have promised to look into this, to con- firm if these are actually dug for water, or for some other purpose. The wolves at Guda feed more frequently on the chinkaras. Adult Blackbuck are probably more difficult to bring down. However, since wolves in other areas are known to predate upon fawns of Blackbuck, one cannot exclude this possibility at Guda. We found no remains of Blackbuck during this brief visit. The present population of wolves does not seem to adversely affect the number of prey animals. Chinkara and Blackbuck abound in the area, and are as plentiful as in areas where there are no wolves. The wolves at Guda prefer the heavily overgrown Prosopis bush country to the more open areas. This gives them adequate cover and an opportunity to dig lairs in the sand dunes. The sandy soil in the area makes tracking an easy task, but the heavy bush cover decreases visibility. In all probability the wolves had spotted us and either moved off, or holed up, before we could see them again. ERACH BHARUCHA KIRAN ASHER July 3, 1987. RAJEEV JUGTAWA 6. A NOTE ON THE PYGMY SHREW, SUNCUS ETRUSCUS A Pygmy Shrew, S uncus etruscus , was rescued from a small tank in an open field at village Narhe, about 1 0 km from Pune, on 20 November 1987. It was swimming ac- tively, and on lowering a long stick it immediately climbed out and was taken to Pune. It was reared in an empty aquarium, 30 cm x 60 cm x 30 cm, already provided with a somewhat wet soil bed and a small tubular tunnel (burrow) about 1.5 cm in diameter, open at both ends, in one comer. The animal lived for 15 days in captivity and died, apparently from cold, on 5 December 1987. Imediately after death, weight and measurements were noted as follows: Sex : Male, Weight : 1.4 g. Head and Body : 4 cm, Tail : 3.3 cm, Height of the ear pinna : 0.4 cm. Teeth full grown with transparent enamel revealing a portion of the pulp. Colour black-brown dorsally, whitish ash ventrally including tail. Furry coat covering all the body but tail. Ear pinnae large, moveable, with many folds and pockets. While on the move or alerted, ear pinnae are stretched out. Side/musk/flank glands, though present, were not found to produce the foul smell which is so pronounced specially in males of the Common House Shrew S uncus murinus. No sound was uttered by the shrew even when disturbed or irked by soft whistling or blowing air. In captivity it was offered a variety of food: insects, egg (raw/boiled), dry prawns etc. The shrew preferred in- sects, mainly cockroaches. Egg was accepted with reluc- tance, while the dry prawns were totally disregarded. On becoming aware of the victim, possibly by smell, ( as revealed by constant vibratile movements of the snout), the shrew would leave the burrow, walk a lit- tle distance, then quickly turn back. This was repeated several times, each foray taking it further from the burrow than the previous one. Finally it chased the victim, attack- ing the head first, seized and killed it. The kill was usual- ly carried into the burrow and then consumed. The Pygmy MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 239 Shrew seems to lack the ability to dig, since termites and other insects normally found underground were left un- consumed. I am grateful to Dr. M.S. Pradhan, Mammologist 7. SIGHT RECORDS OF IBIS During the latter part of 1986 and early 1987, there were quite a number of sightings of .birds altogether new to the checklist for Kerala. There were two records each for the Black- Stork ( Ciconia nigra ) and White Ibis (Treskionis aethiopica), and several for the White Stork ( Ciconia ciconia ) and the Openbill Stork ( Anastomus oscitans ), though the latter two species, of course, are not really new additions per se. On 7 January 1987, I came across a solitary Black Stork at Chamrav attorn, about 2 km upstream River Bharathapuzha from its river mouth. Among others, many Ringed Plovers, Lesser Sandplovers, Small Indian Pratin- coles, Brahminy Kites and a plethora of Pariah Kites were seen in the neighbourhood of the Black Stork, which was standing by the edge of a small inundated pool in an other- wise extensive mudflat of the riverbed. On 24 February 1987, 1 was told about a new bird at the boat- landing of the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. On verification, it turned out to be yet another sight record of the Black Stork. Three Whitenecked Stork (Ciconia epis- copus) siblings, which had started flying about from their nest in the neighbouring tree since about a month earlier were seen to have been feeding side by side with the Black Stork. The bird was first shown to me by an Amsterdam tourist, Mr. Jan de Groot and I subsequently had the bird photographed. It was at Purathoor, near the Bharathapuzha estuary, that the White Ibis was seen (20 March 1987). On the ex- tensive sandbank beside the shallow waters of the wind- ing river was a large flock of about 1 60 Blackheaded Gulls (Laras ridibundus ), and standing nearby were the four white Ibises. Ferguson (/. Bombay not. Hist. Soc. 16: 14) had reported that he had come across the White Ibis only during the cold weather at Sasthamcottah in 1904. Since then there have been further sightings. When I communi- cated the sighting of the White Ibis to Prof. K.K, Neelakantan, the ornithologist, he said that he had seen the bird only once at Palghat in the early 1950s, soon after the Malampuzha Reservoir was filled for the first time. After that, he had not seen any except on the other side of the Zoological Survey of India, Pune, for confirming iden- tification of the specimen. July 17, 1988. R.V. RANADE AND STORKS IN KERALA Ashambu hills. A few members of the Calicut Chapter of the Kerala Natural History Society have been subsequently able to see the White Ibis after repeated perambulation of the Bharathapuzha estuary, when they finally spotted a group of 8 White Ibises on 5 April 1987. They were said to have been able to even photograph the birds! White Stork, a very rare vagrant to Kerala* have been repeatedly met with towards the latter part of 1 986, A solitary White Stork was caught from a Minister’s residence at Trivandrum City on 16 September 1986. On the 21st of the same month 3 specimens were caught from a paddy field near Neyyattinkara, out of which one was reportedly killed and consumed by the local villagers, and the rest brought to the Trivandrum Zoo. About 27 White Ibises were found in a paddy field near Iringalakkuda on 16 December 1986 (Pers. comm., VJ. Zach. arias) and from the zoo authorities at Trivandrum, I gathered that they had procured a specimen of the White Stork from Kesavadasapuram in Trivandrum City three years earlier, in 1983. In 1986 and 1987 there had been repeated sightings of the Openbill Stork, (Anastomus oscitans ) both singly and in flocks of as many as 38 individuals, from the Kadalundy estuary and the neighbouring wetland habitats (Pers. comm., Sri Namasivayan). On 19 November 1986 the Trivandrum zoo authorities went and collected a specimen of the Openbill Stork caught by local villagers in Neyyattinkara Taluk of Trivandrum District. According to Ferguson (1904, loc.cit 16:15) “The Openbill Stork is very common in Trav en- core, where huge flocks may be met with on the marshy borders of all the large tanks and fresh water lakes, shar- ing the trees for roosting with flocks of darters". Since then its status seems to have altered considerably. It is found now only sparsely and in small numbers. June 3,1987. D. NARAYANAKURUP 1A specimen of the White Stork was observed roosting on a coconut tree in Suheli Valiyakara, when I made a one-day survey of this uninhabited a toll of the Lakshadweep Group in 1985. 240 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 8.A POSSIBLE RANGE EXTENSION OF HORSFIELD’S GOSHAWK ACCIPITER SOLQENSIS IN INDIA A Horsfield’s Goshawk (Accipiter soloensis) was sighted by us on 24 March 1987 in Simlipal Tiger Reserve, Orissa. The bird was seen circling above the thick semi- evergreen forest near the check-post of the core area near the Chahala rest house. Three more individuals of the same species were seen during the next four days in different parts of the reserve. One of the birds was sighted near the Chahala rest house on a dead tree and was probably hunt- ing. Another bird was sighted near upper Barakamara rest house, flying over a forest clearing. The third was sighted about 40 km outside the tiger reserve near Jasmipur forest rest house circling and constantly calling “ti- tui”, quite like a shikra. The bird was identified by its smaller- than -shikra size, white underparts with pinkish tinge on the abdomen, upper breast and underwing coverts. The underparts were unbarred. The tip of the primaries were black. The sides of the head and neck were very pale. Horsfield’s Goshawk has not so far been recorded from the Indian mainland. Ali and Ripley (1983) described its range as “uncertain, common (winter?) on Katchal Island and Great and Little Nicobar Is. (Abbott and Boden Kloss). Andaman Is.” Our sight record is probably the first proof that this species occurs in mainland India also. Acknowledgements We are thankful to Prof. Biswamoy Biswas of the Zoological Survey of India and Mr. H. Abdulali of the BNHS for going through the manuscript and making use- ful suggestions VLB HU PRAKASH April 29, 1987. ASAD R. RAHMANI References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds of Bombay. India and Pakistan. Compact edition. Oxford University Press, 9. RINGTAILED FISHING EAGLE FEEDING ON WASP LARVAE On 25 September 1986, in the Keoladeo Ghana Na- tional Park, Bharatpur, I saw a Ringtailed Fishing Eagle ( Haliaeetus leucoryphus ) sitting on a Prosopis spicigera tree-top near the aquatic area holding an unidentified ob- ject in its claws. I moved closer without disturbing the bird and saw that it was holding part of the nest of a paper wasp ( Polistes hebaeus , Family : Vespidae). It was holding the nest firmly in its claws and feeding from the chambers. The Ringtailed Fishing Eagle is known to feed on birds, reptiles and fishes (Ali and Ripley 1983), and this obser- vation of feeding on paper wasp larvae seems to be noteworthy, as it has not been recorded in the past. This unusual food may have had something to do with the delayed arrival of migratory waterfowl as well as the unsuccessful nesting in the heronry in 1986. November 3, 1986. C. NANJAPPA References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): The Handbook of the Birds Press, of India and Pakistan (Compact edition). Oxford University 10. RANGE EXTENSION OF EURASIAN GRIFFON VULTURE GYPS FULVUS The northeastern distributional range of the Ful- vous or Eurasian Griffon Vulture Gypsfulvus within India has been given by Ali and Ripley (1978) as “straggling east to Western Assam. Gauntlet (1985) records it in Damodar Valley in West Bengal. Grubh (1986) mentions it as occurring in northeastern India without giving details of the location of the find. However, we had an excellent opportunity to see this bird repeatedly over a period of 2 months from November to December 1985 in Tezpur (Assam) and again between 14 and 17 January 1986 in Dibrugarh which is almost the north-easternmost limit of Assam. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 241 We saw only upto three birds together at any time. They were all in immature plumage, the ruff being brown, and were seen in a mixed flock of G. indicus and G. ben- galensis , actively feeding at cattle carcasses or sitting on trees near the feeding sites. PRAKASH RAO ROBERT B. GRUBH February 17, 1986. S. MURALIDHARAN References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1978): The Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (2nd Ed.) Vol. I, pp. 301-310. Oxford University Press. Gauntlet, F.M. (1985): The Birds of Durgapur and the Damodar Valley. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 82(3): 501-539. Grubh, R. (1986): A Comparative study of Ecology and Distribution of Indian Whitebacked Vulture ( Gyps bengalensis ) and Longbilled Vulture (G. indicus ) in the Indian Region. Proceedings of the 19th International Ornithological Congress , Symposium 50. 11. OCCURRENCE OF REDBREASTED FALCONET MICROHIERAX CAERULESCENS (LINNE) IN THE SIMLIPAL TIGER RESERVE, ORISSA A Redbreasted Falconet Microhierax caerulescens (Linnaeus) was sighted by us in the Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Orissa on 25 March 1987 at about 0700 hours. The bird was seen perched about 12 m high on a dead branch of a tree near a perennial stream close to the rest house in Upper Barakamara. The bird was readily identified by its diminu- tive size, broad white collar on the hind neck and a prominent black band through the eye. The Redbreasted Falconet is not recorded earlier from Orissa. According to Ali and Ripley (1983) the species is present in the Himalayan foothills and terai from Kumaon in Uttar Pradesh to Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam. The westernmost record is from Nainital (79° 26’ E) and the southernmost record from Sultanpur (26° 15’ N). The Simlipal Tiger Reserve is quite south of the known range of this species. VLB HU PRAKASH March 31, 1987 ASAD R. RAHMANI Reference s Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): The Handbook of the Birds Press, Delhi, of India and Pakistan. (Compact edition), Oxford University 12. MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF DEMOISELLE CRANES {ANTHROPOIDES VIRGO ) AT VEER DAM I have been studying the Demoiselle Cranes ( Anthropoides Virgo ) for the last four years at Veer Dam Lake, situated 65 km from Pune on the Satara Road. Since 1984 the Demoiselle Cranes have been very regular visitors to this lake. The birds start arriving in small flocks of a few hundreds from the middle of November and their number is fairly large by January. They leave by the end of March. Every year about 2000 cranes settle here; but this year over 7000 arrived at Veer Dam. This sudden rise in numbers could be due to drought and drying up of the lakes in the north and more severe winters in the north. The banks of the Veer Dam lake slope gradually towards the water, and are submerged in the rainy season. As the water level recedes the farmers from the neighbour- ing village start cultivating crops within the area. The cranes, on arrival at Veer, feed on the sprouting shoots of maize, wheat and gram, which are the chief crops of this area. Later, during February and March, the cranes feed on seeds of jowar, wheat and gram. The farmers use different methods in order to protect their crops from the cranes, such as putting scarecrows in the field, trying to drive away the flock by shouting, throwing stones, waving towels and recently by detonating firecrackers. Sometimes the cranes were shot at but it was usually by outsiders, as the local people have no guns. But all these methods of protecting the crops are possible only during the day; since the cranes also feed in the fields at night, the damage to crops continues. The number of cranes this year was large; conse- quently, so was the extent of crop damage. I was astonished this year, during my visit on 5 March 1987, to see ten dead Demoiselle Cranes. It was surprising that the cranes had not been carried away and eaten by the vil- lagers. Some cranes were in a half-eaten state, and in a nearby area I found a dead kite and a dead Marsh Harrier. I went to the neighbouring village and asked a few people there as to what could be the cause of death of these cranes. They said they did not know. However, there were small boys, around the 12 to 14 years old, who said that, during the last two days, a few cranes were seen with froth coming from their beaks, and that the deaths were due to ingestion of poison. 242 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Among the dead birds there were two male specimens which were totally intact. It appeared that they had died not more than a few hours earlier, as their bodies had not shrunk, nor had they stiffened due to onset of Rigor mortis. I got post mortems performed on both birds. One was an adult, the other a young bird. This proved that the birds did not die due to age. The birds weighed about 5 kg each. This proved that neither was sick, as sick birds are usually lighter in weight. The stomachs of both birds contained surprisingly large amounts (more than 2 litres) of water. This proved that the birds had become thirsty and drank a lot of water prior to death. The gizzard and stomach showed wheat grain and undifferentiated vegetable matter. No tests were done to detect any evidence of or- ganophosphorus in the tissue of these birds. If the cause of death is accidental or deliberate poisoning from consumption of poisoned bait or crops sprayed with organophosphorus, it will be necessary to take steps to protect the cranes in the coming winter. I would be interested in getting feedback on this note, particularly from naturalists who have been study- ing these cranes in the northern states. I would especially like to know if they had noticed similar deaths of these cranes after consuming crops sprayed with insecticides and whether there are any methods to detect organophos- phorus in the dead birds. April 7, 1987. SATTYASHEEL N. NAIK 13. BELLY-SOAKING AND NEST WETTING BEHAVIOUR OF REDWATTLED LAPWING, VANELLUS INDICUS (BODDAERT) Belly-soaking is done mainly to transport water to the nest with eggs or young ones, and has been observed in the Charadriiformes (Maclean 1975), and I had evidence (though without personal observation) that nesting Redwattled Lapwing, Vanellus indie us. regular- ly wetted their nests from the clay pellets formed by wet- ting, I never had the chance to actually observe this be- haviour till this year (1986). On 1 1 April 1986 1 saw a pair sitting on the banks of a lake and drinking. Suddenly, one of them started dipping its belly repeatedly into the water, and then took off. I knew that the bird was nesting nearby and taking water to the nest, but I could not follow the bird as it flew out of view. On April 25th I discovered a nest just on the banks of the lake. This gave me the opportunity to study the belly- soaking behaviour. On April 28th I posi- tioned my camera at a vantage point and walked towards the nest to disturb the incubating bird. The bird quietly moved away from the nest. I quickly retreated to my posi- tion and waited for it to return. Soon the bird walked to the water and started to drink, then soaked its belly 3-4 times before walking back to the nest. I quickly went to the nest to examine the eggs; they were copiously drenched with water. The belly-soaking behaviour was not seen during the early hours of the day when the tempera- ture was low. During the early hours the incubating bird was not very anxious to return to the nest in a rush after the intruder left; while during mid-day, when the tempera- ture was high, it returned to the nest immediately. If the intruder stayed longer the bird appeared visibly agitated and walked towards the nest, pausing and retreating. This behaviour was repeated with weak vocalization. On May 10th I saw 3 other birds, which were ob- viously nesting somewhere nearby, doing belly-soaking before taking off from the lake. During that time of the year this lake is the only source of water. The incubating bird, once relieved by its partner, goes to the water, drinks several times and starts preening for a while (15- 30 minutes) and then drinks again repeatedly. Just before taking off it does the belly-soaking 3-5 times. This observation was made several times on 4 birds. On May 21st at about 1500 hrs I saw that two eggs had hatched. The parent birds repeatedly flew towards me noisily. As soon as I left the area one of them soaked its belly 3-4 times and went to the nest. I could clearly see through my binoculars the chicks drinking off the wet belly feathers of the parent before the pat ent sat to brood them. Though belly-soaking has been reported by earlier observers (Dharmakumarsinhji 1964, Jayakar & Spurway 1965) I think that this is the first time that it has been photographed. October 21, 1986. V. SUNDARARAMAN References DharamkumarsinhJ!, R.S. (1964): Some observations on tied lapwing, Vanellus rnalabaricus (Boddaert) a tropical dry the small Indian Pratincole ( Glareola laclea Temmiek) and some season nester. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 62 : 1-14. other wader breeding in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Pavo 2: 1-11 Maclean, G.L. (1975): Belly-soaking in the Charadril Jayakar, S.D. & Spurway, H. (1965): The yellow-wat- formes, ibid. 72: 74-82 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 243 14 SWINHOE’S SNIPE GALUNAGO MEGALA: A NEW SPECIES FOR NEPAL In the early morning of 6 March 1987, a party of birdwatchers were working an area of damp rice fields be- tween Biratnagar and Itahari in the lowlands of south-east- ern Nepal with the intention of finding Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura. After finding numerous Common Snipe G. gallinago we eventually flushed two or three Pin- tail Snipe and were following them up to try and obtain views of them on the ground, when a distinctly larger snipe was silently flushed from relatively dry ground close to some wet field edge. At this point a number of snipe, chiefly Common, but with at least two Pintail, rose and the unusual bird joined the party which circled over us at a height of some 10 m or more. The flock did a couple of circuits of the im- mediate vicinity, affording us as good a view as we could have wished, giving us relatively brief, but quite adequate comparative views of the three species in the air at the same time. It was obvious from the start that the bird could only be Swinhoe’s Snipe, a species that I had previously en- countered on numerous occasions whilst on its breeding grounds in Siberia during five separate visits there. The birds moved over a small river and dropped into a more extensive area of wet fields, but we were unable to follow them as a crossing point could not be found. Field Description : By comparing the birds in the air together, although only Common Snipe was actually alongside the Swinhoe’s, it was apparent from all angles, i.e. in profile when going around, when directly over head and when tail-on going away, that it was distinctly larger and bulkier than the Common Snipe in both the body depth and width of the wing; the bill was roughly the same length as that of the Common Snipe and was held almost horizon- tal, but the plumage, i.e. wing pattern above and below, was that of a Pintail Snipe. All the Pintail Snipe that we had flushed looked distinctly smaller and shorter-billed than the Common Snipe. The body appeared rather long, although depth of breast and belly gave it a chunky appearance. Only the very tips of the toes, at most, projected a little beyond the tip of the tail — a feature that I have observed in Siberia with Swinhoe’s. I concentrated on this point as I was look- ing out for the relatively extensive toe projection of Pin- tail Snipe, which is considered to be a useful aid (Mar- chant et al. 1986, Taylor 1980) for identifying Pintail Snipe, a feature that I had overlooked in my paper con- cerning the identification of this species (Madge 1977). Sadly, none of my views in recent years of Pintail Snipe have been quite at the right angle to see this and on this occasion I gave up the opportunity to concentrate on the Swinhoe’s. Plumage details were admittedly sparse. It had the typical snipe head pattern, the belly was unmarked and whitish, similar in extent to that of Common Snipe, and the breast was dull light brownish. The underwing was densely and uniformly barred throughout on the coverts, with no paler central areas visible as on Common Snipe. Neither the underwing or the upper wing had a trace of white trailing edge to the secondaries, which was visible on the Common Snipe in the air with it. The upper wing, seen as the bird was rising, was dull and light brown, rather uniform and not as contrastingly marked as in Common Snipe, with flight feathers not obviously darker. In short, it looked less striped on the upperparts than Common Snipe but looked very much like Pintail Snipe in pattern and coloration both from above and below. To summarise, the bird had the upper and under- wing pattern of a Pintail Snipe but was obviously larger and longer-billed. It was a little larger and bulkier than Common Snipe, with rather longer and deeper body and rather broader and slightly blunter primaries, but the bill was roughly the same length as that of Common Snipe flying alongside it. It was not as bulky as a Great Snipe G. media which I have seen on two occasions previously, and I consider that it was nowhere near large enough to be a Solitary Snipe G. solitaria, although this is a species that I have never seen. The toes projected only very slight- ly beyond tip of the tail but no more so than in Common Snipe, and not as extensively as is considered to be diag- nostic of the Pintail. Presumably the toe projection would have been visible in the good profile views obtained as the bird circled us, especially as we were looking for this fea- ture. Although this is the first record for Nepal, it is not unexpected, as this species is regular in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent in winter. The combination of fea- tures observed clearly support its identification as Swinhoe’s Snipe beyond reasonable doubt. April 2, 1987. S. C. MADGE References Madge, S.C. (1977): Field Identification of Pintail Snipe. Beckenham: Croom Helm. Dr. Birds 70: 146-52. Taylor, P.B. (1980): Field Identification of Pintail Snipe March ant, J., Prater, A.J. & Hayman, P. (1986): and recent records in Kenya. Dutch Birding 6: 77-90. Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world. 244 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 1 5 . ACCUMULATION OF LEAD, ZINC AND CADMIUM IN THE NESTLING FEATHERS OF HOOPOE UPUPA EPOPS Introduction Accumulation of heavy metals in the body due to metal pollutants in food, water or air has been considered to be dangerous for the reproduction and survival of birds (Leonizo et al. 1986). Due to the growing industrial activity and motor traffic, the environment is being contaminated by heavy metals. The input of lead into the environment has in- creased during the last two decades especially with the development of lead-containing gasolins, the consump- tion of storage batteries and the manufacture of lead com- ponents. The major source of airborne cadmium pollution are emissions from steel industries, waste incineration, zinc production and some agricultural practices. Monitor- ing of atmospheric pollution is of great importance. Bird feathers and mammalian hair, because they accumulate various metals from the environment and from food, have attracted attention for the last decade as indicators of these pollutants (Doi et al. 1986). The Hoopoe {Upupa epops) has been declared the Punjab state bird. I have observed personally that the num- ber of Hoopoes has decreased in recent times. This study on lead, zinc and cadmium load in the nestling feathers of Hoopoes sheds light on one of the possible causes of the decrease in population. Material and Methods Three natural nests of the Hoopoe in the farms of Raipur Ray an village in Jullundur district, Punjab, were kept under observation during May 1986. Feathers from the chicks were taken for analysis when the chicks were 7, 21 and 35 days old. In this way, experiments were repeated thrice. The feathers collected were rinsed thoroughly in distilled water and acetone and dried at 60°C. The feathers of each bird were weighed separately and wet-ashed in a mixture of nitric acid and sulphuric acid with a kjeldahl apparatus. Approximately 40 ml of nitric acid and exact- ly 1 ml of sulphuric acid were used for ashing a sample. The ashed sample solution was diluted with distilled and deionized water and adjusted to a volume of precisely 50 ml. Lead, zinc and cadmium levels were determined directly from this sample by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and were calculated per gram of feathers. Students Y test was employed to test the dif- ferences in levels of these elements in the feathers from different age groups of hoopoes. Results and Discussion The levels of lead, zinc and cadmium in the feathers from 7, 21, and 35 day old chicks are shown in Table 1. Concentrations of all three elements were observed to have increased rapidly and progressively as the chicks grew older. Table 1 LEAD, ZINC AND CADMIUM IN THE NESTLING PLUMAGE OF HOOPOE Age of Nestling (days) ppm/g feathers* Lead Zinc Cadmium 7 300.00*± 50 200.00 ± 20 100.00 ±20 21 1500.00 ± 100s* 600.00 ± 1003 400.00 ± 100* 35 Microphyla ornala Naglavi 3. Micrixalus opisthorhodus Dharwad 4. Micrixalus saxicola Dharwad 5. Uperodon systoma Dharwad 6. Rana tigerina Widespread 7. Rana leptodactyla Dharwad 8. Rana temporalis Dharwad 9. Rana Umnocharis * Dharwad 10. Tomopterna breviceps * Dharwad 11. Rana malabarica * Yellapur 12. Rana keralensis Dandeli 13. Philautus sp-* Castlerock 14. Rana cyanophlyctis Widespread II. List of frogs and toads studied during 1956-1959 (Lucy Lobo) Host Locality 1. Bufo melanosticlus Widespread 2. Bufo beddomii Castlerock 3. Microhyla ornala * Anmode 4. Tomopterna breviceps * Londa 5. Rana keralensis Dharwad 6. Rana curtipes Anmode 7. Rana cyanophlyctis Dharwad 8. Rana Umnocharis Dandeli 9. Tomopterna rufescens Castlerock 10 Rana malabarica Londa 11. Rana tigerina Widespread 12 Philautus sp. Castlerock 13. Rhacophorus sp. Castlerock 14. Philautus sp. Anmode 15. Kaloula pulchra Londa * indicates presence of binucleated opalinid genera Protoopalina and Zelleriella on the frog host. For example, the occurrence of protoopalina group H of Metcalf in both Discoglossid and Pelobatid toads sug- gests their origin and spread as being somewhat parallel. Both of them evolved in India (Himalayan highlands) at a time when Australia had separated from Asia. The point of interest is that the Discoglossid protoopalina group II MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 257 of Metcalf are still found in South India (Uttangi 1951 and 1961) although the Discoglossids themselves are gone. The Discoglossids have not been in contact with Zelleriella. The adoption of protoopalina (II) by the south Indian frogs ( Microhyla and Tomopterna) from Dis- coglossids through the Western Mediterranean land strips is quite probable. It is unfortunate that none of the Indian species belonging to Pelobatidae have been examined so far for their opalinas. If such examinations were done, the data could well provide clinching evidence in support of their dispersal and adoption of commensals in southern India, which was once part of Lemuria. The most archaic families of Anura bear the most archaic opalina. Each Refer Metcalf, M.M. (1940): Further studies on the opalinid ciliate unfusorians and their hosts Proc. Un. St. Nat. Museum Vol. 87, No. 3077. Uttangi, J.C. (1951): On some ciliate parasites of Frogs and Toads of Karnataka, Bombay Presidency. Rec. of the Indian Museum . Vol. XUX Part 2, pp. 139-156. (1961): Some more Binucleated opalinid 29. OCCURRENCE OF ANTHIAS TAENIATUS (With two t new family group in the course of its evolution adopts through tadpoles opalinas of its ancestors. From the phylogeny of the opalina can thus be deduced the phylogeny of the frog host that carries the opalina with it. Further studies in this direction may provide significant data in the reconstruction of the phylogeny of an animal group that holds the status as the first land vertebrates. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Mr. J.C. Daniel of the BNHS, who, in response to my letter on the subject, suggested prepar- ing this note. November 17, 1987. J.C. UTTANGI ENCES ciliates (Protozoa) from Indian Frogs. J. Bom. University Vol. XXIX Parts 3 & 5, pp. 110-133. Lobo, L. (1959): M.Sc. (Thesis) ciliate parasites of west coast cf India (K. University). Inger, R.F. & Dutta, S.K. (1987): An overview of the Amphibian Fauna of India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. Vol. 83 (Centenary supplement) pp. 135-146. (PISCES :S ERR ANIDA.E) IN INDIAN WATERS With improvements in traditional boats and equip- ment, and with the introduction of modem methods of fishing (especially trawling), many hitherto unrecorded species and quite a few new species are being periodically recorded from Indian waters. Katayama (1978), in record- ing the species PseudarUhias taeniatus (Klunzinger) from Hachizo Island and the coast of Izu, Japan, gave a full description of the species. In the course of taxonomic study on seiramd fishes, I came across two specimens of Anihias from Vishakapat- nam (17°44’ N, 83° 23’ E) which agree with Anihias taeniatus Klunzinger of Heemstra (1973), and with the description and the illustration of P. taeniatus of Katayama (1978). Only two specimens were found in the trawl catches of Vishakapatnam in the month of April 1986. The two specimens differ in the length of the second pelvic fin ray. Descriptions, body measurements and meristic data are given in Table 1 to allow comparison with specimens described from other localities. Description: A rather small, compressed Anthias fish, dorsal profile slightly more convex than ventral, max- imum depth at dorsal origin. Mouth oblique, lower jaw anterior to upper, maxillary width equal to less than inter- orbital width, reaching to below posterior border of eye. Eye in middle of anterior half of head; interorbital slight- ly convex, less than eye diameter. One slightly enlarged caniniform tooth on each side of symphysis of either jaw; lower jaw with patches of small canines extending inward- ly from each of these enlarged canines and running posteriorly in a narrow band on the dentaries. Another large, retrorse canine at the middle of each dentary. Upper jaw with an inner band of very small, depressible canine teeth and an outer row of larger, fixed canines. A pointed large canine exposed anteriorly on each side of upper jaw and visible externally when the mouth is closed. Medial to these two large outer canines is another pair of equally large, inner teeth which are directed posteriorly, pointing towards the vomers; there is a wide space between these two large inner canines, an arrowhead-shaped band of teeth on vomers; narrow band of teeth on palatines; patches of minute teeth on pharyngeals. Preopercle with a serrated vertical edge, two serrae along angle slightly larger. Opercle with tliree spines, middle one acute and closer to lower one. Head covered with ctenoid scales; maxilla covered with scales. Dorsal origin slightly anterior to that of pectorals, whose origin is in front of that of pelvics; dorsal spines in- creasing in length posteriorly; eighth, ninth and tenth spines equal and longest. Fins naked, small scales at base 258 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 of soft dorsal and anal. Pectorals long. In female specimen, pelvics reach the base of posterior end of anal base; in male specimen it reaches the third anal spine. Third anal spine longer and thinner than the second. Tip of soft dorsal and soft anal fins acute, caudal emerginate, lobes produced. Colour dark pink; sexual dimorphism and sexual dichromatism observed in the present specimen as described by Katayama (1978). Jones & Kumaran (1980) recorded Anthias cichlops from the Laccadive Islands. Smith (1961) synonymized A. cichlops with A. taeniatus. This is the first report from the continental shelf of mainland India. I wish to express my thanks to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for financial help. I thank Prof. K.V.R. Murthy, Head of the Department of Marine Living Resources, Andhra University, for providing facilities. Fig. 1. Anthias taeniatus Male, 73 mm SL. Fig. 2. Anthias taeniatus Female, 69 mm SL. ' Jones, S. & Kumaran, M. (1980): Fishes of the Laccadive Archipelago. Nature Conservation and Aquatic Sciences Service, Trivandrum, 760 pp. Katayama, M. (1978): The Anthine fish, Pseudanthias taeniatus, from Hachizo Island and the coast of Izu, Japan. Table 1 MORPHOMETRIC AND MERISTIC CHARACTERS OF Anthias taeniatus FROM VISHAKAPATNAM Male Female Standard length (mm) 69 73 As percentage of standard length: Total length 150.7 146.6 Body depth 31.9 34.3 Head length 34.8 34.3 Predorsal distance 31.9 30.1 Prepectoral distance 31.9 32.1 Prepelvic distance 36.2 34.3 Preanal distance 65.2 58.9 Dorsal base 65.2 61.6 Anal base 20.3 19.2 First dorsal spine height 5.8 6.8 Posteriormost spine of dorsal height 10.1 12.3 Soft dorsal height 20.3 24.7 Pectoral length 30.4 28.8 Pelvic length 36.2 49.3 Anal height 29.0 32.9 As percentage of head length: Head depth 58.3 72.0 Head width 45.8 44.0 Preorbital 16.7 16.0 Postorbital 50.0 52.0 Upper jaw 41.7 40.0 Lower jaw 39.6 40.0 Eye diameter 25.0 24.0 Interorbital 20.8 24.0 Snout length 20.8 22.0 Maxillary width 20.8 20.0 Meristic characters: Dorsal X, 17 X, 17 Anal m,7 m,7 Pectoral 19 19 Gillrakers 11+1+25=37 11+1+25=37 Lateral line scales 48 46 l.t r. 4+1+20 5+1+20 September 14, 1988. K. SUJATHA NCES Japanese J. Ichthyol. 25(3): 216-218. Smith, J.L.B. (1961):Fishes of the family Anthiidae from the Western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Ichthy. Bull., 21: 359 - 369. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 259 30.EATING OF MALES BY FEMALE HIERODULA MEMBRANACEA BURMEISTER (DICTYOPTERA: MANTIDAE) Female praying mantids are known to bite off the head of the male while mating, or even progressively eat the mating male from head backwards, completely devouring it after mating. Some workers maintain that this behaviour is found only among undernourished females in the laboratory, but not in nature. Others tend to believe that the male is eaten because the female is unable to dis- tinguish between the male (which is usually smaller than she is) and a prey species. Because cannibalism of such aggressive nature, unrelated to crowding, seems detrimen- tal to species survival, reports of its occurrence are generally disbelieved. From the following observations it appears that the male-eating habit, rather than being detrimental, might be an aid to the survival of the species. A field-collected nymph of H. membranacea was released into a laboratory cage and provided with a more than adequate supply of live butterflies, moths, grasshop- pers, dragonflies and other insects. This feeding continued up to one week after it moulted into a female. A field-col- lected male, similarly fed in the laboratory in a separate cage, was then released into the cage of the female. The male settled down about 5 cm ahead of the female, facing the same direction. Both remained totally motionless for about 3 minutes, the female concentrating its attention on the male throughout. Then, suddenly, the female shot its raptorial forelegs forwards towards the male. The male, as if waiting for this move, half flew, half jumped onto the back of the female, and landed on it facing the opposite direction. It then slowly turned 180°, coming to rest after gaining a firm hold, especially on the leading edge of the female’s wings, with its forelegs. The pair remained in this position for two days without making any positive attempt to mate, at least not while under observation, which lasted most of the day. Attempts to dislodge the male were un- successful. On the third day, when the cage was examined, only wings and bits and pieces of the limbs of the male remained, the rest having been devoured by the female. A week later the female laid eggs in a large ootheca, from which nymphs emerged a month later, confirming that mating had occurred before the male was eaten. It could not be ascertained whether the head was bit- ten off before the male was eaten. If it had been, mating could have been hastened. The copulatory movement in the male is controlled by the last abdominal ganglion, over which the brain has inhibitory control. The removal of the brain by cutting off of the head can hasten copulation (Imms 1963). In fact, this method is employed by medi- cal entomologists to induce mating in some anopheline mosquitoes in the laboratory; these otherwise do not readi- ly mate under artificial conditions. The deliberate nature of premating behaviour of both male and female H. membranacea in the cage shows that they could recognise each other as members of the same species. I have on another occasion noticed in the field an adult female Gongylus gongylodes (Linnaeus) (Empusidae) not attempting to grab a wasp even when the latter hovered close to it, well within striking distance. Slow-motion cinematographic studies of mantids attack- ing other mantids in defence of territory have shown that the striking mantid omits a dangerous part of the strike movement when confronted by a member of its own species. Mantids are also known to learn not to attack ob- jects which are electrically connected to give a shock. (Mathews and Mathews 1978). Mantids, therefore, do have the ability to distinguish between their prey and members of their own species, and also between prey and other dangerous species of insects. Even though the female H. membranacea was provided with an abundance of food, it resorted to can- nibalism after mating. There could be a logical explana- tion for this. Since mantids have to lie in wait for their prey, there is an element of uncertainty as to when their next meal would come. Prolonged starvation by a mated female could prevent it from laying a full quota of well developed eggs. Eating the male therefore ensures an adequate supply of nourishment to the female for production of healthy offspring. In any case, leaving a beheaded male to die would be a waste. In the final analysis, therefore, the male- eating habit of the female mantid appears to support survival instead of being detrimental to it. I thank Dr. R. Sambasiva Rao, Head of the Depart- ment of Microbiology, JIPMER, for facilities and Dr. J. Marshall of CAB International Institute of Entomology, London, for identifying the specimen. September 24, 1987. E. NARAYANAN References Imms, A.D. (1963): A General Textbook of Entomology. Mathews, R.W. & Mathews, J.R. (1978): Insect Be- Asia Publishing House, Bombay. haviour. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 260 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 31. REDESCRIPTION OF THE WHITEFLY ALEYRODES SHIZUOKENSIS KUWANA (ALEYRODIDAE ; HOMOPTERA) (With three text-figures ) Two slides labelled Aleyrodes shizuokensis Kuwana, collected during April 1929 from Oxalis cor- niculata , were obtained from the Aleyrodid collections of the Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, and studied in detail. As the earlier descriptions of the species by Kuwana (1911), Singh (1931) and Rao (1958) are inadequate, the species has been redescribed and illustrated, depicting the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the pupal case. Aleyrodes shizuokensis Kuwana (Figs. 1-3) Pupal case: Big, oval, 1.105 mm long and 0.798 mm wide; broadest across second abdominal segment area. Margin: Finely crenate, 18 crenations in 0.1 mm, anterior and posterior marginal setae evident, measuring 15 and 32.5 microns long, respectively. Thoracic and caudal tracheal pore regions not differentiated from mar- gin. Dorsal surface: Submarginal ridges evident, sub- dorsal region with wax-secreting structures. Cephalic and first abdominal setae, 12.5 microns long and eighth ab- dominal setae 22.5 microns long. Caudal setae arising from submargin 52.5 microns long. Longitudinal and transverse moulting sutures thin, not reaching margin. Aleyrodes shizuokensis Kuwana. Fig. 1. Pupal case; 2. Margin; 3. Vasiform orifice. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 261 Thoracic and abdominal segment sutures faintly repre- sented. Seventh abdominal segment suture reduced to pockets. Abdominal segments 6, 7 and 8 almost of the same length, 42.5-45 microns long. Vasiform orifice cordate shaped, 65 microns long and 60 microns wide; operculum subrectangular shaped, wider than long, 27.5 microns long and 45 microns wide, lingula tip exposed, 15 microns long, extruded out of oper- culum. Ventral surface: Paired ventral abdominal setae 15 microns long and 55 microns apart, legs visible. Antenna not reaching beyond pro thoracic legs, 80 microns long. Anterior and posterior abdominal spiracles, mouth parts and caudal tracheal fold discernible. Material examined: Pupal cases mounted on two slides labelled “ Aleyrodcs schizuokensis Kuwana on Oxalis sp., 4.4.1929, K.S.L., R/7467; Aleyrodes chizuokensis Kuwana on Oxalis sp., 4.4.1929, K.S.L., R/7469". Hosts: Oxalis corniculata (Kuwana 1911, Singh 1931); Oxalis sp. (Takahashi 1958); Phyllanthus distinctus (Rao 1958); Sonchus oleracea (Takahashi 1935). Distribution: Pusa (Bihar) (Singh 1931); Hyderabad (Rao 1958); Japan (Kuwana 1911); Hawaii, Taiwan (Takahashi 1951). Acknowledgements We thank the Head, Division of Entomology, and Dr. (Miss) Swaraj Ghai. Systematic Entomologist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, for the loan of the Aleyrodid specimens and thank the ICAR for finan- cial assistance. B.V. DAVID October 7, 1987. R.W. A. JESUDASAN References Kuwana, S.I. (1911): New species from Japan. Pomona J. Ent., 3 (4): 620-627. Rao, A.S. (1958): Notes on Indian Aleyrodidae with spe- cial reference to Hyderabad. Proc. 10th int. Congr. Ent. (1956) 1: 331-336. Singh, K. (1931): A contribution towards our knowledge of the Aleyrodidae (whiteflies of India). Mem. Dept. Agric. India, Ent. Ser., 12: 1-98. Takahashi, R. (1935): Notes on the Aleyrodidae of Japan (Homoptera) III (with Formosan species). Kontyu 9: 279-283. (1951): Some species of Aleyrodidae (Homop- tera) from Japan. Misc. Rep. Res. Inst. nat. Resour. Tokyo 19-21: 19- 25. — (1958): Aleyrodes, Tuberaleyrodes and Dialeurodes from Japan. Mushi 31: 63-68. 32. REDESCRIPTION OF TWO WHITEFLY SPECIES (ALEYRODIDAE: HOMOPTERA) FROM BURMA (With six text-figures) Two slides of aleyrodids labelled Pealius kaiawi Singh and Setaleyrodes takahashia Singh, collected by Singh in 1933 respectively from Lauras sp. and Streblus asper at Kalaw (Burma) were obtained from the collec- tions of the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, and studied. These two species are illustrated and redescribed in this paper as the earlier descriptions by Singh (1933) are inadequate. Pealius kaiawi Singh, 1933 (Figs. 1-3) Pupal case: Elliptical, 0.612-0.857 mm long and 0.428-0.627 mm wide. Margin: Regularly crenuiate, 18-19 crenulations in 0.1 mm; thoracic and caudal tracheal pore regions not dif- ferentiated from margin. Dorsal surface: Paired cephalic setae, minute, 7.9 microns long, paired eighth abdominal setae of the same length and paired caudal setae 80 microns long. 12 pairs of submarginal setae, 6 in the ccphalothorax and 6 in the abdomen, 40-58.75 microns long. Submargin and subdor- sum with sparsely distributed pores. Lateral depressions present in the median area of abdominal segments, a pah- each on transverse moulting suture, first to sixth ab- dominal segment sutures and meso- and metathoracic su- tures. Abdominal segment sutures distinct, except for first abdominal segment suture. Second abdominal segment suture more prominent than the other abdominal segment sutures. Seventh abdominal segment suture runs downwards and is reduced to pockets. Longitudinal and transverse moulting sutures reaching margin. Ccphalothorax 380 microns and abdomen 460 microns long. Pores and granules evident on the submargin and subdorsal regions. First abdominal segment longest, 57.5 microns, succeeded by eighth abdominal segment 50 microns long, third and fourth abdominal segments 48.75 microns long. Abdominal segment three of the same length. Abdominal segments five, six and seven measur- ing respectively 45, 42.4 and 7.5 microns long. Vasiform orifice rectangular shaped, wider than 262 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 o.oi Pealius kalawi Singh Setaleyrodes takahashia Singh Fig. 1. Pupal case; 2. Margin; 3. Vasiform orifice. Fig- 4- Pupal case; 5. Margin; 6. Vasiform orifice. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 263 long, 27.5 microns long and 42.5 microns wide. Oper- culum similarly shaped, 17.5 microns long and 25 microns wide. Lingula ‘D’ shaped, extending beyond vasiform orifice, setose. Caudal furrow tassellated, broad at base of vasiform orifice which gets narrowed at posterior end, 88.75 microns long. Ventral surface: Legs distinct, antennae nearly reaching base of prothoracic legs, paired ventral ab- dominal setae 17.5 microns long and 37.5 microns apart. Spiracles and mouth parts contiguous. Host: Lauras sp. (Singh 1933) Material examined: 2 pupal cases on slide labelled ‘ Pealius kalawi Singh, on Laurus sp., Burma, K. Singh, 4598/H7’. Setaleyrodes takahashia Singh, 1933 (Figs. 4-6) Pupal case: White, elongate, measuring 0.800 mm long and 0.200 mm wide. Margin: Irregularly crenate with 8-9 crenations in 0.1 mm; anterior and posterior marginal setae not discern- ible; thoracic pores, combs and teeth absent. Dorsal surface: Submargin with seven pairs of setae arising on tubercles — 3 in the cephalic region, 3 in the caudal region and a pair laterad of fourth abdominal seg- ment 92.5 - 120 microns long. Submargin and subdorsum with intense granulations. Median tubercles evident on ab- dominal segments 1-5. Pro-meso and meso-meta thoracic sutures distinct. Abdominal segments with rhachis. Dorsal setae not discernible. Longitudinal and transverse moulting sutures reaching margin. Sixth, seventh and eighth abdominal segments respectively 55, 35 and 10 microns long. Vasiform orifice subquadrate shaped, longer than wide, 50 microns long and 40 microns wide; operculum similarly shaped, as long as wide, 25 microns long; lin- gula setose and protruding beyond operculum. Caudal fur- row 62.5 microns long with characteristic hexagonal granules. Ventral surface: Thoracic and caudal tracheal folds absent; paired ventral abdominal setae on sixth abdominal segment region, 22.5 microns long and 32.5 microns apart. Antennae not discernible. Mouth parts and legs distinct. Host: Streblus asper (Singh 1933) Material examined: 1 pupal case on slide labelled 'Setaleyrodes takahashia on Streblus asper, 12.7.1930, K. Singh, 4595/H7’ Acknowledgements Thanks are due to the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, for loan of the aleyrodid specimens and to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research for financial as- sistance. B.V. DAVID October 8, 1987. R.W. A. JESUDASAN References Singh, Karam (1933): On four new Rhynchota of the family Aleyrodidae from Burma. Rec. Indian Mus. 35: 343-346. 33. A STUDY OF SOME LITTLE KNOWN CHALCID WASPS (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA) (With six text-figures) The species Brachymeria madagascariensis (Chal- cididae) was originally described by Kieffcr (1904) as the type- species of a new genus Holochalcis described by him. One of us (T.C.N.) examined the homotype of this species (obtained from the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris) and found that the genus Holochalcis Kieffer is synonymous with the genus Brachymeria Westwood (Narendran 1987). Since the available descrip- tion of Brachymeria madagascariensis (Kieffer) is quite inadequate for the recognition of the species, a redescrip- tion is provided here. Until recently, Philomidinae was placed under Perilampidae. Boucek (1978) stated that ‘Philomidinae seem to be placed best as a subfamily of Eucharitidae’. Narendran (1985, 1986) therefore placed the Philomidinae under Eucharitididae. Since Ayyar (1925) recorded an undetermined species of Philomides Haliday from India, no further report has been made of the genus from the Indian subcontinent. In this paper we record for the first time the species Philomides paphius Haliday from the Indian subcontinent (from Bangalore). Since the ear- lier descriptions of this species are not sufficient for easy identification, a redescription of the species is provided. The four little known genera of the family Chal- cididae, namely Tainaniella Masi, Aspirhina Kirby, Xyphorachidia Steffan and Trichoxenia Kirby share many common features and therefore look very similar, espe- cially in having the apex of the scutellum prolonged posteriorly into a single stout structure. Students of Chal- cididae who have not seen these genera may find difficul- ty in separating these genera with the help of already published information, which does not give any substan- JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 6 Brachymeria madagascariensis (Kieffer) Female. Fig. 1. Head; 2. Scutellum; 3. Hind leg and gaster. Philomides paphius Haliday Female. Fig. 4. Head; 5. Antenna; 6. Forewing. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 265 tial points for separating these similar-looking genera. Hence a comprehensive key for separating these four genera is provided here. This key is based on a study of primary types or homo types by one of us (T.C.N.) during his period of study at the U.S. National Museum, Washington D.C., and at the British Museum (Natural His- tory), London. The genus Tainaniella was described by Masi (1929) based on a species Tainaniella subulifera Masi collected by C.F. Baker from the Philippines. The genus Aspirhina was established by Kirby (1883) with the type species Halticella dubitator Walker from Santarem, South America (Walker 1862). Kirby (1883) also described Trichoxenia based on the type-species Halticel- la cineraria Walker from South Australia (Walker 1871). Steffan (1951) described Xyphorachidia based on Xyphorachidia dentata Steffan from West Africa. Brachymeria (Brachymeria) *madagascariensis (Kieffer) (Figs. 1-3) Female: Length 5 mm. Black, with the following parts otherwise : Pedicel, scape, gaster, apices of hind coxae, hind femora (except apex) reddish brown. Hind tibia brownish yellow at apex and a faint yellow spot sub- fa as ally; hind tarsi immaculate yellow; fore and mid femora yellowish brown with extreme apex of femora yel- low; fore and mid coxae yellowish brown; bases and apices of mid tibiae yellow with middle part yellowish brown. Tegulae pape yellow; eyes greyish; wings hyaline. Head: Preorbital and postorbital carinae absent; scrobe hardly reaching front ocellus; scape never reach- ing front ocellus, distinctly away from front ocellus. Thorax: Pits on scutellum, axillae, scapulae widely separated with interstices mostly smooth on scutellum, with microsculptures on axillae, scapulae, mesoscutum and pronotum. No coxal or inner basal femoral tooth present. Gaster: With close microsculptures on first tergite on dorsal side. Ovipositor sheath not visible from dorsal side. Homotype Female, MADAGASCAR: Inerina; Coll. P. Cassaboue and G. Grandi dier, 1902; Depository : Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Philomides paphius Haliday (Figs. 4 - 6) Female: Length 7.9 mm. Ochraceous yellow, with the following parts otherwise: a patch near and in between ocelli black; eyes black; small black patch on each side of mesoscutum, a small black patch on middle of mesos- cutum; a black patch on base of scutellum; apex of scutel- lum black; black patches on ventral middle regions and dorsal middle regions of gaster; scrobe with median black colour. Pubescence golden yellow. Head: Distinctly wider than thorax; relative measurements of OOL : POL = 72 : 56; frontogenal sul- cus distinct but not carinate; frons convex on anterior dor- sal part; antennal scape not reaching front ocellus; anten- na short and very much thickened. Thorax: Extremely wide and convex, pronotum not visible from above; mesonotum with parallel notaulices; scutellum projecting posteriorly; punctures close and in- terstices smooth on mesoscutum and carinate on scutel- lum. Forewing with a slight brown infuscation near apical region; relative measurements of veins : PM : M = 20 : 50; stigmal 18. Hind femora a little more than five times its maximum width, sparsely pitted, interstices smooth, pits rather deep. Gaster: Distinctly shorter than thorax (1 10 : 75), first three tergites smooth, rest with microsculptures, ovipositor sheath and epipygium not visible from dorsal side. Pleasiotype Female ; INDIA: Karnataka, Ban- galore; 20 June 1976, coll. Unknown. Depository : Department of Zoology, University of Calicut. KEY FOR SEPARATING FOUR GENERA OF CIIALCIDIDAE 1 . Hind tibia with an extra external carina 2 Hind tibia without extra external carina 3 2. First gasteral tergite with several longitudinal carinae Aspirhina Kirby First gasteral tergite without carinae; much larger species Trichoxenia Kirby 3. Hind femur with three lobes on outer ventral margin, preorbi- tal carinae projecting characteristically in profile, basal gasteral tergite with scattered microsculptures on dorsal side. Xyphorachidia Steffan Hind femur bilobed or at the most unilobed; never trilobed; preor- bital carinae not as above; basal tergite smooth and shiny Tainaniella Masi Remarks: There are a few other species under dif- ferent genera of this family (Chalcididae) which also have projecting scutellum, but these are relatively much shorter than those of the four genera mentioned above. Apart from this, these few species such as Paraspirhina nitida Cameron, Oxycoryphe edax (Waterston), Antrocephalus lugubris Masi and Belaspidia obscura Masi do not resemble the four above- mentioned four genera at all. Acknowledgements One of the authors (T.C.N.) is grateful to Dr. J. R. Steffan of Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, for sending the homotype of Holochalcis madagascarien- sis Kieffer for study. We thank the authorities of the 266 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 University of Calicut for providing research facilities. T.C. NARENDRAN THRESIAMMA VARGHEESE February 2, 1988. TITUS T. JACOB References Ayyar, T.V.R. (1925): A checklist of Indoceylonese chal- cid flies (Chalcidoidea). Spolia Zeylanica 13: 235-254. Boucek, Z. (1978): A generic key to Perilampinae (Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea), with a revision of Krombeinius n. gen. and Euperilampas Walker. Eni. Scand. 9:299-307. Kieffer, JJ. (1904): Neue Eucharinae und Chalcidinae. Berl. Entom. Zeitsch. Band 49:240-265. Kirby, W.F. (1883): On the genera of the subfamily Chal- cidinae, with synonymic notes and descriptions of new species of Leucospidmae and Chalcidinae. JLinn. Sco. (Zool) 17: 53- 78. Masi, L. (1929): Contributo alia conoscenza dei Calcididi Orientali della sottofamiglia Chalcidinae. Boll. Lab. Eni. Bolog- na 2: 155-188. Narendran, T.C. (1985): Family Eucharitidae. Oriental Ins. 19: 186-187. (1986): Family Eucharitidae. Oriental Ins. 20: 51-55. - — (1987): Additions and corrections to the catalogue of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) of India and adjacent countries. Oriental Ins. 21: 438-439. Walker, F. (1862): Notes on Chalciditcs and characters of undescribed species. Trans. Ent. Soc. London. 1: 345 - 397. (1871): Notes on Chalcidae HI. Torymidae and Chalddidae: 20 - 49. 34. MATING BEHAVIOUR OF LAND LEECHESIN WESTERN GHATS (SOUTH INDIA) (With a text-figure) Information on the mating behaviour of land leeches is meagre except for the observations of Leslie (1951) and Harrison (1953). Intensive investigations on land leeches of the Western Ghats from 1967 to 1972, both in the field as well as in the laboratory, revealed some interesting aspects on the courting and mating behaviour of Haemadipsa zeylanica zeylanica Moore, Haemadipsa zeylanica cochiniana Moore and Haemadipsa montana Moore. A clear-cut variation from the basic pattern of mating behaviour as described by Harrison (1953) in Haemadipsa zeylanica was observed in Haemadipsa montana in 13 different localities of the Western Ghats, from Asambugiri hills in the southern region to Mercara in the northern region. The basic pattern of embracing, called the ‘Hol- lywood style’ (Harrison 1953), was observed to be restricted only to Haemadipsa zeylanica zeylanica and Haemadipsa zeylanica cochiniana in the Western Ghats. On the other hand, in Haemadipsa montana the two mates exhibited a characteristic ‘X ’ shaped posture instead of the basic pattern as described by Harrison (1953). Following characteristic tapping with their heads on the objects on which they move (Leslie 1951), the two mates come op- posite each other and stand erect on their posterior suck- ers so as position their ventral surfaces in close contact at their clitellar regions. Further, the region anterior to the clitellum of each mate curls backwards and this results in a characteristic ‘X’ shaped posture (Fig. lb). In this posi- tion, the male and the female gonopores of the two mates, situated on somites Xbs/b6 and XIbs/b6 are in direct con- tact with each other. Moreover, during this process, each mate pushes the other alternately back and forth to facilitate successful mating. Unlike in Haemadipsa zeylanica , where mating continues for several hours. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 267 mating in Haemadipsa montana is completed within about 20 minutes. Acknowledgements I am grateful to the Council of Scientific and In- Refe Harrison, J.L. (1953): Sexual behaviour of land leeches. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 51: 959-960. dustrial Research, New Delhi, for the award of Junior Fel- lowship from August 1976 to August 1979. 1 thank Dr P J Sanjeeva Raj for his guidance. I thank the Principal, Madras Christian College for all the facilities provided. November 26, 1988. M. GLADSTONE IN CES Leslie, CJ. (1951): Mating behaviour of leeches. J. Bom- bay nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 422-423. 35. A FIRST RECORD OF THE ARANEID GENUS POLTYS C.L.KOCH (ARANEIDAE) FROM PUNE, MAHARASHTRA (With a text-figure) Only two species of the Araneid genus Poltys C.L. Koch 1843 have been reported from the Indian subcon- tinent, namely Poltys bhabanii (Tikader 1964) from Nay a Bazar, Sikkim, and P. nagpurensis (Tikader & Bal 1982) from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Obviously, only the second species is available from Maharashtra and there are no records of this genus/species from any other part of India. While studying the nest-building activities and the habit of collecting spiders as larval food by Scaliphron violacewn (Dahib), it was observed that various species of spiders are collected by these wasps. It seems, from my study and the literature available on the subject, that the wasps are specialized, collecting only spiders belonging to particular families. The wasps in my study area col- lected spiders of the family Araneidae, but not those of other families. Additional collection details are given else- Fig. 1. Dorsal view of carapace and abdomen of Poltys sp. recorded from Poona (legs omitted). 268 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 where and are outside the scope of this note. During one such observations I saw a female of the genus Poltys C.L. Koch being taken. This is very rare genus in India and is being reported for the first time from Pune. The specimen collected by the wasp is an immature female. The morphological characters of this specimen do not tally with the known species either in description or in the illustration referred to in FAUNA OF INDIA, spiders (Araneae : Araneidae) 1982 pg. 166-179. Fig 1 shows the morphological characters for the specimen in. This note records the occurrence of the genus Poltys C.L. Koch in Pune, Maharashtra, and extends its distribution to western India. January 3, 1989. D. BASTAWADE References Tikader, B.K. & Bal, A. (1982): Fauna of India. Spiders, Araneae, Araneidae, Vol.2, Pt 1 : 1 -293. 36. FLOWER- VISITORS AND POLLINATION OF ADHATODA ZEYLANICA (ACANTHACEAE) ( With a text-figure) Plant-animal interactions, particularly at the flower level, are related to the structure, organisation and con- tinued functioning of the respective communities (Heithaus 1974, Frankie 1976, Moldenke 1975, 1979). The need to understand such interactions, especially in the species-rich tropical ecosystems, is essential. This paper describes the interaction of 13 insect species with the flowers of Adhatoda zeylanica Medicus (Acanthaceae), a large tropical shrub and an important medicinal plant. The plants flower at Vishakapatnam (17°42’ N, 82° 18’ E) every year from mid January to early April. Flowers are borne in the axils of leafy bracts on a pedun- culate spike inflorescence 5-9 cm long. They are zygomorphic, the corolla base forming a short tube 60 -50 U) !l40h in 30- 20- 10- X x X +•*•+ AMEGILLA BUTTERFLIES PSEUDAPIS CERATINA X X X X X X X x X X X X m X X X X X X m m m APIS CERANA INDICA XYL0C0PA LATIPES M. GYRANS X. PUBESCENS ♦♦♦ I X X X X X X 55? X X x X X X : : ♦ ♦♦ 10 II 12 13 U TIME OF DAY 15 16 17 18 19 h Fig. 1. Diurnal periodicity in foraging activity of different flower - visitors on A. zeylanica. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 269 Table i FLOWER- VISITORS OF A. zeylanica: FORAGE TYPE AND VISITATION RATES IN Insect Species Forage Type Nectar Pollen Initial (%) 27 Jan 86 Flowering Phase Peak (%) 17 Feb 86 Final (%) 22 March 86 HYMENOPTERA Bees Apis cerana indica + + 445 (33) 654 (20) 443 (28) Trigona sp. — + 65 (5) 78 (2) 74 (5) Xylocopa pubescens + 0 361 (ID 41 (3) Xylocopa latipes + — 0 409 (13) 102 (6) Pseudapis oxybeloides — + 138 (10) 182 (6) 156 (10) Ceratina sp. — + 92 (7) 106 (3) 115 (7) Amegilla sp. + + 600 (45) 788 (25) 564 (32) Pithitis binghami — + 0 47 (1.5) 0 Wasps Delta conedus + — 0 12 (0.5) 0 Scolia sp. + — 0 31 (1) 0 LEPIDOPTERA Moths Macroglassum gyrans + — 0 348 (11) 0 Butterflies Euploea core + — 0 72 (2) 27 (2) Pelopidas mathias + — 0 122 (4) 45 (3) Total visits 1340 3210 1567 and the upper part becoming two-lipped and galeate. The outer three petals are imbricate; the opposite two are united, their facial margins forming a narrow groove through which passes the filiform style with its linear stig- ma. The two epipetalous stamens with the introrse anthers are inserted in the corolla over the most part of their length and are placed, together with the style, adjacent to and covered by the upper hooded corolla lobe. The style projects slightly beyond the stigma, thereby precluding contact with anthers when they dehisce. Daily anthesis of flowers takes place in the period from 0730- 1830 hrs., a large number of flowers anthes- ing before 1100 hrs. Anthers dehisce shortly after anthesis, exposing the pollen, which is then visible to the naked eye as a white powdery mass. Pollen grains are large in size (65 x 45 microns), their number per anther averages 17800. Nectar secretion also begins with the anthesis, but in traces, and continues till the flower drops off after 48 hrs. of anthesis. Hand refractometer readings showed that the sugar concentration ranges from 17-22%. Paper chromatographic analysis revealed the sugars sucrose, glucose and fructose, the first dominating. Amino acids and proteins are present, as indicated by Ninhydrine and Bromo-phenol tests respectively. In the flowering season of 1986, in all 13 insect species, 10 belonging to hymenoptra and 3 to lepidoptera, were found foraging at the flowers of A. zeylanica (Table 1). The visits of Amegilla sp.v Trigona sp., Ceratina sp., Pithitis sp., and Pseudapis sp., among the hymenoptera were directed to pollen collection only. The other hymenoptera and the lepidoptera confined their visits to nectar foraging. The 13 species could only be recorded in the peak flowering phase, while in the other phases some of them did not appear. In all the three phases, Amegilla and Apis c. indie a made a larger number of visits than other species. At die peak phase of flowering, besides these two species, Xylocopa and Macroglossum also shared a sizeable proportion of the total visits. The absence of Xylocopa in the initial phase could be understood be- cause, in that period, it mostly concentrated on Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp. with a mass bloom. All the 13 flower-visitors are diurnal in their ac- tivity. They visited the flowers during 0630-1900 hrs. The first to visit the flowers was M. gyrans. It foraged at the flowers for 2 hours in the morning and also for 2 hours in the evening, when other visitors were not that active. This type of stratified foraging behaviour probably is a strategy to avoid competition with other foragers. Amegilla and 270 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Apis were active all through from 0630-1900 hrs. The ac- tivity of Pseudapis started late in the morning and ceased early in the evening, as also that of Ceratina and but- terflies. Both the species of Xylocopa began their activity slightly later in the morning and finished it a little earlier in the evening (Fig. 1). It is not possible to relate the activity of the various foragers to the weather parameters. It is assumed that the availability of forage might determine the visitation rates. Accordingly, in the period before 1100 hrs. there was a tendency to greater activity because a larger number of flowers open at that time. Although M. gyrans appeared to confine its activity to a cooler part of the day, observa- tions of its activity on other plant species in the same biotope did not provide any support for such a behavioural pattern. Data regarding the number of flowers visited per minute and the time spent on a flower by eight of the more common visitors indicated that M. gyrans was more mobile, covering on the average 57 flowers per minute and spending on the average 2 seconds per flower; the cor- responding figures for others are Trigona 13.5 and 4.5; Pseudapis 12 and 4; A.c indica 7.5 and 8.5; Ceratina 11 and 5.5; Amegilla 8 and 8.5.; X. latipes 6 and 12; X.pubescens 5 and 11.5. Controlled experiments revealed the total absence of apomixis and spontaneous or direct autogamy. The 20 flowers tested for indirect autogamy yielded 50% fruit set with seeds set 100% and fecundity 50%. Those tested for geitonogamy yielded 75% fruit set, 100% seed set and 75% fecundity. Those for xenogamy gave 90% fruit set, 100% seed set and 90% fecundity. A close examination of the intrafloral behaviour of the 13 visitors revealed that only the carpenter bees ( Xylocopa spp.) made meaningful contacts with the essential flower parts while foraging (Fig. 2), and vectored the pollen. The stamens and style, being placed adjacent to the upper lobe, brushed against the upper side of the visitor, thereby depositing or receiv- ing pollen nototribically. When the carpenter bee probes the flower for nec- tar, its body size fits exactly into the gap between the two corolla lobes. The zvgomorphic nature of the flowers with the essential parts placed towards the upper lip is a precise adaptation for nototribic pollination by such large-bodied insects as Xylocopa (Proctor & Yeo 1972). The role of this bee in vectoring pollen was verified by examining the stig- mas for pollen after the flowers were visited by different visitors. Only those stigmas visited by Xylocopa revealed pollen, thereby confirming the exclusive role of Xylocopa in pollination. The pollinations that result from Xylocopa visita- tion of A.zeylanica flowers might be either auto-, geitono- or xeno-gamous. However, it was found that both the species of Xylocopa visited a few flowers in a foray and then flew away. This type of behaviour of the forager, together with the behaviour of the plant producing a small number of flowers per day and with minimal quantities of nectar, promote xenogamy which is a superior mode of reproduction in A. zeylanica (Faegri & Pijl 1979, Cruden 1976). The visitors other than Xylocopa utilised the floral resource, but did not render pollination service. However, their interaction with the flowers assumes significance if it is treated from the ecosystem point of view. The visitors may be the essential pollinators of some other species in the same bioiope which may bloom outside the season of A. zeylanica. It is important that they be maintained in the ecosystem until the right plants that require them for pol- linatory service come into bloom (Baker et al. 1971). C. SUBBAREDDI B.R. THATIPARTHI S.N. REDDI May 25, 1988. A.H. MUNSHI References Baker, H.G., Cruden, R.W. & Baker, I. (1971): Minor parasitism in pollination ecology and its community function: The case of Ceiba acuminata. Bioscience 21: 1127-1129. Cruden, R.W. (1976): Fecundity as a function of nectar production and pollen - ovule ratios. In : Burley, J. & Styles, B.T. (eds.) Tropical trees : Variation, breeding and conservation. Academic Press, London - New York, pp 171-178. Faegri, K. & Van Der Bul, L. (1979): The Principles of Pollination Ecology. Pergamcn Press, Oxford. Frankie, G.W. (1976): Pollination of widely dispersed trees by animals in Central America, with an emphasis on bee pol- lination systems. In: Burley, J. & Styles, B.T. (eds.) Tropical trees: Variation, breeding and conservation. Academic Press, London - New York, pp 151-159. Heithaus, E.R. (1974): The role of plant pollinator inter- actions in determining community structure. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 61: 675-691. Modenke, A.R. (1975): Niche specialisation and species diversity along a California transect. Oecologia 21: 219-242. — — (1979): Pollination ecology as an assay for eco- systematic organization: Convergent evolution in Chile and California. Phytologia 42: 415-454. Proctor, M. & Yeo, P. (1972): The Pollination of Flowers. Taplinger, New York. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 271 37. A NOTE ON ACACIA CANESCENCE COMPLEX Heyne collected a plant from East India which was incorporated in Wallich’s Catalogue under number 5253 A and was labelled Acacia caesia Willd. Bentham (1842), while studying the suborder Mimosoideae, con- sidered it as a variety of Acacia permata (Linn.) Willd. He called it variety ‘heyneana’. He gave the Latin diag- nosis for the variety, citing Wallich Catalogue no. 5253 A. He also cited Acacia canescence Grah. Wall. Cat. no. 5256. Thus, 5253 A and 5256 become the syn types for the variety and it is proposed here to treat no. 5253 A as the lectotype for the variety. Later, Bentham in 1875 did not mention this variety. He cited A. caesia Wall Cat. no. 5253 A and Acacia canescence Grah. Wall Cat. no. 5256 as synonyms of Acacia pennata (Linn.) Willd., thus merging his own variety with the type species. However, Baker (1879) treated Acacia canenscence Grah. Wall. Cat. 5256 as a variety of A. pennata (Linn.) Willd. and called it variety canescence B aker and cited no. 5253 A A. caesia Wall, as a synonym. Thus, it is clear that Acacia pennata (Linn.) Willd. var. canescence Baker (1879) is synonymous with Acacia pennata (Linn.) Willd. var. heyneana Benth. Cl 842). Gamble (1919) considered A. canescence Grah. as a good species and provided the description of the species. Since then. Acacia canescence Grah. has been considered a validly published species. The correct citation for the species is as follows: Acacia canescence Grah. ex Gamble FI. Pres. Madras 1: 429, 1919 (Repr. ed. 1:304, 1957). Britton (1936) described a species from Cun- dinamarca, Columbia, and called it Poponax canescence (Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sc. 35: 139, 193(>). G. Bare & F. Gon- zales (1969) transferred this species to the genus Acacia Mill, and called it Acacia canescence (Cat. PL Cun- dinamarca 3: 19, 1969). This plant has stipulary spines about 2 cm long. Hence it is different from Acacia canescence Grah. ex Gamble. Thus, A. canescence (Brit- ton) Bare & Gonzl. is a later homonym of the Indian A. canescence Grah. ex Gamble (1919) in sense of Article 64 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, and should be rejected. It is proposed here to name the Columbian plant as Acacia cundinamarcensis Subhedar nom. nov. The specific epithet is adopted from the locality from where the plant was collected. Its correct name and its pertinent synonymy as follows: Acacia cundinamarcensis Subhedar Nom. Nov. Acacia canescence (Britton) Bare. & Gonzl. in Cat. PI. Cundinamarca 3:19, 1969; (non. Grah. ex Gamble); Poponax canescence Britton in Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sc. 35: 139, 1936. The correct name and its pertinent synonymy of the Indian plant is as follows: Acacia pennata (Linn.) Willd. var. heyneana Benth. in Hooker’s London Jour. Bot. 4: 515-16, 1842. A. caesia Wall. Cat. 5253 A, 1831-32 (nom.nud.) (non Willd.). Acacia canescence Grah. in Wall. Cat. 5256, 1831-32 (Nom.nud.) Gamble, FI. Pres. Madras 1: 429, 1919 (Repr. ed. 1: 304, 1957). Acacia pennata (Linn.) Willd. var. canescence Baker in Hooker’s FI. Brit. India 2: 298,1879. Acknowledgements I thank Prof. P. V. Bole, Head of the Botany Depart- ment, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay (Retired) for en- couragement and for carefully going through the manuscript. May 3, 1988. RAVINDRA P. SUBHEDAR References Baker (1879): Hooker’s Flora of British India Vol II. Barcv G. etal. (1969): Catalogue of Plants of Cundinamar- ca, Columbia. Bentham (1842): Notes on Mimoseae. Hooker’s. London Jour. Bot. 4. (1875): Revision of sub order Mimosoideae. Trans. Linn. Soc. Vol. XXX. Britton (1936): Poponax canescence Britton - New species from Cundinamarca. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sc.. XXXV. Gamble (1919): Flora of Presidency Madras Vol. I (Repr. ed. 1957). 38 .MEZONEURON HYMENOC ARPUM PRAIN: A NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORD FOR THE INDIAN MAINLAND The genus Mezoneuron Desf, consists of 10 species distributed in tropical Asia and confined to the old world. 272 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Out of the 4 species occurring in India, Mezoneuron anch.man.icum Prain and M. hymenocarpum Prain are dis- tributed in Andamans, M. enneaphyllum (Roxb.) Wight & Am. ex Benth and M. cucullatum (Roxb.) Wight & Am. in the Western Ghats and the Andamans. Mezoneuron hymenocarpum Prain has been reported from the An- daman Islands, but not from the Indian mainland. This is the first report of the species from the Indian mainland, and the discovery of its new distribution in the central part of Kerala is phytogeographically interesting. Some taxonomists (Hattink 1974) treat Mezoneuron Desf. under Caesalpinia L. in a broad sense. But, taking into consideration the prominent winged nature of the fruits in indigenous Mezoneuron spp., we feel that the 4 Indian species should be treated under the genus Mezoneuron Desf. Mezoneuron hymenocarpum Prain, a prickly climb- ing shrub, was collected from Panjanamkattu area of Vaz- hachal Forest Division, Kerala. The flora of this division is interesting; we found some rare and interesting plants there, namely Glycosmis macrocarpa Wight, Rhynchosia acutissima Thw. and Derr is canarensis (Dalz.) Baker. The occurrence of many such plants show that there is need for further exploration of the flora of this division. As this ecosystem shelters many rare and valuable gene pools, it should be conserved and protected. Mezoneuron hymnocarpum Prain differs from the common Indian species M. cucullatum (Roxb.) Wight & Am. in having pubescent branchlets, small-sized leaflets, shedding fruiting receptacles, broader wing of pods and a larger number of seeds. A key for differentiating the 4 In- dian species of Mezoneuron Desf. and a sketch of the fruit- ing specimen of M. hymenocarpum Prain are provided for easy identification in the field. KEY TO THE SPECIES OF Mezoneuron DESF. IN INDIA 1. Leaflets 5-12 pairs per pinna, small, less than 2 cm long; stalk of the leaflets 0.5 - 1 mm. 2. Pedicel of fruit 8-15 mm long; tip of fruit usually hooked M. hymenocarpum 2. Pedicel of fmit 15-20 mm long; tip of fruit acute M. enneaphyllum 1 . Leaflets 3-6 pairs per pinna, large, over 2 cm. long; stalk of the leaflets 2—4 mm. 3. Leaflets acuminate at apex, coriaceous; seeds 1, rarely 2 per fruit M. cucullatum 3. Leaflets rounded or retuse at apex, membranous; seeds 3-4 per fruit M. andamanicum The habitat of mezoneuron hymenocarpum Prain is the evergreen forest. The important associates include Canavalia ensiformis DC., Diospyros microphylla Bedd., Bauhinia vahlii Wt. & Am., Persea macrantha (Nees) Kosterm., Ochlandra travancorica Gamble, Vuex altis- sirruz L.f., Xanthophyllum flctvescens Roxb., Aporosa lindleyana Baill., Glochidion ellipticum Wt., Olea dioica Roxb., Calamus pseudotenuis Becc. and Hopea par- vifloraBedd. F ruiting - December. Distribution - Sri Lanka, China, Burma, India, Indo- China, Thailand, Malaysia, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands. Specimens examined - FRC 10851, Panjanamkattu (Vazhachal Forest Division, Kerala); MH 65813, Burma. K.N. SUBRAMANIAN B. GURUDEV SINGH May 27, 1988. K.R. SASIDHARAN References Hattink, T.A. (1974): A Revision of Malesian Caesal - Reinwardtia 9(1): 1-69. pinia including Mezoneuron (Leguminosae - Caesalpiniaceae). 39. SYNEDRELLA VTAUS (LESS.) A. GRAY: A NEW RECORD FOR UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA Durmg botanical exploration in the Doon Valley we collected a weed from New Forest, Dehra Dun. On check- ing with literature it was identified as Synedrella vialis (Asteraceae), a native of South America. From India this species is so far reported from Poona, Maharashtra (Ahuja & Pataskar 1969, Rao etal . 1988). It is now being reported for the first time from North India. Synedrella vialis (Less.) A. Gray in Proc. Am. Acad. 17:217. 1882; Ahuja & Pataskar in Ind. For. 95:267. Figs. 1-8. 1969; Rao era/., Fl.Ind.Enum. Astera.74. 1988. Calyptocarpus vialis Less. Syn 221. 1832. et in Linnaea 269. 1834; DC. Prodr. 5:630. 1839. Herbs. Annual, branching from the base, spreading and rooting at nodes, more or less scabrid-hairy. Leaves opposite, simple, petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, cuneate at the base, acute at the apex, shortly hairy on both surfaces, 3-4 x 2-3.2 cm, serrate, 3- nerved from the base; petiole ciliate. Heads axillary, usually solitary or sometimes two, sessile; when two, one pedunculate; peduncle up to 3 cm long; outer involucral bracts 4, herbaceous, ovoid or MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 273 oblong-lanceolate, shortly hairy, ciliate along margin, each up to 7 x 4 mm; inner bracts linear- lanceolate, paleaceous, 5x1 mm, merging into paleae of the recep- tacle. Outer florets ligulate, 5-9, female, yellow, 2- 3-lobed at the apex. Inner florets tubular, limb 4-fid, her- maphrodite; stamens 4, epipetalous, syngenesious, an- thers appendaged at the apex and tailed at the base. Style of both the female and hermaphrodite florets bifid. Achenes dimorphic; those of ray-florets dorsally com- pressed, narrowly winged, crowned with 2 spines, those of disc florets dorsally compressed and crowned with 2 spines or triquetrous and crowned with 3 spines, scabrid, spines half as long as the achenes, shortly hairy. Specimens Examined: New Forest, Dehra Dun, 28 August 1988, Sumer Chandra 150 (DD) and 30 August 1988, H.B. Naithani 1529 (DD). H.B. NAITHANI December 1, 1988. SUMER CHANDRA 40. SOME NEW COMBINATIONS IN THE SUBTRIBE LACTUCEAE (ASTERACEAE) The members of the complex subtribe Lactuceae are morphologically inter-related and show overlapping characters. During the course of a critical study on the taxonomic revision of the sub tribe Lactuceae, a few im- portant characters to distinguish all the genera were recog- nised. Members like Mulgedium , Cicerbita and Lactuca are very closely allied but can be differentiated as follows: In Cicerbita involucral bracts are in more than 3- series, gradually passing into inner, and usually blackish bristly hairy, whereas in Mulgedium and Lactuca in- volucral bracts are usually 2-3 seriate, differentiated into outer and inner bracts and usually glabrous or sparsely hairy. Further, in Cicerbita involucres are usually broad, and campanulate and achenes are ovate or elliptic, sub- compressed with a small beak, whereas in Mulgedium and Lactuca involucres are comparatively small or medium sized, usually cylindric and achenes are oblanceolate or lanceolate, finely compressed with a small or a long beak. Subsequently Lactuca gracilis has been transferred to the genus Ixeris , therefore variety khasiana automati- cally deserves a new combination. Similarly, Picridium tingitana has been transferred to the genus Reichardia, therefore variety subintegra also deserves anew combina- tion. Keeping in view the above justifications we suggest the following new combinations. Cicerbita filicina (Duthie ex Stebbins) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. Basionym: Lactuca filicina Duthie ex Stebbins in Ind. For. Rec. Bot. 1(6): 241:1939. Cicerbita cyanea (D. Don) Beauverd var. paniculata (Clarke) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. Basionym: Lactuca hastata Wall, ex DC. var. paniculata Clarke, Comp. Ind. 268. 1876. Cicerbita cyanea (D. Don) Beauverd var. khasiana (Clarke) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. Basionym: Lactuca hastata Wall, ex DC. var. khasiana Clarke, Comp. Ind. 268. 1876. Cicerbita lessertiana (Wall, ex DC.) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. Basionym: Mulgedium lessertianum Wall, ex DC. Prodr. 7:251.1838. Cicerbita lessertiana subsp. dentata (DC.) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. et stat. nov. Basionym: Mulgedium lessertianum var. dentatum DC. Prodr. 7. Cicerbita lessertiana subsp. lyrata (Decne.) mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. et stat. nov. Basionym: Melanoseris lyrata Decne. in Jacqu, Voy. 4. Bot. 101. 1. 109. 1844. Ixeris gracilis (Wall, ex DC.) Stebbins var. khasiana (Hook.f.) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. Basionym: Lactuca gracilis Wall, ex DC. var. khasiana Hook.f. FI. Brit. Ind. 411. 1881. Reichardia tingitana (Linn.) Roth, var. subintegra (Boisser) Mamgain & Rao, comb. nov. Basionym: Picridium tingitanum (Linn.) Desf. var. subintegra Boisser, FI. Ori. 3:828. 1875. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, for facilities. S.K. MAMGAIN September 9, 1988 R.R. RAO 41. PLANTS IN RELATION TO SOCIO-CULTURE OF LADAKH Folklore, mythological stories and the epics, as references to plants. Perhaps as a consequence of his de- also innumerable religious practices in households and pendence on plants, man has incorporated them into his temples, in festivals, births and deaths are all replete with religion, language, art, drama and recreation. 274 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 The social and cultural traditions of the Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, are markedly different from those of any other part of India. Until recently the tradi- tional way of life had seen little change over centuries. However, Ladakh has become more and more exposed to outside influences, which threaten its unique culture. During the last few years we have been studying the ethnobotany of Ladakh. Certain plants are intricately linked with culture and traditions of the people. Enumerated below are a few such plants. For each plant is given name, citation, locality, collection number and role; family name is given in parenthesis. Arnebia guttata Bunge. Ind. Sem. Horti. Dorpat, 1840:7,1840. ' Deemok ’ Karoo (3400 m) IN 69. (Boraginaceae) Fresh roots on crushing yield a red dye. The dye is used to decorate the idols of Buddha made from ash and clay. Mandala or prashad made from saihu (fried wheat flour) is also ornamented with red dye. The dye is also used to paint interiors of private chapels by poorer Ladak- his who cannot afford paints. Descuriana sophia (Linn.) Webb. Berth. Pflanzafr 3(2): 192, 1891. ‘Deschamchsce Phiyang (3500 m) IN 176. (Brassocaceae). A sacred plant of Ladakhi Buddhists. It is usually planted along the borders of cultivated fields and around houses. It is claimed to increase crop production and to bring happiness to the household. Plants are kept near the heap of harvested crops. Seeds are usually carried along during journeys as protection against evil spirits. Inula obtusifolia Kemer in Ber. Naturw. Verz. hi- nsbruk I: 111,1870. ' Minchennakpo ’ Khardungla (5600 m) IN 366. (Asteraceae) Fresh flowers are usually spread on the corpse of the deceased during recital from the holy books. After the rites are completed these flowers are taken to the temple and kept at the feet of the Buddha’s idol for 12 hours. Next morning the flowers are thrown into the river. Flowers are also spread on the corpse before laying it on the funeral pyre. Juglans regia Linn. Sp. PI. 997, 1753. 'Starga' Panamick (3250 m) IN 3616. (Juglandaceae) The wood is used for printing blocks for Buddhist prayers. The prayers are engraved on the rectangular blocks known as ' Genzenchema ' . Later, using black or red dye, these prayers are printed on muslin cloth flags of 12” x 12” or 12” x 9” dimensions. Juniperus communis Linn. var. saxatilis Pall. FI. Ross. 1, 2: 12t. 4, 1788. ' Shukpa ’ Gumri (3400 m) IN 1707. (CUPRESSACEAE) Dried twigs are used as incense at all religious and cultural ceremonies. During crop sowing or harvesting shukpa fires are lit along the borders of crop fields under vertically erected stones. When religious processions are taken out, these fires are lit along the route of the proces- sion and are also carried along in specially prepared metal- lic pots. Potentilla argyrophylla Wall, ex Lehm. Pugill 3: 36,1831. ‘Balchar’ Khardungla (5600 m). (Rosaceae) Dried plant is burnt as incense with shukpa (. Juniperus communis). Waldhemia tomentosa (Dene.) Regel. I.C. 308, 1879. 'Palin' Khardungla (5600 m) IN 349. (Asteraceae) Dried plants are burnt as incense during all religious and cultural ceremonies. G.M. BUTH November 1, 1988. IRSHAD A. NAVCHOO 42. ON THE OCCURRENCE OF DIMERIA ACUTIPES BOR (GR AMINE AE) IN TAMIL NADU (With a text-figure ) Bor (1952) had described Dimer ia acutipes as en- demic to Tamil Nadu, based on Bourne’s collection (35, Type K) made in 1898 on the outskirts of Madras City. Since then, this species has remained uncollected and con- sequently little-known. There are no specimens at MH, Coimbatore. Karthikeyan (1971) and Nayar & Ramamur- thy (1973) have mentioned this species as an addition to Flora of Madras and Flora of India respectively and quoted distributional data from the protologue. Nair and Nair (1981) listed this species as a rare one, known only from type collection. They suggested that the species could pos- sibly be extinct. I have twice collected Dimer ia acutipes between 1984 and 1986, from Narthamalai in Pudukottai District. The collections were made from fallow fields after the monsoon. They generally grow in association with Apocopis mangalorensis. These collections are thus a rediscovery of the species after nearly 90 years. They have been identified by T.A. Cope at Kew. A brief description and illustrations are provide here to facilitate collection and identification. Dimeria acutipes: Bor inKew Bull. 7: 560. 1952 & Grass. India 138. 1960. lOvj MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Dimsria acuiipes Bor 1. Habit; 2. Liguler 3. Raceme; 4. Spikelet; 5. Rachis; 6. Lower glume; 7. Upper glume; 8. Lower lemma; 9. Upper lemma; 10. Upper palea; 11. Lodicules, stamens and pistil; 12. Caryopsis. 1. Habit; 2. Leaf base (underside); 3. Leaf apex (upper side); 4. Stipular sheath; 5. Mature flower bud; 6. Corolla opened; 7. An- thers; 8. Stylar apex; 9. Fruit; 10 Split fruit; 11. Seeds MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 277 Annual. Culms 10-15 cm, slender, erect, glabrous, densely hairy at nodes. Leaf-sheaths 1-2.5 cm long; ligule membranous, apically ciliate; leaf-blades linear-lanceo- late, 1-4.5 x 0.1-0.2 cm, sparsely tuberculate-pilose on the upper surface. Raceme solitary, spiciform, to 3 cm, somewhat flexuous; pedicels obliquely articulate with cal- lus. Spikelets up to 6 mm (arista & awn excluded). Glumes compressed, stiff-pilose from below the middle to the apex, scabrid along keels. Lower floret empty; upper one bisexual; awn of upper glume to 3.5 mm; upper lemma 3.5- 5.5 mm, cleft above, awn at sinus 0.8-1. 5 cm long. Stamens 2. Caryopsis linear, to 2.5 mm, laterally com- pressed. Common in fallow fields and sandy tracts, during rainy season. Specimens examined: Pudukottai Dist., Nar- thamalai: S.J. Britto. RHT 29660, 30576, 30577, 30578 (RHT, K). Acknowledgements I am grateful to Dr. T. A. Cope of Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, for the determination of this species. Thanks are also due to S. Karthikeyan, BSI, Pune for use- ful suggestions. August 27, 1988. S.J. BRITTO References Bor, N.L. (1952): Notes on Asiatic Grasses: XI. The genus Dimeria R. Br. in India and Burma. Kew Bull. 7: 553-592. (1960): Grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan (excluding Bambuseae). Pergamon Press Oxford. Karthikeyan, S. (1971): A contribution to the family Gramineae of the “Flora of the Presidency of Madras". Bull. Bot. Surv. India 13: 171. Nair, V.J. & Nair, N.C. (1981): Studies on the Grass Flora of Erstwhile Madras Presidency - A Review, ibid. 23: 79-81. Nayar, M.P. & Ramamurthy, K. (1973); Third list of species and Genera of Indian Phanerogams not included in J.D. Hooker’s Flora of British India (excluding Bangladesh, Burma, Ceylon, Malayan Peninsula and Pakistan), ibid. 15: 215. 43. DIODIA LINN. (RUBIACEAE): A NEW GENERIC REPORT FROM INDIA (With a text -figure) We collected specimens of a Rubiaceae species from the Sree Narayana College Campus and adjacent areas in Chathannoor, near the coastal town of Quilon in Quilon District, Kerala, South India. Detailed study of the vegetative and floral characters of the plant revealed its distinctness from all the known Indian Rubiaceous genera. Subsequently the plant was identified as Diodia teres Wal- ter by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. As none of the In- dian Floras, past or present, deal with any species of Diodia L., the present paper is a new record for the genus in India. According to Kew, D. teres is a New World species, so far reported outside the New World only from Angola, Senegal and Japan. This collection is thus a new record to the Indian Flora. Diodia L. is closely allied to Spermacoce L. (in the broad sense) and Richardia L. in the general vegetative and floral characters, but is distinct from both in the mode of dehiscence of the fruit. While the fruit is a schizocarp in both Diodia and Richardia- splitting into 2 cocci in the former and into more than 2 cocci in the latter — the fruit is a variously dehiscent septicidal capsule in Spermacoce. As the taxon is new to Indian Flora, a description and drawings made on the basis of study of fresh specimens are presented here for the benefit of Indian botanists. Diodia teres Walter sensu lato (Steyermark in Mem. New York Bot. Garden. 23: 799 (1972)). Annual erect to diffuse herb. Stem 4-angled, to 30 cm long, hirsute-hairy. Leaves sessile, linear-elliptic to lanceolate, upto 3.5 cm long and 1 cm broad with recurved scabrous margins, acute to acuminate apex ending in a stiff arista, broadly cuneate to round base, midrib prominently impressed above and raised below, veins 4-5, obscure above, slightly raised below, puberulous above and below, prominently so on the raised veins below with strigose hairs added on both sides and broad leaf base; Stipular sheath more or less truncate at apex, strigose outside with 8 to 9 linear slender teeth upto 1 cm long, shortly hairy at the base, glabrous otherwise, insterspersed with more or less club-shaped glandular hairs. Flowers 1 to 4 per axil, sessile. Sepals 4, short, subequal, triangular-acute, scabrous on the margins, persistent. Corolla mauve, fun- nel-form, tube 4 to 5 mm long with a ring of short hairs at the base, glabrous otherwise on the inside, lobes 4, trian- gular-ovate, acute-apiculate at apex, 2 to 3 mm long, as broad as long or slightly less, puberulous on the outside with a few bristly hairs towards the tip. Stamens 4, in- serted at the mouth of the tube, anthers short, 2-celled, fila- ment as long as or shorter than the anther. Ovary 2 mm long, half as broad as long, shortly hairy towards the apex and glabrous towards the base, 2 celled, each cell with a 278 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 single basal axile ovule; disc small and annular; style slender, about 4.5 mm long, bluntly tuberculate towards the apex; stigma capitate, 2-lobed, papillate. Fruit obey ate to spherical with the persistent calyx teeth, 3.5 to 4 mm long, shortly hairy towards the apex, glabrous towards the base, splitting into 2 indehiscent cocci and falling at maturity from the leaf axil. Seeds flattened- obovate, smooth, pale brown, concave on the ventral face with a longitudinal ridge, apically incurved. The herbarium specimen Ravi 2429 A, Chathan- noor, 6-7-1988, has been deposited in the Kew Herbarium, England, and its duplicates 2429 B, 2429 C and 2429 D have been deposited in the CNH, Howrah, MH, Coim- batore and Sree Narayana College Herbarium, Quilon, respectively. We thank the Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for identifying the taxon. N. RAVI N. ANILKUMAR December 13, 1988. T.K. BALACHANDRAN 44. A NOTE ON THE ANOMALOUS FLOWERING BEHAVIOUR IN CURCUMA CAESIA (ZINGIBERACEAE) (With a text-figure) Fig. 1. Curcuma caesia exhibiting bothy lateral (A) and central (B) spikes within a short span of 2 weeks. Flowering behaviour (flowering season and posi- tion of inflorescence) is a key character in delimitation of Curcuma species. Normally, those species that flower in autumn (autumnal) possess central spikes arising from the centre of the leafy tuft while those that flower in summer (vernal) have lateral spikes arising from the lateral buds of rhizome or sessile tubers, before leaf formation. Normal flowering has been observed in C. longa, C. dec ip ie ns, C. pseudomontana, C. peethapushpa (sec- tion Mesantha) which exhibited autumnal flowering with central spikes and in C. aromatic a, C. zeodaria. C. com- osa, C. caesia (section Exantha) which exhibited vernal flowering with lateral spikes. C. caesia (Black zeodary; section Exantha), however, exhibited anomalous flower- ing behaviour this year by producing both lateral and central spikes within a short span of time during late sum- mer (Fig. 1). Some plants of a population of C. caesia grown at Vellanikkara produced lateral spikes initially and a few other plants of the same population produced central spikes after about two weeks. San tap an (1953) recorded lateral spikes in summer and later, central spike in monsoon from C. pseudomon- tana plant. This type of anomaly has also been reported from another Zingiberaceae plant. Zingiber officinale by Velayudhan et al. (1983). Such anomalies in the genus Curcuma have been a point of great controversy (Manilal and Sivarajan 1982). Past reports on the genus by San- tapau (1953 & 1958) and Chav an & Oza (1966) supported the view of Roxburgh (1810) that the flowering spikes’ position in Curcuma was seasonal and its value as a basic key for species delimitation was doubtful. Lately, Saldhana and Nicolson (1976) had also expressed similar views. However, as noted by Burtt (1972), before decid- ing the validity of flowering behaviour as a key character for identification, further observations on seasonal flower- ing behaviour in other species of Cur cum are needed. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 279 ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS NBPGR, New Delhi, for encouragement and facilities ex- tended Grateful thanks are due to Dr R.K. Aror a. Director V.A. AMALRAJ and Shri T.A. Thomas, Head of Evaluation K.C. VELAYUDHAN Division, December 13, 1988 V.K. MURALIDHARAN References Burtt, B.L. (1972): Notes on Curcuma. Notes r.b.g. Edib. 31: 224. Chavan & OZA (1966): Flora of Bawagadh. Bombay. Manilal, K.S. & Sivarajan, V.V. (1982): Flora of Calicut. B.S.M.R Singh, Dehra Dun. Roxbhurgh, W. (1810): Asiat. Res. 11:33$ Saldhana, C.J. & Nicolson, D.H. (1976): Flora of Has- san district, Karnataka, New Delhi. Samtapau, H. (1953): On a common species of Curcuma of Bombay and Salsette Islands. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 51: 135. — (958): Flora of Purandhar. New Delhi. VELAYUDHAN, K.C. MURALIDHARAN, V.K. & THOMAS, T.A. (1983): Flowering and abnormalities in flowering in Ginger. Sci & Cult. 49 .108. 45. PASPALUM LONGIFOLIUM ROXR.: A GRASS NEW TO UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA Recently Mr. Pancham Singh of the Botany Depart- ment, D.A.V. (P.G.) College, Dehra Dun, collected a grass from Nakraunda, district. Delira Dun, which we could not match with any species represented from Uttar Pradesh. The grass was identified as Paspalaum longifolium, whose home is principally in northeast India (Bor 1940 & 1960). It has also been reported to occur in Kerala (Fis- cher 1934), Gujarat (Patil 1965), Madhya Pradesh (Naithani & Raizada 1977) and even outside India. The present paper records for the first time the occurrence of this grass from Uttar Pradesh. Paspalum longifolium Roxb. (Hort. Beng. 7. 1814, nomen) FI. Ind. 1:283. 1820; Hsu, Taiwan Grass. 585. fig. 586. 1975. A perennial grass. Culms 50-125 cm tall, leaves 35-80 cm X 4-6 mm. Inflorescence a panicle made up of 6-24 false spikes; spikelets 4-seriate; lower glume absent, the upper obovate-oblong, 3 -nerved; lower floret barren; lemtna 5 -nerved; palea like lemmas. Cary op sis broadly ovate. Specimen examined: Nakraunda, Dehra Dun, 26 Oct 1986, Pancham Singh ex Herb. SomDevaNo. 10690 (DD & BSD). Distribution : India (northeast India, Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh), Nepal, Sri Lanka to Vietnam, Taiwan, North Australia and Malaysia. Ecology. Solitary or in groups in moist places, e.g. along river banks, in swamps and pools, in floating grass communities, growing in water upto 60 cm deep. A common invader in wet and open, disturbed places. As- sociated with Bothriochloa, Echinochloa, Eriocaulon, Miscanthus , Oryza. On sandy, loamy clayey, alluvial soils, upto 1700 m altitude (De Koning & Sosef 1985). Chromosome number : 2n - 40 (Chen & Hsu 1961). Uses: Some value as fodder grass for buffaloes (Bor 1960). SOM DEVA April 9, 1988. H.B. NAITHANI References Bor, N.L. (1940): Flora of Assam 5: 25-253. (I960): Grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India & Pakistan. 334-341. Chen, C.C. & IIasu, C. (1961): Cytological studies on Taiwan Grasses I. tribe Paniceae. Bull. Bot. Acad. Sinica, n.s. 2: 102-110. De koning, R. & Sosef, M.S.M. (1985): The Malesian species of Paspalum L. (Gramineae). Blwnea 30: 297-299. Fischer, C.E.C. (1934): Flora Presidency Madras. 3: 1689- 1864 (Gramineae) Naithani, H.B. & Raizada, M.B. (1977): Note on the dis- tribution records of grasses. Ind. For. 103: 513-524. Patil, R.I. (1985): Grasses of Gujarat state. Ind. For. 91(5): 309-340 INDEX OF AUTHORS, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES PAGE Acharjyo, L.N. Nandankanan Biological Park, P.O. Barang, DisL Cuttack - 754 005, Orissa. 248 Akhtar, Syed Asad Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay- 400 023 245,246 Amalraj, VA. NBPGR Regional Statiuon, Vellanikkara, Trichur, Kerala 278 Anilkumar, N. Sree Narayana College, Quilon - 691 001, Kerala 276 Asher, Kiran "Saken", Valentina Society, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune - 411 001, Maharashtra 237 Balachandran, T.K. Sree Narayana College, Chathannoor - 691 572, Kerala 276 Bastawade, D. Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Station, 933/A, S’nagar, Pune -411 016. 267 Bhalla, J.S. Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141 004, Punjab 247 Bharucha, Erach "Saken”, Valentina Society, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune - 41 1 001, Maharashtra. 237 Bhatt, Karmvir Shree Apartment, Makai Pool, Surat, Gujarat 253 Bhupathy, S. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay -400 023 252 Britto, S.J. Rapinat Herbarium, St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirapalli - 620 002, Tamil Nadu 273 Buth, G.M. Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190 006, Jammu & Kashmir 273 Chandra, Sumer Wildlife Institute of India, New Forest, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh. 272 Das, Indraneil 18/20, Ballygunge Place (East), Calcutta - 700 019, West Bengal 253 Das-Chaudhuri, A.B. Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta 233 David, B.V. Fredrick Institute of Plant Protection and Toxicology Padappai - 601 301, Tamil Nadu 260,261 Deva, Som 13, Balbir Avenue, Dehra Dun, Uttar Paradesh. 279 Devasahayam, Anita National Research Centre for Spices, PB 1701, Marikunnu P.O., Calicut - 673 012, Kerala. 253 Devasahayam, S. National Research Centre for Spices, PB 1701, Marikunnu P.O., Calicut - 673 012, Kerala. 253 Frazier, J. Pro grama Regional de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Apartado 1350, Heredia, Costa Rica 250 Gladstone, M. Prof & Head, Department of Zoology, Madras Christian College, Madras - 600 059, Tamil Nadu 266 Grubh, R.B. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay -400 023 240 Jacob, Titus T. Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Calicut - 673 635, Kerala. 263 Jesudasan, R.W.A. Madras Christian College, Madras - 600 059. 260, 261 Jugtawa, Rajiv "Saken", Valentina Society, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune - 41 1 001, Maharashtra. 237 Kaur, Sarbjit Asstt. Prof., Dept, of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana -141 004, Punjab 244 Kulshreshtha, Manoj 13-B, Saheli Marg, Udaipur - 313 001, Rajasthan. 246 Madge, S.C. 2 Church Row, Sheviock, Torpoint, Cornwall PL 11 3EH, U.K 243 Mamgain, S.K. Botanical Survey of India, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh 273 Mann, G.S. Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141 004, Punjab 247 Munshi, A.H. Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190 006, Jammu & Kashmir 268 Muralidharan, S. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay - 400 023 240 Muralidharan, V.K. NBPGR Regional Statiuon, Vellanikkara, Trichur, Kerala 278 Naik, Sattyasheel N. Naik Hospital, 78 1/782, Shukrawar Peth, Pune - 41 1 002, Maharashtra. 241 Naithani, H.B. Systematic Botany Branch, Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh 279 Naithani, H.B. Wildlife Institute of Lidia, New Forest, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh 272 Nanjappa, C. Field Biologist, BNHS Ecological Research Centre, Bharatpur 240 Narayanakurup, D. Wildlife Assistant, Wildlife Information Centre, Periyar Tiger Reserve, Thekkady - 685 536, Kerala 239 Narayanan E. Entomologist, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry - 605 006 259 Narendran, T.C. Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Calicut - 673 635, Kerala 263 Navchoo, LA. Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar - 190 006, Jammu & Kashmir 273 Parihar, A.S. Field Director, Project Tiger, Kanha National Park, Mandla - 481 661, Madhya Pradesh 235, 237 Perennou, C. French Institute, PB 33, Pondicherry - 605 001 247 Prakash, Vibhu Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, S.B. Singh Road, Bombay - 400 023 240, 241 , 245, 246 Rahmani, Asad R. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, S.B. Singh Road, Bombay -400 023 240,241 Ranade, R.V. Head, Zoology Department, Garware College, Karve Road, Pune - 411 004 238 Rao, Prakash Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay -400 023 240 Rao, R.R. Botanical Survey of India, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh 273 Ravi, N. Sree Narayana College, Quilon - 691 001 , Kerala. 276 Reddi, S.N. Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, Vishakapatnam - 530 003, Andhra Pradesh 268 Roy, B.N. Department of Anthropology, Bangabasi College, Calcutta 233 Sankaran, Ravi Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagatsingh Road, Bombay -400 023 255 Sasidharan, K.S. Botany Division, Forest Research Centre, Coimbatore - 641 002, Tamil Nadu 271 Shah, Karan Bahadur Lecturer in Zoology, Natural History Museum, Kathmandu, Nepal 236 Singh, Gurudev B. Botany Division, Forest Research Centre, Coimbatore - 641 002, Tamil Nadu 271 Singh, L.A.K. Crocodile Research Centre, Wildlife Institute of India, Hyderabad - 500 264, Andhra Pradesh 248 Subba Reddi, C. Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, Vishakapatnam - 530 003, Andhra Pradesh 268 Subhedar, R.P. St Xavier’s College, Mahapalika Marg, Bombay - 400 001, Maharashtra 271 Subramanian, K.N. Botany Division, Forest Research Centre, Coimbatore - 641 002, Tamil Nadu 271 Sujatha, K. Department of Marine Living Resources, Andhra university, Vishakapatnam - 530 003, Andhra Pradesh 257 Sundararaman, V. Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, P.O. Box 80, Lucknow - 226 001, Uttar Pradesh 242 Tehsin, Raza 41, Panchwati, Udaipur - 313 001, Rajasthan 246 Thatiparthi, B.R. Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, Vishakapatnam - 530 003, Andhra Pradesh 268 Uttangi, J.C. 56/1 Mission Compound, Dharwad - 580 001, Karnataka 256 Vargheese, Thresiamma Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, Calicut - 673 635, Kerala. 263 Velayudhan, K.C. NBPGR Regional Station, Vellanikkara, Trichur, Kerala. 278 ERRATA BUTTERFLIES OF SIKKIM Page Column Line For Read 272 Left 11 from above Wynter-Blyth 1951 Wynter-Blyth 1957 272 Left 11 from above Talbot 1934 Talbot 1939, 1947 275 Right 16 from below Hypolimans Hypolimnas 275 Right 16 from below miss ip us misippus 276 Left 13 from above Premis Precis 277 Left 13 from above violaea violae 280 Right 9 from above (1939): Vol.2 (1947): Vol. 2 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 443 Title monstrous Drury monstrosus (Drury) 443 Left 3 from below monstrous Drury monstrosus (Drury) 445 Title ALYRODIDAE ALEURODIDAE o ALEYRODIDAE 447 Title TAPHRETIDAE TEPHRITIDAE VOLUME 86(1): APRIL 1989 NOTES ON THE STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF SOME BIRDS IN SRI LANKA Page 9, Left column For 161. Crested Hawk- Eagle ( Spizaetus cirrhaius andamanensis ) Read 161. Crested Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus cirrhaius) MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 17. OCCURRENCE OF THE WHITECOLLARED KINGFISHER Page 105, Left column. Line 12, For Ali & Ripley (1970:406) restricted its distributional range to Camorta, Central Nicobar. Read Ali & Ripley (1970:98) mentioned its occurrence on Car Nicobar, Camorta, Nancowry, Trinkut and throughout the group. Abdulali (1971:406) restricted its distributional range to Camorta, Central Nicobar. Page 105, Left column, in Table 1, For 2 Females 105, 108 2 Males 104,109 Read 2 Males 105,108 2 Femalesl04, 109 THE SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS The Book of Indian Animals, by S. H. Prater, 4th edition (reprint). 28 plates in colour by Paul Barruel and many other monochrome illustrations. ( Price to members Rs. 70)' The Ecology of the Lesser Bandicoot Rat in Calcutta, by James Juan Spillett. Rs. 10 The Book of Indian Birds, by Silim Ali. 11th (revised) edition. 74 coloured and many monochrome plates. ( Price to members Rs. 75) A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, by Salim Ali & S. 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Bustard 141 MONKEYS OF THE OLD CITY OF JAIPUR, INDIA (With tWO text- figures) By Reena Mathur, R. Manohar and A. Lobo 151 biology of the predaceous bug Rhinocoris marginatus fabricius ( I N secta- h eteroptera reduviidae) (With three text- figures) By Dunston P. Ambrose and David Livingstone 155 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIOLOGY OF HOUBARA BUSTARD: 1983-84 POPU- lation levels in western Baluchistan (With a text-figure) By Afsar Mian 161 BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR OF THE WILD GOAT AND THE URIAL AT A WATER POINT IN KIRTHAR NATIONAL PARK, PAKISTAN (With tWO text-figures) By W. Daniel Edge, Sally L. Olson-Edge and Nasir Ghani .... 166 ON THE BASKING BEHAVIOUR OF THE MUGGER CrOCOdyluS palustris LESSON (REPTILIA: CROCODILIA) AT BHORSAINDA CROCODILE SANC- TUARY, haryana state (With two text-figures Sc a map) By R. C. Gupta and P. Sri Hari 170 MATERIALS FOR FLORA OF MAHABALESWAR — 6a By P. V. Bole and M. R. Almeida 175 TERRITORIALITY IN INDIAN BLACKBUCK Arttilope cervicapra (LINNAEUS) ( With a text-figure) By N.L.N.S. Prasad 187 FIELD GUIDE TO THE AMPHIBIANS OF WESTERN INDIA — PART 4 ( With two plates Sc six text-figures) By J. C. Daniel and A. G. Sekar 194 APPLICATION OF SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY IN THE TAXONOMY OF cladocera (With eight plates containing forty-nine figures) By K. Venkataraman and S. Krishnaswamy , 203 IN DEFENCE OF THE MUCH-MALIGNED (ALPHA) TAXONOMY IN INDIA By A. N. Henry and P. Daniel 206 NEW DESCRIPTIONS 213 REVIEW .......... 232 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 233 Printed by Bro. Paulinus at St. Francis Industrial Training Institute, Borivli, Bombay 400 103 and published by J. C. Daniel for Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shalieed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. Vol. 86, No. 3 December 1989 Rs. 90 itive Editc DANIEL INSTRUCTIONS TO CONI Papers which have been published or ha\ elsewhere should not be submitted. All words to be printed in italics should be Trinomials referring to subspecies should o] has been authentically established by compa lected. Photographs for reproduction must be cle should be at least 8.20 x 5.60 cm (No. 2 Brownie) and on glossy gl Text-figures, line drawings and maps should be in Indian ink, preferabl References to literature should be placed at the end of the paper, alpha cally arranged under author’s name, with the abridged titles of journal periodicals underlined (italics) and titles of books not underlined (rc Banerji, M. L. (1958): Botanical Exploration in East Nepal, /. Bombay Hist. Soc . 55(2) : 243-268. Prater, S. H. (1948): The Book of Indian Animals, Titles of papers should not be underlined. Each paper should be accompanied by a concis< normally not exceeding 200 words. Authors are supplied 25 reprints of their articles : of joint authorship, 50 copies will be given grati the two or more authors. Orders for additional r< pies of 25 and should be received within four we be used plus postage and packing. 9. The editors reserve the right, other things contribution earlier than a non-member’s. Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. Journal VOLUME 86(3): DECEMBER 1989 Date of Publication :30-03-1990 CONTENTS Page HITHERTO UNREPORTED NEST SITE OF LESSER FLAMINGO Phoeniconaias minor IN THE LITTLE RANN OF KUTCH, GUJARAT (With a plate and a text-figure ) By Taej Mundkur, Rishad Pravez, Shivrajkumar Khachar and R.M. Naik 281 A STUDY OF Varanus flavescens (HARDWICKE & GRAY) (SAURIA: VARANIDAE) (With ten text-figures ) By Walter Auffenberg, Hafizur Rahman, Fehmida Iffat and Zahida Perveen 286 INTRUSION OF A RHESUS Macaca mulatto PAIR INTO A LANGUR Presbytis entellus GROUP (With two text-figures) By Reena Mathur and A. Lobo 308 ANTHECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS OF Leonotis nepetaefolia R. BR. By AJ. Solomon Raju and C. Subba Reddi 313 SATPURA HYPOTHESIS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF LAUGHING THRUSHES Garrulax LESSON OF INDIA (With two maps and a text-figure ) By Md. Anwarul Islam 318 ADVANTAGES OF COMMENSALISM IN Uloborusferokus BRADOO (ARANEAE: ULOBORIDAE) (With three plates containing six figures) By B .L. Bradoo 323 OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY OF THE PRAYING MANTIS Creobater urbana FABR. (ORTHOPTERA: MANTIDAE) By RJ. Ranjit Daniels, Malati Hegde and C. Vinutha 329 ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HIMALAYAN NEWT Tylototriton verrucosus (ANDERSON) WITH REFERENCE TO CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT (With two plates) By Tej Kumar Shrestha 333 THE GREENBILLED OR CEYLON COUCAL Centropus chlororhynchus BLYTH-SRI LANKA’S RAREST ENDEMIC SPECIES By Thilo Hoffmann 339 FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF TOE POISON APPARATUS AND HISTOLOGY OF THE VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS (With three plates and seven text-figures) By Ridling Margaret Waller and G .J. Phanuel 344 FLOWERING PHENOLOGY OF THE MANGROVES FROM THE WEST COAST OF MAHARASHTRA By N.G. Mulik and LJ. Bhosale 355 STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE KING VULTURE Sarcogyps calvus (SCOPOLI) IN GUJARAT: RESULTS OF A RECENT ENQUIRY (With a text-figure) By Shivrajkumar Khachar and Taej Mundkur 360 SPAWNING IN THE FROG Microhyla ornata (DUM. & BIBR.) (With eight figures in two plates) By A.D. Padhye and H.V. Ghate 363 ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD (With two maps and a text-figure) By Ranjit Manakadam and Asad Rafi Rahmani 369 STATUS, DISTRIBUTION AND GENERAL ECOLOGY OF THE INDIAN PYTHON Python molurus molurus LINN. IN KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARK, BHARATPUR, RAJASTHAN (With a plate and two text-figures) By S. Bhupathy and V.S. Vijayan 381 POPULATION DYNAMICS OF ASSASSIN BUGS FROM PENINSULAR INDIA (INSECTA-HETEROPTERA- REDU VIIDAE) (With four text-figures) By Dunston P. Ambrose and David Livingstone 388 FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF THE MALABAR WOODSHRIKE Tephrodornis virgatus sylvicola JERDON AT THEKKADY, KERALA By Lalitha Vijayan 396 MATERIAL FOR THE FLORA OF MAIIAB ALESHWAR - 8 (PTERIDOPHYTES) By P.V. Bole and M.R. Almeida 400 1 NEW DESCRIPTIONS DESCRIPTION OF A NEW RASBORINE FISH, Esomus manipurensis FROM MANIPUR, INDIA (With two text-figures) By Raj Tilak and Seema Jain 408 Indogrammodes GEN. NOV FOR Polygrammodes pectinicornalis (GUENEE) (PYRAUSTINAE: PYRALIDAE: LEPIDOPTERA) (With four text-figures) By Jagbir S. Kirti and H.S. Rose 411 Saccoloma chartaceum-A NEW SPECIES By G. Bhadran Nair ..: 414 A NEW SPECIES OF GENUS Creightonella COCKERELL, (HYMENOPTERA \ APOIDEA: MEGACHILIDAE), FROM CENTRAL INDIA (With seven text-figures) By Rajiv K. Gupta 416 A NEW SPECIES OF GENUS Anthocopa LEPELETIER AND SERVILLE (HYMENOPTERA : APOIDEA : MEGACHILIDAE), FROM ORISSA, INDIA (With six text-figures) By Rajiv K. Gupta » 419 TWO NEW SPECIES OF HARPACTORARIA FROM SOUTHERN INDIA (HETEROPTERA: REDUVEDAE:HAR- PACTORINAE By David Livingstone and G. Ravichandran 422 A NEW SPECIES OF Coelogyne (ORCHIDACEAE) FROM MANIPUR, INDIA (With seven text-figures) By T.K. Paul, S.K. Basu and M.C. Biswas 425 A NEW LEPIDOPTERAN Indocala GEN. NOV. FROM INDIA (OPHIDERINAE: NOCTUIDAE: LEPIDOPTERA) (With five text -figures) By H.S. Rose and A. Srivastava 427 AN UNDESCRIBED SPECIES OF Mussaenda L. (RUBIACEAE) FROM EASTERN HIMALAYA By S.K. Basu and T.K. Paul 430 REVIEWS Snakeman Reviewed by J.C. Daniel 433 Management of national parks and sanctuaries in India Reviewed by Michael J.B. Green 433 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES MAMMALS: 1 . On the primates of Gumti Sanctuary, Tripura By Ranjitsinh 435 2. Crab-eating Macaque Macaca fascicular is (Raffles) feeding on House Sparrow Passer domesticus (Lin- naeus) By Ajay Kumar Mandal 435 3. Small Mongoose Harpestes auropunctatus feeding on droppings of Nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus By Md. Nayerul Haque 435 4. On the distribution of Asian Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus yunanensis By Anwaruddin Choudhury 436 5 . On the status of Madras Tree Shrew Ananthana ellioti ellioti By N.J. George .....436 6. Nectar feeding by Three-striped Palm Squirrel Funambulus palmar um at Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu By P. B alasubr amanian 437 7. Grizzled Giant Squirrel Ratufa macroura - Distribu- tion in Kudirayar By Peter Davidar 437 8. Elephants living in harmony with people By Shaju Thomas 438 9. Musk Deer Moschus chrysogaster : musk extraction from live deer By Mukti N. Shrestha 438 BIRDS: 10. Sight record of Rednecked Grebe Podiceps griseigena near Rajkot, Gujarat By Taej Mundkur & Rishad Pravez 440 11. Monthly variations in diet of Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis coromandus in and around Chandigarh By Navjot S. Sodhi 440 12. Brown Booby Sula leucogaster (Boddaert) on the western coast By S.N. Varu & N.N. Bapat 443 13. Occurrence of Ciconia ciconia Gruidae and breeding of Phoenicopteridae in Kutch, Gujarat By M.K. Himmatsinhji 443 14. Reappearance of Anser indicus (Latham) andTadorna tadorna (Linnaeus) in Kutch, Gujarat By M.K. Himmatsinhji & N.N. Bapat ., 445 15. Pariah Kite Milvus migrans capturing Whitebreasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis By E. Narayanan 445 16. Sightings of Goshawk Accipiter genii Us in Hingol- gadh, Gujarat By Shivrajkumar Khachar & Taej Mundkur 446 17. Storage of food by Bonelli’s Hawk-eagle Hieraetus fasciatus By M. Watve, V. Joshi, N. Sant & S. Ranade ......446 18. Avocet Recurvirostra avocetta in Kerala By L. Namassivayan & R. Venugopalan ...447 19. Breeding records of Creamcoloured Courser Cur- sorius cursor cursor (Latham) from India By Asad R. Rahmani & Ranjit Manakadan 447 20. On the taxonomic status of Psittacula intermedia (Rothschild) By Biswamoy Biswas... 448 21. Pied Crested Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus : the harbringer of the monsoon By Shivrajkumar Khachar 448 22. Feeding behaviour of Whitebreasted Kingfisher Hal- cyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus) By Raza Tehsin 449 23. Black drongo Dicrurus adsimilis nesting on electric pole By K.S.R. Krishna Raju & U.V. Bairagi Raju 449 24. Common Myna as a campfollower of Lesser Whis- tling Teals By E.K. Bharucha 450 25. Tool-using behaviour in Indian House Crow Corvus splendens By S. Alagar Rajan & P. Balasubramanian ..450 26. Range extension of Yellowbellied Wren-warbler Prinia flaviventris By Ravi Sankaran 451 27. On some willow warblers ( Phylloscopi ) in the collec- tion of St. Xavier’s High School, Bombay By A. Navarro & S. Unnithan 451 28. The Desert Wheatear ( Oenanthe deserti) in Madras By V. Santharam 452 29. Treecreeper (Certhiidae) nesting in Western Nepal By Jack H. Cox 452 30. Forest Wagtail Motacilla indica at Jasdan, Gujarat By Satyajit Khachar 453 3 1 . Host plants used by Bay a Weaver Bird Ploceus philip - pinus (L.) for nesting in Udaipur district, Rajasthan By Satish Kumar S harm a 453 32. Host plants used by Blackthroated Weaver Bird Ploceus benghalensis for nesting in some districts of Rajasthan and Haryana By Satish Kumar Sharma 455 33. Half-built nests of Blackthroated Weaver Bird Ploceus benghalensis with double chin strips By Satish Kumar Sharma ....456 34. Greynecked Bunting Emberiza buchanani Blyth sighted near Udaipur, Rajasthan By R. Tehsin, M. Kulshreshtha & R. Singh 456 35. Four additions to the birds of Kerala By L. Namassivayan, P. K. Uthaman & R. Venugopalan 458 36. Some observations of scarce birds in Kerala and Tamil Nadu By S.C. Harrap & N.J. Redman ....460 37. Additional record on mortality from hailstorm at Jaipur By B. Ram Manohar & M. Rajasekaran .........461 REPTILES: 38. Catterpillar in diet of House Gecko By Arun M.K. Bharos ................462 39. Rediscovery of holotype of Tropidonotus striolatus Blyth, 1868 (Serpentes: Colubridae) in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India By S.K. Talukdar, D.P. Sanyal & B. Duttagupta ..462 FISHES: 40. On a small collection of fish from Mizoram, India By R.P. Barman .......463 4 1 . A new distributional record for Iso natalensis (Regan, 1919) (Pisces: Isonidae) from the Bay of Bengal By N.A.V. Prasad Reddy & C. Uma Devi. 467 INSECTS: 42. Key to genera and records of some species of Coc- cinae (Homoptera: Coccidae) from India By Rajendra Kumar Avasthi & S. Adam Shafee 468 43. Anew type of mimicry in butterflies By Peter Smetacek ...471 44. Oviposition behaviour and egg hatchability in Tasar Uji fly Blepharipa zebina (Walker) By G.M. Patil & C.J. Savanurmath 472 BOTANY: 45. A contribution to the flora of Ganganagar (Rajasthan) By B.P. Singh & K.B.S. Dhillon 473 46. Pneumatopteris nudata (Roxb.) Punetha et Kholia comb. nov. By N. Punetha & B.S. Kholia .475 47. Some rare endangered and threatened plant species from Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra By M.K. Mistry & S.M. Almedia 478 48. Cyrtomium hookerianum (Presl) C. Chr. (Aspidiaceae)-a new record for Western Himalayas By P.C. Pande & H.C. Pande 479 49. Caralluma nilagiriana Kumar i & Subba Rao (Asclepiadaceae)-a new record from Karnataka By V. Bhaskar & C.G. Kushalappa 50. Two new records of Asclepiadaceae from By S.R. Yadav, C.B. Salunkhe & G.B. Dixit 480 5 1 . On the dispersal of Wild Lime Atalantia monop hylla (L) Corn Serr. (Rutaceae) seeds by Shortnosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx Vahl in Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, South India. By P. Balasubramanian 482 480 JOURNAL OF THE BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY December 1989 Vol. 86 No. 3 HITHERTO UNREPORTED NEST SITE OF LESSER FLAMINGO PHOENIC ONA1AS MINOR IN THE LITTLE RANN OF KUTCH, GUJARAT1 Taej Mundkur, Rishad Pravez, Shivrajkumar Khachar and R.M. Naik2 (With a plate and a text-figure ) Introduction The known principal nesting grounds of the Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor are the soda lakes of Natron and Magadi in East Africa, where the birds usually breed between August and October (Brown et al. 1982). More recently, in 1978, the bird has been known to breed on the Makgadikgadi salt pans in Botswana, southern Africa (Robertson and Johnson 1980). The only breeding site “Flamingo City” in India was discovered in January 1 974 in the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, where a colony of between 2000 and 5000 birds were found nesting beside Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus (Ali 1 974). The main nesting colony in the Great Rann has not been active since 1977; possible reasons are discussed by Thakker (1982) and Kumar (1986). Though there have been no further record of the bird breeding in Gujarat, there have been ample suggestions of its breeding somewhere around. Non-flying juvenile birds were sighted near Navlakhi by S.D. Jadeja, P. Prunes and C. Briggs (pers. comm.) in February 1984. On 23 December 1984, when we saw more than 460 1 Accepted December 1987. Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra Univeristy, Rajkot 360005, Gujarat (India). Lesser Flamingo in a saltpan northwest of Jalan- dar bet in the Little Rann of Kutch, there were 52 flying juveniles and 14 adults in one group. On 27 December 1985, we saw one non-flying juvenile west of Navlakhi. The suspicion has been that the main “Flamingo City” has been abandoned and split up into smaller breeding groups in the Little Rann, Great Rann and possibly elsewhere in the area. This study reports a hitherto unknown site in Gujarat where the LesserFlamingo breeds. Material and Methods In connection with our numerous studies in the Gulf of Kutch since September 1984, we often visited Surajbari and Cherwari (Cherowari). While interviewing fishermen there, we learnt about possible nesting of the Lesser Flamingo in a nearby area, which we specially visited on 20 March 1986, 10 June 1986, 19 June 1987, 19 July 1987, 22 June 1988 and 9 July 1988. Study Area The Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat separates the district of Kutch from Rajkot and Surendranagar districts of the Saurashtra region. National Highway 8B and the broad gauge rail- way line from Saurashtra pass over two bridges 282 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 built over the mouth of the Little Rann near Suraj- bari and Malia. Spread over both sides of the railway bridge on the Kutch side, is a seasonal fishing village called Cherwari (Fig. 1). A majority of the fishermen living here are from the nearby village of Surajbari. Cherwari has a land- ing site for prawn and fish on the north bank of the Hadakiya creek which joins the rann with the Gulf of Kutch. The tidal waters come through the main creek, flow under the bridges and past the village to circulate through anastomosing chan- nels extending 3-4 km into the rann throughout the year. During the pre-monsoon (May and June) and monsoon (July to September), the height of the tidal water increases. Driven by winds, these waters spread further east into the rann. This, augmented by the rain water, fast turns the dry salt encrusted mudflat into damp ground and finally into a shallow marsh. During this period, Cher- wari becomes a very important fishing village, and the entire flooded rann is intensively fished for prawns, especially Metapenaeus kutchensis Fig. 1. Study area in Gujarat. Shaded area indicates Rann of Kutch. Inset shows map of India; rectangle indicates location of study area. NEST SITE OF LESSER FLAMINGO 283 and M. brevicornis that abound and grow rapidly in the brackish water. East of Cherwari, about 3 km into the rann, is a location known as Purabcheria (23 11 ’N, 70 46 ’E; Fig. 1); “purab” meaning the direction east, and “cheria” meaning mangrove vegeta- tion, the latter possibly a reference to its past occurrence. Purabcheria is built on a slightly elevated area of silt. At present, the place has a few minor, irregularly placed mounds of mud, up to half a metre in height, overgrown with stands of coarse grass and a few stunted bushes of Tamarisk sp.; a little westward, there is a small but prominent stand of grass Saccharum sp. Ac- cording to a fisherman the mounds of Purabcheria were originally produced by piles of mud that were removed while dredging channels by fisher- men to bagnet prawns. Results Fishermen of Cherwari revealed to us that at least two generations of fishermen have witnessed the nesting of Lesser Flamingo at Purabcheria. They nest in large numbers, laying a single egg per nest, the nest mound being called a “timbla”. They also lay eggs directly on the grass mounds called “tekras”. After the eggs are laid, oc- casionally the water level may rise, inundating the nesting colony. The eggs floating in water are collected and eaten by fishermen. Eggs are also collected from nests, and eaten in large numbers but are not usually sold. Though the birds lay eggs nearly every year, only one man claimed to have seen young ones and eaten them. Fishermen in all the nearby fishing villages from Surajbari to Malia are aware of this colony and have eaten the eggs. The fishermen also kill and eat adult birds when possible, claiming that they walk up to them slowly and then strike at a bird with a long stick. Occasionally, persons from nearby villages, armed with guns, also come here to hunt. How- ever, for the last three years (1985-1987), they have not seen any eggs though the birds have continued to gather here in astounding numbers. In June-July the birds disappear. It is claimed that the birds depart at night. Since 1986, we visited the study area six times (Table 1). When we visited the area first on 20 March 1986, we saw no nest mounds in the vicinity of the site described above. There was only one Lesser Flamingo at the creekside and the fishermen said that it was too early in the season for the birds. During the visit on 10 June 1986 there were no birds and the fishermen said that the birds had flown off only a few days earlier. On 19 June 1987 when we visited the site again, there were 5 groups of 83 new nests. The total number of nests during our next visit on 19 July 1987 was 288, scattered about in 14 sub-groups in an area of 0.5 sq. km. Most of the groups were built on the edges and banks of narrow (0.5-1. 0 m wide) channels (Plate 1). There were no signs of eggs, or remains of chicks in the nests to suggest that egg laying had taken place. During our June 1987 visit, there were about 16,000 Lesser Flamingo in the area, and there Table 1 SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS AT THE BREEDING GROUNDS OF LESSER FLAMINGO AT PURABCHERIA Date No. of No. of Remarks birds nests 20 March 1986 1 0 Birds still to arrive. 10 June 1986 0 0 Birds migrated about 3 June 1986. 19 June 1987 16,000 83 No eggs laid. 19 July 1987 2,000 288 No eggs laid, 1 bird on nest, groups attending empty nests. 22 June 1988 9,000 123 No eggs laid. 9 July 1988 7,000 183 Eggs collected by fishermen. 284 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 were more, seen as a pink hue beyond clear vision on the horizon in the east. Most of the birds were standing and resting, preening and a few sitting on the ground. A few birds were engaged in feeding. During the July visit, the rann was wet, Mudskip- pers Periophthalmus sp. and crabs Amphiuca in- versa sindensis were active in building their burrows. Further east of the flamingo colony, the land was covered with a sheet of water, this area being very slightly low lying as compared to Purabcheria. The number of Lesser Flamingo had now decreased to about 2000. Flamingo were also present in small numbers. When viewed from far away, small groups of 10-20 birds were seen standing and resting in and around the nests. One bird was actually resting on a nest. On our ap- proach, they walked away to a nearby creek and rested there. On 22 June 1988, when the site was visited, there were a total of 123 nests but no eggs were seen. The rains started in and around the Little Rann in the first week of July. Thereafter there were widespread rains in the area. Around 5 July, laying started, but the local fishermen collected the eggs immediately, so that on 9 July, except for a single egg in the water, all the nests were empty. One fisherman had a collection of 7 eggs, from which three eggs were taken to the laboratory and were blown. They measured on an average 78.7 x 49.7 mm. On the last four visits, we saw flocks of birds, upto about 25 in number, walking in a tight flock, heads held up, necks taut and vertical. A few birds would flip their heads down suddenly, so that their bills would come in contact with the necks and then the heads would be lifted up again. After a few steps in one direction the whole group would change direction and continue to shuffle along. While a bird standing nearby would join the group, another would leave it, in no discernible order. This would continue for upto about 10 minutes and then the group would dissolve. Brown (1959) describes a similar courtship be- haviour for this bird in East Africa, though there the birds would number a thousand or so in a group and the act would continue for a much longer period. During our visits to Cherwari and the surround- ing area, we saw flamingo flying in small and large flocks to and fro between the rann and the gulf side. They were also arriving from further west. A majority of the birds that flew into the rann landed along the creekside very close to the jetty of Cherwari. They rested here and drank water from the puddles along the creek. The birds were not wary and a fisherman in a boat could approach them fairly close. Discussion A large concentration of the Lesser Flamingo builds up around Cherwari in June-July. At least some of them make a nesting attempt at Purab- cheria by building nests. In some years they even lay eggs, but whether the nesting ever succeeds is not clear. It is well known that flamingo desert their colony if disturbed, as they would be by egg collectors. This may be one reason why young have not been seen at the colony. It also seems possible that the chicks migrate en masse further east into the shallows of the rann, and develop there out of the view of human beings. In Africa, the chicks are known to march upto 30- 50 km across mudflats to lagoons of permanent water (Brown et al. 1982). We feel that Purabcheria is the westernmost limit of the nesting colony in the rann. When the rann is flooded, a ground survey is not possible. Therefore, activities of the birds east of Purabcheria should be monitored by an aerial survey early during the monsoon every year. After the monsoon breaks, the birds leave this area in July if the rains are not adequate. In 1986, just after the exodus of the flamingo from here, we happened to be at the north end of the Kori creek (Fig. 1). In the early hours of the morning and then just before dawn on 21 June 1986, flocks of Lesser Flamingo, some of them as many as 300 strong, were flying high and moving towards the northwest direction leading to Pakistan. This is also the general direction along the coast which leads to the known nesting grounds of flamin- gos— the soda lakes of East Africa. Nesting there J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Mundkur et al : Nest site of Lesser Flamingo Plate 1 Nests of the Lesser Flamingo in the Little Rann of Kutch. (A) Overall view of a group of nests. (B) Close-up of a few nests built on a channel. (C) A single nest; note the marks (lower centre) of bill of the flamingo made during nest construction. NEST SITE OF LESSER FLAMINGO 285 occurs mainly during August to October, extend- ing upto December in certain conditions (Brown etal. 1982). The proximate factors for nesting in flamingos are imperfectly understood. We feel that the Lesser Flamingo nests in the Little Rann during the early monsoon in years of normal rainfall. The insufficient rainfall during 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons was correlated with the failure of birds to lay eggs at Purabcheria. Adequate rains increase the supply of invertebrates, microscopic algae and benthic diatoms, which may provide the flamingo with additional energy required for egg formation. Because of the drought in the coastal areas, an increasing number of human beings visited Purabcheria to cut grass to feed their domestic livestock; we have observed as many as 20 people from the Hangiasar village on the southern side of the rann, coming here to cut grass. In East Africa, the birds do not breed every year even when the climatic conditions and state of the breeding site seem suitable (Brown and Root 1971). Refer Ali, S .(1974): Breeding of the Lesser Flamingo in Kutch. J . Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 71: 141-144. Brown, L.H. (1959): The Mystery of the Flamingos. Country Life, London. Brown, L.H. & Root, A. (1971): The breeding behaviour of the Lesser Flaming oPhoeniconaias minor . Ibis 1 13 : 147- 172. Brown, L.H., Urban, E. & Newman, K. (1982): The Birds of Africa. Volume I. Academic Press, New York. Kumar, R.A. (1986): Rise in global mean sea level: has In India, there is no information on the nesting season of the Lesser Flamingo as there was only one record (Ali 1974) of it breeding here. From observations at Purabcheria, it seems that the nest building and egg laying occur with the onset of the monsoon. However, Ali (1974) found nests with eggs and chicks in January. It, therefore, seems likely that the season here is variable depending on the conditions of water; it begins in June — July and extends up to January — February. Considering that the young birds are known to fly by the age of 70-75 days (Brown et al 1982), the observations of non-flying young near Navlakhi in February and December 1984 indicate that around December 1983 and October 1984 (see above), nesting had taken place somewhere in the Rann of Kutch. Acknowledgements The work has been financed by a fellowship (to T.M.) from the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, and grants from WWF- India. N C E S it affected the Flamingo breeding grounds? J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83: 433-435. Robertson, H.G. & Johnson, P.G. (1980): As quoted in “News from the region”. Flamingo Working Group-Old World I.C.B.P. — I.W.R.B. Newsletter 1 :4. Thakker, P.S. (1982): Why did the flamingoes shift their breeding ground? I.S.R.O. (Ahmedabad), Technical Report pp. 108- 116. A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS (HARDWICKE & GRAY) (SAURIA: VARANIDAE)1 Walter Auffenberg2, Hafizur Rahman, Fehmida Iffat and Zahida Per veen3 (With ten text-figures ) The present study documents several aspects of the biology of Varanus flavescens. Adequate available material now makes possible a more detailed description of the morphological features of this species than was previously possible. The annual reproductive and abdominal fat cycles are outlined and the common prey organisms identified. The primary habitat is shown to be mesic to hydric wet savannas and marshlands. The geographic range is defined and the suggestion made that though the species is widely distributed in the Indo- Gangetic Plain, it tends to be spotty. These and other factors lead the authors to consider this the most endangered of all Asian mainland monitors. Introduction This study was undertaken because of all varanid species of mainland Asia, Varanus flaves- cens is one of the poorest known. It is, in addition, surrounded with considerable controversy and mis-information. The following data were obtained from 1984 through most of 1987, in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Additionally, important museum specimens were examined in these countries as well as in Europe and the United States. Total field time was approximately 18 months (India 10, Pakistan 7, Bangladesh 1). Data were obtained from 185 specimens (134 in museums and 51 in the field). All measurements of total length (TOL), tail length (TL) and snout-vent length (SVL) were made to the closest mm; all internal measurements (testes, ova, etc.) were made to the closest 0.1 mm; all weights to the closest 0.1 g. Systematics Synonomy: Because of the confusion on the part of some biologists concerning the current Accepted November 1987. Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, 3261 1, U.S.A. All remaining authors Zoological Survey Dept., Block 61 , Pakistan Secretariat, Karachi 1, Pakistan. valid name for this species, the following an- notated synonymy of previous name combina- tions used for this species is provided. Varanus flavescens (Hardwicke & Gray) 1827: Monitor flavescens Hardwicke and Gray, p. 226, type locality “India”. First species description. 1830: Varanus russellii Heyden (in Ruppell), p. 23, type locality Bengal. First reference to any locality at the provincial level. 1836: Varanus p icq uotii Dumeril and Bibron, p. 485, pi. 35, fig. 5, type locality Bengal. 1838: Empagusia flavescens Gray, p. 393. first use of Empagusia (now used as a subgenus, Mertens 1942). 1844: Monitor exant hematic us indicus Schlegel (not Tupinambis indicus Daudin 1802), p. X, type locality Bengal. First association with the African species Varanus exan- thematicus. 1847: Varanus flavescens Cantor, p. 634. First use of the current valid name combination. 1942: Varanus ( Empagusia ) flavescens Mertens, p. 347, pis. 1,16, figs. 4, 1 10. First use of Empagusia as a. subgenus. For reasons given below the type locality is here restricted to Calcutta, West Bengal, India, to replace ‘ ‘India’ ’ as used by the original describers Hardwicke and Gray (1827). Phylogeny: Varanus flavescens is charac- terized among other features by the fact that its external nares are slit-like in shape, located closer to the tip of the snout than to the eyes (Fig. 1 ), with a skull that is high in proportion to its length (Fig. 1) and with body scales relatively large when A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 287 Fig. 1. Head shape and scalation in Varanus flavescens, Dokri, Larkana District, Sind Province, Pakistan, compared to those of most other monitors. This combination of characters is found in the African savanna monitor Varanus exanthematicus (Bose), leading to Schegel’s conclusion that V. flavescens (as Monitor indicus) was a subspecies of V. exan- thematicus. This concept of probable close relationship was furthered by Gray ’s placement of both species in the genus Empagusia, erected specially to receive these two species with similar characterstics (though the nostril of V. exan- thematicus is located much closer to the eye). In 1942 Mertens also concluded these two species were closely related on the basis of skull and jaw structure (particularly the form of the skull and the length height index of the maxillary). He placed both species in the subgenus Empagusia - one of seven he established at that time. In 1959 he redescribed the skull of V. flavescens on the basis of better material then at hand, adding other char- acters to those he formerly believed showed relationship to V. exanthematicus (supratemporal process of the parietal and the basipterygoid process). He also noted several characters by which these species differed from one another and suggested that V. flavescens was the more primi- tive type from which V. exanthematicus evolved. The studies of Singh et al. (1970) introduced new diagnostic characters for V. flavescens in which chromosomal morphology played a major role in defining relationships. However, the limited number of species compared and the ab- sence of details important in comparison of V. flavescens with other varanid species (ill-defined centromere location and poor resolution) limited the usefulness of these new data in determining the phyletic position of this species. King and King (1975) improved the utility of such data by employing both short-term leucocyte culturing techniques on whole blood and better staining procedures. This resulted in higher resolution and precise centromere location. Their examination of 1 6 of the 32 congeners showed that these could be placed in six distinct karyotype groups. Not all of these corresponded to current taxonomic group- ings. Among these differences were the species V. exanthematicus and V. flavescens, which failed to assort themselves into a single group. The former was suggested as being more closely related to V. niloticus (continental Africa) than to V. flaves- cens, which was closer to its sympatric congener V. bengalensis. These studies thus cast consider- able doubt on the validity of the subgenus Em- pagusia as currently recognized and suggested that further work was needed before the phyletic relationships of V. flavescens could be ascer- tained. The studies by Holmes, et al (1975) on comparative electrophoretic data tended to sub- stantiate the groupings suggested by the work of King and King on chromosomal morphology, though V. flavescens was not included in their list of species examined. However, the study provided additional substantive data to the developing notion that the Mertensian system of varanid relationships may be somewhat incorrect. Even more recently, Bohme (1982) and Branch (1982) independently concluded that V. flaves- cens and V. exanthematicus are only distantly related on the basis of hemipenial morphology. The penial morphology of V. flavescens was shown to be more primitive than that of V. exan- thematicus. Collectively, the conclusions resulting from this recent work are: 1) the earlier contention of monophyly among living varanids is still valid, 2) V. salvator possessed less derived (i.e. more 288 JOURNAL. BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY. V0I.R6 Fig. 2. Hind feet of varanid lizards. A, V. bengalensis ; B, V. flavescens. primitive) characters than all other species, 3) interspecific relationships among the species in- cluded in the genus are less clear than previously believed, 4) while some subgeneric groupings are easily diagnosed on the basis of chromosomes, proteins and morphology, others are not, 5) V. flavescens is not as closely related to V. exan- thematicus as once thought, and that what charac- ters are similar are probably due to convergence, 6) this species is a fairly primitive one, with closest relationships to V. bengalensis, V. rudicol- lis, V. salvator and (by extension, see Auffenberg 1987) V. olivaceous. However, the skull shape and construction (which led Mertens to place it close to V. exant hematicus to begin with), short, stubby toes (Fig. 2, found only in V. griseus among other mainland Asian species) and certain parasitic relationships and behavioural traits (see below) suggest that it should continue to receive separate nomenclatorial status at the subgeneric level. Thus we favour the retention of the sub- generic concept as applied to V. flavescens, plac- ing it (by priority) in Empagusia as its sole member. It is very likely that additional study of other characters will throw other light on its rela- tions to other Varanus species and that a thorough cladistic approach to the problem of varanid phylogeny would yield new and important in- sights into this matter. Morphology A description of the skull anatomy and scala- tion of Varanus flavescens is provided by Mertens (1942, 1959), though based on only 7 specimens, of which only three are provided with locality data (all West Bengal, India). Thus the many addition- al specimens now available from several widely scattered localities and which we have examined during the course of this study suggest we address the matter of potentially significant geographic, sexual and ontogenetic variation in this species. Of these, the most cogent pertain to scalation, bodily proportions and colour pattern. Some of the variation has been the basis for mis-identifica- tion of V. bengalensis as V. flavescens in the past. (Biswas and Kar have transposed the photographs and legends for V. flavescens and V. salvator). The following descriptions and discussion are based on 185 specimens. Size and Mass: Compared to other Asian monitor species, Varanus flavescens is a rather small species, (only V. griseus has a smalller average adult size; W.A. notes). In spite of the fact that we examined a large number of individuals in the field and in museums, the specimen cited by Boulenger (1885) is still the largest reported (TOL 920 mm, SVL 410, TL 510). Visser (1985) reports a newly hatched young with TOL 1 45 mm, SVL 66, TL 79; those neonates examined by us in the field (all from India) varied from TOL 143- A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 289 Fig. 3. Frequency of size classes in V. flavescens, all localities combined. 188 mm, SVL 64-92, TL 78-96; means of all hatchlings for which such data are available (N 18) are X TOL 163.3 mm, X SVL 77.6, X TL 85.7. Mean TOL for all nomhatchlings (N 167) is 699.5 mm, X SVL 315.1, X TL 384.4. There is no significant difference between size of in- dividuals in populations from the Ganges (N 50) and Indus (N 117) river valleys. Tail length is relatively short when compared to other monitor species, varying from 1.2-1. 3 times the SVL (X 1.27), with the relationship being linear and ex- pressed by the formula tail length = 1.27x SVL- 18.55 (R2 = 0.83). There is no significant change in proportionate tail length with age, as in some other monitor species (Mertens 1942, Auffenberg 1982). There is slight, but significant difference in mean SVL (Fig. 3) of males (342.0 mm, N=55) and females (332.2 mm, N = 47) (t = 2.88, DF 1 00, p > 0.02). The small difference is rather unusual in varanids, for in almost all species studied males are significantly larger than females. This fact must be of considerable importance in V. flaves- cens reproductive behaviour, for in the courtship of all other varanids studied (Auffenberg 1983, 1987), the larger males of those species tend to completely dominate the smaller females. The fact that both sexes of V. flavescens are similar in size suggests that their reproductive behaviour may be quite different from that reported for other Varanus species. We assume that male dominant behaviour is less marked in this species during courtship. This may, in turn, be related to the seasonal change in body coloration during the reproductive season of adults (see below). The weight of J83 adult individuals varied from 510 to 1040 g, X = 768.5 g ( SD± 154.6, V = 20. 1 ); no weights are yet available for hatchlings. Proportions: That the tail length does not change ontogenetically in length in proportion to the body and head (SVL) has been shown above. The slit-shaped nostril is placed closer to the snout than to die eye (Fig. 1) with the ratio of snout-nostril length/snout to ear (anterior edge) length varying from 0.21 to 0.28, X = 0.25. We find no significant geographic or ontogenetic variation in nostril position. The toes of particularly the hind feet of this species are short and the claws relatively straight (both mentioned by Mertens 1942) when com- pared to congeners (except V. griseus) (Fig. 2). Its short toes were noted as early as 1884 by Murray, who called this species the “short-toed water lizard”. The length of the hind foot along the longest toe (number IV) is usually 14 percent of the SVL in individuals of all sizes. Toe IV of the congeneric V. bengalensis is much longer (Fig. 2). Viscera: The absence of a caecum at the begin- ning of the large intestine is a common feature of faunivorous invertebrates (Hladik 1976). It is es- sentially completely missing in the carnivorous V. salvator( Auffenberg 1987), only very slightly developed in the largely insectivorous V. ben- galensis (Auffenberg MS) and very well developed in the frugo-molluscovore V. olivaceus (Auffenberg 1987). In other vertebrate animals a caecum is often associated with herbivory. Thus we were quite surprised to find a somewhat en- larged area at the anterior end of the large intes- tine, supplied with abundant blood vessels that could be described as a developed caecal pouch. Why this should occur in a completely faunivorous varanid (see below) remains un- known. Calculation of the internal surface area (A = 2 pi rh) of the stomach, small and large intestine of V. flavescens (following the techniques suggested by Chivers and Hladik 1980) shows that the sur- face area of the stomach is the greatest of the three 290 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 intestinal sections (7854.0 mm2), as expected in a carnivore (Hladik 1976). The large intestine is the next largest (6141.8 mm 2), and the small intestine possesses the least surface area. The area of the stomach surface and that of the large intestine relative to the area of the small intestine provides a quantitative index of gut differentiation (Coef. Gut Diff. : stomach area + large intestine area/small intestine area; see Chivers and Hladik 1980 for justification, etc.). In V. flavescens the area index is 2.79. This value is higher than those values obtained for the only other varanids studied (Auffenberg 1987; values 2.24 and 2.42 for V. olivaceus and V. salvator respectively). The larger value in V. flavescens is primarily due to the proportionately smaller small intestine. Since most absorption takes place in this part of the gut (on the basis of its rich blood vessel supply), we assume that the food of this species must be nutritionally rich and probably much more easily digested than that of the other two species studied previously, which have proportionately longer small intestines. The liver of 100 individuals was weighed and this compared to total animal weight for different months of the year. The results show that there is no difference in liver weight in males and females, but a significant seasonal change in which liver weight is low in August and September, but high in December through April. The latter months are those of least activity on the part of the lizards and the former are the months following courtship and breeding and during the monsoon. During the monsoon (mid-July through mid-September, depending on locality), liver weight varies from 1.4 to 3.4 % of total body weight (N 31); during the winter (December through March) liver weight varies from 3.3 to 7.7 % (N 34). The mean livei^weights for these periods (X = 2.6, SD 0.7, and X = 4.6, SD 1 . 1 respectively) are significantly different at the 0.001 % level (/ = 129.2, df 70). As far as is known, liver function in reptiles is probably identical to that in mammals. Its main roles are concerned with protein, cholesterol and bile salt synthesis, glycogen storage, and metabo- lism of steroid hormones. From a dietary standpoint, the liver is most important in fat degradation and detoxification of a number of proteinaceous substances. In general, larger livers have been viewed to result from greater sys- tematic levels of hepatotoxins and greater varia- tion in chemicals being metabolized (see Freeland and Janzen 1974, Swain 1976, for general reviews). However, the pattern of seasonal liver weight variation in V . flavescens suggests that glycogen storage may also be a major factor in liver size. During the monsoon, food is, in general, the most abundant in the entire year, but this is also the time of greatest activity; winter is the time of least activity. While seasonal differences in liver weight may be due largely to glycogen storage, interspecies weight differences may be related to dietary dif- ferences. In V. flavescens , the liver is a large organ, being on average 3.3 % of the total body weight. This compares to only 1.9 % in V. olivaceus and 2.6 % in V. salvator (Auffenberg 1987). Differences between these and V. flaves- cens are significant at the 0.02 % level (df =271). In V. bengalensis mean liver weight is 2.3 % of total weight, and in V. griseus 2.9 %. Differences between these species and V. flavescens are not statistically significant (/ = 55.8, df 46; t = 38.6, df 1 16 respectively. Thus the data gathered so far on proportionate liver weight of varanids suggests that the highly selective frugo-molluscovore V. olivaceus is much less exposed to high toxin levels than the generalist carnivore species such as V. flavescens (see below). One of the major distinguishing features of this species is the oval nostril that is placed closer to the tip of the snout than to the eye (in V. salvator it is rounded, near the snout tip; in V. griseus it is slit-like and very close to the eye, and in V. ben- galensis it is slit-like and placed about midway between the snout tip and die eye). The distance between the snout tip and anterior edge of the nostril in V. flavescens goes into the distance from the snout tip to the anterior edge of the tympanum opening from 3.50 to 5.49 times, with a mean of 4.35 (SD 0.41). Fig.l shows the normal shape of the nostril and its position in respect to the various A S'rUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 291 parts of the head. The same illustration also shows the characteristic shape of the head of this species in side view. With the exception of V. exan- thematicus, V.flavescens has die highest skull in proportion to its length than any of its congeners. In addition, the lower jaw is generally more robust than in the other species. Visceral Fat: In all lizards in which fat deposits have been studied (see Fox 1977), accumulation of fat in the tail is always indicative of high food abundance. However, fat bodies in the visceral area have been associated with both food supply and reproduction. Volsoe (1944) suggested that visceral fat served as a food reserve in the snake Viper a berus. Presst (1971) and Bellairs (1970) extended this to all snakes, pointing out that seasonally small fat bodies were correlated with food shortages. However, in lizards the correla- tion between fat body size and food abundance is less clear. Hahn and Tinkle (1965), plus several other authors that have followed them, showed that in at least some female iguanid lizards vis- ceral fat is important in follicular development. Bellairs (1970) and Burrage (1975) have sug- gested that visceral fat may be used by the developing embryos in some lizard species. To complicate matters even more, Fox (1977) demonstrated that seasonal breeders have fat bodies, while year-round breeders do not. How- ever, a study of ten sympatric skink species in tropical evergreen forests of the Philippines sug- gests a less definite association with annual breed- ing pattern and a better correlation with seasonal food abundance within the microhabitats of each of the species studied (Auffenberg and Auffen- berg 1 987). Not all female lizards possess visceral fat bodies, and none of the current explanations clarify the presence of such bodies in males, sug- gesting that several factors may be responsible for their presence, absence, or seasonal size in lizards. Visceral fat bodies have been demonstrated in several varanid species (see Auffenberg 1987 for review), but extensively studied in only a few. The general conclusion is that all varanids possess such bodies. This study shows that adult Varanus flavescens have them. However, they are very small or absent in all individuals less than 200 mm SVL (0- 0.2 % of total body weight). Thus, ex- tensive body fat deposition (which varies seasonally) is a characteristic of adults only (sug- gesting a reproductive importance). In adult V.flavescens these deposits may com- prise as much as 16.9 % of the total body weight during at least part of the year (OR 0.15-10.9 %). The mean fat weight of all adult specimens ex- amined (N = 70) is 3.8, SD 2.5 % of total weight. This is a greater amount than has been demonstrated for any varanid species studied so far (Auffenberg 1987). V.flavescens also occurs in the most seasonally variable environment of any species studied so far (see below). There is no clear relationship between adult total weight and fat weight (R2 = 0.58), due largely to the considerable variation of fat present. This variation has both an individual and seasonal component, though the latter is dominant. Fig.4 shows that the pattern of seasonal variation in fat weight is identical in male and female adult in- dividuals. The highest values (corrected for adult weight) are found from about December through March in both sexes (X = 5.97 % of total body weight). From April to about June proportionate fat weight is reduced. The Jowest levels occur from July through October (X = 1 .08 %). During November there is a dramatic increase in the amount of visceral fat accumulated, leading to the high winter levels. The values for males and females are nearly identical for almost all months. Thus the pattern differs from that in V. olivaceus , in which males have significantly more fat than females during some months (Auffenberg 1987). Since an iden- tical annual pattern with identical values occurs in males as well as females, we assume that ab- dominal fat deposition in V. flavescens is not related to the yolking of ova (as in some iguanids at least), but is probably related to seasonal food abundance (as has been suggested in other varanids; Auffenberg 1987). The period of low fat weight in V. flavescens (Pakistan and northern India populations) from July through October oc- curs during the monsoon in this part of the species 292 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 4. Annual pattern of visceral fat in adult male and female V. flavescens from Dokri, Pakistan. range, when extensive flooding is an annual oc- currence in the river flood plain marshlands where this monitor species is most common (see below). Fig. 5 shows the annual rainfall pattern near the Dokri (Pakistan) V. flavescens population. Scalation: Very few data are available on the scale characters of this species. The availability of a large number of specimens from throughout the species range suggests we take this opportunity to tabulate those scale characters in V. flavescens which are known to be of importance in defining this and other Asian monitor lizard species Several earlier authors have drawn attention to the much larger and heavily keeled scales of V. flaves- cens when compared to those of the other species of the Indian subcontinent. This is easily seen particularly on the dorsal surface. Keeled scales also occur on the dorsal surfaces of both hind and front legs, extending to near the feet (Fig. 2). Scales around the midbody vary from 84 to 104, X 95.5 (SD 4.3). The ventral longitudinal scales from the gular fold to the insertion of the hind limb vary from 68 to 85, X (Pakistan) 75. 1 (SD 3.9). In general, the head scales are rather small when compared to most congeners. There are no en- larged supraoculars as occur in V. bengalensis from the eastern parts of its range (= V. b. nebulosus). The number of scales from the angle of the mouth on one side to the angle on the other side range from 42 to _53, mean 48.5 (SD 2.8); infralabials 23 to 31, X 25.5 (SD 2.5) and sub- oculars three to four, usually the former. Head Fig. 5. Monthly precipitation in Larkana District, Pakistan. Estimated totals extrapolated from data provided by Pakistan meteriological Dept. xalation is shown in Fig. 1 . Colour As in most Varanus species, hatchling Varanus flavescens are more vividly coloured than the adults. In general, they are easily distinguished from those of V. griseus by having transverse rows of fused yellow spots on a dark background, rather than a few dark bands on a distinctly light- coloured background; V. salvator hatchlings have transverse bands of separated yellow ocelli; and those of V. bengalensis usually have transverse bands of separated yellowish ocelli and small black dots on a brownish background. Visser (1985) provides a coloured photograph of a hatc- hling V. flavescens. Adult V. flavescens are often confused with adult V. bengalensis. This is due largely to the great variation in colour and pattern found in the former. Even within a single population, there is considerable variation among adults of more or less equal size (Fig. 6). While the fused light transverse bars on the body are always present, they vary in transverse length (1-23 scales, X 5.57) and number between the front and hind legs (5-10,1? ’7.38). The background colour and pat- tern is even more variable. It may be uniformly black (rare), or the black pigment may form a reticulate pattern, often with a central dot, forming large (often faint) ocelli over much of the body. When little melanin is present the ground colour may be dark to light brown, with only the A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 293 Fig. 6. Pattern variation in adult V. flavescens from Dokri Pakistan, based on transparencies. A, W.A. field no. 148/87; B W.A. 51/87; C, W.A. 109/87; D, W.A. 114/87. transverse bands of fused yellow spots edged in black. Many individuals have a suffusion of brownish red to deep red mid-dorsally between the yellow transverse markings and the dark body bands may be suffused with brick red to orange (somewhat seasonal, see below). These lateral dark bands continue onto the ventral surface, though they never meet at the midline. The throat is almost always provided with several black, posteriorly directed V’s. In certain seasons the throat may be suffused with yellow to orange. No other Asian monitor lizards possess any orange to red colour on the dorsal or ventral body surfaces. d’Abreu (1932) reported that adult colour of Varanus flavescens from B ihar changed seasonal - ly, the darker body bands purportedly becoming brick red during the monsoon season. Until this study, no material representing appropriate seasonal coverage was available to verify his statements. We were able to examine a minimum of five adult individuals each month during an entire year from a single population at Dokri, Sind Province, Pakistan. This enabled us to establish the type and degree of seasonal colour change ^occurring in this species. Our conclusions are that colour changes of the type described by d’Abreu ( 1 ) do occur, (2) in adults (only) of both sexes, and (3) in populations (probably all) outside of Bihar, India. These results were based on defining each specimen as possessing one of three categories of orange-red suffusion on the body (0 none, 1 slight, 2 considerable). Analysis of these data show that an intermediate category of orange-red colour suffusion occurs in at least some individuals most months of the year (range in character state 0.09- 1.86). The least suffusion is found in October (0.09), following egg laying in females and testes size decrease in September. During most of the remainder of the year the suffusion remains near the mean value of 0.75. However, concomitant with increase in testes size and the beginning of follicular ripening, there is a dramatic increase in the pigment (both sexes) from April to May 2 294 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 SIZE (MM) AND WEIGHT (G) OF OVARIAN FOLLICLES AND OVARY (ONE ONLY) IN Varanus Flavescens (DOKRI, PAKISTAN POPULATION) XN ova Follicle Dia. (mm)* Ovary Wt. (g) <4 mm X OR X OR Jan. 0 None None 0.6 0. 5-0.7 Feb. 0 None None 0.9 0.6-1. 0 Mar. 0 None None 0.7 0.5-1. 0 Apr. 0 None None 0.7 0.5-0.9 May 6.1 4.7 <4. 0-6. 2 0.9 Jun. 15.0 4.8 <4. 0-6. 4 1.0 0.6-1. 3 Jul. 25.3 5.7 <4.0-10.8 2.1 3.0-6. 3 Aug. 18.2 9.5 <4.0-15.5 14.8 0.4-48.0 Sep. 22.6 9.2 <4.0-15.0 8.6 0.2-31.9 Oct. 10.3 8.9 <4.0-10.6 3.7 0.2-40.0 Nov. 13.1 5.6 <4.0-6. 1 0.7 0.1-1. 3 Dec. 6.3 None None 0.6 0.6-0.6 1 Only follicles greater or equal to 4 mm diameter. (1.86). This remains high through June and July (1.80 for both months), thence dropping regularly through August and September to the lowest values of the year in October again. Individuals that are not sexually mature lack this seasonal colour change. Thus the suffusion is definitely correlated with the development of seasonally important reproductive tissues in mature in- dividuals of both sexes and probably under hor- monal control. Varanus flavescens is the only species of monitor lizard in which a seasonal colour change has been demonstrated. Reproduction Compared to that for many other lizard families, information on varanid reproduction is scanty. While none of the reproductive data gathered for Varanus flavescens are considered complete, the combination of field observations, discussions with local commercial hunters and dissection of a significant number of specimens has provided an ample information base from at which at least the broad outlines of this species reproductive biology can be deduced. Sexual Maturity: The testes weight, length, diameter and volume (estimated from formula for an ovoid) were determined for all individuals of V. flavescens dissected. These data show that males less than 260 mm SVL are rarely sexually mature. Enlarged, eventually yolked ova, corpora lutea and ovarian follicles greater than 5 mm occur only in females with SVL over 250 mm and a weight of about 300 g. Females in this reproduc- tive stage represent 85 % of the total female sample during the breeding season. The smallest female that either laid eggs in captivity or had eggs in the oviduct was 295 mm SVL. The minimum SVL of females at maturity is 61 percent of the greatest size recorded in the female sample. This is more or less equivalent to the same statistic in V.olivaceus (74 %), but considerably more than in giant V. komodoensis (30 %) (data from Auffen- berg 1981, 1987). This suggests that growth is maintained for a shorter period of time after sexual maturity in V. flavescens than for those few varanid species for which such data are currently available. In vitro staining of the bones of six individuals with tetracycline (see Hutton 1986 for technique description) shows that both females and males of V. flavescens become sexually mature during their third year of life. Visser (1985) reports that hatch A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 295 lings raised in captivity under optimum feeding conditions became sexually mature in three and a half years. This compares favourably with data for V. bengalensis in the same geographic area (Auf- fenberg notes) and is intermediate between the smallest varanid species (mature at end of first year, King and Rhodes 1982), and the largest (V. komodoensis , 5-6 years. Auffenberg 1981). Female Reproductive Cycle: To date, the only complete studies of the female reproductive cycle of varanid lizards is that on Varanus bengalensis in northern India by Jacob and Ramaswami (1976) and on V. olivaceus in the Philippine Is- lands (Auffenberg 1987). Both investigations suggest that most females lay a single clutch of eggs each year; the current study on V.flavescens suggests the same. Variation in mean monthly volume of female reproductive tissues in V. flavescens (one ovary only, Table 1) reflects the progress of follicular development and ovulation. Ovarian tissue volumes are least from November through May (regressed, phase), followed by a dramatic in- crease in June through July, due largely to yolk deposition. Ovarian tissue volume remains high during August, but drops in September, when undeveloped follicles begin to deteriorate. This volume is slightly increased November to Decem- ber, when new follicles enlarge, beginning the annual cycle of the following year. The ovarian weight of females examined after completion of vitellogenesis, but before oviposition, is about eight times as great in those females that had oviposited but not yet initiated growth of the next follicle crop. Corpora lutea, formed in the ovary after ovulation, are bright orange-yellow and flat- tened, with a longitudinal groove on one side. Early in the cycle, those follicles that develop into yolked ova exhibit a colour change from trans- lucent milky-white to pale yellow, becoming more distinctly yellow as more yolk is accumu- lated. Each ovum weighs about 5 g when ovulated and has a diameter of about 20 mm. One female was preserved just during ovulation, with 10 ova still in the ovary, four already having been received into the oviducts (2+2). The oviductal Fig. 7. The annual pattern of changing ovary volume in adult female V. flavescens from Dokri, Pakistan. Timing of the other major phases of the reproductive cycle are also shown. infundibulae were greatly expanded to receive the ova released from the ovaries, but we saw no evidence that it had stretched over the ovary, as has been claimed for some lizards. The earliest and latest dates for shelled oviduc- tal and oviposited eggs in our study (freshly caught females) are 2 August and 7 October. Visser (1985) reports oviposition in a captive female in a European zoo on 21 July— very close to the earliest date we record in the wild. During the resting stage the oviductal chamber is straight and parallel-sided. However, at the height of the reproductive cycle it becomes thick- walled, convoluted, and develops the enlarged infundibulum mentioned above. The day follow- ing oviposition the oviduct is distinctly stretched in those areas where the shelled eggs were located previously, and where the tissue remains much deeper pink than adjacent oviductal tissues. Most mature females retain evidence of stretched oviductal regions until at least December. The ovarian follicles of each female dissected were measured. Monthly averages and ranges are shown in Table 1. The trend obviously follows that of ovarian volumes, for yolk deposition in the ova is the greatest contributor to this weight. Though yolking occurs in some ova as early as March, the most significant increase in both num- ber of follicles involved and percent of weight gain occurs just before ovulation (usually July, see Fig. 7), so that there is no clear separation between the vitellogenic and ovulatory phases of the reproductive cycle. Fig.7 depicts the progress of vitellogenesis in the Pakistani population examined. Because the 296 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 SEASONAL VARIATION IN SIZE (MM) AND WEIGHT (G) OF TESTES IN Varanus flavescens (DOKRI, PAKISTAN POPULATION) Diameter Length Weight N X OR X OR X OR Jan. 3 7.9 5.1-9.8 17.1 15.5-20.4 0.3 0.3-0.4 Feb. 1 6.8 15.1 0.4 Mar. 6 7.9 4.4-11.8 16.3 11.1-21.7 0.4 0.3-0.6 Apr. 4 7.6 5.5-9.8 18.7 15.1-21.5 0.3 0.2-0.4 May 5 14.0 13.0-15.9 25.7 19.1-J7.1 2.4 1. 9-3.0 Jun. 3 12.7 12.0-13.0 22.6 18.9-25.5 1.7 1.0-2. 1 Jul. 3 14.7 14.4-15.1 25.0 23.7-25.9 2.7 2.5-3.0 Aug. 4 11.6 8.2-13.6 21.4 18.7-24.1 1.3 0.5-2.0 Sep. 13 5.5 4.2-8. 2 12.9 9.3-17.7 0.4 0.2-0.6 Oct. 4 6.8 5. 6-8. 6 14.2 12.0-18.0 0.2 0.2-0.3 Nov. 12 7.2 6. 0-8. 4 17.8 16.0-18.4 0.3 0.1 -0.5 Dec. 3 8.7 7. 1-9.7 14.3 11.5-15.8 0.3 0.3-0.3 N 61 X 9.3 X 18.4 X0.9 climate is so similar throughout the rather limited distribution of this species, we believe that this summary reflects the reproductive cycle throughout the entire range of this species. All eggs oviposited by freshly caught in- dividuals (3 clutches) were laid during the course of a single day. Visser (1985) reports that in captivity his female laid eggs at a rate of about one per hour, but believes that the entire oviposition behaviour of this female may have been abnor- mal. We agree, for the rate at which our specimens laid their eggs was much higher. Considered on an annual basis, egg laying in V. flavescens occurs during a relatively short period-*. three months maximum. An analysis of the weight of ab- Fig. 8. Annual pattern of mean testes volume in adult V. flavescens from Dokri, Pakistan. dominal fat bodies in this species also reflects a single annual cycle. This is important in the con- text of possible use of abdominal fat reserves during the vitellogenic process. Very few data are available on the size of the annual reproductive female cohort in varanid lizards. For Varanus olivaceus (Auffenberg 1987) it is estimated that 90 percent of all mature females lay eggs each year. For the Pakistan adult females of V. flavescens we estimate this statistic as about 52 percent (though 100% of the small August sample were gravid). Male Reproductive Cycle Few data are available regarding seasonal tes- ticular changes in varanid lizards. Testes enlarge- ment during the breeding season has been reported for Varanus bengalensis (Upadhyay and Gukaya 1972), V. griseus (Kehl and Combescot 1955) and V. olivaceus (Auffenberg 1987). The same pattern is now demonstrable for V. flaves- cens. Average testicular volume is lowest from Sep- tember through February (Fig. 8, Table 2). It increases from March to the annual peak in June and July. In August the weight drops rapidly to A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 297 Table 3 EGG MORPHOMETRICS OF Varanus Flavescens (ALL LOCALITIES COMBINED) Clutch No X Diameter (mm) OR X Length (mm) OR X Weight (g) OR No of Eggs 1 19.0 18.1-21.3 39.5 34.8-43.2 10.7 0.2-11.6 18 2 22.0 20.5-22.5 36.0 34.4-37.0 11.1 0.4-11.9 14 3 21.8 20.5-22.5 37.1 36.4-37.8 10.4 0.0-11.4 6 4 21.2 20.3-23.0 37.3 35.2-38.1 10.8 0.2-11.8 6 5 21.5 20.5-22.5 35.7 34.4-37.0 10.5 0.1-11.5 4 X 21.0 37.1 10.7 SD 1.2 1.5 0.3 the lowest level of the entire year. Mean testicular weight data show the same seasonal pattern, so that testes mass and volume are largest during June and July — the presumed courtship period. This is the time of year when Visser (1985) noted courtship and breeding in his captives in Europe as well. Testes colour also changes seasonally. The usually greyish white testes become distinctly yellowish during the height of the reproductive period. Sex Ratio Seasonal proportional representation of males and females captured/examined was also analyzed. This shows that the overall annual sex ratio is slightly in favour of males (57%). This is due to the fact that males are significantly mom common than females from May through July (X 76.7% of the total monthly samples for these three months). During the remaining nine months the sex ratio is 1 : 1 (mean male proportion 51%). This increase in number of males taken during the courtship period and that immediately preceding it has been demonstrated in several species of skinks (Auffenberg and Auffenberg 1987) and is particularly noted in Varanus bengalnesis (W.A. notes). As in V. bengalensis , the mature females of V .flavescens are predominant during the height of the breeding period (July males of V. flaves- cens, 43%). Egg Morphometrics, Complement and Hatching The eggs of all varanid species have a soft, relatively smooth, leathery shell, without surface omamdntal or crystalline material. While the eggs of some species adhere to one another in one or more masses, those of V. flavescens are always separate. Eighty eggs of Varanus flavescens were measured and weighed (Table 3). Mean and over- all range in length, diameter and weight are 37.1 mm (34.4-43.2), 21 mm (18.1-23.0) and 10.7 g (10.0-1 1.8). The average total mass of the entire complement is 282.6 g, or 42.2 % of the average mature female total weight X = 768. 5g, N 86). Based on the number of eggs laid in captivity and the evidence from the oviductal chambers of females that had already oviposited, the number of eggs per clutch varies from four to thirty (X = 16.0, SD 10.2). This agrees fairly well with the number of developed ovarian eggs ovulated an- nually, as evidenced by the_number of corpora lutea counted in the ovaries (X = 1 1.7, SD 6.45). Though sample size is small, clutch size is probab- ly positively related to female size, as has been demonstrated for V. olivaceus (Auffenberg 1987). No data are available on nest construction or site selection in Varanus flavescens. Visser (1985)* has shown that incubation time in this species is 149-155 days at an incubation tempera- ture of 30°C. The direct correlation between an- nual rainfall pattern (i.e. the arrival of annual monsoon rains) and the reproductive pattern of the 298 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 species (and V. griseus and V. bengalensis in the same geographic range, W. A. notes) suggests that this is the single most important factor in reproductive cycling of V. flavescens. If the in- cubation time reported in captive animals by Visser also holds under field conditions (which is likely, given a mean soil temperature of 28.3° C during the developmental period; data from this study), young would be injected into the local ecosystem from December through February. This is a cool period throughout the northern parts of this species range, when adults are definitely more or less inactive. Thus it is highly unlikely that neonates of this species would be very active either. In India, hatchlings were found in the field from March to July, suggesting that while development may be completed in five months, emergence from the nest may be delayed by a further one to four months. The March sightings (West Bengal) come from the more eastern parts of the species range, where monsoon rains come early, and the July dates (Uttar Pradesh) from areas where the monsoon arrives much later. Delayed emergence (in the field), has been shown to be dependant on local rainfall in other monitor species (see Auffenberg 1987, for review). Geographic Distribution Because of the poor representation of this species in museum collections, the several impor- tant mis-identifications with Varanus bengalensis in the past, and the new information gathered during this study, we list all those localities from which definitely identified V. flavescens are now known. The list is based on specimens examined in museums, collected or observed in the field during the course of this study, figured in the literature, or otherwise described in terms that leave no doubt as to the correct identification. Bangladesh: Dinajpur District, Parbatipur (d’ Abreu 1932); Madhupur, Mymensingh Dist. and Salna village, Dacca Dist. (Whitaker & Hitada 1981). Faridpur District, Madaripur (this study); Dhaka District, Narayanganj this study). India: Assam: Gauhati Dist., Gauhati (Indian Museum); Dhuburi Dist., Goalpara (=Golpara) (Smith 1932). West Bengal: Terai Dist., Shiliguri (=Silliguri, Chicago Museum Natural History); Calcutta Dist., Calcutta (Indian Museum and Vienna Natural History Museum), Calcutta Botanical Gardens (Indian Museum); Sagar Island, Pathar Pratina (Indian Museum); Krishnagar Distr., Krishnagar (Indian Museum); 24 Parganas Dist., Pepouldo and Melanchar Thana (Chicago Natural History Museum); Kakdwip (this study); Hoogley Dist., Singui Thana (Chicago Natural History Museum); Medinipur Dist., 20 km NW Kharag- pur (Sights 1949), Medinipur (= Midnapur, Smith 1932); Orissa: Balsor Dist., Serogatrth, 8 km E Nilgiri (indian Museum, Biswas & Kar 1982, and this study); Cuttack Dist., Nandan Kanan (Indian Museum), Bhitarkanika, Dangmal (Biswas & Kar 1982); Barang Dist.,NE Nandan Kanan Biologi- cal Park (Biswas & Kar 1982) Bihar: Patna Dist., Patna (d’Abreau 1932 and this sudy); Saran Dist. (Smith 19332), 4 km SW Chhapra (this study); District ?, Gordon Hill (locality not found) (Mertens 1959 b); Bettiah Dist., 20 km NW Bettiah (this study); Pargani Dist., Pakaur (= Pakur, Smoith 1932). Uttar Pradesh: Gorakpur Dist., Gorakpur (In- dian Museum); Fatehgarh Dist., 10 km SE Fateh- garh (this study); Varanasi Dist., 21 km SE. Varanasi (this study); Mirzapur Dist., 10 km W. Mirzapur (this study); Agra Dist., Agra (Ander- son, 1871, Indian Museum); 5 km N. Dayal Bagh (this study); Gaziabad Dist., 23 km S. New Delhi (sight record only, this study). Haryana: Amballa Dist., Amballa (Smith 1932, reporting on specimen in Indian Museum, confirmed during this study, see below). Nepal: ‘Nepal’, no further data, reported first by Canton 1849 and later by Boulenger 1885 (based on specimens [confirmed during this, study] in the British Museum); Chitwan (Gurung 1983, US National Museum); Arun River vvalley, Sagamatha National Park (R. Jackson, in litt.). Pakistan: Sind Prov: “Sind” (Murray 1884); Larkana Distr. , Dokri (Mertens 1 942, reporting on specimens in Senckenberg Museum, confirmed in A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 299 this study, Florida State Museum, and Zoological Survey Pakistan); Dadu Dist., Dadu (this study). Northwest Frontier Prov .: Peshwar Dist., Sholgara Village, near Chars adda (Zoological Survey Pakistan). ‘Dir and Swwat’, no definite localities (McMahon 1901). Punjab Prov.: (Jhelum Dist., near Dina (Zoological Survey Pakistan); Sargodha Dist., near Laya (collections previously made by profes- sional hunters, but not confirmed during this study); and Lahore Dist. (?), near Pindi Bhatian (same comment as previous record). All of the definite localities listed above are along, or near major rivers, of which the Brah- maputra, Ganges, and Indus are the major ones. In Orissa, India, they are also known from the drainage systems of the Brahmani and Mahanadi rivers. In these stream valleys V. flavescens ex- tends along major tributaries to the foot of moun- tainous regions-even the base of the Mt. Everest complex-but not into the highlands above the tropical zone. Thus the distributional pattern is almost identical to that of Gavialis gangeticus and other typical Indo-Gangetic Plain species (includ- ing the Orissa river systems mentioned). On the basis of geography and local environ- ment, we expect that V. flavescens will eventually be found in Arunachal Pradesh in India, along the Dihang and Lohit river valleys. In Nepal the species probably occurs mainly along the southern border and posssibly restricted to the floodplains of the Arun river in the southeast and the Girwa river in the southwest, both or which are tributaries of the Ganges, along which the species is locally common. The following localities are definitely in error, most based on mis-identifications of V. bengalen- sis (or V. dumerilii in a few cases) as V. flavescens, or records from illogical environments or geog- raphy on the basis of what is now known about the species (see below for habitat details). “Penang”, first reported by Cantor (1847), and followed by Gunther (1864), Murray (1884), Flower (1896, 1899) and Boulenger (1912). All Malaysian records (listed here) were denied by Smedley (1932), with which we agree. “Malay Peninsula”, a generalized distribu- tional statement, perhaps based on Cantor’s “Penang” record (1847), first listed as Malay Peninsula by Boulenger (1885) and followed by Boulenger (1890), Flower (1896, 1899), Boulenger (1912) and Flower (1929); see com- ments above regarding “Penang”. “Trang”, Thailand, mentioned only by Boulenger (1912). V. flavescens does not occur in this area on basis of field work by Auffenberg (field notes, 1974). “Concan and Deccan”, in south and central India, reported by Murray (1884), on no valid basis as far as we can determine. The species does not occur there. (Auffenberg field work, 1979, 1984- 5). “Baluchistan”, Pakistan, Murray (1884), un- doubtedly based on misidentification with V. ben- galensisfor V. flavescens does not occur there on the basis of absence of appropriate habitat. “Indochina”, first reported by Tirant (1885), followed by Mocquard (1906), undoubtedly based on misidentification with V. bengalensis. No voucher specimens available anywhere. “Pegu and Mergui”, Burma, mentioned as a possibility on basis of material in hand by Theobald (in Mason, 1882), and followed by Mur- ray (1884), Boulenger (1885, 1890, 19 12), Flower (1896, 1899, 1929), and Annandale (1905). No voucher specimens available from Burma. “Ceylon”, listed by Murray (1884), is un- doubtedly based on misidentification with V. ben- galensis. “Nurpore (= Nurpur), Salt Range”, Punjab, Pakistan, first reported by Hora and Chopra (1923) and followed by Smith (1932). This record is certainly based on a V. bengalensis , as most of the environment is probably inappropriate for V. flavescens though V. bengalensis is locally com- mon. “Padang, Sumatra” mentioned by Holtzinger — Tenever is clearly incorrect, but interesting be- cause of the importance of this locality in the distributional pattern of V. bengalensis “Kutch”, Gujarat Prov., India, (Murray 1884) is possibly correct. Throughout its long history, 300 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 the Indus river has been notably vagrant, exhibit- ing extraordinary wanderings and mutations of its course in response to natural and man-induced environmental changes. The major change in the delta region is the westward drift of the major distributaries. Not too many thousands of years ago these emptied into what is now the Rann of Kutch (see Holmes 1968, Flam 1986) — a broad, level expanse of largely saline mudflats that tend to become flooded each year due to monsoon winds. While V.flavescens is not known to occur in brackish water situations (see below), it has been collected very close to the sea at Sagar Island, West Bengal. Since some of the flooding in the Rann is due to freshwater inundation from Sind, Pakistan, and because appropriate habitats for this species might occur along these seasonal distributaries in the interior of the nearby country, Murray’s old record of this species from Kutch may be correct. However, V. bengalensis (with which Murray clearly confused V. flavescens in other instances) is common in the Rann of Katcch area (W.A. field notes). Appropriate habitats for V.flavescens occur in marshlands north of Bhav- nagar, Gujrat, and along the lower reaches of the Sabarmati river north of Ahmadabad, Gujarat (W.A. field notes), which are both also part of the ancient Indus river delta (Karpov and Nebolsine 1964). These may also be found to possess V. flavescens. Fig.9 shows all of the definite localities from which Varanus flavescens is now known, as well as the expected range. This distribution shows quite clearly that the species is restricted to the rivers of the Indo-gangetic Plain. Thus the species is found in the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and all of their tributaries, except those of the Ganges that are considered “peninsular” (Chambal, Betwa and Ken Rivers, see Mani 1974). Except for the lower deltaic parts of the Ganges — Brahmaputra system, this monitor species seems restricted to the Khadar alluvium in the floodplains themselves. Where broad these floodplains are characterized by dead arms, deferred junctions and marshy jheels , often several kilometres wide. Near the foothills of the Himalaya, V . flavescens seems restricted to the more level areas of finer soil, often covered with marsh and swamp vegetation of the terai, rather than the areas of coarser talus (bhabar and bhur). In West Bengal and Bangladesh V.flavescens is apparently more widely distributed than in the rest of the Gangetic Plain, where it seems to occur in isolated populations. In Pakistan the distribu- tion is apparently even more spotty, though fur- ther collecting may disclose additional localities along major streams in appropriate habitats. Habitat Early in the accumulation of information regarding this species, the notion was developed that V. flavescens lived in dry grasslands. This conclusion was undoubtedly fostered by two mis- conceptions. First, that V.flavescens was closely related to V. exant hematicus, the African savanna monitor, which does live in xeric habitats. Second, that not all specimens collected and iden- tified as V. flavescens were, indeed that species. Some of these were clearly V. bengalensis , which is often found in dry habitats (though not op- timum). Mertens (1942) had no reason to doubt what had been stated about the habitat of V.flaves- cens, but was puzzled by its flattened tail — usually associated with aquatic species (i.e. V. salvator). He concluded that the flattened tail in the former was a retention of that condition, rather than a specialization for the habitat in which it was presumed to live. Rotter (1963) continued the error in an important and the most recent synopsis of the genus, in spite of the fact that Sights (1949) published a good description of the generally wet habitat of V. flavescens in West Bengal. In that paper, Sights emphasised the mesic to hydric en- vironment in which he found his specimens — a heavily forested tract with many marshes and brooks. In 1979 Auffenberg studied the habitat of this species in many places in the Gangetic Plain and during 1986-7 he and the junior authors studied it in several parts of the Indus river. These observa- tions, plus notes available in the Chicago Natural History and Indian Museums (associated with A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS Fig. 9. Confirmed locality records (dots) for V. flavescens, with all major rivers of the Indo-Gangetic plain shown. Fig. 10. Probable distribution limits of V. flavescens (shaded), with possible extensions in Sind-Gujarat provinces shown. 302 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL, HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 specimens collected in Orissa and West Bengal), made it clear that V. flavescens is primarily a species of marshlands (jheels) in low-lying, sandy areas bordering large rivers and subject to annual flooding. This hydric habitat occurs in almost every locality where the species was observed in the wild The only exception is along canals as- sociated with rice farming in low- lying areas. For the most part, these rice growing areas were pre- viously partly or completely located within the boundaries of former natural marshlands. In the meantime, Visser (1985) noted that heal- thy captives kept under optimum conditions in Europe spent much time in water. Combining these observations with those of Sights (1949), he correctly concluded that the species lived in moist to wet, rather than dry habitats. The following is a brief list of the major plants found in optimum habitat of V. flavescens in northern India; trees include mainly Dalbergia sissoo, Albizzia procera, Acacia arabica and A. catechu; dominant shrubs are Tamar ix dioca , Zizyphus jujuba, Ehretia laevis and Holoptelea integrifolia grasses. Herbs include Saccharum spontaneum, S. munja, Phragmites communis and Typha elephantina (or T. angustata). In Assam, Pistia aquatica and aldrovanda vesciculosa are common aquatic plants. Closer to the coast in Bangladesh, West Bengal and Orissa, the tree Heritiera minor becomes very common. In Pakis- tan typical trees in the local habitat include Populus euphratica and/or Acacia nilotica ; dominant shrubs are Tamarix dioica and Zizyphus jujuba; dominant grasses and herbs are Phragmites karka , P. communis , Typha augustata and Nelumbium sp. Varanus flavescens is not found close to the coast in Pakistan. In addition, this monitor lizard is often found in and near irrigated fields in both India and Pakistan. Most of the time these are paddy fields, as on Sagar Island, West Bengal, but they may also be maize or mixed crops, as at Charsadda, near Peshawar, Pakistan. In fact, much of the original flood plain habitat throughout the range of this species has been greatly modified by agriculture. In some instances, entire local populations of this lizard have been extirpated in this way. The situation along the Yamuna river near Agra is a good example. The species was first reported from the area by Anderson in 1871. However, no specimens have been found there recently, in spite of the fact that the Agra area is an important source for preserved biological materials used by universities and colleges over much of northern India. Some specimens from the same locality had been deposited in the Indian Museum some time ago (we have confirmed these identifications). In 1979, 1984, and 1985 the senior author had opportunity to study monitor populations in the Agra area — partly to determine the habitat from which the V. flavescens might have originated. Discussions with aged professional animal collec- tors in the area made it clear that the species was once found near Agra, but only in previously annually inundated lowlands dominated by Typha . It is still found (though rare) in similar habitat north of Agra along the Yamuna river, as well as eastward along the main floodplain and tributaries of the Ganges river (common locally). At Dayal bagh, a suburb of Agra, very small, scattered Typha — filled lowland areas can still be found, these are small remnants of much larger jheels originally found in the area. Since acquisi- tion of the land by the Rhadasomi community many years ago, most of these jheels have been converted into irrigated paddy fields and the small local populations of V. flavescens once present have long ago disappeared. The same pattern of marshland conversion to paddy has occurred on a massive scale throughout much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the past and is responsible for much reduction in range and abundance of this species. This factor, plus the natural long term trend of desertification of at least the western half of the range of this species, and the restriction of marshy areas to flood plains to begin with, accounts for the very spotty dis- tribution of the species at the present time. This distributional pattern is additionally impacted in some areas by a high hunting pressure for its skin. Collectively, these factors lead us to consider A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 303 Varanus flavescens as the most endangered of all monitor species on the Asian mainland. What habitat remains is small, and is becoming smaller all the time — particularly in the central to western parts of its range. In India (West Bengal and Assam only) and Bangladesh, Varanus flavescens is sometimes sympatric with both V. salvator and V. bengalen - sis (sometimes all three species can be seen in the same marsh). In Pakistan (all provinces in which it occurs) it can be expected to be found in the same habitat with V. bengalensis ; V. griseus is only found in xeric, sandy habitats; it is never syntopic with V. flavescens ecologically. Food Captive Varanus flavescens regularly feed upon mice (Auffenberg captives in Florida and Visser 1985) and prepared reptile food (Visser 1985). During this study, evidence of prey was found in 32 individuals (all adult, stomach- pumped in the field or dissected in the laboratory). These remains included frogs, toads, amphibian eggs, reptile eggs (turtles and squamates), birds and their eggs, insects and mammals (all rodents). Because of their advanced state of digestion, species identification were usually not possible. Forty percent of all prey were frogs (all Rana sp.) Toads (all Bufo stomaticus) comprised nine percent of the prey. Reptile eggs (turtle and squamate eggs combined) totalled fifteen percent; six percent was mammalian and the same for insects. A few individuals had masses of frogs eggs in the stomach. These were fertilized so that it is clear the eggs had been found in the wild and not the remains of a female frog eaten previously. Feathers were found in only three percent of those that contained prey; bird eggs the same. Thus frogs comprise the most common prey, followed by reptile eggs. Because no scales or other reptile remains were found in the stomachs at the same time we surmise that the eggs were taken from the nests. Many species of monitors are known to feed extensively on reptile eggs so that this is not unexpected in V. flavescens. However, what does seem unusual in the diet reported here is the eating of amphibian eggs. This has not been reported for any other varanid lizard so far. What is also somewhat surprising is that no land or water molluscs are apparently included in the diet, though at least the aquatic viviparid. Bellamya bengalensis (sensu latu) is common in local shallow marshlands where they could easily be foraged by the monitors. Some other monitor species regularly feed on molluscs (see Auffen- berg 1987 for review). Of possible significance is that most of the amphibians found in the gut were taken from individuals collected in September- October; most reptile eggs in February; mammals only in March- April. Growth No direct information is available on growth of wild individuals. However, in vitro staining of bone laminae in wild individuals and data from captivity (Visser 1985) suggest that sexual maturity occurs at about three years. Since mean hatchling SVL is approximately 77 mm and sexual maturity is attained at about 290 mm SVL, the annual estimated SVL growth (if uniform, which it is not) is about 60 mm/year. Because food resources and activity level of the monitors is not uniform throughout the year in view of the seasonal climate of the regions inhabited by the species, growth must be pulsed. The periodicity of this growth pulse can be demonstrated by per- cent individuals shedding each month. No individuals were noted shedding their skins from October through December (specimens ex- amined 3 1 ). From January through April, seven to twenty percent of all individuals examined (36) were shedding their skins. Shedding becomes much more common from May through Septem- ber (37), when they represent 37 to 60 percent of the monthly totals examined. Thus we conclude that the least growth is experienced in the fall post-monsoon season, and the highest growth rate during the monsoon season. Shedding is an indication of growth and as such must occur during and (particularly) after the period of greatest food abundance. If this is the case, then the least food is obtained during the 304 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol . 86 summer monsoon, for the following period is the one of least evidence of growth. That this is quite probably the case is suggested by the seasonal pattern of fat accumulation (Fig. 4), which shows that the monsoon season is a period of high utiliza- tion (degradation) of existing fat in the abdominal cavity in both sexes, rather than a period of ac- cumulation. The lack of growth is perhaps best explained by the low density of food in the habitat, caused by annual monsoonal flooding, this is also reflected in the fact that very few food items were found in the gut during this period. On the other hand, both food contained in the stomach and fat in the abdominal cavity were high during the dry premonsoon period, when most food sources (par- ticularly the most common prey, frogs) would be concentrated in the few small pools of surface water remaining in the habitat. This period of rapid growth is reflected in the high shedding levels noted during the following monsoon period, due to the time lag between food abun- dance and actual growth and eventual shedding. The entire matter of seasonal growth (amount and lag time) in relation to seasonal variation in food availability deserves attention and would probab- ly handsomely repay investigation in both the laboratory and field. Other Remarks As part of a study of the external parasites of all the varanid lizard species of Pakistan, we were surprised to find that while Varanus bengalensis adults were regularly and heavily infested with ticks ( Aponoma gervaisi ), no recently caught specimens of V.flavescens from India (Varanasi, Fatehbad, Mirzapur) or Pakistan (Dokri, Charsad- da, Dina) ever had any ticks, nor possessed any evidence (tick scars) that they had ever been there. This is particularly unusual in view of the fact that in both countries both monitor species can often be found in the same habitat (though local animal catchers and hide hunters claim that they are never found in the same burrows). The only time that ticks were ever found on V.flavescens was when the lizards had been kept in the same bag or pen in which V. bengalensis had recently been kept. At such times when ticks were found on V.flaves- cens we noted that tick distribution on the host was not typical of the pattern regularly found on V. bengalensis (W. A. field notes, see Auffenberg 1987 for data on tick site attachment on other varanid species hosts). No studies have yet been completed on the internal parasites of this species, though ap- propriate material has been collected and is now in the hands of specialists in such matters. Nematode parasites are being investigated by workers in Pakistan. Dr S. Telford, Florida State Museum, is currently studying blood parasites of V. flavescens caught near Dokri, Pakistan. This material proves that this monitor is often infested with a blood parasite (probably malarial) that is not found in either Varanus griseus nor V. ben- galensis in any part of their geographic ranges (Dr Telford will report his results separately when his studies are completed). Thus what little is known about the parasites of Varanus flavescens suggests a very different pic- ture from that reported or known to exist in other Indo-Pakistan monitors. These data further sub- stantiate the presumably isolated phylogenetic position of V.flavescens based on studies of blood chemistry, penial morphology and karyotypes as indicated above. Compared to other varanids in which injuries were studied (Auffenberg 1981, 1987), Varanus flavescens shows remarkably few scars, even when compared with V. bengalensis from the same habitat in Pakistan. There is no consistently scarred area(s) caused during combat, feeding, or in shelters, as in the other species studied. Though snipped-off tail tips are common in other species, this occurred only once (a male) in 87 V. flaves- cens examined for this character in Pakistan. Of 38 V. bengalensis from the same habitat in Pakis- tan, 26% (7 males, 2 females) had the tail snipped off. Tail injuries in V. komodoensis are usually due to courtship by the males (Auffenberg 1981). This may also be the case in V. bengalensis , since more females than males have the tail tip snipped off. The absence of such injuries on the tail of V. flavescens suggests that the courtship pattern in A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 305 this species does not involve much biting by the males, or at least not on the tail. A necrotic liver was noted in one adult from India; an ovarian tumour in another individual from Pakistan. The pH of the empty stomach was tested in three individuals; it ranged from 2.2-2.9, X = 2.5 d’Abreii (1932) states that during the dry season this species takes refuge in large cracks in the earth. While this may be an accurate descrip- tion, the species also digs burrows in which it spends the night and the cooler weather of the winter months. It may also use such burrows for aestivation during particularly dry periods. Pakis- tani tribals very experienced with this animal claim that, unlike V. bengalensis and V. griseus , it often closes the mouth of its burrow at night. We were not, unfortunatley, able to verify this. If true, it seems to be the only species of monitor lizard that does so. Acknowledgements Thanks are extended to the following in- dividuals for allowing the study of prepared materials in their care (museum abbreviations in parentheses where appropriate): Dr Farooq M. Ahmed, Director, Zoological Survey Dept., Karachi, Pakistan (ZSD); Mr K.J. Baig, Pakistan Museum Natural History, Islamabad; Mr J.C. Daniel, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS); Mr S.M. Nair, Director, Museum Natural History, New Delhi; Dr J. Eiselt, Vienna Museum Natural History; Dr K. Klemmer, Senckenberg Museum Natural History, Frankfurt, West Germany; Dr W. Bohme, Alexander Koenig Museum Natural History, Bonn, WestrGermany; Dr G. Zug, United States National Museum, Referi D’Abreu, E.A. (1932): Notes on monitor lizards. J. Bom- bay nal. Hist. Soc. 36 (1): 269-270. Annandale, N. (1905): Notes on the Oriental lizards in the Indian Museum, with a list of the species recorded from British India and Ceylon. J. and P. Asiatic Soc. Bengal ( n.s .). 1 (J): 93. Auffenberg, W. (1981): The Behavioral Ecology of the Washington; Dr R. Zweifel, American Museum Natural History, New York (AMNH); Dr N. Ar- nold, British Museum (Natural History), London (BMNH); Mr D.P. Sanyal, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta; Mr H. Marx, Chicago Museum Natural History, Chicago, U.S.A. Additional material was examined in the Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, U.S.A. (FSM). For information on local habitats and habits we thank Jogi M. Hashim, Thatta, Pakistan; Mr R. Whitaker, Madras Crocodile Bank, Vadenemmeli, India; and the staffs of the Kakdwip Field Station, West Bengal, India and the Gangetic Plains Regional Station (Zoological Survey), Patna, India. 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(1974): Strategies in herbivory in mammals: The role of plant secondary compounds. Amer.Nat. 108: 269-289. Gray, J.E. (1838): Catalogue of the slender — tongued saurians, with description of many new genera and species. Ann. Nat. Hist. 7:388-394. Gunther, A. (1864): The Reptiles of British India. Taylor and Francis, London. 323 p. Gurung, K.K. (1983): Heart of the Jungle. Andre Deutsch: Tiger Tops. 183 pp. Hahn, W.E. & Tinkle, D.W. (1965): Fat body cycling and experimental evidence for its adaptive significance to ovarian follicle development in the lizard Uta stansburiana. J. Exper. Zool. 158: 79-86. Hardwicke, T. & Gray, J.E. (1827): A synopsis of the species of saurian reptiles, collected in India by Major-General Hardwicke. Zool. J. 5:213-229. Hladik, C.M. (1976): Surface relativ du tractus digestif de quelques primates morphologie des villostes intestinales et correlations avec la regime alimentaire. Mammalia 31(1): 120- 147. Holmes, D.A. (1968): The recent history of the Indus. Geogr./. 134(3): 367-382. Holmes, R.S., King, M. & King, D. (1975): Phenetic relationships among varanid lizards based upon comparative electrophoretic data and karyotypic analyses. Biocfiem. Syst. Ecol.3: 257-262. Holtzinger — Tenever, W. (1917): Einige Kriechtiere Sumatra. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 8(3): 403-435. Hora, S.L. & Chopra, R.L. (1923): The reptiles of the Salt Range, Punjab. Rec. Ind. Mus. 25 (3): 369-376. Hutton, J.M. (1986): Age determination of living Nile crocodiles from the cortical stratification of bone. Copeia 1986 (2): 332-341. Jacob, D. & Ramaswami, L.S. (1976): The female reproductive cycle of the Indian monitor lizard Varanus monitor. Copeia 1976(2): 256-260. Karpov, A. V. &Nebolsine,R. (1964): West Pakistan and the Indus Valley. Indus 5 (1): 5-32. Kehl. R. & Combescot, C. (1955): Reproduction in the ReptiliainThe Comaparative Endocrinology of Vertebrates. Mem. Soc. Endocrin.(4): 57-74. King, D. & Rhodes, L.(1982): Sex ratio and breeding season of Varanus acanthurus. Copeia 1982(4): 784-787. King, M. & King, D. (1975): Chromosomal evolution in the lizard genus Varanus (Reptilia) Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 28: 89-108. Mani, M.S. (1974): Ecology and biogeography in India. A STUDY OF VARANUS FLAVESCENS 307 The Hague, W. Junk. 773 pp. Mcmahon, A.H. (1901): Notes on the fauna of Dir and Swat. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 70(2) :7-12. Mertens, R. (1942): Die Familie der Warane (Varanidae). Abh. Senckb. Biol. 466: 235-391. (1959b): Liste der Warane Asiens und der Indo- Australischen Inselwelt mit systematischen Rermerk un- gen, Abh. Senckb. Biol. 40(5/6): 1 12-147. Mocquard, J. (1906): Reptiles du Indochine. Review Colonaise 1906 (4): 550. Murray, J. (1884): Vertebrate Zoology of Sind. Richardson and Co., London. 413 p. Presst, I. (1971): An annotated study of the viper Vipera berus in southern Britain. J. Zool. (London) 164:373-418. Rotter, J. (1963): Die Warane. A. Ziemsen Verlag, Wit- tenberg. 75 pp. Schlegel, H. (1844): Abbildungen neuer oder un- vollst/nding bekannter Amphibien. Grant. Francis, London. 538 P- Swain, T. (1976): Angiosperm-reptile co-evolution, pp. 107-122. In Morphology and Biology of Reptiles (A. d’A. Bel- lairs and C.B. Cox, eds). Academic Press, London. Theobald, W. (1868): Catalogue of the Reptiles of British Burma, embracing the Provinces of Pegu, Martaban, and Tenasserim; with descriptions of new or little known species. J. Linn. Soc. Zool. 10: 4-67. (1882): In J. Mason, Burma, its People and Productions. Vol. 1. 326 p. Tirant, A. (1885): Notes on the Reptiles and Batrachians of Cochinchina. Smith and Taylor, London. 86 p. Upadhyay, S.N. & Gukaya, S.S. (1972): Histochemical observations on the intestinal gland (or leydig cells) of a lizard testes. Gen. Comp. Endocrin. 19: 88-95. Visser, G.J. 1985): Notizen zur Brutbiologie des Gelbwarans Varanus (Empagusia) flavescens (Hardwicke and Gray, 1827) im Zoo Rotterdam. Salamandra 21 (2/3): 161-168. Volsoe, H. (1944): Structure and Seasona Variation of the male reproductive organs of Vipera berus L. SpoliaZool.Mus. Haunensis 5 : 1-171. Whitaker, R. & Hitada, T. (1981): Report of Project Formulation Mission to Bangladesh (Monitor Lizards). FAO, Rome. INTRUSION OF A RHESUS MACACA MULATTA PAIR INTO A LANGUR PRESBYTIS ENTELLUS GROUP1 Reena Mathur and A. Lobo2 In the course of 3400 hours of field observation on free ranging langur Presbytis entellus in Jaipur, India, during 1985 and 1986, six cases of rhesus Macaca mulatta associating (as residents) with langur groups were observed in the thirty censused groups. One of these associa- tions involved an adult rhesus pair and a unimale bisexual langur group which was extensively studied at the Ambagarh reserve forest. This report presents data on their interaction during the initial seven months of the rhesus residency in the langur group. Most of the interactions involved langur adult females with infants and the male rhesus. The female rhesus seldom interacted with the langur individuals. A possible fitness enhancing strategy is suspected behind the social isolation of the rhesus from its conspecifics. ( With two text-figures ) Introduction Polyspecific association in non-human primates has been reported from a number of study sites (Bernstein 1967, Gartlan & Struhsaker 1972, Freeland 1977,Rudran 1978, Das and Shar- ma 1979, Waser 1 980). Most of these associations are temporary and occur due to overlapping ac- tivity ranges. However, a few cases of long term intertaxa association have also been reported (Bernstein 1967, Dolhinow 1972, Das and Shar- ma 1980, Mohnot 1984). This study examines the interaction between rhesus and various age and sex classes of the Hanuman langur Presbytis entellus after the for- ceful intrusion of the former into a unimale bisexual langur group designated as G-3. This type of association between rhesus and langur has been observed in as many as six groups (four unimale, one multimale and one all male band) out of the thirty censused langur groups in Jaipur. Each of the groups excluding G-3, had an adult rhesus male resident. The pair with G-3 gave birth to an infant later. Association of one or more langurs with rhesus groups was not encountered. 1 Accepted February 1988. Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur — 302 004, India. Study Area and Methods The study area was the Ambagarh reserve forest situated on the eastern border of the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. The vegetation is of dry deciduous type dominated by Anogeissus pen- dula, Maytenus emarginata, Holoptelea in- tegrifolia and a number of Acacia species. Rainfall averages 600 mm per annum and is strongly seasonal, with almost all rain falling during the month of July and August. Winter (November to February) temperatures vary be- tween 6°-15°C, while the summer (April to June) temperatures may reach as high as 47 °C. Seven groups (five bisexual, two all male) of langurs inhabit this area . Extensive observations were made on a unimale bisexual group (G-3), which had a resident rhesus pair. Data on interactions between the rhesus pair and the langur group G-3 was collected sys- tematically during the ten days of each month while scan sampling G-3 for its activity pattern and feeding ecology. Sampling all occurrences of some behaviour was the method of choice (Altman 1974) for recording interaction between rhesus pair and langurs. Results Rhesus-langur infant interaction: The rhesus RHESUS - LANGUR INTERACTION 309 pair was never observed in direct aggression or any other form of interactive action towards lan- gur infants. The infants who wandered away from their mothers in the course of exploration hurried back to them when the “rhesus got near while passing by or while relocating himself or herself within the group. Rhesus-langur juvenile interaction: Small juvenile langurs who had just been weaned, avoided any form of interaction with the rhesus. They never indulged in instigations or challenged the dominant attitude of the intruders and readily moved away from preferred areas on approach of the rhesus. Avoidance in this case demonstrated a condition of fear, and submission of the small juveniles towards the aggressive rhesus. All the langur juveniles in the study group were females. Rhesus-langur juvenile interaction con- stituted 19.5% of the total recorded interactions Fig. 1. Percent interaction of various age-sex classes of langurs with rhesus (December 1985 to June 1986). AFI: adult female with infant; AF: adult female; SA: subadult female (in this group there were no subadult males); LJ: large juvenile; SJ: small juvenile; 1-2: infant 2(big infant) 1-1: infant 1 (small black coat infant). (Fig. 1), with a mean frequency of 6.3 encounters per day in December, followed by a significant fall (2.1, 2.3, 1.0, 2.1 and 2.8 encounters per day respectively; Fig. 2) in the following five months. A second peak of 4.1 encounters per day was recorded in June. The behavioural repertoire of the large langur juveniles during an encounter was attention at- tracting: large juveniles would approach the rhesus within 5-10 m and start squealing. The duration of the squeal varied from as short as 2 sec to about 20 sec. The rhesus male generally ignored the squealers; however, if the squealing persisted he would threaten or even chase the stentorian. The female rhesus seemed less tolerant than the rhesus male and was always observed to threaten and even chase the large juveniles. The male and female rhesus threats involved: (1) the tense mouth face; (2) the startling open mouth face. Chasing, which seldom occurred, varied over dis- Fig. 2. Frequency of interactions (per day) between various age-sex classes of langurs and rhesus (December 1985 to June 1986). A: rhesus-langur large juvenile; B: rhesus- langur subadult female; C: rhesus-langur adult female; D: rhesus-langur adult female with infant. 3 310 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 tance of 5-50 m. Adult langur females would intervene during a chase in an attempt to defend the langur juveniles; intervention involved collec- tive rushing by one or more individual at the rhesus. This usually terminated the chase. Rhesus-langur subadult interaction: Subadult langur females were docile and unlike the juveniles, did not incite the rhesus. Interaction between the rhesus and langur sub-adults was rare, constituting only 2.6% of the total recorded data (Fig. 1 }. March and April were the only two months when interactions were seen to occur. Interactions are represented by 1.1 and 1.7 en- counters per day respectively (Fig. 2). All interac- tions between the two occurred when subadult females tried soliciting extra-troop males or the new resident male during and immediately after male replacement (take over) in the unimale bisexual group G-3. Interaction involved threats and chase directed by the rhesus male towards the langur sub-adults. The chase in this case occurred over distances of 30 to 1 50 metres. Here too, adult langur females came to the rescue of the subadults in the same manner as described earlier. The female rhesus was never observed interacting with this class of langurs. Rhesus-langur adult female interaction: The behavioural pattern of adult females (AF) and adult females with infants (AFI) towards the rhesus was quite distinctive. AFI avoided the presence of the rhesus pair. This was revealed by their circumspect, albeit wary, attitude. This class constituted the maximum number of the total recorded interactions between the rhesus and the langurs (61 .7%; Fig. 1). December and July show a higher frequency of interaction. However, there is no significant difference between the frequency of encounters per day over the remaining seven consecutive months (Fig. 2). The behaviour during an interaction between the rhesus male and AFI was characteristic and involved the following sequence: AFI moved towards the rhesus male, squealing, stopped a few metres in front of him, turned the infant upside down many times, nuzzled the infant, held its tail in her mouth, and then took off squealing and screaming. In some cases this act was performed without any vocalization. This formed the most predominant behavioural activity of this class of langurs towards the rhesus male. However, it would be wrong to generalize this behaviour to all AFI. Factors such as the age of the adult female and the age of the infant seemed to play an important role in determining the probability of interaction. Adult females with new bom infants never approached the rhesus male or rhesus female. The frequency of interac- tion between the rhesus and AFI also depended on the spatial distribution of the rhesus within the langur group. The rhesus occupied strategic loca- tions such as a preferred resting site (the rhesus generally sat at the base of the tree or at the junction between the trunk and the first whorl of branches, thus preventing the langurs from moving into and out of the tree), preferred feeding site, a water hole, or remained seated in the path of group progression. Interaction between the rhesus and adult females without infants seldom occurred and did not involve the complex be- havioural pattern mentioned above. All interac- tions which occurred did so over provisioned food or when the rhesus got in close proximity of the adult females. Interaction between the two in- volved threat gestures, chase and even a total indifference by the rhesus male towards the incit- ing AF. Many times the langur females emitted an Ahhh sound (produced by the forceful expulsion of air from the throat with the mouth remaining closed or partly open) directed towards the rhesus. Rhesus-langur adult male interaction: Most interactions between the rhesus and langur adult males took place immediately after a take — over (change of adult male in a unimale bisexual langur group), with the rhesus male being the agressor in all recorded cases. Individual idiosyncrasies of the langur adult males played an important part in ascertaining the nature and intensity of the aggres- sion directed towards them by the rhesus male. The degree of opposition faced by the aggressive langur male, from the rhesus male, was commen- surable to the aggression directed by them towards G-3 individuals. RHESUS -LANGUR INTERACTION 311 During and after a takeover the rhesus male threatened and chased the usurper male whenever he attacked or attempted to attack adult females with infants. One langur male “MB”, who took over group G-3 twice, did not direct aggression towards AFT or infants. This male was readily accepted by the rhesus and G-3 individuals. Male 4 ‘XT’ ’ was the most violent of the five males who had taken over G-3 from 24 December 1985 to 1 6 May 1986. Male “XT”, unlike males “CZ”, “SE”, “BF” and “Stumpy” did not face any opposition from the rhesus male. Male “CZ” who came next in the hierarchy of “New male- AFI aggression” faced maximum aggression by the rhesus male. Over a period of seven days, 24 instances of rhesus male-4 ‘CZ’ ’ interactions were recorded. All recorded cases were agonistic en- counters and in relation to “New male - AFT aggression”. On all 24 occassions “CZ” yielded to rhesus dominance with only three (12.2%) cases of retaliation. Unlike the rhesus male, the rhesus female did not intervene during “New male - AFI interactions” and very seldom interacted with the langur male. All recorded interactions between the two took place over provisioned food, with the rhesus female being the agressor, but unable to displace the adult langur male. During such inter- actions the rhesus male was observed threatening and even chasing the adult male langur. Discussion In the present investigation interaction be- tween the rhesus and the langurs showed two peaks (December 1985 and June 1986; Fig. 2). The initial peak in December 1985 was due to the recent entry of the rhesus pair into the study group. The scarcity of trees with sufficient foliage to provide shelter from the high temperature (42 °- 47 °C) during June, thus resulting in competition for shelter sites, accounted for the sudden rise in encounters during that month. Polyspecific association in primates has usual- ly been looked at from the point of functional advantage to one or both species. One of the most prominent of these advantages is antipredatory: an animal increases the probability of detecting a predator, and thus escapes (Gartland and Struh- saker 1972, Rudran 1978). The potential predators at the Ambagarh reserve forest are hyaenas Hyaena hyaena, jackals Canis aureus and feral dogs Canis familiar is. Only one instance each of direct interaction with hyaenas and jackals was observed during the study period; but on a number of occasions poten- tial predators were seen lurking within the activity range of the langur group. Langur interactions with known dogs were peaceful and the former were often observed picking out ticks from the latter, but with unknown dogs the interactions were always aggressive. A peaceful type of as- sociation between the dogs and the rhesus pair did not exist. Apparently association among these two species had no antipredatory advantage to the individuals of G-3, who live in a very large group of 117 individuals. The rhesus pair probably benefited from an increased probability of detect- ing predators in an area where hyaenas and jackals live. During a takeover in G-3 the rhesus male chased langur females indulging in sexual solicitation of extra — troop males. It would probably be absurd to attribute this behaviour to dominance exhibition by the rhesus male, but this act most certainly had a detrimental effect on the acceptance of the rhesus pair by G-3 individuals. The behaviour of adult females with infants towards the rhesus male was characteristic, and is accountable if looked at from the point of female anticipation of possible threat to the survival of offspring due to the presence of unknown in- truders. “Unknown”, in this case refers to the unfamiliar and unknown intentions of the strangers. This was substantiated by the non — exhibition of this behaviour by AFT one year after the intrusion. The exhibition of aggression by the rhesus male towards adult langur males attacking AFI was perhaps an affectation, a strategy to inculcate acceptance by the female langurs who form the stable core of langur social organization. Why the rhesus male left his group probably 312 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 has reasons. Leaving is a functional response to increased population density; during splitting of groups in Japanese macaques animals who leave presumably gain advantages in terms of food availability, decreased breeding disturbance and reduced susceptibility to diseases (Furuya 1968, 1969, 1973). In some groups, individuals leave as a result of aggression directed at them by dominant male members of the group (Poirier 1969), to avoid inbreeding (Itani 1972), or to prevent depression of fitness (Hill 1974). In the present study the rhesus male left his natal group with a female. It is assumed that the fitness of the rhesus male must have been greatly reduced due to prevention of access to receptive females by dominant males. Hence, departure from con- specifics and taking along an adult female could possibly be a fitness enhancing strategy. Refer Altman, J. (1974): Observational study of behaviour: Sampling methods. Behaviour 48 .1-41 . Barash, D.P. (1975): Ecology of paternal behaviour in the Hoary marmot: an evolutionary interpretation, Journal of Mammology 56: 612-615. Bernstein, I.S. (1967): Intertaxa interactions in a Malayan Primate community. Folia primate 7:198-207. Das, S.M. & Sharma, B.D. (1980): Observation on a remarkable association of the rhesus monkey ( Macaca mulatto villosa ) with the Himalayan langur ( Presbytis entellus schis- taceus ) in the Kumaun Himalayas, India. Z. Saugetierkunde 45: 124-125. Dolhinow, P. (1972): The north Indian langur. In: Primate patterns, ed. P. Dolhinow. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Freeland, W.J. (1977): Blood sucking flies and primate polyspecific associations. Nature 269: 801-802. Furuya, Y. (1968): On the fission of troops of Japanese monkeys: 1. Five fissionr and social changes between 1955 and 1966 in Gagyusan troop. Primates 9:323-350. (1969): On the fission of troops of Japanese monkeys: 2. General view of troop fission of Japanese monkeys ibid. 70:47-69. (1973): Fissions in the Gagyusan colony Reproductive advantage due to isolation has been reported by Barash (1975) in Hoary Marmot which exhibits two distinct social systems: iso- lated family units and populous colonies. The male in the isolated family need not fear encroach- ment of competing males on his sexual preroga- tives; social isolation is thus used as a fitness enhancing strategy. To say anything with certain- ty for rhesus regarding fitness enhancing strategy, long term empirical evidences for comparison are needed on the reproductive success of subordinate rhesus male living in his natal group. If social isolation could enhance the fitness of subordinate rhesus individuals, then why is it not that most, if not all, subordinate rhesus males leave their natal group? Only further investigation of the subject can answer this question. NCES of Japanese monkeys. In: Behavioral Regulations of behavior in Primates, ed. C.R. Carpenter, pp. 107-114. Bucknell University Press: New Jersey. Gartland, J.S. & Struhsaker, T.T. (1972): Polyspecific associations and niche separation of rain forest anthropoids in Cammeroon, West Africa. J. Zool. London. 168:221-266. Hill, J.L. (1974): Peromysws: effect of early pairing on reproduction. Science, Washington 186: 1042-1044. Itani, J. (1972): A preliminary essay on the relationship between social organisation and incest avoidance in nonhuman primates. In: Primate socialization, ed. F.E. Poiner. Random House, New York. pp. 165-171. Mohnot, S.M. (1984): Langur interactions around Jodhpur Presbytis entellus. In: Current Primate Researches, ed. Roonwal, M.L., Mohnot, S.M., and Rathore, N.S. Poirier, F.E. (1969): The Nilgiri langur troop: its com- position, structure, function and change. Folia primatologica, 10: 20-47. Rudran, R. (1978): Sociobiology of the blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmenni) of the Kibale forest, Uganda. Smithsonian contribution to zoology; No. 249. Waser, P.M. (1980): Polyspecific association of Cer- cocebusalbigena: geographic variation on Ecological Correlates. Folia primatol. 33:51-16. ANTHECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY CONSIDERATIONS OF LEONOTIS NEPETAEFOLIA R. BR.1 A.J. Solomon Raju and C. Subba Reddi2 Leonotis nepetaefolia R.Br. flowers with anthers dehiscing in bud stage produced inflores- cence on the verticillaster every day. The flowers are capable of reproducing through autogamy, geitonogamy and xenogamy, but autogamy is the predominant mode and is successful even in the total absence of an extraneous agency. The animal visitors, avians - Nectarinia zeylanica , N. asiatica, a bee Trigona sp. are the regular pollinators. Butterflies, which are occasional visitors, seldom act as pollinators. From the evolutionary point of view, the flowers of L. nepetaefolia with their scarlet colour, degenerated lower corolla lip, predominant autogamy, higher pollen-ovule ratio and greater amounts of nectar, are suggestive of the autogamous race now occurring in India as descended from a xenogamous race. Introduction Cruden (1976) gave a brief account of the evolution of the weed Leonotis nepetaefolia R.Br., suggesting that the flower-form now oc- curring in India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia etc. has undoubtedly descended from a xenogamous - bird pollinated race. Except for this, the information on the flower biology and the pollination dynamics of L. nepetaefolia is not known. The purpose of the present study was to provide information on the anthecology and detail evolutionary considerations of L. nepetaefolia R.Br. Material and Methods The herb Leonotis nepetaefolia R.Br. ( Phlomis nepetaefolia L.) growing wild abundantly in waste places, open forests, banks of irrigation canals, and along roadsides at Turimella (15°10’N, 81°45’E), Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India, was chosen for the study. The blooming phenological events at inflorescence and flower level were observed in detail. The inflorescence flowering life span was obtained after tagging ten randomly chosen inflorescences 1 Accepted April 1988. Department of Environmental Sciences, Andra University, Waltair 530 003, India. about to initiate bloom and followed every day until they ceased to flower. Concurrently, the flower morphological characters were also ob- served. Following the methods of Raju (1987), Horbome (1973), Baker and Baker (1973), pollen production per flower and pollen-ovule ratios, pollen viability, stigma receptivity, recording the flower life time, nectar monitoring and analysis and breeding systems were investigated. Representative specimens of the butterfly visitors were caught, killed, preserved and iden- tified with Wynter Blyth (1957) and Varshney (1983); the insect species by a comparison with the identified specimens (by CIE, London) and the avian species by visual examination from close quarters, and using binoculars, and iden- tified with Salim Ali’s books. The activity period of the foragers, type of forage, behaviour at flower, share in the pollination play etc. was also observed. Results Vegetative and Flowering phenology: Vegeta- tive growth of L. nepetaefolia appears in Septem- ber; flowering commences from mid — October and continues up to December/mid — January; thereafter the plants dry up. The verticillaster inflorescence bears three ver- ticils, each with an average of 162 flowers in the basal whorl, 1 88 in the second and 1 37 in the third 314 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 whorl, producing over 63 days. The flowers are produced every day but each verticil does not flower successively. Flower morphology: The floral parts show size difference in the first and the last formed flowers. The sessile flower is scarlet and gullet-shaped. Calyx tubular, ten-ribbed, green and hairy. Corol- la is 2-lipped, tubular - the seat for the nectar produced at the base of ovary; upper lip is long, concave with a villous crown and lower lip small, 3-lobed and is poorly developed and non-func- tional. Stamens are 4, epipetalous, didynamous, housed inside the upper corolla lip, filaments hairy and hold the stamens together. Gynoecium is bicarpellary, tetralocular, syncarpous superior ovary with gynobasic style; stigma bifid — une- qual lobes and situated below the stamen position. Floral dynamics: Flower opening is ac- complished every day over a short period during 2200 to 0200 hrs. The same schedule was evident on different weather days. Anthers open 20-30 minutes ahead of anthesis. Pollen gradually drops off from the anther onto the stigma geotropically in small clumps. Pollen output per flower came to be 1 04 1 2 (X); they are spheroidal, 44 mm, surface smooth and cytoplasm granular, and are viable for 44 hours of anther dehiscence. Pollen-ovule ratio is 2603 : 1 . Stigmas are receptive after anthesis and remain so for 37 hours, then corolla with stamens and stigma drops off. Calyx persists and shelters the developing seeds in it. Nectar production began two hours before anthesis and ended at Table 1 Flower Visitors on Uonotis nepetaefolia; Forage type and Body Parts of Pollen Deposit Flower visitors species Forage type Pollen deposit region Hymenoptera Apidae Trigona sp. Pollen Ventral side, Formicidae Camponotus sericeus Nectar legs, head -do- Lepidoptera Danaidae Danaus chrysippus -do- Proboscis Euploea core -do- -do- Pieridae Catopsilia crocale pomona C. py rant he -do- -do- Papilionidae Polydorus aristolochiae -do- -do- Nymphalidae Hypolimnas misippus -do- -do- Thysanoptera Thripidae Thrips hawaiiensis -do- Entire body Nectariniidae Nectarinia asiatica -do- Bill, Forehead N. zeylanica -do- -do- ANTHECOLOGY OF L. NEPET AEFOLI A 315 0800 hrs, the corolla tube gets filled; amount produced was 6 ml/flower. Sugar concentration is 18% and composed of glucose, sucrose and fruc- tose (Gsf); amino acids and proteins are also found. Breeding behaviour: Hand-pollination done to test the various modes of reproduction showed that apomixis is totally lacking, reproduction is by autogamy (100%), geitonogamy (100%) and xenogamy (48% fruit set; 62% seed set; 30% fecundity). Open pollinations also yielded 100% in fruit set and seed set as well as in fecundity. Flqwer visitors’ activity: A total of ten species was recorded at the flowers- two avian species of Nectariniidae, two hymenopterans (bee and ant) and six lepidopterans. Besides these, thrips are also found in the flowers. All these are day — ac- tive: sunbirds and ants during 0600-1800 hrs, Trigona sp. during 1 100-1500 hrs, and the but- terflies during 1000-1600 hrs. Only avian species are consistent and frequent visitors throughout the season. Sunbirds, ants and butterflies visited the flowers for nectar. They emptied the flower in a single visit. The stingless bee Trigona sp. visited the flowers for pollen only (Table 1). Trigona sits against the stamens and moves onto the anthers and collects pollen; then the stigma and stamens are forced out of the upper corolla lip. Consequently, the pollen falls on the stigma in small clumps and the ventral side of the bee’s body brushes against the reproductive parts. Camponotus sericeus do not disturb the flower and take nectar from lateral side. The butterflies approach the flower laterally and from the front, to obtain nectar; the reproductive parts come into contact with the proboscis when the butterfly ap- proaches from the front. However, all the visits are not successful. The sunbirds behave at the flower in two ways: a) they sit at the inflorescence axis, insert the bill into the flower of the side of inflorescence from the front; b) they sit at the inter — verticil region of the inflorescence, and insert the bill into the flower tube from above, through the corolla lip; then the lip is ruptured vertically in the centre. In either case, the stigma and stamens come out of the hooded lip but without any damage to the reproductive parts. The manner of pollen fall on the stigma was the same as occurred when Trigona sp. foraged. Two plant species Anisomeles malabarica and A. indica compete with Leonotis nepetaefolia for pollihator service, especially from avian species. Discussion Pollination: The flowers are visited by the avian Nectar inia sp., ‘he stingless bee Trigona sp., the ant Camponotus sericeus and butterflies. The sun- birds may reach the nectar either by inserting the bill in the legitimate way (Fig. la) or by piercing the upper corolla lip from above, making a vertical slit in the mid — part of the corolla (Fig. lb). Trigona sp. collects pollen stemotribically and the butterflies suck the nectar and seldom effect pol- lination. The ants forage on nectar and do not establish contact with the stigma and pollen and hence act as nectar robbers. Trigona sp. and but- terflies are not regular visitors. The birds are regular and consistent and their visits to the flowers force the essential organs out of the upper corolla lip and obtain nectar nototribically, while it is stemotribic for Trigona sp. and is seen heavily dusted with pollen upon visiting the flower. The plants reproduce through autogamy, geitonogamy and xenogamy -the first as superior. Controlled pollinations of autogamy indicated 100% success in fruit set and fecundity even in the total absence of flower visitors. When visitors are absent, the pollen, after getting dried, drops onto the stigma, resulting in auto-pollination. Structurally, the flowers are gullet-blossoms, the stigma and anthers are hidden inside the wool- ly upper corolla lip; anthers dehisce by lon- gitudinal slits, nectar is abundant, dilute and is well suited for the sunbirds to sip. The lower corolla lip is not well developed and shrivels away soon after anthesis. The sunbirds showed a preference for scarlet L. nepetaefolia flowers, when Anisomeles indica, A. malabarica (blue flowers) were available at a place, thus suggesting a preference for scarlet flowers. Evidently, L. nepetaefolia does not rely on pollinator activity 316 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol.86 for its reproduction, but certainly such activity may contribute to xenogamy and the resultant genetic variability. Salim Ali (1932) has compiled a list of plant species pollinated by sunbirds and by others, where members of Lamiaceae such as Salvia splendens and L. nepetaefolia are given as visited by sunbirds. The present study adds Anisomeles sp. to such a list. The Anisomeles sp. are not only visited for nectar but are pollinated in their act of foraging. The sunbirds are known to exhibit site specificity and it seems to be maintained over a long period of time. In certain cases, they probe the flowers in an illegitimate way and sip the nectar (Salim Ali 1932). In the present study, the sunbirds were seen occupying nests in the nearby bushes of Euphorbia antiquorum or other plant species and regularly paid visits to a particular patch of Anisomeles or L. nepetaefolia. The pol- lination by sunbirds at the study area was not dense, hence there was no competition for floral resource. The sunbirds approached the flowers of Anisomeles sp. in the legitimate way, but they usually punctured the corollas of Leonotis nepetaefolia. Nectar and pollen-ovule ratio: Heinrich (1975) discussed that the flowers to be pollinated by large bodied animals requiring high energy produce significantly more nectar compared to the flowers pollinated by small — bodied low energy requiring organisms; and most of the outcrossed plants produce relatively large amounts of nectar. Con- trary to this, the autogamous L. nepetaefolia produced more of diluted nectar similar to that of bird-flowers. The pollen-ovule ratios are also greater as in xenogamous flowers in contrast to Refer Ali, S. (1932): Flower — birds and Bird — flowers in India, In: A Century of Natural History, Ed. J.C.Daniel, Bombay Natural History Society, pp. 430-455. Baker, H.G. & Baker, I. (1973): Some anthecological aspects of the evolution of nectar producing flowers particularly amino acid production in nectar. In: Taxonomy and Ecology. Ed. V.H.Heywood. Academic Press, (London), pp. 243-281. the prediction of Cruden (1977) that autogamous species will have lower P/O’s than xenogamous flowers. Presumably, the L. nepetaefolia autogamous race occurring in India might have descended from a xenogamous bird-pollinated race as suggested by Cruden (1976), but the degeneration of breeding system is not accom- panied by a similar degeneration of other floral characters as corolla colour, pollen-ovule ratio and nectar production. Cruden (1976) suggested the possible lines of evolution of breeding system in Leonotis nepetaefolia on the basis of his observations on the populations in the New World. He found the small flowered form as well as the large flowered form and a third form occurring in eastern Africa which has given rise to the weedy populations in southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia etc. The small flowered form is facultatively xenogamous and is pollinated by hummingbirds and small bees. The large flowered form is xenogamous and is pollinated in Kenya by sunbirds (Gill and Wolf 1975), but in the New World it is visited il- legitimately by hummingbirds which take nectar from the flowers by slitting the corolla or depress- ing it from above. He further states that the large flowered form is recently arrived in the New World and that the evolution of an autogamous race may be occurring. Therefore, it is likely that the form now studied might have originated from a xenogamous race. Acknowledgements We thank Prof. P.V. Bole and Prof. G. Got- tsberger, Der Justus Liebig Universitat, Deutchland, for going through the manuscript and the UGC, New Delhi, for financial aid. ENCES Cruden, R.W. (1976): Fecundity as a function of nectar production and pollen — ovule ratios. In: Tropical Trees : Varia- tion, Breeding and Conservation. Eds. J. Burley and B.T. Styles. Academic Press (London and New York), pp. 171-178. (1977): Pollen — ovule ratios: A conserva- tive indicator of breeding systems in flowering plants. Evolution 37:32-46. ANTHECOLOGY OF L. NEPETAEFOLIA 317 Gill, F.B. & Wolf, L.L. (1975): Economics of feeding territoriality in the golden-winged sunbird. Ecology 56: 333- 345. Heinrich, B. (1975): Energetics of pollination. Annu. Rev. Ecol. andSyst. 6: 139-170. Horborne, J.B. (1973): Phytochemical Methods. Chap- man and Hall, London. Raju, AJ.S. (1987): The Pollination Ecology of Some Lamiaceae. Ph.D. Thesis, Andhra University, Waltair. Varshney, R.K. (1983): Index Rhopalocera Indica, Part II. Common names of butterflies from India and neighbouring countries; Records of the Zoological Survey of India. Occasional Paper No. 47. Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957): Butterflies of the Indian region. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. SATPURA HYPOTHESIS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF LAUGHING THRUSHES GARRULAX LESSON OF INDIA1 Md. Anwarul Islam2 (With two maps and a text-figure) Several theories have been put forward to explain the discontinuous distribution of Himalayan flora and fauna in the south Indian hills. Tbe present paper discusses one of these theories in the light of an in-depth study of the ecology of Laughing Thrushes carried out between 1982 and 1984. Introduction The ecology of two south Indian endemic laughing thrushes, namely the Nilgiri Laughing Thrush Garrulax cachinnans and the Whitebreasted Laughing Thrush G.jerdoni , in the Nilgiri (1 1°12’ N to 1 1°40’ N and 76° 14’ E to IT E) and Palni Hills (10°1 ’ N to 10°26’ N and77°14’ E to 77°52’ E) was studied from May 1982 to mid March 1983 and July 1983 to August 1984. Three and a half months (20 March to 8 July 1983) were spent in the Nainital area, Uttar Pradesh, (29° 12’ N, 79° 29’ E) to learn the habitat, ecology and behaviour of laughing thrushes in their strong hold, i.e. the Himalayas, where most species of the genus Garrulax occur, hi the Himalayas, four species of laughing thrushes were studied, namely the Streaked Laughing thrush G. lineatus , Whitethroated Laughing 'Fhrush G. albogularis, Whitecrested Laughing Thrush G. leucolophus and the Striated Laughing Thrush G. striatus. Observations and Discussion Besides India, laughing thrushes occur in China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Kampuchea, Malaysia and Sri Lanka (Map 1 ). The genus Garrulax comprises 46 species (Zuoxin 1982), of which 28 occur in the Indian subcontinent, mainly in the Himalayas. Of these 28 species, two are endemic: G. cachin- nans to the Nilgiris and G.jerdoni tothePalnis Accepted October 1987. institute of Life Sciences, Jahangimagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. and Kerala hills. The only other laughing thrush occurring in different south Indian hills is the Wynaad laughing thrush, which is a subspecies of the east Himalayan G. delesserti (Ali 1977). Only one species, G. cinereifrons , occurs in Sri Lanka as endemic, but it is closely related to G. delesserti (Ali and Ripley 1972). The significant occurrence in a few hills of southern India of certain plant and animal forms either identical to or possessing close affinities with east Himalayan, Indochinese and Indo- Malayan forms, has been commented on by ear- lier biologists. Several theories have been put forward to explain this wide-ranging discon- tinuous distribution of life forms. Some of these are: (1) Himalayan glaciation theory, (2) Southern route across the Indian ocean theory, (3) Deccan trap theory, (4) Continuous range theory, and (5) Satpura hypothesis. The Satpura hypothesis was first postulated by Hora (1937a, 1937b) to account for the presence and distribution of torrential -river fishes of Malayan affinity in the Indian peninsular region, south of the Satpura- Vindhya-Assam Hills trend, in contrast to their supposed absence in the west Himalayan region. For more than 15 years his numerous scientific contributions (Hora 1938, 1949a, 1949b, 1950, 1951, 1952a, 1952b, 1953, 1955; Hora and Mathur 1952, Hora and Menon 1952, 1953) developed the original concepts. He synthesized geological, palaeobiogeographical, palaeontological, palaeobotanical, palaeoclimatological and meteorological evidence for a comprehensive theory governing SATPURA HYPOTHESIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF GARRULAX 319 60 70 80 90 100 110 30 20 10 Map 1. Distribution of genus Garrulax (shaded portion only, modified after Ali 1953). tertiary palaeobiogeography, faunal and floral migration and distribution. Hora’s (1937a) first statement on the hypothesis is paraphrased by Sahni (1982) as follows: The rising Himalayas in the region of western Assam and eastern Nepal disrupted the eastward flow of the Indo-Brahm river in the late Miocene which then acted as a barrier to a new stock of hillstream fishes migrating from the east towards India. Unable to cross the barrier, the fishes were deflected southwestwards along the Satpura — Vindhya trend which stretched across India as a pronounced range from Gujarat to the Assam Himalaya. The route followed by the fish immigrants was westward along the Satpura- Vindhya ranges, and thence southwards along the Western Ghats towards the southern extremity of the subcontinent (Fig. 1). Ali (1949, 1977) supports Hora’s Satpura Hypothesis and cites examples in the various groups of animals - mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Ali mentions that many avian genera and species of the eastern Himalayas show a dis- continuous distribution similar to that of the laughing thrush genus Garrulax , such as Fairy Bluebird Irena puella , Great Pied Hornbill Buceros bicornis , the two bazas or lizard hawks Aviceda jerdoni and A. leuphotes and the Rufous- bellied Hawk-Eagle Hieraaetus kienerii. The most striking example among the avifauna is provided by the laughing thrushes of the genus Garrulax. Ali explains the origin of these relics, on the assumption that in the geological past there was a direct elevated land connection between the Himalayas and the southern hills, providing the requisite physiographical conditions for a con- 320 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig.l Sketch map of India illustrating Satpura Hypothesis of Hora. Arrows indicate the supposed migration routes of torrential river fishes (Source: Sahni 1982, modified after Hora 1953). tinuity in their distribution. Through the action of geotectonic forces-subsidence and erosion-the connecting land ‘bridge’ disappeared. The more stable sections were cut off from the Himalayas as ‘islands’ thus marooning the local populations of plants and animals on them, including weak- flying sedentary birds like the laughing thrushes, in a sort of natural refugium. However, Dey (1949) asserts that it is impos- sible, on available evidence, to accept the idea of a belt of hills across the Bengal (Rajmahal) gap, Chota Nagpur etc. within the time — range of living animal species. Auden (1949) is also not in favour of the probability of the existence of the continuous Satpura ranges. If, as suggested by Dey (1949) and Auden (1949), there was no continuous elevated land connection between the Himalayas and the south Indian hills, then the laughing thrushes could not have migrated southward over the Satpura- Vindhya mountains. On the other hand it would Map 2. Locations of the hilly areas of the Western Ghats (Source: Khan 1977). seem more likely for them to have spread over the continuous western Himalayas. Moreover, the Satpura Hypothesis is unable to account for the following three facts regarding the present distribution and ecology of the southern laughing thrushes. 1. G. cachinnans is restricted to the Nilgiris, whereas G. jerdoni is found in the Brahmagiris, north of the Nilgiris, and Palnis, High Wavy and Ashambu hills, i.e. south of the Nilgiris. It is very unlikely that G. jerdoni , which is found in the Brahmagiris, completely by passed the Nilgiris on its passage towards the Ashambu hills (Map 2). If these birds had migrated through the Satpura- Vindhya mountain trend, the two endemic laugh- ing thrushes G. cachinnans and G. jerdoni would have appeared together, at least in certain hills in the Western Ghats, particularly in the Nilgiris. An in-depth study of the south Indian endemic laughing thrashes G. cachinnans and G. jerdoni has shown that both species have almost identical ecological requirements. Then the question arises as to what factors prevented these two endemic SATPURA HYPOTHESIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF GARRULAX 321 species from coexisting in any of the Western Ghats hills in their range. Gause (1934) states that two species cannot coexist unless they are oc- cupying two different niches. Let us assume that due to identical niche preference these two species could not coexist. However, Perrins and Birkhead (1983) remark that closely related bird species often differ in one or more niche dimensions within a community. According to them the following might happen if two species with identical niches arrived in the same place: (1) They might coexist without deleterious effects. This is a possibility only if the resource is temporarily unlimited. (2) One or other species may be more efficient at harvesting a limited resource. In this case, either the less efficient species will become extinct, or it will change its niche. In cases where coexistence oc- curs it is unlikely that one species would change its niche completely and that the other would not change at all. It is more likely that each will be slightly more efficient than the other in different parts of the niche. If so, what would happen is that both species would alter their niches accordingly. Mac Arthur (1972) points out that it is easier for two similar species to coexist than for three or more. This is because in the former situation each species has the chance of shifting its niche away from that of the other. With three or more species, this may not be possible for the species occupying the middle part of the resource. Furthermore, either each species maintains its niche and there is a considerable overlap between adjacent species, or each species narrows its niche. Hence, if the southern laughing thrushes had migrated through the Satpura-Vindhya trend, the coexis- tence of these two species would have appeared in some of the south Indian hills they inhabit. In the Himalayas several species of laughing thrushes do coexist. 2. The south Indian laughing thrushes are believed to be relict populations of Himalayan forms. Previous workers found the Himalayan species of the genus Garrulax to be chiefly group — living or gregarious birds. However, the present study reveals that the two endemic south Indian laughing thrushes are chiefly pair — living. If the south Indian populations are an offshoot of their group — living Himalayan congeners (author’s experience of the Himalayan species is confined to the breeding season when G. lineatus and G. striatus were found only in pairs), the territorial strategy would have shown a different picture of their survival. Gaston (1980) states that an individual of a pair — territorial species can switch to group — territoriality without loss of fit- ness in terms of its pre — existing reproductive and feeding behaviour, but an individual of a group — territorial species which adopts a pair — territorial strategy may suffer in adaptations to feeding, predator detection and nest — site selection which reduces its fitness in a pair — territoriality. How- ever, the nesting success of the southern endemic laughing thrushes appeared to be high which is an indication of how well they are adapted in their present distribution. 3. Furthermore, the complete absence of the Sri Lankan endemic laughing thrush, G. ciner eifrons in the Western Ghats is again puzzling as it too would have migrated along the Satpura — Vindhya mountain trend. Although Jacob (1949) states that Sri Lanka remained geographically a part of the Indian mainland until quite recent times and supported Hora’s Satpura Hypothesis, he ad- mits that he has no direct geological evidence in support of the hypothesis to explain the existing distribution of the flora and fauna. Moreover, concerning the land connections between India and Sri Lanka, the common belief is that the last separation is as recent as c. 10,000 years ago, but the real disappearance of the Gulf of Mannar would, according to Blasco (1970), date from the commencement of the Pleistocene; and there is apparently nothing to prove that there was in its place a high mountain. These unexplained facts do not fully credit Hora’s concept (supported by Ali) of a physical corridor which enabled the southward migration of the laughing thrushes. Acknowledgements I am thankful to my professor the late Dr Salim 322 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Ali for his guidance and keen interest at all stages of this work. I thank Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator, Bombay Natural History Society; Dr Ali Reza Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka; Dr Robert B. Grubh and Mr S.A. Hussain of the Bombay Refer Ali, S. (1949): The Satpura Trend as omithogeographical highway. Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India 75:379-386. (1953): Birds of Kerala. Oxford Univ. Press, Bombay. (1977): The Nilgiri complex as a refugium for Himalayan fauna and flora. Nilgiri Wildl. Assoc, centenary publ. pp. 1-4. & Ripley, S.D. (1972): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 7. Oxford Univ. Press, Bombay. Auden, J.B. (1949): A geographical discussion on the Satpura Hypothesis and Garo-Rajmahal Gap. Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India 75:315-338. Blasco, F. (1970): Aspects of the flora and ecology of savannas of the south Indian hills. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 67: 522-534. Dey, A.K. (1949): The age of the Bengal gap. Symp. on Satpura Hypothesis of the distribution of Malayan fauna and flora to peninsular India. Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India 75:409-410. Gaston, A.J. (1980): Pair territories and group territories. Symp. on altruism in birds. Deutsche Ornithologen — gesellschaft, Berlin. Gause, G.F. (1934): The struggle forexistence. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore. Hora, S.L. (1937a): Geographical distribution of Indian freshwater fishes and its bearing on the probable land connections between India and the adjacent countries. Curr. Sci. 5:351-356. (1937b): Distribution of Himalayan fishes and its bearing on certain paleogeographical problems. Rec. Indian Mus. 39: 251-259. (1938): On some fossil fish scales from the Intertrappean Beds at Deothan and Kheri, Central provinces. Rec. Geol. Surv. India 73:261-294. — (1949a): Satpura Hypothesis of the dis- tribution of the Malayan fauna and flora to peninsular India. Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India 75:361-364. (1949b): Climates as affecting the Satpura Hypothesis, ibid. 75:361-364. (1950): Hora’s Satpura Hypothesis-an aspect of Indian biogeography. Curr. Sci. 79:364-370. Natural History Society, who gave valuable advice during the course of this study. The study was supported by a fellowship grant from Salim Ali — Loke Wan Tho Ornithologi- cal Research Fund of the Bombay Natural His- tory Society. N C E S (1951): Some observations on the paleogeography of the Garo — Rajmahal Gap as evidenced by the distribution of Malayan fauna and flora to peninsular India. Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India, 16(6): 437-444. (1952a): An ichthyologist looks at Indian paleogeography. ibid. 77: 1-13. (1952b): Recent advances in the fish geog- raphy of India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 57. (1): 170-188. (1953): The Satpura Hypothesis. Science Progress, London 41 (162 ):245-255. (1955): The status of the Satpura Hypothesis. Bull. natn. Inst. Sci. India 7: 264-268. & Mathur, B.B.L. (1952): On certain paleogeographical features of Rajasthan as evidenced by the distribution of fishes, ibid. 7:32-36. & Menon, A.G.K. (1952): Distribution of In- dian fishes of the past and their bearing on the geography of India. 1. The extinct Dipnoan and ganoid fishes of India. Everyday Science, Ambala 1(1):26-31. (1953): Distribution of Indian fishes of the past and their bearing on the geography of India 1 1 . The extinct fresh water fishes of India, ibid. 7(2):105-113. Jacob, K. (1949): Land connections between Ceylon and peninsular India. Proc. natn. Inst. Sci. India 75:341-343. Khan, M.A.R. (1977): Ecology and behaviour of the black-and -orange flycatcher Muscicapa nigrorufa (Jerdon). Ph.D. thesis (unpubl.). University of Bombay. Macarthur, R.H. (1972): Geographical ecology. Harper and Row Publ. Inc., New York. Perrins, C.M. & Birkhead, T.R. (1983): Avian Ecology. Blackie and Son Ltd. Glasgow and London. Sahni, A. (1982): The current status of Hora’s Satpura Hypothesis. In: K.S. Valdiya, S.B. Bhatia and V.K. Gaur (eds.). Geology of Vindhyanchal. Hindustan Publ. Corp., Delhi. ZuoxiN, Z. (1982): On the evolution of Garrulax (Timaliinae), with comparative studies of the species found at the centre and those in the periphery of the distributional range of the genus. Acta Zool. Sinica 28(3): 205-210. ADVANTAGES OF COMMENSALISM IN ULOBORUS FEROKUS BRADOO (ARANEAE: ULOBORIDAE)1 B.L. BRADOO2 (With three plates containing six figures) The paper gives an account of commensalism among spiders, and its advantage to a non-poisonous spider Uloborus ferokus Bradoo (Araneae: Uloboridae), which lives as a gregarious commensal on the web sheets of the social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch (Family Eresidae). Introduction The commensalistic association among spiders has received very little attention. The information available in the literature is based on some general observations, giving records of the association of one species with another. The actual biotic relationship involved between the two species has not been thoroughly investigated. The detailed study on the life-history and biology of commen- sal spiders forms an interesting and valuable field of arachnid ecology. The various aspects of the biology of Uloborus ferokus , a gregarious commensal that lives on the web sheets of the social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum have previously been described (Bradoo 1972a, 1979, 1985; Patel & Bradoo 1981). Studies on the ecology and behaviour of its host has also been reported earlier (Bradoo 1972b, 1975a, 1975b, 1980). This paper gives an account of the various benefits and advantages that U. ferokus derives from commensalistic association with the social spiders. Methods of Study The observations recorded here are based on extensive field studies and laboratory observa- tions on these spiders. Nests of S. sarasinorum bearing these commensals were collected from Accepted November 1985. Department of Zoology, D.A.V. College, Sector — 10, Chandigarh, India. the field and installed near the laboratory, for experimentation and observations. For detailed techniques, previous publications by the author should be consulted. Commensalism among Spiders Details and reviews on commensalism among spiders are not available, except for a brief note by Kaston (1965). Because of the insufficient observations, some species of spiders have often been recorded as parasites in a host web, and as commensals in the webs of some other spiders. Kullmann (1959) cites several authors like Com- stock, Kukenthal and Vinson, who reported com- mensalism among a few spiders. However, true commensalistic association among spiders is rare, and so far known from only three different families, namely Oonopidae, Theridiidae and Uloboridae. Under the family Oonopidae, Bristowe (1958) records that Oonops pulcher lives among the retreat fibres of the large spiders like Amaurobius ferox and Tegenaria atrica , and feeds on the remains of its host’s meals. Under the family Theridiidae, Simon (1894) reported Theridion nodiferwn in commensalistic association with the tropical psechrids. The best known account of commensalism has been given by Exline (1945) for the conopisthine spiders that live on the webs of other spiders. She found 23 individuals of three different species of Argyrodes in the webs of different species of Gastracantha. Yaginuma (1956) reported Rhompheae sagana and R. fictilium, in commensalistic association 324 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 with the webs of Linyphia, Araneaus and F on- line lla, in Japan. Lamore (1957) found Conopis- tha trigona as a commensal of Allepeira lemniscata, in Maryland, U.S.A. Legendre ( 1 960) reports that one or many com- mensals may be found on the same host web, and he found upto 50 individuals of Conopistha zonatus in a single host web. Tembe and Thakur (1960) found specimens of Argyrodes nephilae in similar association with Nephila maculata , from India. This commensal feeds on very minute in- sects that do not attract the attention of the host spider. Bradoo (1983) recorded A. progiles in association with Stegodyphus sarasinorum, from Kerala. Exline and Levi (1962) reported that some, perhaps all, the species of the genus Argyrodes live as commensals in the webs of larger spiders like Nephila , Gastracantha , Argiope , Latrodec- tus , Agelenopsis and Allepiera. Often, many in- dividuals of different species of Argyrodes live on a single host web and feed on small insects that get ensnared in the host web. Hence, these small commensals may not construct any web of their own, or may sometimes construct a typical theridiid web consisting of only a few silk lines, close to or on the host web itself. These commen- sals hang in the host web upside down, with the first pair of legs folded beneath the body. They are usually inconspicuous, being smaller than the host and resemble some seeds, bits of bark or some plant matter attached to the host web. It is believed that conopisthine spiders may live in any con- venient web as commensals. The commensalistic association and nature of Conopistha has been questioned by Wiehle (1928), Thomas (1953) and Kullmann ( 1 959) who consider that Conopistha is an obligate parasite, because it feeds on the prey that could be used by the host spiders also. Kullmann (1959) further points out that C. argyrodes steals wrapped prey held in reserve in the web by the host spiders like Zygiella x-notata and Cyrtophora citricola. Kullmann (1960a, b) found that Theridion tepidariorum lives as a parasite m the web of Cyrtophora citricola. The observations of Dar- chen (1965) are interesting in that he found that Cyrtophora species in Gabon steal captured in- sects from other orbs of larger spiders. Vollroth (1979) describes the behaviour of the klep- toparasitic spider Argyrodes elevatus from Panama. Kaston (1965) is of the opinion that the varia- tion in the behaviour of conopisthine spiders is possibly due to their non-host specificity, and hence their behaviour seems to be so plastic and variable that in one host, they behave as a com- mensal, and in another they lead the life of a parasite. These observations may, however, help in understanding the origin of aggregations, com- mensalism, kleptoparasitism and true parasitism among spiders that are basically aggressive and cannibalistic. Under the family Uloboridae, Simon (1892) reported Uloborus servulus, in commensalistic association with a Cyrtophora sp. in Venezuela. Gravely (1915, 1921) found a Uloborus species (unidentified) in commensalistic association with the social spiders, at Cochin, and recorded other unnamed species of these spiders from the webs of Cyrtophora cicatrosa , Gastracantha bre\?espina and Nilus sp., from Barkuda Island, and from the webs of C. citricola , from Burma. Struhsaker (1969) reported U. mundior in as- sociation with the larger spiders like Nephila clavipes , in Panama. Opell (1979) reported colonies of Philoponella tingena in the webs of Achaearaneae, Scytodes and Nephila , in Panama and Colombia. Bradoo (1979) reported U. ferokus , a gregarious commensal that lives on the web sheets of Stegodyphus sarasinorum , in Kerala. This association serves many benefits and advantages to the commensal, but not at the ex- pense of the host spiders. The host spiders are not at all harmed or affected in any way by the com- mensals, which are of very small size. Advantages of Commensalism 1. Support and protection: Uloborus ferokus is a gregarious, non — poisonous, orb making spider. Its orb webs are supported by the host web sheets or are made between the host nest and the adjacent Plate 1 J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Bradoo: Commensalism in U. Jerokus iliiSS BH ua H S' DHi Above : An orb web of Uloborus ferokus, supported b> he host silk threads (HS) Below : Orbs of the commensal as seen in the damaged reas of the host web. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Bradoo: Commensalism in U. ferokus Plate 2 Above : The U. ferokus female with her cocoon. Below : The nest and the damaged web sheet with a host spider. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc, 86 Bradoo: Commensalism iri U. ferokus Plate 3 Left : Close-up of freshly made host web sheets showing sticky, zig-zag cribellar threads. Right : A typical host nest with reduced web sheets during the breeding season of the host spiders. The nest shows inter- connected tunnels inside. COMMENSALISM IN ULOBORUS FEROKUS 325 web sheets (Plate 1). Usually, the commensals make their orbs among the damaged web sheets of the host (Plate 1). Even the newly hatched .spiderlings of this commensal prefer to spin their primary and tiny orbs in the vicinity of the host nest, or they may stay close to the host nest without spinning any orbs. The host nest and the web sheets thus not only support a large number of these commensals (maximum up to 54 in- dividuals were observed in a single, large host web), but also protect these commensals against unfavourable weather conditions such as rain, strong wind and sunlight. 2. Nourishment: Due to the weak and fragile structure of their orbs, and secondly as a result of active struggle of some prey, the tiny orbs of these commensals get badly damaged. Although the orbs are made daily in the morning, the damaged orbs are not repaired, so that the commensals are forced to live on the host web itself to obtain the necessary nourishment from it. The host web not only supplies nourishment, but also provides a resting place and shelter for the webless commen- sals. The gravid females and mature males of U. ferokus do not spin any orb webs of their own but prefer to stay close to the host nest, or on the web sheets. During maternal care, which may last up to ten days, the mother stays with her cocoon (Plate 2) and normally does not spin her orb web, par- ticularly during the dry season. During this period she gets her nourishment exclusively from the host web. U. ferokus commensals have a double ad- vantage of getting their nourishment from two sources: (a) from the host web, and (b) from their own orbs when present. However, the host web is the chief source of nourishment available in the form of minute insects. These include microhymenoptera, microdiptera, minute beetles, Staphylinids and other insects like thrips, aphids and a variety of small winged insects, that are available throughout the day and night. Such minute insects are insignificant for the nutritional requirements of the host spiders that feed on larger insects only (Bradoo 1980). 3. Activity: That the host web serves to supply the necessary food at any time of the day and night, keeps the commensals active all the time, unlike other spiders, that may be either nocturnal or diurnal in activity. 4. Economy in spinning activity: A continuous supply of prey items from the host web does not make it obligatory for the commensal to repeat another orb on the same day, nor does it need to repair its badly damaged orb, unlike other orb — spinners that depend exclusively on their orb, which needs care and regular repairs. The ex- perimental individuals of U. ferokus that were prevented from making any orb continued to live on the host web till maturity. Thus the orb in this spider seems to be a useful device to perceive the vibrations coming from the host web. It serves as a resting place from which it can monitor very effectively the web vibrations that come from the nearest area of the host web. The orbs of U. ferokus do not withstand the struggles of various active prey items, particularly the Staphylinids, that manage to escape even before the commensal is able to restrain and wrap them (Bradoo 1 986). The escape potential of these prey from the orb is further facilitated by the fact that these commensals, being non-poisonous, do not bite their prey to death, either before or after the prey-wrapping is over. Therefore, it takes much more time for the commensal to subdue and restrain an active prey in the orb than in the host web. On the other hand, the host web is highly sticky, elastic, and an efficient trap for all types of insect prey, small or very large in size. Thus minute prey get no chance to escape from the host web. This nourishment is easily available and procured by the commensals that have to exert themselves very little in the host web. 5. Growth and life history duration: A con- tinuous and abundant supply of food from the host web accelerates the growth and the life histor> of these commensals. Unlike most other orb — weavers, that have an annual or a biennial life history, the U. ferokus commensal completes its life history in 54 to 79 days. This comparatively 4 326 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HINT. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 short duration is accountable in terms of the benefits it derives from its association with the social spiders. Not only is the life history short, but there are five to six generations each year, and these generations overlap. The breeding throughout the year is a unique feature of its biology. Hence, all the stages from egg (cocoons) to adult spiders are available on the host web all the year. However, the number of commensals is directly related to the life history of the host spiders and the size of their web-sheets. 6. Reproductive success: The commensalistic association also serves to keep mature males and females together on the host web. Hence, it is easier for males to locate mature females for mating. The number of males is understandably lower than the females, which is compensated by their habit of staying on the host web, and second- ly by the fact that males of this species practise polygamy and get their mates easily during their exploratory behaviour on the host web. Hence, every female individual is positively impreg- nated, and this helps to increase their reproductive success. 7. Increased fecundity: The reproductive suc- cess is also enhanced markedly by the increased fecundity as a result of availability of more prey from the host web. Each U. ferokus female makes a total of up to four cocoons in the wet season, at an interval of 5 to 17 days. Prey is more abundant during the wet season. But in the dry season, just one cocoon is made by each female on account of the shortage of prey (Patel & Bradoo 1981). 8. Regulation of populations: The commensals adjust their breeding activity with the life history of the host spiders, that reproduce only once, in summer. The number of host spiders is then low, and a corresponding decrease is observed in the commensals. The web sheets are very much reduced and damaged (Plate 2). But with the approach of the wet season, the host population and the web sheets increase in size so that the commensals also increase in number. The host web size serves to regulate the population of the commensals. 9. Dispersal: The dispersal of the commensal to new host nests is brought about by the host web (Plate 3) which joins several nests with each other. Newly hatched U. ferokus spiderlings show a geonegative behaviour. They move upwards over 1 the host web and reach new nests. This prevents overcrowding of the commensals in a single host nest. 10. Protection against egg-parasites: The host nest (Plate 3) and web sheets help to reduce the ovipositional activity of the egg — parasite Idris sp., so that the cocoons are made closer to the host nest, particularly during the dry season. This prevents parasitism of the eggs and increases their chances of survival. Most other free living uloborids prefer to suspend their cocoons in the orb web, exposing these to various predators and parasites. 11. Safety to weaker individuals: U. ferokus being gregarious, several individuals live on the same host web. These individuals are of different age groups. The commensalistic life is ad- vantageous to those individuals that make no orb of their own but manage to dislodge and replace a weaker individual from its own orb by web— re- placement. This behaviour is not uncommon in these commensals. Those individuals that are replaced, explore the host web and get shelter and nourishment from it. Hence, web replacement need not force a weaker individual to repeat the laborious job of spinning a fresh orb for itself; alternative accommodation on the host web can be used. It is possible that this behaviour might have given rise to gregarious commensalism in this species. 12. Host’s helping behaviour: Those cocoons of the commensal that remain unattended on the host web may be collected by the host spiders during their exploratory behaviour. Once they come across an unattended cocoon of the commensal, they transport it safely to their nest without damaging or diopping it to the ground, which is normally not done to other inanimate objects on the host web. This interesting behaviour on the part of the host unknowingly protects the eggs or the young ones present in the cocoon. This be- COMMENSALISM IN ULOBORUS FEROKUS 327 haviour can be explained by the fact that social spiders are in the habit of removing and cutting bundles of dry silk from their webs; these are rolled into a ball and incorporated into the nest structure. For leading a commensalistic life on the host web, these spiders are suitably adapted to move easily on the host web. They do not get entangled even when dropped on a freshly made smare. They seem to show some innate familiarity with the host web. They also help to keep the host web clean by eating minute prey that is not required by the host. Thus the commensals also act as ‘web — cleaners’ for the host spiders. Their feeding ac- tivity does not disturb the host spiders, as they cut the web around the ensnared prey in the host web. At the approach of any host spider, the commensal stops all its movements and if necessary, can run quickly to safety on the host web or via a dragline to its own orb. Hence, U. ferokus behaves and lives like a true commensal and its association is not at all harmful to the host, nor does it live at the expense of the host. To summarize, therefore, Uloborus ferokus lives in commensalistic association with the social Refer Bradoo, B.L. (1972a): Life history and bionomics of Idris sp. an egg parasite of Uloborus , a commensal on the web of Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch. Zool. Anz . Leipzig 188(112): 43-52. ( 1 972b): Some observations on the ecology of social spider S. sarasinorum Karsch (Family Eresidae) from India. Oriental Ins. 6(2): 193-204. (1975a): Notes on the sexual biology and morphology of the reproductive organs of S. sarasinorum. Ent. Mont hi. Mag. Lond. 77:239-247. (1975b): The cocoon spinning behaviour and fecundity of S. sarasinorum (Araneae: Eresidae). J. Bombay nat.Hist. Soc. 72 (2): 3 92-400. (1979): Uloborus ferokus sp. nov. (Araneae: Uloboridae) a commensal of S. sarasinorum , from India. Bull. Br. arachnol. Soc. 4(8):353-355. (1980): Feeding behaviour and recruitment display in the social spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch. Tijdsch. Ent. Nehterlands 123(4 ):89-104. (1983): A new record of commensalism spider Stegodyphus sarasinorum. The web sheets of the host spider provide protection, support and plenty of nourishment in the form of minute prey. This increases the fecundity, longevity and population of the commensals. The commensal breeds throughout the year and the duration of life history is short. There are several generations per year and the generations overlap. Males, gravid females and those that are replaced by stronger individuals live on the host web, which enhances the reproductive success of the commensal. The host nest and the web sheets not only support the orbs of these commensals and their cocoons, but also prevent the ovipositional activity of the egg — parasites. It also helps in the dispersal of the commensal. Acknowledgement I am indebted to Prof. Dr B.H. Patel, Sir P, P. Institute of Science, Bhavnagar University, Gujarat, for going through the manuscript and for some useful suggestions, and to Principal K.S. Arya, D.A.V. College, Chandigarh, for facilities and encouragement. E N c E s between Argyrodes progiles Tikader, and S. sarasinorum. Curr. Sci. 52(5):217-218. (1985): The primary orb web of Uloborus ferokus (Araneae: Uloboridae). ibid. 54(12) .594-596. (1986): Some observations on the fecundity of Uloborus ferokus Bradoo. Ind. Zool. 2 17(1/2):! 5-8%. (in press): Feeding behaviour of a non- poisonous spider Uloborus ferokus (Araneae: Uloboridae). Zool. Anz. Bristowe, W.S. (1958): The World of Spiders. Collins, London, 304 pp. Darchen, R. (1965): Ethologie d’une Araignee sociale, Agelena consociata Denis (Agelenidae). Biol. Gabon. 1(2):\ 17- 146. Exline, H. (1945): Spiders of the genus Conpistha , from North Western Peru and Equador. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 55:505- 528. & Levi, H.W. (1962): American spiders of the genus Argyrodes (Family Theridiidae). Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 127(2) .-75-204. 328 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Gravely, F.H. (1915): Notes on the habits of Indian insects, Myriapods and Arachnids. Rec. Ind. Mus. 11: 483-589. (1921): The spiders and scorpions of Barkuda Island, ibid. 77:399-421. Kaston, B.J. (1965): Some little known aspects of spider behaviour. Amer. Midi. Nat. 73 .336-356. KULLMANN, E. (1959): Beobactungen und betrachtungen zum Verhalten der Theridiidae Conopistha argyrodes. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 35: 275-292. (1960a): Ueber parasitares Verhalten der Spinne Theridion tepidariorum (Theridiidae). Verh. Deut. Zool. Ges.: 332-342. (1960b): Beobachtungen an T. tepidariorum alsa Mitbewohner von Cyrtophors netzen. Deut. Entom. Ztschr. 7:1 46-163. Lamore, D. (1957): The spider Conopistha trigona Hentz (Araneae: Theridiidae) as a commensal of Allepiera lemniscata Walck. (Argiopidae) in Maryland. Proc. Ent. Soc. Washing. 59: 79. Legendre, R. (1960): Quelques remarques sur la Com- portement des Argyrodes malgaches. Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. 12: 507-512. Opell, B.D. (1979): Revision of the genera and tropical American species of the spider family Uloboridae. Bull, Mus. Comp. Zool. Harv. Univ. 148:( 10)443-549. Patel, B.H. &Bradoo,B.L. (1981): The cocoon spinning behaviour and material care in Uloborus ferokus. Z/)ol. Anz. 207 .(7/2/78-87 . Simon, E. (1892): Voyage of M.E. Simon in Venezula. Arachnida. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 61:423-462. (1894): Histoire Naturelle des Araignees. Bd(H) Tome I. Rorret, Paris: 489-760. Struhsaker, T.T. (1969): Notes on the spiders Uloborus mundior and Nephila clavipes in Panama. Amer. Midi. Nat. 82(2): 611-613. Tembe, V.B. & Thakur, M.K. (1960): Nephila maculata, Zoological Memoir No. 5, Univ. of Bombay, India. 74 pp. Thomas, M. (1953): Vie et moeurs des araignees. Payot, Paris. 339 pp. Vollrath, F. (1979): Behaviour of kleptoparasitic spider Argyrodes elevatus (Theridiidae). Anim. Behav. 27.: 515-521. Wiehle, H. (1928): Biologie der Araneen insoesonders zur kenntnis des Radnetzbaues. Z. Morph. Okol. Tier 11. 1 15— 151. Yaginuma, T. (1956): In the World of Spiders. Asahi Photo Book, No. 29, Osaka, 64 pp. OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIOLOGY OF THE PRAYING MANTIS CREOBATER URBANA FABR. (ORTHOPTERA: MANTIDAE)1 R.J. Ranjit Daniels, Malati Hegde and C. Vinutha2 Observations on the biology of a species of Indian mantis, namely Creobater urbanaFabr. have been discussed in the text The egg laying interval was predictable. The data shows a gradual decrease in the number of young that hatched out irrespective of the size of the ootheca. The species does not appear to be parthenogenetic. The life-history of the young has also been discussed. A parasite on the ootheca of mantises was identified. Coexistence of ants with developing praying mantis embryo inside the ootheca was also noticed. Introduction Praying mantises are known for their subtle way of hunting and their total dependence on live animal food. This quality has attracted attention towards using them as insect predators. Creobater urbana , one of the more than 1800 species of mantises in the world, is a medium sized mantis found commonly in Bangalore. Individuals are seen on bushes and are often attracted by light. However, not much is known about its biology. In this paper we discuss observations made on its food preference, egg laying behaviour and life — history. Food: An adult C. urbana female was brought to the laboratory on 31 July 1983. It was main- tained in a transparent polythene cage and readily accepted most of the insects offered as food. Table 1 shows the variety of insects it either took or rejected. It lived for 4 months and died on 30 November 1983. During the first month it was fed every day with one or more of whatever kind of insects were available. Later, due to difficulty in getting insects, it was fed every alternate day. A few like the Danaus, the common Aristolochia butterflies and a species of wingless grasshopper, were caught, tasted and rejected. The butterflies are known to carry toxins in their bodies acquired from the plants on which their larvae feed. The grasshopper too was unacceptable. Accepted September 1985. Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science. Bangalore-560012. Mantises are normally ambush hunters. This was actually what we observed though at times, when very hungry, our mantis used to search and take the prey. This behaviour has been reported by Inoile and Matsura (1983) as ‘active searching’. Egg-laying: On the third day after it was brought to the laboratory, the female mantis produced an ootheca (egg). More oothecae were produced at predictable intervals (Table 2) and before it died 1 1 oothecae were produced. It preferred to lay on wood and would not lay on the smooth sides of its polythene cage. The interval between the second and third ootheca was increased by a day as no branch was provided. On providing a branch it immediately got on to it and laid. The normal pre-laying behaviour that we ob- served was non-acceptance of food for at least a day before the act. The mantis would be dull and inactive. This was a clear indication of laying. Often the branch was provided on seeing this behaviour. The mantis always took an upside down posture while laying, pushing the frothy white egg mass upwards. The white frothy mass dries into a creamy white hard ootheca. After the process was completed, the branches were taken out, the oothecae measured for length, labelled and maintained in separate cages. The mantis usually fed after laying. The laying interval (Table 2) was 7 days ini- tially. It then abruptly increased to 10 days and gradually from 10 to 15 days before the mantis died. The mean number of days 9.1± 1.9 was calculated excluding the last interval of 15 days. 330 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 (Details of the last ootheca have not been included in calculating means as by then the mantis was worn out and had become very dull and inactive.) The sudden change in the laying interval from 7 to 10 days can be related to the change in food availability. When fed every day, the interval was 7 days (except between the second and third) and when fed every alternate day it became 10 days. Mastura and Morooka (1983) also claim that with more food, the interval between ovipositions is shortened. The egg size they say was nevertheless fixed in the mantis Paratenodera angustipennis. This tendency has been observed in the mantis C. urbana too as the mean egg length was 31± 3.4 mm with a variation of only 10.9% compared to the 20.8% variation in the laying interval. Ageing may also have affected the interval, particularly between the last 2 or 3 eggs. All the eleven oothecae hatched. The mean time taken was 33.5± 2.5 days (CV 7.4%, Table 2). The number of young was 45. 3± 12.2 per ootheca with a variation of 26.9%. This variation is much higher compared to the variation in ootheca length (CV of 10.9%). The data shows a gradual decrease in the number of young that hatched out irrespective of the size of the ootheca. This is not easy to explain. Nevertheless there is a possibility of a reduction in the number of viable Table 1 LIST OF INSECTS FED TO THE MANTIS Creobater urbana Accepted Rejected Adults Diptera Wingless grasshopper Mantis ( Humbertiella sp.) Lymantrid moths (Lepidoptera) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Geometrid moths (Lepidoptera) (Lepidoptera: Danaidae) Polytela gloriosae Danaus sp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Lepidoptera:Papilionidae ARCTIIDAE (Lepidoptera) Tros aristolochia Hypsa ficus (Lepidoptera: Hypsidae) Polydorus hector (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) Achoea janata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) Katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigonidae) Asura conferata (Lepidoptera: Lyman tridae) Corcyra cephalonica (Lepiodoptera: Pyraustidae) Crickets (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) Eurema hecabe (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Catopsila sp. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) Nymphs Bracon hebetor Parellelia algira (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) Prenolepis longicornis Drosophila melanogaster Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) (Hymenoptera:Formicidae) BIOLOGY OF THE PRAYING MANTIS 331 sperms stored in the spermatheca with increasing age of the insect. Though parthenogenesis is known in praying mantises (Mani 1968) we believe that the female was inseminated before it was brought to the laboratory. It refused to mate in the laboratory and both the males introduced on different occasions were killed. The number of oothecae it produced before it came to the laboratory is also not known. A preadult nymph that moulted into an adult female in the laboratory did lay eggs but none hatched. This insect surely had not mated. This supports our view that the species is not parthenogenetic. Life history: Eggs hatched into brown, ant — like young. They were very active, always carrying the abdomen curled up. This persisted till they got their wings. The first batch that hatched out did not survive for more than two days. The other ten were able to survive and a few became adults. Most of the young were released due to difficulty in maintaining them. The ones that we maintained were observed carefully. They started feeding on the third day. They readily caught and ate the tiny hymenopteran parasite Bracon hebeior (Braconidae). Later Drosophila, and gradually, as they grew, moths of Corey ra cephalonica and lycaenid butterflies were accepted (Table 1). The first moult was observed 2 weeks after hatching and subsequent moults had intervals of 9 to 20 days. In about 77 days a few became adults after 6 moults. Adults are green with a yellow eye — spot on the wings. The change of colour from brown to green took place after the second or third moult. Mortality was generally high during various stages of development. Cannibalism was also observed. Adult longevity is not known. A few other species of mantises kept in the laboratory at the same time have yielded some interesting information. Two large oothecae were brought to the laboratory. These had been colonised by small colonies of ants belonging to the genus Crematogaster. The ants were fed and maintained. Ten days later about a hundred pray- ing mantises hatched out of one of the oothecae. The ants started attacking them and had to be separated. Many died at various stages of development; only one nymph became an adult. It moulted eight times and took 108 days. The Table 2 EGG-LAYING, OOTHECA SIZE AND NUMBER OFNYMPHS HATCHED IN Creobater urbana SI. No. Date of laying Laying interval (days) Length of ootheca (mm) Date of hatching Time taken to hatch (days) No. of nymphs hatched 1. 3 Aug 83 _ 33 6 Sep 83 34 53 2. 10 Aug 83 7 30 12 Sep 83 33 54 3. 18 Aug 83 8 37 20 Sep 83 33 50 4. 25 Aug 83 7 29 28 Sep 83 34 53 5. 1 Sep 83 7 32 6 Oct 83 35 60 6. 11 Sep 83 10 31 14 Oct 83 33 42 7. 21 Sep 83 10 33 23 Oct 83 32 40 8. 1 Oct 83 10 27 30 Oct 83 29 43 9. 12 Oct 83 11 33 14 Nov 83 33 42 10. 24 Oct 83 12 25 2 Dec 83 39 16 11*. 8 Nov 83 15 14 20 Dec 83 42 10 Mean 9.1 31 33.5 45.3 SD 1.9 3.4 2.5 12.2 C V% 20.8 10.9 7.4 26.9 Has not been included in calculation of mean 332 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 adult was large and straw coloured. The identity of this species has not been determined. Out of the other oothecae more than twenty hymenopteran parasites of the genus Podagrion (Chalcidae) emerged, followed a few days later by praying mantis nymphs. A few were raised and one be- came an adult female after 7 moults (198 days). It lived for 2 months and then died. The mantis has been identified as Heirodula sp. H umber tiella sp., a bark — dwelling mantis. Eggs were laid, and took 32 days to hatch; about 60 nymphs emerged Refer Lefroy, H.M. (1909): Indian Insect Life. Thacker, Spink and Co., Calcutta. Mani, M.S. (1968): General Entomology. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., Calcutta. Matsura, T. & Morooka, K. (1983): Influences of Prey Density on Fecundity in a Mantid Paratenodera angustipennis from each ootheca. It has been reported that mantises moult 3-12 times before they become adults (Mani 1968). Our observations have shown a remarkable varia- tion in the time taken to become adults in the three species. The chalcid wasp is considered to be a common parasite on the ootheca (Mani 1968). The co — existence of Crematogaster ants with the developing mantises inside the oothecae has also been noted by Lefroy (1909). N C E S (S.) Oecologia 56(2-3): 306-312. Inoile, T. & Matsura, T. (1983): Foraging Strategy of a Mantid Paratenodera angustipennis (S.) Mechanism of switch- ing tactis between ambush and active search. Oecologia 56(2- J). •264-271. ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HIMALAYAN NEWT, TYLOTOTRITON VERRUCOSUS( ANDERSON) WITHREFERENCE TO CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT1 Tej Kumar Shrestha2 (with two plates ) The life — history of the Himalayan Newt Tylototriton verrucosus is described. Populations of the newt living in far eastern Nepal were used for life — history studies. Newts appeared in rock pool for courtship activities soon after the first rains during spring (February to March) and remained there throughout the rainy season (June to September). As the water level receded from rock pools during late October they abandoned the pools and migrated out to lead a terrestrial life. From November to January they underwent hibernation. For hibernation dead tree trunks, subterranean water and fissures in stream beds were used. It was observed that sustained rain triggered mating activity and ovulation. The mating calls of breeding newts were also noted, which were a low, distinct twak, twak. Courtship, mating and egg- laying activity was noticed in May, varying annually. In many respects, the reproductive mode of T. verrucosus is like that of Pleurodeles. Prescriptions for conservation and management of different life — history stages are given and development of newt sanctuaries is suggested. Introduction The Himalayan Newt Tylototrion verrrucosus (Anderson) occurs in the humid forests of eastern Nepal. Larvae and transformed individuals occur during September and January respectively in small rock pools. Transformed individuals are found tiding over the severe winter in small rock pools, creeks and wallows made by buffaloes. Favourite hiding places for the hibernating adult are underground water courses in rock rubble of creeks, fissures in streams, cracks in wet paddy fields, and dead tree trunks near rock pools. Anderson (1871) described the newt from western Yunnan. Annandale (1908) reported on their breeding habits. Smith ( 1 924) described tad- poles of the newt from Darjeeling. Chaudhari (1966) gave some information on their habits and behaviour. Gyi (1969) reported the Himalayan Newt from Burma and made interesting com- ments on its biology. Soman (1966) reported it from Nepal . Mansukhani, Julka and Sarkar (1976) reported the occurrence of newts from Arunachal Accepted January 1987 .^oyal Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (RONAST), New Baneshore, Kathmandu, Nepal. Pradesh and provided some interesting field notes about their habitat. Ferrier (1974) studied embryonic development of the Himalayan newt in the laboratory. Shrestha (1984) gave a detailed account of the distribution and habitat of the newt in Nepal. The ecological aspects of the life — his- tory of the Himalayan newt’s natural environment in Nepal has not yet been described in detail by earlier investigators. Therefore, an attempt is made in the present paper to describe the life-his- tory of the Himalayan Newt so as to throw more light on the conservation and management of this species in nature and in captivity. Study Site The first study site is located in Dhankuta (26° 59’ N, 87° 27’ E) in the Koshi Zone of western Nepal. The common natural vegetation at this elevation (1 160 m) is Quercus lamellosa, Q. semi- carpifolia, Q.lineata, Q. glauca, Lindera, Lithocarpus panchyphylla etc. In the highland pastures near Hilae village of Dhankuta there are varied species of Primula, Rhododendron, Machilus. Among exotic weeds Eupatorium glandulosum and Lantana camera are grown near pastureland rock pools. Generally, Pinus roux- burgii and P. wallichiana constitute the over- 334 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , Vol. 86 storey vegetation of the study area. The under- storey vegetation is composed of Daphene bholua, Arundinaria hookerina, A. falcata, Diplopterigium volubilis , and Nephrolepis cor- difolia. This area receives 604 mm precipitation per year and has a mild, wet winter and warm, wet summer. The maximum and minimum tempera- ture in winter (January) were 16.6°C and 7.7 °C respectively; and in summer (July), 29.6°C and 26.3°C. The second study site is Mai Pokhari which lies in Ham district of Mechi Zone (26°55’ N; 87°54’ E). The natural lake lies at the elevation of 1300 m and covers about 175 hectares. The margin of the lake is forested with varieties of plants as described above. The forest here is relatively un- disturbed by man. In the Mai Pokhari area mean annual precipitation is 1368 mm, most of which falls in June and July. Snow fields often persist in the upper hills in January. The maximum and minimum temperatures in winter (January) were 15.6°C and 9.6°C, and in summer (July) 26.8°C and 18.7°C. Material and Methods The Himalayan Newt is well distributed in various localities of eastern Nepal. It is found in abundance during May and June soon after sus- tained monsoon rain. It breeds in rock pools where aquatic vegetation grows in profusion. Breeding starts during early May and lasts for about two weeks. During the breeding season male and female newts come to deposit eggs in rock pools. 40 to 90 eggs are laid by the individual newt. Eggs are spherical and demersal. They are usually at- tached to pond weeds, particularly Polygonum. Samples of fertilized eggs were drawn from the pond bottom and transferred to an aquarium con- taining pond water and weeds. The morphological changes in the fertilized egg and embryo were sketched and for detailed study they were scanned under a stereoscopic microscope. For the detailed study batches of eggs were removed every hour and treated with 5% acetic acid. After treatment with acid, the egg membrane became quite clear and facilitated proper sketching. The early tadpoles were reared in pond water and fed with zooplankton and phytoplankton from natural ponds. The fully grown larvae were transported to Kathmandu and fed yolk of eggs. I examined 2000 eggs and 200 larvae from the study areas, at various stages of their develop- ment. Their morphological changes were noted in situ. Snout to vent length (SVL) was measured with dial callipers. All other measurements, in- cluding egg diameter, were made with a dissect- ing microscope fitted with an ocular micrometer. Early and transformed larvae were collected from the study areas. The larval newts were abun- dant in shallow pools. They were often found attached to vegetation. Maturity of the newt larvae was confirmed in the case of males by micro- scopic check for spermatozoa in seminal fluid from vasa differentia. All females were checked for the presence of gravid eggs. Sexual dimorphism: Tylototriton verrucosus does not show sexual dimorphism, but the female can be easily recognized during the breeding season by its highly distended belly. The male expels milt if the abdomen of the animal is pressed hard in the breeding period. Courtship: Himlayan Newts enter the rain pools with the first rains during early spring (March and April). They perform an elaborate courtship dis- play. No distinct courtship call except the low twak, twak, twak was noted. The male exhibits orange coloured underparts especially in the caudal region to attract the female. Many females congregate near the courting male. The male selects a willing female and clasps her from below, i.e. vent to vent. He holds her tightly with his forelegs for about one hour. Most pairings take place at night. As a result of the pressure of clasping, the anal opening of the female is projected. Soon after, ripe eggs ooze out gradually and remain attached to the vent of the female due to their sticky nature. At this time male release spermatophores or sperms and fertilizes every batches of freshly laid eggs. Some of the sper- matophores that are released by the male are suck- ed up by the female’s cloaca later and await internal fertilization. The pairing newts move LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HIMALAYAN NEWT 335 from one aquatic plant bed to another and thus allow the sticky eggs to attach themselves firmly onto leaf, stem or root. Some of the pairing females get exhausted by repeated clasping of males and die due to internal haemorrhage, while others suffer from ventilation in muddy water and die due to respiratory failure. Age at maturity: The male Tylototriton ver- rucosus attains maturity when it reaches 150 to 200 mm in length. The female reaches maturity when it reaches 120 to 180 mm length. The Himalayan Newt becomes sexually mature and reaches the above size at the age of two years. No evidence of neoteny was detected in 100 salamander larvae reared in captivity. In nature also no such evidence was found. Clutch size: More than fifty females from the various areas mentioned above were examined. The total number of oviducal eggs varied from 30 to 60. The average clutch size was 40. The in- traovarian egg measured 6-8 mm in diameter. Nearly all mature intraovarian eggs showed early developmental stages which provided indirect evidence that the spermatophores enter the cloaca of the female and fertilization takes place internal- iy- The egg: (Plate 2) The egg is transparent, round in shape and is enveloped by an outer layer of loose jelly and an inner layer of fluid. Eggs are laid in groups, and remain attached to the leaves of submerged plants, particularly Polygonum spp. Developing eggs are interspersed with soil par- ticles and bottom debris. The freshly laid large eggs measure 10 to 15 mm in diameter. The diameter of internal eggs ranges from 8 to 12 mm. The thickness of the egg envelope ranges from 2.0 to 2.5 mm. Cleavage: About eight hours after fertilization, a crecentric, narrow blastodisc appears over the yolk mass. The first cleavage occurs one hour after fertilization. The second cleavage follows after 18 hours. A few hours later a third cleavage starts. After 2 hours the egg reaches the 8-celled stage. The fourth cleavage occurs after 40 hours of fertilization, and as a result a 32-celled embryo is formed. The developing germinal disc is held in the centre and the whole mass appears loose, pale yellowish and finally gets transformed into an irregular mass. Differentiation of embryo: (Plate 2) The blas- toderm cells gradually spread over the yolk mass. The yolk plug stage is reached at about 48 hours. The yolk is now completely invaginated by blas- toderm cells in the next 72 hours and embryonic rudiments are formed as marginal, narrow and thick bands. The elongation of the embryo starts when it is 72 hours old. The blastosphere is formed, which measures about 1.2 x 1.5 mm. In 92 hours the cephalic and caudal regions become clearly discernible. At this stage the notochord is differentiated. Over the next 144 hours all com- ponents of cephalic caudal ends become differen- tiated and are easily distinguishable from one another. The three pairs of gills appear in this stage. The cephalic region becomes more prominent when embryo is eight days (192 hours) old. At this time the rudiments of the optic vesicle is formed. Now the embryo has 8 to 12 well differentiated my tomes. At about 200 hours a pair of balancers is formed. And after 264 hours gills appear and the heart is formed. Pulsation of the heart starts at this stage. In 316 hours rarification of branchiae starts and the pro-larva is fully formed. Vulnerable stage during embryonic period: Tylototriton verrucosus embryos hatch long before the yolk is used and feeding becomes necessary. The time of hatching was influenced considerably by the amount of mechanical distur- bance to the egg. It seems to make little difference to the embryo whether it is within or outside the egg membrane. The advantage of early hatching or hatching at pre -feeding stage may be that it allows dispersal from the nest site to escape desic- cation or predation. Mortality is high during the embryonic stage due to domestic pollution. Deter- gents and agricultural pesticides washed from rice fields by rain cause considerable mortality of developing eggs. Early larva: (Plate 2) An early larva of T. ver- rucosus measures about 6 mm to 10 mm in total length. The body of the larva appears to be 336 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 86 rounded owing to the large amount of the yolk contained in the belly. At this stage the larval newt closely resembles the sac-fry larva of a fish. The larva is now small, round and semi — transparent, with large eyes. The eyes are covered with a skin fold and eyeballs are quite distinct. There are three external gills on each side of the head, which are set in graduated series from above downwards. The mouth is relatively large and transverse and open externally. The anus is still imperforate. The abdomen is creamy white in colour but the dorsum and tail are brownish black and usually shot with melanophores. The larva shows interesting twist- ing movements inside the egg capsule. It soon breaks its transparent double layered envelope and becomes free to feed and grow. This usually happens during the last week of July or in the first week of August. Free swimming tadpole larva: (Plate 2) The early, free swimming larva of T. verrucosus has an elongated body with well developed external gills. It has pairs of ‘ ‘ balancers ’ ’ , which originate from a point behind the eye. The tail is lanceolate and gradually shows a crested appearance. The limbs are rudimentary. At this stage the larva shows a photonegative response. It measures 5 to 40 mm in total length. Free swimming larvae occur in great abundance from early August to the last week of September. Advanced tadpole larva: (Plate 2) The free swimming tadpole larva of T. verrucosus gets metamorphosed into advanced tadpole larva at the end of October. The advanced larva is charac- terised by well developed limbs. The limbs and digits are quite complete. The so called balancer of early stage disappears completely at this stage, although vestiges remain in the form of small tubercles at the point of their origin. At this stage, larvae show photonegative and geopositive response. The advanced tadpole larva is yellowish brown, with splashes of black and white on the side of the body and back. The abdomen is whitish. The head is longer than broad; eyes are almost entirely lateral. The tail is well developed with an obtusely pointed tip and upper and lower crest. On the back or dorsum of the larva there is a distinct dorsal crest which disappears at the neck region. Further, a prominent ridge appears at the side of the head as the larva matures further. The opercular folds and gill lamellae are still develop- ing. Finally, knob-like projections appear on the lateral sides of the body adjacent to the plicated skin fold, which develop into tubercular glands. The mouth becomes wide and vomerine teeth appear. Larvae feed actively on animal and vegetable matter found in rock pools. The newt larva at this stage measures 250 to 550 mm. The majority of larvae surface frequent- ly to gulp atmospheric air. Some of them are also seen breathing atmospheric air directly by extend- ing nostrils out of the water. Young newt at critical stage: (Plate 2) A fully metamorphosed juvenile newt shows some dis- tinctive changes. One such change is the absorp- tion of. the dorsal crest. The absorption points are indicated by scars. Another notable change is the total absorption of gills. Aquatic respiration is now replaced by lung respiration. In this tran- sitory or critical stage between aerial and aquatic respiration, mass mortality of larvae is noticed. The examination of dead larvae shows inflamma- tion in gills, gular pouch as well as in the lungs. The sequence of morphological changes occur- ring in juvenile newts is as follows: 1. Body colour of the larva changes from yel- lowish brown to pitch black. 2. Head becomes triangular and V shaped and ridges appear on its sides. 3. Opercular folds become fully absorbed. 4. Eyes become prominent and project out- wards. 5. Skin texture appears more granular, original slimy character is lost. 6. Gills shrivel off completely;their vestigesare indicated by scars. 7. Young newts become photonegative and geopositive. 8. Newts seek shelter in moist places and show a tendency to hibernate. Juvenile newts leave water after the absorption of gills, and start a terrestrial life. They seek wet J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Shreshtha: Himalayan Newt Plate 1 1. Himalayan newt eggs showing different stages of develop- ment. Note fertilized egg with large nucleus, early spindle shaped embryo and advanced fish like embryo. 2. Embryo as seen after removing the jelly like egg envelope. This is the 92 hrs embryo with distinct cephalic and caudal regions. 3. An embryo with well formed gill. At this stage the embryo rotates on its axis and makes jerky movements. 4. Larva of newt with fully developed gill. 5. Larv& of newt with stumpy gill. As the pond dries up the gills get slowly absorbed and shrivel off. 6. Newt larva with gills fully absorbed. The young newt scrambles over the edge of the pond and seeks shelter in moist crevices to tide over the icy winter. Plate 2 J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Shreshtha: Himalayan Newt Above : A typical rainwater rock pool in far eastern Nepal (Ilam) Below. Adult newts about to enter the breeding pool for depositing eggs and spermatophores. LIFE-HISTORY OF THE HIMALAYAN NEWT 337 and shady places for shelter. If such places are not available, they hide themselves among leaf litter and rock crevices. The growth of the juvenile newt is quite slow throughout the winter. They are not seen feeding actively during this period. At places where lakes and rock pools freeze in winter, young newt larvae with or without gills are seen swimming beneath the layer of ice. Various coloured paints were used to mark juvenile newts. The marking showed that young newts migrate from 0.5 to 1 km per day. High mortality is noticed at the time when newts abandon rock pools. This takes place generally during the dry period (December to March). The water to land migra- tion is an important phase in the life history. About 40% of juvenile newts die off in this stage. The larval period in the Himalayan Newt lasts about 10-14 months. Study of the water requirements of the juvenile newt in the land phase is necessary for the conservation and management of the species. Adult newt: When the juvenile newt metamor- phoses into the adult form, changes in head shape take place. The widest point of the head lies at the back of the eyes, where it appears slightly swol- len. Beyond this point the head converges to lateral extension of the gular pouch to a point, making a fairly pointed snout. The eyes are protruberant and their posterior angle is limited by a short vertical fold. Gradually, gular folds show greater development, which is marked by deep sinuous grooves running from posterior angle of eye to lateral extension of gular folds. The dorsal crest totally disapears in this stage. Lateral tubercles become more prominent, which vary from 14 to 1 6. The tail becomes long and flattened ventrally. The shape of the tongue also changes from spherical to oval and its margin becomes thin and smooth. The vomerine teeth also appear be- hind the nares and curve inwards towards the middle of the line. The parasphenoid teeth be- come slender and club-shaped. Discussion The general categories of the life histories are described in salamander species (Dunn 1923, Sal- the 1969). Mode I describes species with numerous small eggs which are deposited un- protected in lentic waters, e.g. Ambystoma, Trachia. Mode n characterises the species with fewer, larger eggs deposited in hidden nest sites in lotic waters and often guarded or attended by one of the parents, usually the female, e.g. Decamptodon . Mode III describes species with well hidden terrestrial nest sites (larval stage is compressed into embryonic stage) and almost invariably attended by the female parent, e.g. Plethodotines. Tylototriton verrucosus belongs to the Mode n category, although it appears that parental care is not a part of the life history. In this respect it closely resembles the Olympic Salamander Rhy cotriton olympicus (Nussbaum 1969). Ferrier (1974) described embryonic develop- ment of T. verrucosus in his laboratory. Accord- ing to him the newt completes its embryonic development in 1 10 hours after fertilization. The present investigator records the fact that embroynic development in the wild state takes longer (240 hours) than was previously believed. In the wild state temperatures fluctuate widely from 12° to 24°C; the newts hence take more time to develop. Little is known about mating in T. verrucosus. It appears that females frequently mate more than once in a breeding season. The examination of the ovary of breeding females show both developed and developing eggs. The fully developed eggs are fertilized and released in the first mating and developing eggs are used as a reservoir for a second or third mating. In this respect T. ver- rucosus resembles Ensatina eschscholtzi (Steb- bins 1954). I estimated that larval periods for newts living in eastern Nepal were 10 to 14 months. This period is comparatively shorter than for R. olym- picus (Nussbaum and Tait 1977; 24-^18 months) and Decamptodon ensatus (Nussbaum and Clothier 18 months). I detected a migratory ten- dency in juvenile newts whose gills were fully absorbed. Many of them were seen climbing over the edge of rock pools and breathing through the 338 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 lungs. Some young newts were seen in an inactive stage in the pool. A number of stream dwelling newts exhibit the phenomenon of sight tenacity as described by Nussbaum andTait (1977). No such sight tenacity was witnessed in rock pool adapted T. verrucosus. Conservation and Management Expanding human population and ensuing habitat destruction have contributed to the en- dangering of the newt in Nepal. All stages of the life history of Himalayan newts are especially vulnerable to pollution because most spend at least part of their lives in water. One widespread form of water pollution is the use of detergents and pesticides. The eggs and larvae of newts will die if acid levels are too high. Many newts breed in small rock pools that result from spring rains and melting snow. These pools tend to be espe- cially acidic because humic acid has been ac- Refer Anderson, J. (1 87 1 ): Description of a new genus of newts from western Yunan. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 7577:423-425. Annandale, N. (1908): Breeding habits of Tylototriton verrucosus. Rec. Indian. Museum 2 : 305-306. Chaudhari, S.K. (1966): Studies on Tylototriton ver- rucosus (Himalayan newt), found in Darjeeling. J . Beng. Nat. Hist. Soc. 35: 32-36. Dunn, E.R. (1923): The breeding habits of Salamanders and their bearing on phytogeny. Copeia 7923:25-28. Gyi, K.M. (1969): The occurrence of Tylototriton ver- rucosus Anderson (1987) (Urodela: Salmandridae) at Taunggi, Burm.t/mv. Burma J. Life. Sci. 2: 23-26. Ferrier, V. (1974): Chronologie du development do L amphibien Urode’le Tylototriton verrucosus Anderson (Salamandridae). Annals D. Embrologie et de morphogenese 7:4:407-416. Mansukhani, M.R., Julka, J.M. & Sarkar, A.K. (1976): On occurrence of Himalayan Newt Tylototriton verrucosus Anderson, from Arunachal Pradesh, India. Newsletter Zool. Sur- vey. India .2(6) :243-245 . cumulating over winter with each snow fall. Al- though insignificant when compared to habitat destruction and pollution, exploitation for folk medicine is another threat. The larvae of the newt also suffer from depredation by collectors, who use lift nets to capture large numbers to sell them to witch doctors. We can help ensure the survival of newts by demanding strong legislation in sup- port of anti-pollution regulations, habitat preser- vation, protection endangered species and more stringent control over the wildlife trade. Consider- ing all these factors, there is an urgent need to establish Himalayan newt sanctuary in highland Nepal before the species becomes extinct. Acknowledgements I am thankful to Dr B.S. Chauhan, Member, Planning Board, Bhopal, and Prof. D.K. Belsare, Head Bioscience, Bhopal University, for their suggestions and helps. E N C E S Nussbaum, R.A. (1969): A nest site of the Olympic salamander Rhyacotriton olympicus (Gaige). Herpetologica.25: 277-278. Nussbaum, R.A. & Tait, K.C. (1977): Aspects of the life history of the Olympic salamander, Rhyacotriton olympicus (Gaige). The American Midland Naturalist 98:(1) 176-199. Salthe, S.N. (1969): Reproductive modes and the num- ber and sizes of ova in the urodales. Am. Midi. Nat. 81 :461- 490. Shrestha, T.K. (1984): On the distribution and habitat of the Himalayan newt Tylotriton verrucosus Anderson in the east- ern Nepal. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 81: 485-487. Soman, P.W. (1966): An addition to Amphibia of Nepal and extension of the range of the Indian Newt Tylototriton verrucosus. Sci. Cult. ( Calcutta ) 32: 427-428. Smith, M. (1924): Tadpole of Tylototriton verrucosus. Anderson. Rec. Ind. Mus. 26: 309-310. Stebbins, R.C. (1954): Natural history of salamander of Plethodontid genus Enastina. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 54 : 465- 484. THE GREENBILLED OR CEYLON COUCAL CENTROPUS CHLORORHYNCHUS BLYTH — SRI LANKA’S RAREST ENDEMIC SPECIES1 Thilo Hoffmann2 Observations are made on a pair of Ceylon Coucals and a call hitherto not recorded is described. This endemic species is endangered. On 29 January 1988, Ben King of the American Museum of Natural History, together with James and Robert Clements, observed a Greenbilled Coucal Centropus chlororhynchus at Kitulgala, where the species is known to exist. At that time the coucals were calling very early in the morning between 0600 and 0630 hrs, and Ben King managed to record on tape a call which had hither- to not been described, and which consists of a series of double notes, hoo, hoo-hoo, hoo (‘oo’ short), two hoo' s in quick succession, then a pause, followed by another two hoo' s, which may be repeated twice or thrice, occasionally four times. The sound is rather gentle and by no means loud, though it carries far and can clearly be discerned amongst the much louder calls of the Brownheaded Barbel Megalaima zeylanica and Yellowfronted Barbel Megalaima flavifrons in a general babble of early morning bird song. When Ben King gave me a copy of the tape, I decided to try my luck and visited the area on 13 February 1988. With my wife and a friend I arrived at Kitulgala from Colombo shortly after 0500 hrs, and had to wait till 0600 before daylight broke, and another half hour before the ferryman from across the river bothered to come with his outrigger dugout to pick up the waiting passengers, of whom there were quite a few. Just before 0600 hrs, when it was still dark (the sky was overcast), I heard the Common Coucal C. sinensis from across the river and also what I thought was the same call Ben King had recorded, but only briefly and not again. In recent years birdwatchers have reported seeing Accepted April 1988. Vo Box 1 1 , Colombo, Sri Lanka. and hearing Greenbilled Coucals in several low- country wet zone locations (Labugama, Sin- haraja, Kitulgala) and most refer to the deep, booming call. I think Henry (1955, p.182) renders it fairly well as hooo-poop, hooo-poo-poo, the poop being lower pitched than the hooo, but those who have not actually heard it may be unable to mentally transfer the written letters into sound, interpreting the treble and double o’s in Henry’s description as long-drawn out booming sounds, whereas King’s taped call consists of a short double syllable which might be better trans- literated as hu , hu (‘hu’ as in book). Contrary to what Henry writes, the two syllables recorded by King are identical and at the same pitch. Accord- ing to Legge (1880) the call is a “long-drawn hoo-whoop, w hooop ”. Compare with the Com- mon Coucal: hooop, hooop, hooop, (Legge) and hoop oop oop oop oop (Henry). I fear that the call of the Common is often mistaken for that of the Greenbilled. When we reached the opposite bank it was already well past 0630 hrs, and we went towards the bottom of the valley through which runs from the south a tributary of the Kelani Ganga, just opposite the Kitulgala Restliouse. The area con- sists of densely covered village gardens with scat- tered houses and several paths, Coconut and Areca palms (Areca catechu ), Jak trees ( Artocar - pus Integra), Avari-nuga (Alstonia macrophylla ), Sapu C Michelia champaca), and other planted timber and fruit trees, groves of betel, yams, cof- fee, and an occasional tiny paddy field as well as ornamental shrubs and trees. Despite being in- habited, this small area is thickly covered with trees and vegetation. Due to the annual drought at the time of the visit, the ground was parched and with without herbage; many trees and shrubs were 340 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 shedding leaves. Near the last house on the path to the valley, we observed a Coucal fleetingly in a king coconut tree, from where it slunk down into some coffee bushes. We waited and played Ben King’s recording. Nothing happened, but after a while a Common Coucal hopped out of the coffee into the open under some coconut palms. It was absolutely silent, hopping and strutting along the open ground. It did not react in any way to the taped call of the Greenbilled Coucal. We moved further in the direction of the tributary, separated, waited and watched. I went down to the nearly dry riverbed with many boulders and nice natural vegetation on either bank. Suddenly a coucal flew from one bank to the other, and it was indeed the Green- billed, the bill being very clearly visible to the naked eye at a distance of 7 to 10 m. The massive bill of the bird is ivory coloured and very eye- catching. The bird flew into a Lager stroemia tree on the other bank which was heavily overgrown with the thorny creeper Hinguru-wel {Acacia sp.). It stayed there, partly hidden from view with the bill rarely visible; from time to time it moved stealthily from branch to branch in various direc- tions. After a while a second bird of the same species flew across the river into the same tree and both then moved about or sat in the thicket, no more than 10 m away from where we were in the riverbed. The flight is a flapping, gliding progres- sion. From then on we watched the two birds for a full 2 1/2 hours (and could have gone on, undoub- tedly). As we played the tape, the birds would cross and re -cross the river as if trying to pinpoint the exact location of the sound. As time went by they came closer and closer and sometimes sat in the branches right above us. The birds very noticeably reacted to the call recorded by Ben King. Whenever it was played they turned their heads as if listening, or began moving. The imme- diate reaction to the sound could very clearly be seen. Occasionally the birds would come out of cover and become fully exposed to view on the hanging stems of the H inguru- wel creeper or in an opening of the leaf canopy. We could observe at length every feather and every feature of the two birds. The most spectacular part is, of course, the bill, ivory coloured, as already mentioned, somewhat off-white, with a>barely perceptible tinge of green or greenish. We watched the birds with the naked eye and through excellent binoculars. The mas- sive looking bill is relatively larger than that of the Common Coucal. It is also more acutely down- curved and more pointed, even more than shown in Henry’s black and white sketch (p. 182). This might indicate that the Greenbilled Coucal is more specialized on particular sources of food (perhaps snails) than its common cousin. Throughout the 2 1/2 hours that we observed the birds, they never fed and not once came down to the ground or near the ground, always moving within trees and thick- ets, say 3 m or more above ground. The breast of the Greenbilled Coucal shows individual feathers or groups of feathers in a sculptured manner and the sheen on the breast and throat, especially the sides of the breast, is purplish. The chestnut of the wings is darker than in the Common Coucal. The description light green or pale apple green as generally applied to the colour of the bill in the literature is in my view quite misleading, and so is the name by which the bird is commonly known in Sri Lanka (Henry). Ali and Ripley call it the Ceylon Coucal, and so do Wait and Fleming, which seems more appropriate than Greenbilled. Legge called it the Ceylonese Coucal. One could well name it the Ivorybilled Coucal or the Palebilled. Birdwatchers who have never seen this coucal look for an apple green bill, and it has happened that the Common Coucal carrying a mantis or a grasshopper in its beak was mistaken for the endemic species. The illustration of the beak by John Henry Dick in Ali and Ripley’s pictorial guide (1983)is far too green, and its shape and size are not quite right either. The illustration in Legge is superb, though the bill is also rather too green. It is possible that in the hand (or in dead specimens) the greenish tinge is more noticeable than in the field. During the entire period of observation we never heard the hoo, hoo call of the tape, but after CEYLON COUCAL CENTROPUS CHLORORHYNCHUS 341 about an hour, when both birds were in the same tree right opposite us, one of them gave off a series of gentle, low, single-syllable hoo's which sounded like the call of the Ceylon Fish Owl Ketupa zeylonensis , soft but sonorous, best emu- lated with closed lips, with rather long spacings between each call. The bird dipped its head with each syllable, the sound being produced with the beak shut. Thereafter we heard this same gentle, mournful, mono-syllabic call a number of times on either side of the river. It would appear to be a communicating call between the pair. We did not hear any other notes like Henry’s chewkk (court- ing) or Legge’s loud dhjoonk (alarm). The range of this pair of Greenbilled Coucals seems pretty small and restricted, and it appears to overlap with the range of one or several Com- mon Coucals. Judging from the non-reaction of the Common Coucal to the taped call of the Greenbilled, the two species do not seem to inter- act in any way and may have their separate niches for food, roosting and nesting in a shared general habitat. Henry says that pairs of the Common Coucal, which appear to mate for life, are very jealous of any encroachment of their territory by other coucals, which does not appear to apply to the other species; no Common Coucal turned up during our observation. It would seem that the Greenbilled Coucal is less terrestrial than its com- mon cousin, as we did not see it on the ground, whereas the Common spends a lot of time on the ground. Interestingly there is no bamboo anywhere in this particular habitat, and Fleming’s speculation that bamboo is an indispensable critical element for the survival of this rare bird may not be tenable. Except for a narrow strip on either side of the river, the vegetation is mostly man-made or strongly man- influenced. It is not at all the climax-type, undisturbed rain forest presumed es- sential for the Greenbilled Coucal, but a mixture of typical wet zone village gardens with their high and low tree and bush cover (Coffee, Coconut, Areca), weeds, and patches of uncultivated land. There is forest not far away up the valley, rain forest which has been heavily logged some years ago and in which are present a number of typical wet zone forest birds, including many of the en- demics. This forest does contain some bamboo {Bata) as undergrowth, but the Greenbilled Cou- cal has not been noted so far in this natural (though logged) forest, where the Ceylon Magpie Cissa ornata nests, where the White-headed Starling Sturnus senex , the Redfaced Malkoha Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus and the en- demic babblers .are found. So far the Greenbilled Coucal has only been observed in the village area at the bottom of the valley, in close proximity to human habitations and much human goings on, with gardens and cultivations, though all well covered with trees and shrubs. Kitulgala, 100 km east of Colombo, lies in a deep, rather narrow valley at the foot of the central mountain massif near where the various streams which form the Kelani Ganga, one of the country’s major rivers, join together after their descent from the hills. The elevation is about 65 m above m.s.l. Just east of Kitulgala the mountains begin to rise steeply. The place is em- bedded in forest or plantation covered hills (rub- ber and tea). It lies in the area of the highest rainfall in Sri Lanka, around 5000 mm average per annum. The natural forest is tropical rain forest. There is a dry period in January/February each year, otherwise precipitation is heavy throughout, with high temperatures and high humidity. According to Henry the breeding season of the Greenbilled Coucal appears to be the first half of the year (Legge: Probably April or May to July). The domed nest, which is placed in thorny bushes (e.g. Hinguru-wel) 1 to 1 .5 m from the ground, has rarely been found. If the bird was calling (“singing”, according to Ben King) intensively at the end of January when Ben King heard and taped it, and is now silent 2 weeks later, it might be that the courting season is over and nesting might have started. We saw no evidence of nest- building or any activity connected with breeding, though the two birds obviously were a pair. Ben King saw only one bird. Greenbilled Coucals were heard callling on 27 December 1989 in the Morapitiya Forest Reserve (P.B. Karunaratne, 5 342 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 pers. comm.) and on 26 January 1989 at Sinharaja (Dr P. Samara weera, pers. comm.), both times in the early afternoon (CBCN). The Greenbilled Coucal is almost certainly the rarest of the Sri Lankan endemics, and thus one of the rarest birds in the world. Only a few people have recently seen it and then only fleetingly. Even in Legge* s time, over 100 years ago, this coucal was supposed to be very rare, probably because of its wary and secretive habits, but Legge found it in considerable numbers throughout a large tract of the wet zone low-country from about the Deduru Oya in the north right along the bottom of the hills to Galle, and the coffee districts of the Morawak Korale; he found it numerous in the Ratnapura District and up into the Peak Wilder- ness forests to about 800 m. He traced it mostly by its call and says that it is seldom seen and “almost defies all discovery”. In the meantime the country in which the coucal was common according to Legge has been developed to an almost unimaginable extent and is the most den- sely inhabited part of the Sri Lanka. Very few natural jungles remain in the form of forest reser- ves (including the Sinharaja MAB reserve), and the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary. Henry (1955) says about the Greenbilled Coucal: “Its range is rapidly dwindling and as it shows no sign of being able to adjust itself to new conditions, there can be no doubt that its days will soon be numbered- with those of several other endemic birds-unless wise foresight reserves extensive forest sanctuaries in the wet zone”. So far very little “wise foresight” has prevailed, with most forest reserves dwindling from year to year, the only exception being parts of Sinharaja. The question now arises as to what can be done to ensure the survival of this rare, attractive and probably highly specialized bird, which is unique to Sri Lanka and which today may be present in only a few hundred pairs in the locations from which it is known. An obvious place for the protection of its environment would be the Kitul- gala site just described. Apart from the nearby forest reserve, the actual habitat of the birds (and I hope and assume that there is more than one pair in the wider area) is private land. A few pairs may be secure in the small Labugama Reservoir area (drinking water for Colombo), access to which has, however, been denied to ornithologists for a number of years, ever since the National Water Supply and Drainage Board made it almost im- possible for genuine researchers and observers to go there; it is now out of bounds for security reasons. On the other hand this very Labugama area is vulnerable to incursions, illicit felling and poaching from nearby villages. Other areas where the Greenbilled Coucal has been occasionally ob- served in recent years are Sinharaja, notably the course of the Koskulana Ganga near Kudawe which forms part of the northern boundary of the reserve, and the Runakanda-Morapitiya Forest Reserve to the west of Sinharaja. Some of the forest reserves in the south, such as Kottawa and Kanneliya, should also harbour small populations of this coucal. In all these cases the habitat is disturbed rain forest. These are the only places that I know of where in recent decades the Green- billed Coucal has been seen or heard, and nowhere can it be plentiful. The best hope for the Greenbilled Coucal may be the lower edge of the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, as already suggested by Reining. I recently visited a section of this forest above Deraniyagala-Maliboda at an elevation of be- tween 450 and 800 m. There is thick bamboo undergrowth in nearly undisturbed forest; I heard a coucal at around noon, but am not sure which. The tape playing did not help, and a long-time resident told me that he had never heard the taped call. As Legge found the bird numerous in the Ratnapura District, it should still be found in the Gilimale forest, for instance, where conditions for its existence appear to be excellent, with good forest and fine undergrowth, including bamboo; the same can be said of the forests and village gardens around and above Alupola, Hapugas- tenne, Carney, and Eratne, along the southern boundary of the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, be- tween 450 and 650 m, which I visited recently without, however, finding a trace of the coucal. It is high time that the survival of all of Sri CEYLON COUCAL CENTROPUS CHLORORHYNCHUS 343 Lanka’s endemic birds should be purposefully planned and the necessary habitat reserves fully protected. For the last several years I have urged that the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary with some Refer Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D.(1969): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan, together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, Volume 3. Bombay. (1983): A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Ceylon Bird Club Notes (CBCN). Monthly. Colombo. Fleming, Robert L. Jr. (1977): Comments on the En- adjoining forest reserves should be upgraded into a National Park which would provide total habitat protection for all of Sri Lanka’s unique birds and most of its endemic plants and animals. N C E S demic Birds of Sri Lanka. Colombo. Henry, G.M. (1955): A Guide to the Birds of Ceylon. London. Hoffmann, T. W. (1984): National Red Data List of Endangered and Rare Birds of Sri Lanka. Colombo. Legge, W.V. (1880): A History of the Birds of Ceylon (3 Parts). London. FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE POISON APPARATUS AND HISTOLOGY OF THE VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS1 Ridling Margaret Waller2 and G J. Phanuel3 (With three plates and seven text-figures ) The morphology of the poison apparatus and the histology of the venom glands of three large Indian spiders, representing two major suborders, are described. Data pertaining to the morphometry of the poison apparatus of the three spiders are presented. Anatomically, the gland structure is fairly uniform consisting of two principal layers. However, differences were observed in the nature of the muscle layer and the venom secreting cells not only within the three species studied but also within the same species at different stages of their venom secretion. Introduction As spiders are obligate suctorial carnivores the study of the mouth parts, particularly the venom injecting apparatus, has been a subject of great interest to morphologists and physiologists, as reviewed by Bristowe (1954). As early as 1878, Lebert described the poison glands of spiders as salivary glands situated in the cephalothorax with a pair of ducts opening at the tip of the “mandibulae falciformes”. Berland (1922) made a comparative study of the anatomy of the poison glands of spiders and suggested that the glands might be concerned with digestion. Millot (1931) studied the poison glands of spiders from several points of view and explained their relation to the large ganglionic mass in the cephalothorax as having a certain taxonomic value. Since most research on venomous spiders has been conducted by scientists working in the Pacific area, in the present investigation an at- tempt has been made to study the poison ap- paratus, the nature of the venom-secreting cells and venom of some Indian spiders. Materials and Methods The specimens used in the present investiga- 1 Accepted November 1986. Zoology department, Women’s Christian College, Madras-600 006 Deceased since completion of this work. tion were collected periodically within the 363 acre scrub jungle of the Madras Christian College and also from fields and deserted houses in the neighbouring villages on the outskirts of Madras. Plesiophirctus collinus Pocock 1899, the com- mon ftmnel-web spider is a mygalomorph and Heteropoda venator ia Linn. 1766, the common house spider, and Lycosa indagastrix Walck 1837, the wolf-spider, are araneomorphs chosen for the present study. Morphometric studies were carried out by measuring the different parts of the poison ap- paratus using a fine pointed divider and an ocular micrometer. The statistical methods employed in the study include correlation coefficient (r), Regression (y = a + hxy variation of Y (sd2), Y regression, F. variance and F. regression. For histological studies, live spiders were al- lowed to bite a cockroach until the chelicerae were completely inserted into the victim. The glands from such spiders and from those that were not fed were removed and fixed in 10% buffered formalin, sectioned at 5 to 8 m thickness and stained in Hematoxylin and Eosin for observa- tions under the light microscope, to document the nature of the secretory products and the mode of secretion of venom. Results and Discussion Venom apparatus: The venom apparatus of spiders consists of a pair of chelicerae and a pair of venom glands. However, the position of the venom glands differs between the araeneomorphs VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS 345 or ‘True spiders’ and mygalomorphs or ‘Tarantulas’ as they are popularly known. Bertkau (1891) noticed differences in the size and site of the glands in several species of spiders, and described the compound gland of Atypus , the mul- tilobular glands of Filistata and the bilobular glands of Scytodes. The position of the venom glands of the spiders studied are given in Fig. 1. In P. collinus the venom glands are situated dor- sally in the basal article of the chelicerae, between the adductor and abductor muscles. The glands are carrot-like in form (Plate lc) with the broader end towards the base of the fang and the narrower posterior end inserted by an elastic fiber to the posterior border of the basal segment. This muscle fibre holds the gland firmly in its position. The glands are white in colour, measuring about 3.5 mm to 4.0 mm in length, and about 0.8 to 1 .0 mm in width, depending on the secretory state of the gland. In the true spiders Heteropoda venatoria and Lycosa indagastrix, the venom glands are situated in the cephalothorax with the adductor and abductor muscles holding them in position. The glands are sac-like or cylindrical and consist of two lobes (Plate la & b). Their length varies from 4.5 to 6.0 mm in L. indagastrix and are considerably smaller in H. venatoria measur- ing 3.0 to 4.0 mm. The excreting canal is a long white tube. Its length in P. collinus corresponds to the length of the fangs, while in Lycosa and Heteropoda it corresponds to the length of both the articles of chelicerae. In true spiders the canal bears a spheri- cal ampule at the junction of the fangs and the paturon. Its diameter varies from 0.35 mm to 0.45 mm in L. indagastrix and 0.10 to 0.15 mm in H. venatoria. Although the ampule is absent in the mygalomorph, the venom is ejected very effi- ciently, as the channel is short. Morphometry: The following measurements were made to assess the growth rate of the poison apparatus in the spiders: length and width of (1) the cephalothorax (2) the paturon (3) the fang (4) the gland, and (5) the duct. It was observed that the determination of the growth rate of the venom apparatus and the com- parison of the same in the three spiders based dn allometric principle may reveal a better picture of the trend in the growth rate rather than the raw morphometric data. The allometric principle of growth, first proposed by Dubois (1897) explains the existence of a relation between the dimensions of various organs on the one hand and the dimen- sion of a particular reference organ (X) on the other. The relationship is simplified by the for- mula y = bx f. If <2>1, it indicates that the rate of growth of a part is more than that of the reference organ; a< 1 indicates a lower growth rate. The data pertaining to the morphometric meas- urements of the poison apparatus in the three spiders are presented in Figures 2 to 7. In each figure pertaining to a particular dimension the following are indicated. (1) The value of correlation co-efficient r (2) regression coefficient and the significance of regression (/ regression) of the three spiders. The correlation coefficient was found to be statistically significant at 0.001 in several charac- teristics. The measure of association between the two variables, i.e. cephalothorax length and gland length was significantly higher in L. indagastrix than in the other two spiders studied. The higher b value further represents a faster growth rate. Since the glands are situated only in the paturon in P. collinus , but partly in the cephalothorax and paturon in H. venatoria and L. indagastrix , the degree of association of these characteristics with that of the total legnth of the gland and duct were analysed. A strong positive correlation was ob- served and hence they were subjected to regres- sion analysis. The regression slopes reveal considerable significance between the cephalothorax length and gland length, paturon length and gland length, cephalothorax length and total length of the gland and duct, fang length and total length of the gland and duct in the two broad divisions of the order Aranea, the ‘tarantulas’ and ‘true spiders’. Histology of the venom glands:. Anatomically 346 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS 347 Fig. 2. Morphometric relationship of cephalothorax length to gland length for the three spiders: A: Heteropoda venatoria ; B: Lycosa indagastrix; C: Pleisiophirctus collinus. 348 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 3. Morphometric relationship of paturon length to gland length for the three spiders: A: Heteropoda venatoria; B: Lycosa indagastrix ; C: Pleisiophirctus collinus. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Waller et al. Venom glands of spiders Plate 1 Chelicerae and venom glands True spiders L. indagastrix (left), H. venatoria (right). r Mygalo morph spider P. collinus J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Waller et al. Venom glands of spiders Plate 2 A cross section of the poison gland of L. indagastrix (unfed) showing the muscle blocks (mb), basement membrane (bm) and the secretory products — Venom (Sc & v) in the lumen (L). j. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Plate 3 Waller et al. Venom glands of spiders a, b: A cross section of the poison gland of H. venatoria (unfed) showing the retention of the secretory products (sp) in the lumen (1) of the gland and also the muscle layer (ml) and the basement membrane (bm). c: A cross section of the poison gland of P. collinus showing the muscle blocks (mb), basement membrane (bm), the basement processes extending into the lumen of the gland and the secretory products (sp). VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS 349 Fig. 4. Morphometric relationship of cephalothorax length to gland and duct length for the three spiders: A: Heteropoda venatoria ; B: Lycosa indagastrix ; C: Pleisiophirctus collinus. 350 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 Fig. 5. Morphometric relationship of paturon length to gland and duct length for the three spiders: A: Heteropoda venatoria\ B: Lycosa indagastrix ; C: Pleisiophirctus collinus. VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS 351 Fig. 6. Morphometric relationship of fang length to gland and duct length for the three spiders: A: Heteropoda venatoria; B: Lycosa indagastrix ; C: Pleisiophirctus collinus . 352 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Fig. 7. Morphometric relationship of gland length to gland and duct length for the three spiders: A: Heteropoda venatoria ; B: Lycosa indagastrix ; C: Pleisiophirctus collinus. VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN SPIDERS 353 the gland consists of two principal layers namely the outer muscular coat and the inner secreting layer. Hematoxylin and Eosin stains bring out very good differential staining of the glandular cells, their nuclei and the phases of venom secre- tion. In Lycos a, the muscles are arranged as dis- tinct bundles and from space to space a small dense nucleus is seen mostly near the cell boun- daries. The inner longitudinal muscle fibres are presumed to force out the venom by shortening the gland on contraction. The inner surface of the muscles is attached to the basement membrane, which forms a con- tinuous layer inside the muscularis. As observed by Reese (1944), the basement membrane is al- ways distinct though it varies considerably in thickness during and after secretion. It seems to be a non-cellular sheet of connective tissue, vary- ing from I to 3 m in thickness. In L. indagastrix the basement membrane bears several ‘processes’ penetrating into the central lumen and forming a network of fibrils. The cells of the glandular epithelium are attached to the basement membrane and few cells are seen attached to the fibrillar network of the basement membrane (Plate 2 a). These findings are similar to those of Brazil and Vellard (1925) for the glands of PhoneutricL and Millot (1931), for the glands of Latrodectus mactans, the most dreaded spider in the U.S.A. The venom secreting cells form a simple epithelium in H. venatoria , where the cells are attached only to the basement membrane since the ‘processes’ are lacking. In the gland sections of unfed spiders the cells were filled with eosine droplets, presumed to be venom secreted. With the continuation of the secreting processes the cells are broken off and their fluids run into the central lumen. As illustrated in the light photomicrograph the venom glands of unfed spiders display a massive retention of large secretory droplets of varying degrees of density and size, virtually filling the entire lumen of the gland (Plates 2 b, 3 a). The venom gland structure in P. collinus is similar to that of L. indagastrix in that the muscles are arranged as distinct blocks and the basement membrane is thrown into similar ‘processes’ for attachment of the secretory cells (Plate 3 c). It is hence presumed that in the large-sized and active- ly hunting spiders like L. indagastrix and P. col- linus where the need for obtaining more food is always high, large amounts of venom should be readily available for capturing the prey. Therefore there are numerous basement processes extending into the lumen of the gland, which increase the surface area for accommodating numerous secretory cells. This was not observed in the com- paratively smaller house spider H. venatoria (Plate 3 a). As the secretory cells disappear after secretion of venom, it was concluded that the venom glands of the spiders studied are of the holocrine type, the entire cells with the secretory material being ex- truded and the cell dying ultimately. As the secretory cells undergo degeneration the base- ment membrane becomes thinner and acquires the appearance of a straight homogenous layer (Plates 2 c, 3 b). Bordas (1905) and Ancona (1931) described a similar holocrine secretory mechanism in Latrodectus and Ctenus. However Barth (1962) described a more complex and a non-regenerative sequence of secretory events in the venom glands of certain Latrodectus species. While it is believed that Latrodectus is poten- tially more dangerous, no significant difference in gland structure Jias been observed. It can therefore be concluded that though there are differences in the nature of muscle fibres and the secretory cells, in the glands of the spiders studied the mode of secretion of venom is fairly uniform, the venom glands being holocrine. Acknowledgements I wish to thank Dr P.J. Sanjeevaraj for his valuable suggestions and for reading through the manuscript. 354 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 References Ancona, L. (1931): Anatomia a histologia del aparato venenosode Latroaectus mactans, arano capulina. An. Inst. Biol. 2: 177. Barth, R. (1962): Estudos histologicus sotreas glandulas peconhentas da ‘Viuva negra’ Latrodectus mactans (Fabricus) Mem Inst OSW Cruz. 60: 275. Berland, L. (1922): Contribution a letude de la biologie des Arachnides. Ann Soc. Entomol. France 9: 193-208. Bertkau, P.H. (1891): Bau derGiftdrusen einheimscher spinnen Verh. Nat. Ver. Bonn48. Korr. Bl., 59. Bordas, L.M. (1905): Rechercher anatomiques, his- tologiques etphysiologiques surler glands venimenses on glands der cheliceres der Malnignattes. Ann. Sci. Nat. 9: 147. Brazil & Vellard (1925): Estudo Histoligica da glan- dula devenene da ctenus medieus. Mem. Do. Inst. But. 2: 24-73. Bristowe, W.S. (1954): The chelicerae of spiders. En- deavour I: 42-49. Dubois, E. (1897): Sur le rapport du poids de l’enecephale avec la grandeur du corps chezles Mammifere’s. Bull. Mem. Soc. Anthropol Paris. 8: 337-355. Lebert, H. (1878): Bau und Leben der spinnen Berlin, p. 321. Millot, J. ( 1 93 1 ): Les glander venimenser der Araneides Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. 14: 1 13-147. Reese, A.M. (1944): The anatomy of the venom gland in the Black widow spider Latrodectus mactans. Transact. Amer. microscopical Soc. 63: 171-174. FLOWERING PHENOLOGY OF THE MANGROVES FROM THE WEST COAST OF MAHARASHTRA 1 N.G. Mulik and L .J. Bhosale2 Introduction Mangrove ecosystems are under heavy pres- sure as a result of increase in human activity. The area under mangroves is getting reduced, and some important species are becoming extinct. Therefore, it is necessary to have a permanent record of its phenology. This type of study is almost nil along the coast of Maharashtra. The study of phenology is essential, as it has many applications such as in regeneration, afforesta- tion, plant management, honey analysis, floral biology and the estimation of reproductivity. This study was based in Ratnagiri district, from where sites were selected on the basis of earlier ecologi- cal studies. Material and Methods Three sites were selected for this study: Bandhkhind, Ganapatipule and Bhatye. At Bandhkhind there were some pure stands (popula- tions) of Sonneratia alba and Rhizophora mucronata At Ganapatipule an important species, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, was found. At Bhatye R. apiculata, Avicennia marina and Kandelia candel occurred. In all, twelve species of mangroves were studied. They are: R. mucronata , Lamk.; R. apiculata Blum.; B. gymnorrhiza Lamk.; K. can- del (L.) Druce; Ceriops tagal (Perr); Aegiceras corniculatum (Linn.) Blanco; Avicennia of- ficinalis, Linn.; A . marina var. acutissima Stapf and Moldenke; Sonneratia alba Sm.; Excoecaria agallocha Linn.; Lumnitzera racemosa (Willd.); Acanthus ilicifolius Linn. Phenophases were ob- served every fortnight for each species and Accepted October 1987. department of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur-416 004. monthly variations were recorded. Phenophases like initiation, budding, blooming, fruiting and seedling development were noted. Continuous observations from April 1983 to May 1985 were made to collect data. Results and Discussion In most of the mangrove species flowering commences in the summer months (Jones 1971, Graham et al. 1975, Byrnes et al. 1977 and Saenger 1982). It was noted during our field ob- servations that R. mucronata , flower primordia develop on the young plant when it is about four years old. Gill and Tomlinson (1969) reported a similar period. However, they noted flowering in R. mangle when it was one metre in height. Never- theless, data on floral initiation in mangroves is very scanty. In the present study initiation of flowering was recorded during the month of December for R. mucronata . It was maximum in January and continued in February. There was a slow increase in budding in the beginning, fol- lowed by a sharp increase from April to May. R, mucronata flowers heavily during September to November but blooming actually starts in July and then continues throughout the year. Mature propagules were found hanging on the mother plant in May-June in maximum numbers. The whole cycle continues throughout the year. The phenology of R. apiculata is interesting. Initiation is observed in the beginning of May. It continues for quite a long time, up to August and even later. Budding stage is found very late, and is recorded up to September. After such a slow initial development of reproductive parts there is a steep increase and maximum blooming was noticed in October. All the phases in R. apiculata overlap and throughout the year one or the other stage is observed. The fruit, once formed, matures within 2-3 months and then the vivipary starts 356 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 appearing. By the end of August all mature propagules are shed. According to Christensen and Wium- Anderson (1977) the period required from primordia formation to propagule matura- tion in R. apiculata is three years. In the present study this has not been observed. If the propagular development is a long process, the presence of 4 ‘germinated fruit” on the mother plant throughout the year is essential. In Bruguiera gymnorrhiza initiation is recorded at the beginning of January and con- tinues up to April. There is a slow increase in flowering initially, followed by a sharp increase from mid-January to February. There is a sharp decline in flowering which almost ceases in the beginning of February and shows a sudden in- crease to a maximum in April-May, followed by a steady decline. In December different develop- mental stages are found. The propagules are recorded from June to August. The observation that the flowering in B. gymnoryhiza commences in the summer months supports earlier reports (Jones 1971, Graham et al 1975, Specht et al. 1977). Kandelia candel flowers and fruits simul- taneously, and mature propagules can be seen when the plant starts flowering during the follow- ing year. Initiation is recorded from December to February, and is also seen in August-September as a second phase. Flowering peak is recorded during February-March. Thereafter there is a sharp abatement, with decreasing yields of reproductive material recorded until the end of August. In K. candel the total development period calculated according to our observations is nearly 10-12 months. The development period is similar to that recorded by Nishihira and Urasaki (1976); i.e. 12 months from flower buds to mature propagule. The total developmental time from bud to seedling stage is about six months as reported by Wafar (1985). However, in the present investigation the period observed is much longer. It is interesting to note the floral initiation in two phases. When it starts in August-September, the propagule matures within 10 months. How- ever, when it takes place in December-February, the time taken for development of the mature propagule seems to be greater. It was not possible to make any observation with this phase of development. Looking at the other members of Rhizophoraceae which take almost a year for development of the mature propagule, it appears that K. candel may not produce a fully developed propagule within six months (December-June). Further investigation is in progress. In Ceriops tagal floral initiation was recorded during April, and continued up to August. Simul- taneously the next phase, budding, starts. Bud formation was observed from May to September. Blooming is found throughout the year. The max- imum flowering was found in September and October. From April to June, heavy fruiting was observed. The mature propagules of Ceriops are recorded from June to August. The time required for the development from floral bud to mature propagule is more than a year. This is similar to the observations of Wium- Andersen, and Chris- tensen (1978) who found that the development from floral bud to fruit takes about 12-18 months. It is evident from the data that in Ceriops also budding, blooming and fruiting occur year round and that phases, one after the other, continue the cycle. It should be noted here that the propagules shed from June to August are developed from the fruits of the preceeding year. Sonneratiaalba shows floral initiation as early as December, continuing up to February. Again, initiation is recorded during June-July (early monsoon). Budding is recorded from January on- wards till the end of August. Flowering appears in January and continues up to October, with a first peak in March and a second peak in June. It is evident from the data that in Sonneratia also all phenophases overlap and continue throughout the year. The floral buds in Sonneratia , after their ap- pearance, open into flower within 1-1.5 months. Rower to fruit development takes about 4 to 6 months, and the maturation of fruit takes nearly two months. Thus the total period of mature seed formation in Sonneratia is about 1 2 months. Only FLOWERING PHENOLOGY OF MANGROVES 357 a few fruits are observed on the plant, and out of all the flowers formed only a few develop into fruits. Avicennia officinalis and Avicennia marina both showed different patterns in their phases. In A. officinalis initiation is recorded from early January up to the end of February. The phenophase of A. officinalis reveals that the flowering period is short when compared to other genera. Budding appears during February and extends up to May. Flowering begins in March and extends up to July. The maximum number of flowers occur during April-May and fruits from June to early August. The developed seedling inside the mature fruit is released and falls to the ground from June to early August, when it starts establishing itself. From September to December there is a complete vegetative stage of the plant. No other phenophases were observed during this period at any of the sites under study. In A. marina floral initiation is observed from January to April and flowering begins in early March, reaching a maximum in May. Fruit initia- tion starts in early April and extends up to Sep- tember, i.e. flowering and fruiting come to an end towards late September. Seedlings are found on the soil from August to early October. In A. marina community, litter yields of leaves and reproductive material an showed increase from mid March to the end of April in South Africa (Steinke and Charles 1984). Similar patterns of flowering and fruiting phenophases are recorded in the present study. Excoecaria agallocha is dioecious, bears flowers in catkins, possesses 2-celled pollen grains, and is presumably wind pollinated. No detailed information is available on the phenology of mangroves. Flowering was recorded in Ex- coecaria in a 2 year old plant. During the vegeta- tive stage it is difficult to distinguish between male and female plants. Floral initiation in male plants of Excoecaria occurs during March and in female plants in the month of November, then again initiation stage is recorded during April and May in both sexes simultaneously. Buds of female flowers and young male catkins start appearing during April-May and real blooming occurs during May to June. Fruiting stage starts from July, and continues up to end August. In Septem- ber, different seed developing stages are seen. Seeds start maturing from September. During September to October very young seedlings were observed on the soil. The floral initiation in Lumnitzera racemosa was observed between November and February. Budding begins in January and culminates with a decline in May, and is again seen between June and September. Flowering occurs from March to April and extends up to October. Simultaneously fruiting is also recorded during the months of February to December. Maximum fruiting is recorded during July and August. The seeds of different stages such as very young, as also ma- ture, are seen during September to December. All phenophases, except initiation, are seen in July and August. Aegiceras corniculatum is a much branched shrub, which inhabits areas that are inundated by normal high tides. Flowers of A. corniculatum are scented and are an important source of honey. In this species flowering was first observed at a height of 0.27 m by Steinke and Ward (1973). Initiation starts in early September and ends in early November. Again in January and February initiation is recorded in a few plants. Budding is seen during November to February. Aegiceras starts blooming in early December and ends in early April. Fruiting stages are between late December to July. Mature fruits (cryp- toviviparous) are recorded from May to early August. In general, the reproductive phase in Aegiceras is restricted to a period of a few months. Analysis of the data reveals that flowering and fruiting comes to an end towards late summer. The mature fruit contains a well developed see- dling inside (cryptovivipary). From late June to early August these fruits are shed. They can be called as propagules. Acanthus ilicifohus is a small shrub that grows well in open mangrove areas. In Acanthus two distinct phases are observed, the vegetative and the reproductive. The vegetative phase takes three 6 358 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 months, September to November. Then there is transition from vegetative to reproductive growth. Initiation is restricted to December and January only. Bud formation is found from January to March. Maximum flowering is recorded towards the end of March and April. Not all flowers open at the same time. Therefore, the ‘Blooming’ period is recorded from January to May. Fruiting is from April to July. During June-July different fruit development stages are observed. Fruits with mature seeds are found from June to July end. The seeds are released by dehiscence of fruit on the plant; after this beds of seedlings are found all over the area. No seed can be seen on the plant after the first week of August. Jagtap (1985) has reported flowering in Acanthus during August. In the investigation, in spite of several attempts no seeds were observed during late August. Flower- ing was found to be completed still earlier. Phenological rhythms such as flowering or fruiting vary from one species to another in a given locality (Blasco 1984). Some species of Avicennia flower at the end of the dry season (March-April-May), whereas the flowers of Bruguiera cylindrica are collected in September- October (end of the rainy season) and those of Lumnitzera mainly during November to January (winter). The twelve mangrove species analysed in the present investigation have revealed different pat- terns of phenophases. Different species of mangroves have adapted differently. In Rhizophoraceae members in all stages of development can be found throughout the year. Gill and Tomlinson (1969) have reported R. mangle as flowering throughout the year. Uptil now little information is available on the initiation of flowering. The present data gives an idea about the initiation phase among twelve mangroves, which is important for further ecological studies. The occurrence of propagules R E F E F Arnold, C. Y. (1960): Maximum minimum temperatures as a basis for computing heat units. Proceedings of the American Society of Horticultural Science 76: 682-692. Baskerville, G.L. & Emin, P. (1969): Rapid estimation in mangroves in Ratnagiri district is maximum in summer. In some species the time from flower to mature propagule varies greatly. Since leaf production in Rhizophora is also seasonal, with a maximum during summer (Christensen and Wium-Anderson 1977; Gill and Tomlinson 1 97 1), it seems that fruiting is limited to the period most favourable for growth. In a region with alternating seasons, the life cycle of plants is synchronised to the long term changes in the weather (Larcher 1975). Flowering period in Halophila occurs over ranges of temperature and day lengths but is reported to show strong correla- tion with the nutrient conditions of water (Mc- Millan 1980). In Cymodocea flowering is reported to be strongly influenced by high temperature (31°/27°C Day/Night). Hence, flowering in mangroves is expected to be controlled by an interaction of temperatures and photoperiod conditions. There is response to longitudinal distribution by mangrove species with respect to flowering. It is found in the present investigation that flowering and fruiting in Aegiceras corniculatum , which is distributed only over a few months, is later by about a week at Ganapatipule than at Bandhkhind. This may be attributed to the difference in longitude of the two places-Ratnagiri (17°0’ N, 73°2’ E) and Ganapatipule (17°9’ N, 73°2’ E). In all the mangrove species along the Goa coast, extensive flowering was noticed during March to June and extensive fruiting during April to July. Flowering and fruiting was observed to be generally poor or absent during September to January. An extensive flowering during March to June may be attributed to higher temperatures and longer duration of light (photoperiod). Thus the phenological characteristics of mangrove species are related to different environmental fac- tors. N C E S of heat accumulation from maximum and minium temperatures. Ecology 50:5 14-517. Blasco, F. (1984): Mangrove Ecosystem Functioning. 2nd Introductory Training Course on Mangrove Ecosystems. FLOWERING PHENOLOGY OF MANGROVES 359 Goa, India Nov. 1-25, 153-181. Brochert, R. (1978): Feedback control and age related changes of shoot growth in seasonal and non-seasonal climates. In: Tropical trees as living systems (eds) P.B. Tomlinson and M.H. Zimmermann. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A. Byrnes, N.B., Everist, S.L., Reynolds, S.T., Specht, A. & Specht, R.L. (1977): The vegetation of Lizard Island, North Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 88:1-15. Caprio, S.M. (1971): The solar-thermal unit theory in relation to plant development and potential evapo-transpiration. Montana State University Agricultural Experiment Station Cir- cular 251, Missoula, Montana, U.SA. Caprio, J.M. (1974): The solar thermal unit concept in problems related to plant development. In: Phenology and Seasonality modelling, Ecological Studies 8: Synthesis and modelling (Ed) H. Leith. Springer. Verlag, New York. Christensen, B. (1978): Biomass and primary produc- tion of Rhizophora apiculata Bl. in a mangrove in Southern Thailand. Aquat. Bot. 4:43-52. & Wrjm-andersen, S. (1977): Seasonal growth of mangrove trees in Southern Thailand. I. The phenology of Rhizophora apiculata Bl. Aquat. Bot. 3: 281-286. Gill, A.M. & Tomlinson, P.B. (1969): Studies on the growth of red mangrove ( R . mangle). I. Habit and General mor- phology. Biotropica 1: 1-9. (1971): Studies on the growth of red mangrove (R. mangle) II. Phenology of shoot, Biotropica 3: 109-124. Graham, M.J., Grimshaw, E., Hegeral, J. Mcnatty & Timmins, R. (1975): Cairns Wetlands a preliminary report. Oper- culam4: 117-148. Jagtap, T.G. (1985): Ecological studies in relation to the mangrove environment along the Goa coast, India. 212 pp. Ph.D. Thesis submitted to Shivaji University, Kolhapur. Jones, W.T. (1971): The field identification and distribu- tion of mangroves in Eastern Australia. Queensland Naturalist 20: 35-51. Larcher, W. (1975): ‘Physiological Plant Ecology’, Pe- riodicity in climate and vegetation 219 pp. Springer-varlag, Ber- lin, Heidelberg, New York. Macmillan, C. (1980): Aquatic Bot. 8: 323-336. Cited by K.K. Lakshmanan and Rajeshwari M. (1985). In: All India Symp. on Marine plants. Goa, Nov. 1983. Nishihera, M. & Urasaki, M. (1976): Production, settle- ment and mortality of seedlings of a mangrove, Kandelia candel (L.) Druce in Okinowa. Abstracts, Int. Symp. on the Ecology and Management of some tropical shallow water communities. Specht, R.L., SAlt, R.B. & Reynolds, S.T. (1977): Vegetation in the vicinity of Weipa, North Queensland. Proc. Royal Soc. of Queensland 88. '17-38. Steinke, T.D. & Charles, L.M. (1984): Productivity and phenology of Avicennia marina Forsk. Vierh and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lam. in Mgeni Estaury, South Africa. Tivs 9: 25-36. (ed) H.J. Teas. Dr. W. June Publishers. & Ward, C.D. (1973): Ceriops tagal (Perr.) C.B. Pobison at Kosi Bay. J. South African Bot. 39: 245-7. Wafar, S. (1985): Observations on the foliage production in some mangrove species of Goa, Marine Plants. 245-252. (Ed.) V. Krishnamurthy (Asso. Ed.) A.G. Untawale, Seaweed Research and Utilization Association, Madras, p. 342. STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE KING VULTURE SARCOGYPS CALVUS (SCOPOLI) IN GUJARAT: RESULTS OF A RECENT ENQUIRY1 Shivrajkumar Khachar2 and Taej Mundkur3 ( With a text-figure ) The present distribution of the King Vulture Sarcogyps calvus in Gujarat state is mapped on the basis of 50 sightings of the the bird made by 23 birdwatchers and naturalists during 1982 to 1987. The available information indicates that the bird’s range has shrunk considerably in recent times and that it must be put on the list of endangered species in Gujarat. Introduction The King Vulture Sarcogyps calvus (Scopoli) is resident to the entire Indian subcontinent and is found up to an altitude of about 2000 m in the Himalayas. It is sparsely distributed and nowhere very abundant (Ali and Ripley 1983). In Gujarat, the bird was common in die Kutch region (Ali 1944) and the Saurashtra region (Dharmakumar- sinhji 1955), and was seen in small numbers throughout the state (Ali 1954). In the last decade or so die number of sightings seemed to have diminished sharply and nesting was rarely ob- served. A survey was therefore undertaken to study the present distribution and status of the King Vulture in Gujarat. Material and Methods In 1982, alarmed by the absence of sightings of the vulture in areas where it was frequently seen in the past, one of us (S.K.) started an enquiry on the status and distribution of this unmistakable bird in Gujarat. A questionnaire soliciting infor- mation was sent to known birdwatchers. A short write-up with a picture for identification was published in the local newspapers. Newsletter of the Gujarat State Committee of WWF- India, and Newsletter for Birdwatchers, request- ing information. Records of sightings came from Accepted November 1987. Darbargadh, Jasdan, Gujarat-360 050. (Deceased) Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot-360005. birdwatchers in various parts of the state, and officials of the State Forest Department kept a look out for the bird. The data thus collected were carefully scrutinized and compiled to form the basis of this report. Results and Discussion Fig.l summarizes the sightings of the King Vulture recorded from 1982 to 1987. The sight- ings have been mainly restricted to the semi-arid to arid regions, namely the Kutch, Jamnagar, Raj- kot, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar, and Banaskantha districts of the state. The Gir Forest in the Junagadh district registered the maximum number of sightings. The second stronghold is in Kutch, mainly around the Kaladungar on the south of the Great Rann and along the edges of the Little Rann. The sightings have been typically of one or two birds, except for a single gathering of 6 birds recorded at Amrutvel in the Gir Forest on 31 March 1983. This supports the understanding that the bird is solitary in habit, and is far outnum- bered by the other common species of vultures (Ali and Ripley 1983). In the past, one of us (S.K.) has known the bird to nest near Jasdan (Rajkot district) and in Bhav- nagar (Bhavnagar district), and watched its spec- tacular nuptial display and mating. The bird does not nest there any more. As a matter of fact, there are very few records of its nesting in Gujarat in recent times; one active nest near Zainabad on the eastern border of the Little Rann was recorded on 27 February 1987 (E. Foster, pers. comm.), and two unconfirmed reports of nesting near the vil- lage of Baid (Jamnagar district) on 4 December STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF KING VULTURE 361 Fig. I . Outline map of Gujarat State. Inset gives outline of India, with Gujarat state darkened. Stipled area shows the Great & Little Rann of Kutch and low lying coastal marshes. The location and number of sightings of the King Vulture is represented by closed circles as explained in the scale. 1985 (N.M. Mashru, (pers. comm.). One nest was found in a tree on a cliffside at Mitiala (Bhavnagar district) during 1975 — 1976 (S.K. Goyal, pers. comm.). This study does not reveal the size of the vul- ture population in Gujarat, but it clearly shows that the bird’s range has reduced drastically. From the available information it does seem that this vulture is endangered in this state. The scanty records of nesting are of grave concern. The bird is known to nest on trees, often short trees. There has been a continued and rapid increase in the human and domestic livestock populations, and the livestock is often fed with branches of trees, particularly Acacia , so that safe nest sites for the vulture have become a scarce commodity. The loss of nesting habitat in this region seems to be the main cause for a decline in number of large — sized tree nesting avian species in general, which would include most of the raptors, storks, herons and ibises. It is just possible that the King Vulture may also be using cliff edges on hills for nesting, though such a nesting habit has not been recorded so far. Concentration of birds observed around the Kaladungar, the tallest hill in Kutch, and Gimar hill in Junagadh district, indicates the possibility that at present the bird may be using cliff ledges more often than trees for nesting. Acknowledgements We are very grateful to A. Babi, R.B. Balar, A.K. Banerjee, M.T. Daswani, N. Dave, M.K. Dharmakumarsinhji, E. Foster, S.K. Goyal, N. 362 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Jhala, K. Joshi, L. Khacher, D. Khant, H.K. Lalka, Dr N.M. Mashru, A. Mashru, Dr B .M. Parasharya, I.D. Sama, S. Sayyed, S. Shah, A.K. Sharma, S.P. Sinha, R.M. Vadhavana, A. A. Vaidya and S.N. V aru, who responded to our enquiry and made this Refer Ali, S. (1945): The Birds of Kutch. Oxford University Press,- Bombay. (1954): The birds of Gujarat. Part I. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 52: 374-458. — & Ripley, S. D. (1983): The Handbook of the study possible. P. Pandya and N. Jhala from the office ofWWF — India, Saurashtra branch, kindly gave their help in organising this survey. We are grateful to Dr R.M. Naik for critically comment- ing on earlier drafts of the paper. N C E S birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi. Dharmakumarsinhji, K.S. (1955): Birds of Saurashtra. Times of India Press, Bombay. SPAWNING IN THE FROG MICROHYLA ORNATA (DUM. & BIBR.)1 A.D. Padhye and H.V. Ghate2 (With eight figures in two plates ) Spawning behaviour of the ornate microhylid frog, Microhyla ornata (Dum. & Bibr.) is described for the first time. Observations regarding calling, amplexus and spawning are recorded. Data on spawn appearance, spawn size and egg size is presented. Introduction Microhyla ornata , commonly known as ornate microhylid, belongs to family Microhylidae. This family includes narrow- mouthed frogs which differ from the members of families Ranidae and Rhacophoridae by the absence of teeth in the upper jaw. In contrast with the members of Bufonidae, these have more smooth skin, oval tongue and circular or vertical pupil. According to Daniel (1963) there are five genera representing family Microhylidae in Western India, and the genus Microhyla is represented by two species, namely M. ornata , and M. rubra. Very little infor- mation about the bioecology of this group of amphibians is available. In the case of M. ornata , the observations of earlier workers (for example Ferguson 1904; Rao 1917 and McCann 1940) have also been discussed by Daniel (1963). Mohanty-Hejmadi et al (1980) described in brief the early development of this species. We are reporting here some observations about the spawning behaviour of this frog. Information about the spawn proper is also given. Material and Methods A large number of stone quarries, semi-per- manent ponds and temporary rainwater pools were surveyed extensively during the years 1986 and 1987. During monsoon a large number of observations were made on the spawns of Microhyla at various places. Spawn charac- teristics, egg characteristics, and physico-chemic Accepted February 1988. Vost-Graduate Research Centre, Department of Zoology, Modem College, Pune— 41 1 005. al parameters of the pond water were studied. Climatological factors were also noted for various days. Several observations were made at night to understand spawning behaviour of the frogs from Kothrud area, Pune (Fig. 1). This area, situated in the southwest of Pune, is as yet considerably free from industrial activity as well as general human interference. Further, the area still harbours a good population of Microhyla ornata. There is also an abundance of subterranean, wingless ter- mites, which provide essential food to this fos- sorial frog. Results and Discussion The frog is a seasonal breeder, breeding only during the monsoon. Depending on the rainfall, the breeding season extends from June to Septem- ber. Naturally fertilized eggs were observed right up to late September, during the 1986-87 survey. The survey of different localities in and around Pune showed that the majority of Microhyla breed in temporary rainwater pools, while others breed in disused stone quarries, which often have water almost throughout the year due to natural streams. In addition, these quarries are flooded with rain- water during monsoon. During the breeding season the adults were frequently found very close to such water bodies, usually one hour after sunset. The activity and calling began late in the evening, around 2000 hrs. Despite its small size, the male was found to have a loud and distinct vocal call, as noted by some workers (Daniel 1963). The sequence of events of amplexus and spawning were as follows: Loud chorus of frogs started at about 2030 hrs. The males called from under bushes of Lantana 364 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 near the pond. While calling, the male looked like a balloon, as the single, subgular vocal sac was inflated to its full capacity (Fig. 2). In four cases the calling male was recognized by nearby females. The recognition must be only on the basis of the call, as is true of many anurans, especially when the species are nocturnal and are without distinct colour patterns in males and females; although olfactory and other cues may be impor- tant as well (see the excellent discussion in Duellman and Trueb 1986). As the female ap- proached and came in contact, the male stopped calling and the pair formed amplexus right by the side of the pond, at about 2330 hrs (Fig. 3). The male was above and was holding the female just behind the pectoral girdle. The cloacal regions of both were closely approximated (Fig. 4). When an amplexed pair was collected from the bushes around the pond, it was observed that they were glued to each other and could not be easily separated (Fig. 5). The amplexed pairs later jumped into the water. Around 0230 hrs spawning took place. The eggs were released in three or four convulsions and while doing so the heads of the pair dipped into the water. The process of spawn- ing was over within 3 to 5 minutes and the pair separated almost immediately. The release of sperms could not be clearly observed; however, the eggs were later observed in the laboratory and found to be fertilized. Although the amplexing pair separated immediately after the release of the eggs, the amplexus itself lasted for about 3 hours. Close observations under the hand lens revealed that the male was firmly attached to the back of the female. One such pair, collected prior to spawning, did not separate even when chilled and fixed in formalin. This type of amplexus is described as axillary and is known to be a common method in most anurans (Duellman and Trueb 1986). Attachment of the male frog to the back of the female has been reported in other microhylids as well. For ex- ample, in Breviceps , another microhylid, amplexus is reported to last for three days (Wager 1965). This is because the male and female remain glued to each other due to adhesive secretions of some specialized cells of the skin in males, as shown for the other microhylids by Conaway and Metter (1967). Duellman and Trueb (1986) have also pointed out similar cases where glandular secretions may be playing a role in amplexus formation. It remains to be seen what type of glands are present in M. ornata. In general, the chronological sequence of the events associated with spawning was: Calling started: 1930 to 2000 hrs; beginning of a loud chorus: around 2030 hrs; continuous chorus up to 2300 hrs; chorus with intermittent periods of silence indicating mate recognition leading to amplexus formation: 2300 hrs onwards; amplexus formed near the pond 2330 to 0100 hrs; amplexed pairs found in water: around 0200 hrs; spawning 0200 to 0400 hrs. The spawns were generally found at the periphery of the pond, floating on the surface of water, usually among the emergent vegetation (Fig. 6). Each single spawn is a rounded, transparent mass of eggs. The eggs are in a monolayer (Fig. 7). Each fertilized egg is enclosed in a vitelline membrane which is further covered by a layer of jelly of variable thickness. The individual eggs, due to their jelly mass, are further attached to other eggs that surround them to form a mat of uniform meshwork (Fig. 8). The number of eggs per spawn was highly variable but on an average the spawns collected during 1986 and 1987 contained 511 eggs (Table 1 ). The eggs are generally brownish at the animal pole and hence very well camouflaged in the plankton-rich waters of the pond. The vegetal pole is pale yellowish in colour. These charac- teristics are typically that of any anuran spawn. Sometimes colour variation was observed in the eggs; absolutely pale coloured eggs were also recorded twice during 1986. The mean egg diameter, based on measure- ments of about 50 to 75 eggs at late gastrula stage from different spawns was: diameter without jelly — 1.22 (0.08± ) mm and with jelly — 4.03 (0.75± ) mm. The mean egg diameter recorded by Mohanty-Hejmadi et al. (1980) is 1.1 mm; while Ferguson (1904) recorded the diameter to be 2.0 Plate 1 Bombay nat. Hist. So c.86 Padhye & Ghate: Spawning in Microhyla ornata Fig. 3. Amplecting pair near the pond (A) and a pair floating in water (B). Fig. 4. Close-up of an amplecting pair. Note that the pattern is axillary. Fig. 5. Lateral view of the amplexus showing the male glued to the back of the female. A typical habitat of the frog M. ornta, near Kothrud, Pune. Note shrubby vegetation in an otherwise barren area. Temporary rainwater pools where the present work was carried out are also seen. The calling male with inflated vocal sac. Fig. 2. Bombay nat. Hist. So c.86 Padhye & Ghate: Spawning in Microhyla ornata Plate 2 Fig. 6. Several spawns floating on the surface of water. A closer spawn is pointed. Fig. 8. Close-up of the spawn to show the attachment in between the individual eggs. Fig. 7. The spawn. Note that the eggs are in a monolayer. SPAWNING IN MICROHYLA ORNATA 365 Table 1 NUMBER OF EGGS PER SPAWN IN A FEW RANDOMLY COLLECTED SPAWNS DURING 1986 AND 1987 Date Number of eggs per spawn Date • Number of eggs per spawn 6 Aug 1986 179 14 Aug 1986 642 510 19 Aug 1986 917 7 Aug 1986 730 22 Aug 1986 567 947 23 Aug 1986 129 405 24 Sep 1986 152 1028 548 8 Aug 1986 765 17 Jun 1987 747 133 527 62 218 506 367 9 Aug 1986 1327 25 Jun 1987 463 599 388 65 26 Jun 1987 119 612 30 Jun 1987 247 723 8 Jul 1987 696 Mean 51 1 eggs per spawn, S.D. = 314. mm. The record of Ferguson is ambiguous since no mention is made whether the jelly cover was included or not. Mohanty-Hejmadi et al. (1980) have not given the estimates of spawn size. How- ever McCann ( 1 940) recorded the number of eggs per spawn to be approximately 200. We have observed that the spawn size may be as small as 62 eggs or as large as 1327 eggs. We have also observed that the spawns collected early in the season are larger than those at the close of the season. It is possible that the smaller spawns are second or third spawns of the female. Although no clearcut evidence is available, each mature female probably lays eggs twice or thrice in one season. Another observation in this regard con- cerns the thickness of the jelly around the eggs. Earlier spawns were found to have firmer and thicker jelly while those of the later period showed a very thin, loose layer of jelly. Multiple clutches in a single season are reported in anuran am- phibians (Wells 1976, Perrill 1983). In fact, it is suggested that capacity to breed twice or more in a single season may be one of the major ad- vantages of a prolonged breeding season (Wells 1976). The temporary rainwater pools (ponds) ob- served during this survey were variable in size and depth. On an average the depth of such ponds never exceeded one metre. The surface area of the pond was variable. Peak spawning activity was noted seven times during the survey. The number of spawns ob- served on these days and the climatological parameters recorded for the previous day of the spawning are given in Table 2. It was interesting to note that in a very small temporary rainwater pool with a diameter of about 10 metres and water depth of less than a metre, there were 113 spawns on a single day. In general all these peak spawning days were preceeded by a prolonged dry period of 366 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 PEAK SPAWNING ACTIVITY AND CLIMATOLOGICAL FACTORS ON PREVIOUS DAY OF SPAWNING. Date No. of spawns Pond 1 & Pond 2 Pond water temperature in Celsius Temperature Max. Min. Relative Humidity Rain-fall in mm 8 Aug 1986 14 21 25.0 25.5 21.8 90% 4.1 9 Aug 1986 27 45 22.0 24.8 1.5 92% 6.1 17 Jun 1987 62 42 23.0 31.3 22.8 86% 6.0 25 Jun 1987 38 26 22.5 32.3 24.3 84% 18.6 8 Jul 1987 113 45 23.0 26.6 21.8 82% 21.0 17 Aug 1987 104 16 21.5 29.0 22.6 93% 142.0 27 Sep 1987 50 22.5 31.1 21.6 92% 5.5 about 1 0 days. Further, spawning activity was also observed at other times during the season, except during prolonged dry period. Generally, when a large number of temporary rainwater pools were formed after a heavy rainfall, the spawning con- tinued for a week or so even if there was no heavy rain but the atmosphere remained cloudy and humid. Rainfall during the night was not always essential for the spawning to take place. The other habitats in which fertilized eggs of M. ornata were found consistently were old, dis- used stone (basalt) quarries with natural streams. Of such places, very few are now free from human interference. Most of them are being used for a variety of purposes such as for washing clothes and utensils and are thus grossly polluted with anthropogenic wastes. Some of them are almost becoming eutrophic and contain a fair amount of detergents, optical whiteners and related chemi- cals. Even cattle are washed regularly in such water bodies, adding organic matter that further helps eutrophication. It is unlikely that such water bodies would be of any use to the frogs and toads in future, although a few spawns were found even in grossly polluted waters. In this context it may be pointed out that previous workers have noted a decline in the population of local frogs and attributed it to the destruction of habitat and proper breeding sites (Paranjape andGhate 1986). This is also the case elsewhere (see Duellman and Trueb 1986). Hatching success, under field as well as laboratory conditions, was observed to be about 95%. The majority of the eggs are thus fertilized eggs. High fertility is essential for the frogs which produce fewer eggs per spawn. Other aspects of the developmental ecology of this frog have also been studied and will be presented separately. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr S.N. Navalgundkar, Prin- cipal, Modern College, and to Dr S.Y. Paranjape, Head, Department of Zoology, for encourage- ment and for provision of facilities. Thanks are due to Mr Chandrashekhar for his help in com- puter operations and to Prof. M.R. Marathe, Head, Physics Department, for making available the computer. Mr. G.K. Wagh extended considerable help during various surveys. We are grateful to Dr T.S.N. Murthy, Zoological Survey of India, Madras, for confirming our identification of the species. Mr An and Padhye is thankful to U.G.C. for the award of a Junior Research Fellowship. References Conaway, C.H. & Metter, D.E. (1967): Skin glands 1967(3): 672-673. associated with breeding in Microhyla carolinensis. Copeia Daniel, J.C. (1963): Field guide to the amphibians of SPAWNING IN MICROHYLA ORNATA 367 Western India, Part 2. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 60: 690- 702. Duellman, W.E. & Trueb, L. (1986): Biology of Am- phibians. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York. Ferguson, H.S. (1904): A list of Travancore batrachians. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 15 : 499-509 (cited from Daniel 1963). Mccan, C. (1940): A reptile and amphibian miscellany. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 42: 45-64 (cited from Daniel 1963). Mohanty-hejmadl, P., Datta, S.K. & Khan, I. (1980): Life history of Indian frogs. El. The ornate frog Microhyla ornala. J. Zool. Soc. India 32: 43-48. Paranjape, S.Y. & Ghate, H.V. (1986): Frogs and froglegs: Socioeconomic and ecological perspective. Proceed- ings of First World Conference on Trade in Froglegs vis-a-vis EnvironmentalConsiderations ", held at Calcutta, April 1986, pp. 59-64. Perrill, S.A. (1983): Multiple egg clutches inHyla regil- la, H. cinerea and H. gratiosa. Copeia 1983 (2): 513-516. Rao, C.R.N. (1917): On the occurrence of iridocytes in the larva of Microhyla ornata (Boulenger). Rec. Indian Mus. 13: 281-292. Wager, V.A. (1965): The Frogs of South Africa. Purnell and Sons, Cape Town, South Africa. Wells, K.D. (1976): Multiple egg clutches in green frog (Rana clamitans). Herpetologica 32: 85-87. ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD ARDEOTIS NIGRICEPS (VIGORS)1 Ranjit Manakadan and Asad Rafi Rahmani2 (With two maps and a text-figure) Introduction The Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary is the most well-known place for the Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps (Vigors) in Andhra Pradesh. The Sanctuary was established mainly due to the recommendations of the Endangered Species Project of the Bombay Natural History Society to the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department. The Society had a field station from September 1985 to May 1988 at Rollapadu. We give here an ac- count of the Sanctuary, its flora, and fauna with special reference to the bustard, in an effort to provide baseline data for future researchers at Rollapadu. Location and Topography Rollapadu is a small village (population 755, vide 1981 census) 18 km south-east of Nandikot- kur town (15° 52’N * 78° 18’E) in the plains between the Nallamalai and Erramalai ranges of the Eastern Ghats. The River Krishna flows northwest of Nandikotkur. The rocks belong to the Kurnool-Cuddapah formations. The soil is gravelly with heavy clay content and low per- meability. Black cotton soil, preferred for agricul- ture, also occurs in the surrounding areas. Climate The first three months of the year are pleasant with moderate winds from the southeast. The summer heat starts at the end of March, and April and May are the hottest months with temperatures soaring to 42 ° C. Towards the end of April, Roll- 1 Accepted August 1988. 2Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay-400 023. apadu experiences dust storms accompanied by a few showers, giving respite from the heat. Rain- fall is received from the SW and NE monsoons, with an average annual rainfall of 667.8 mm which varies from year to year. Cyclonic storms that hit the Andhra coast almost every year, espe- cially during the NE monsoon period, result in continuous downpours at Rollapadu. Winter is mild and the coldest month is December (c. 18 ° C). Conservation Measures After the ‘rediscovery’ of the bustard in August 1982, the Forest Department stopped all trapping activities. In 1983, on learning that the bustard frequented areas were to come under a sheep farming scheme, the Department took steps to acquire these lands. In April 1988, the acquired lands received the official designation of a sanctuary. The staff consists of a Forester, a Guard and seven watchmen. The Sanctuary is under the jurisdiction of the Conservator of Forests, Srisailam. The area of the Sanctuary is 614 ha, divided into three blocks or enclosures. These enclosures are out-of-bounds for people and livestock and are bordered by trench-cum-mound walls (TCM). A system of roads, again bordered by TCM walls were also laid out in the enclosure to regulate the movement of people to their crop fields or vil- lages-the right of way in the enclosure (along the roads) had to be ceded to the villagers as it was a traditional pathway and a route round the enclosure would put them to much difficulty and evoke antagonism for the Sanctuary. These roads, besides minimizing disturbance to the bus- tards, also act as fire breaks. A waterhole is present to help the animals tide over the hot sum- mer. Map 1. Proposed Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary in Rollapadu ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 369 To Atmakur-Guntur 370 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Vegetation The vegetation of Rollapadu is of the Tropical Thom Forest type (Champion & Seth 1968). However, human and human-related pressures have converted the landscape to one of crop fields, grazing lands and very light scrub. The vegetation in the enclosure may be generally termed a grassland with a few scattered shrubs and trees. The common grass species are Aristida funiculata , Chrysopogon fulvus, Eremopogon foveolatus , Heteropogon contortus and Iseilema anthephoroides. During our stay period we observed that H. contortus spreads to more and more areas with each passing year. For example, a favoured nesting site of the bustard which was E. foveolatus dominant area in 1985 was overrun by H. contortus by 1987. Common herbs are Alysicarpus scariosus , Boerhavia dif- fusa., Cleome felina, Indigofera cordifolia, In- digofera linifolia, Justicia procoumbens , Lepidagathis cristata, Polygala chinensis and Rhynchosia minima. Shrubs and trees are repre- sented by Butea monosperma, Cassia auriculata, Cassia fistula, Canthium parviflorum , Diospyros melanoxylon , Morinda tinctoria, Prosopis spicigera , Randia dumetorum and Phoenix syl- vestris. Owing to the absence of grazing and wood cutting, the vegetation in the enclosure has im- proved and contrasts sharply with the surrounding grazing lands. While the grass height in the enclosure exceeds 50 cm with good ground cover, the grazing lands exhibit the typical profile of the overgrazed lands of our country with short grass and much exposed bare ground. Another interest- ing difference in the vegetation of the enclosure to that of the grazing lands is with regard to the grass Sehima nervosum. Not a single specimen of S. nervosum has been recorded in the grazing lands, while they have even formed pure stands in some areas of the enclosure. Dabadghoa & Shankamarayan (1973) classified the grasslands of these parts under the Sehima/ Dichanthium cover — if allowed to reach the climax stage by factors like absence of grazing and fires. It will be interesting to see the final climax vegetation cover in the enclosure. Most of the plants belong to what are termed as ‘monsoon ephemerals’. Life for these plants begins with the onset of the monsoon in June, changing the bare brown/yellow landscape to lush greenery. The plants grow, flower, fruit, seed, and by the first week of December almost all the plants have died. Fauna The Sanctuary, though established primarily to protect the bustard, has benefited rest of the wildlife in the area. Prior to its establishment, the animals were persecuted by professional trappers and hunters from nearby towns and villages. These activities were checked with the posting of Forest Department personnel. Poaching of the bustard, florican and blackbuck (and all wildlife that inhabit the enclosure) is almost nil, but hunt- ing of other species especially quail, partridge, sandgrouse, duck, barheaded geese, demoiselle crane continues on the sly in the surrounding areas. Great Indian Bustard The bustard was known to exist in the ‘dry districts’ of Andhra Pradesh. Hume & Marshall (1879) reported their presence in the “Nizam’s territory”. Elliot (1880) gave an account of fal- coners going in for the bustard and also stated that bags were so poor that a successful falconer was conferred with a village ‘Inam’ (or free tenure). Tostems (1887) saw a few bustards in the cold season in Kurnool district. Later Blanford (1898), writing on the distribution of the bustard in the Indian subcontinent, mentioned ‘Hyderabad territories’. Burton (1953) gave more precise data by stating that in the 1890s, he saw 17 birds (of which 13 were in a flock) near Guntakal. Till recently, little was known regarding the present status of the bustard in Andhra Pradesh. Pushp Kumar (1980), on the basis of information gathered from hunters and Forest Department Personnel, offered a rough estimate of 1 5 birds for the whole state. Then in August 1982, their ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 371 s X presence was recorded when a few birds were sighted at Rollapadu and Banganapalie in Kur- nool district. In July 1984, the largest recorded flock in recent times of 35 bustards was sighted at Rollapadu (Ali & Rahmani 1982-84). The bustard is now known to exist at Rollapadu, Ban- ganapalle, Neliibanda, Peddapadu, Siruvella, Palakurti and Malligeli in Kurnooi district; Hanimireddy-palli in Anantapur district; Cheval- la and Shamshabad in Rangareddy district; and there are unconfirmed reports of their presence in some parts of Mahboobnagar district (Manakadan & Rahmani 1986). Till the posting of watchmen at Rollapadu in August 1982, the bustard was hunted regularly by professional trappers. The shikaris put the number of birds bagged each year at about a dozen. The birds were were trapped by laying nooses at dis- play sites, groundnut fields and waterholes-and were sold at the Nandikotkur market. The shikaris have no idea of the former population, except saying that the birds were scattered then and traps were laid when they noticed a few birds frequent- ing an area, unlike now, where they congregate at Rollapadu. The present population is in the range of 60-100 birds, judging by daily counts done, flock sizes seen and the number of nests located each year. An exact population estimate is not possible since the bustards move a lot and those that frequent the enclosure are mainly breeding birds. Movement and Flock Composition: The move- ment and flock composition of the bustard depends much on the season and local weather conditions. Sexes generally remain separate and mixed flocks are rare and temporary (Rahmani & Manakadan 1986a). With the onset of the SW monsoon in early June, there is an influx and congregation of bustards in the grasslands of Rol- lapadu. June to August is the period when both largest numbers and largest flock sizes are seen (Tables 1 & 2). For example, in May 1986, mean group size of the males was 1 , in June 4.4, in July 7.5 and 3.4 in August. Similar results were ob- tained in 1987, i.e. largest flocks of males were seen between June and August (except for February, when a flock of 7 and another of 4 birds were seen: but the sample size is very small (Table 1). The flocks were mainly unisexual, there being a very clear segregation of the sexes; fixed flocks are rare. For example, between June and August 1986, only one mixed flock of 3 birds (0.92%) out of 108 flocks was seen. Similarly, during the same period in 1987, only 5 (3.7%) of 132 flocks were of both sexes. By mid-August, the major breeding season starts (Fig. 1) and soon the adult hens separate from the flocks to commence nesting. Adult cocks also form territories and become more and more solitary. Between June to August, around 50% of the sightings were of solitary birds, but from September onwards (Tables 3 & 4), these sight- ings increased to nearly 80%. In September 1986 (Table 3), 96.7% sightings were of solitary bus- tards. Non- breeding hens and cocks frequent the Rollapadu grasslands much less between Septem- ber and December. For reasons still not clear, rainy days result in an influx of birds, the birds moving out again with the dry spell. The dominant cocks seem less pugnacious during rainy days and tolerate the presence of other males. By the first week of December, the grasslands become more and more dry and only the display- ing cocks and hens with chicks are seen. By January, only the territorial cocks and some late nesters are left in the enclosure area. However, bustards are seen in small droves of 2 to 7 in- dividuals in the nearby areas. The months of February, March and the first half of April may be considered as the lull period for bustards as far as the grasslands of Rollapadu are concerned, since there is no breeding activity and the birds have moved out into the surrounding areas. However, in 1988, a few birds were present during this period also possibly due to the delayed monsoon of 1987. By the third week of April, dust storms with scattered rains and showers occur. This weather heralds the onset of the ‘minor breeding season’, which extends till late May or early June, a few cocks and hens frequent the area and two or three nests are located every year (Table 5). Most sight- 372 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 ings are of solitary birds. With the onset of the monsoon at the end of June, the cycle repeats itself. Breeding: The most interesting aspect of the breeding cycle is the existence of two breeding seasons-a major and a minor-at Rollapadu, un- like only one breeding season in the other areas studied. At Nanaj in Solapur district, Maharashtra, the bustard breeds during the mon- soon period, while at Karera in Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh, they breed during summer. At Rollapadu, the major breeding season begins around mid-August and eggs may be laid till January. The minor breeding season begins with the onset of drizzles or rains in the third week of April and the season (judging from display ac- tivity) lasts till late May or early June. The reason for the existence of two breeding seasons at Rol- lapadu remains unexplained as we were not al- lowed to ring or band the birds for our studies. We do not know whether different individuals come to breed in the two seasons or birds which were unsuccessful in one season come to breed in another. The courtship display activity is also interest- ing. In the 1985 major breeding season and the 1986 minor season, only one male (Meeta Male — see Map 2) displayed. A few other males also displayed but only in the absence of the Meeta Male or when he was less pugnacious as on rainy days or for some inexplicable reasons. In the 1 986 major season, the Meeta Male fought with a few other males that came to display in his territory, after which there was little display activity that season. In the following minor season of 1987, only one male displayed at the same display site. STUDY PERIOD WEATHER VEGETATION 87- 88- 87- DISPLAY NESTING SIGHTING OF 87 BUSTARDS 86 85 4 summer showers monsoon period III TT no"" data " n m green flowering/fruiting ymmmmnmnnn urrrrrrrni 'iwnnnntnrnm mnn >n nrn; * ' * no data rm M M 1 r J A Fig. 1 Phenology of Events (September 1 985-June 1 988) at Rollapadu FLOCK SIZE IN DIFFERENT MONTHS IN 1986 AT ROLLAPADU ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 373 December Ml • • • 8 • 1 1 1 ( • 1 1 1 1 ! 0 • Uh 36 CO ' 1 CN 1 1 l 1 1 8 1 1 1 i 1 1.3 £ 00 co - - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1.5 November Ml • • ■ 1 1 1 1 l 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 ■ pp _Mj NO * 1 1 1 1 1 1 » I 1 1 1 i 1 CN) pH 6T S o r-H vo vo rf CO - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 a 1 2.7 October § ' • ' 1 1 1 • 1 1 0 1 1 1 i 1 • PP 48 - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 Hi CO S 36 N Rock Size * n 2 - CO - CM - 1 1 1 i i August § • • ' ' ' ' 1 I 1 i - CM Ph O • - -< CM 1 - i i 3.7 2 o - - CO CO ' - - CM i I 4.4 CM July Ml • ' 1 1 • - 1 ' 1 1 i l • PL, »n CO - ' ' 1 ' 1 1 » i 00 r- CM • CM - CO - - 1 i i 3.8 CO June T— * 2 • ' - CM - ‘ e - 1 1 i I Ph CO NO - • ‘ * i 1 • 1 » i oo 1 S'Z\ 2 NO - - - i 1 - 1 i i 2.4 May 2 • ' ' • i 1 i i • PU ' • i 1 i CM 2 M- CM 1 ' • i 1 1 i April Ml ' ' 1 1 * • i 1 1 1 i i - tL, ‘ * 1 I ' • i 1 1 1 i i ■ 2 CM CO 1 1 1 ' i 1 1 1 i \ 1.6 NO March 2 ' • l 1 1 ' i 1 1 1 i l ■ tL 1 • 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 i l • 2 • CM 1 1 ' • i 1 1 1 i i CM CM February 2 • 1 i • • i 1 1 1 • i • i ' Ph ' tj- 1 1 • • i 1 1 1 i CM n 2 ■ I • • i 1 1 i - January 2 • ' 1 ' ' 1 1 » » » • Ph U~) - - - - 1 1 1 i l 00 ^ j> T— 1 <*_ o 0) N 2 t" ■ • • ' ' 1 1 1 i t ~ a Rock Size ; CM CO "Ct" »o NO OO ON 10. Tl CM Mean group s Mean] group s sexes CM i—i CO rt- CO NO ^ ' NO 00 oo ON CM CM CM i—c *n NO t OO 3 OX) 3 < "8 •G -o 3 oo ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 375 < Vh co (3 in in X U X 00 ON *-5 i-3 3- 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 i s CD 8 Q c 3 V~> X 1—1 r~' co 1 1 • 1 i 1 ' i 1 1 i Vh X X Tf t> >n X X CD X e 0) m od oo' X i 1 1 t 1 1 i > O £ 3 34 r-3 in 3 CO #» . 1 ‘ i 1 1 • <3 X 87.5 6.2 CS * - 3.1 ' 1 • l I • i 1 1 i r» 00 On o i-1 1 1 O c 84 VO CS 1 - CO ' 1 • l 1 • i I 1 i 1 D 1-4 < CD r- VO X (2 * < X X * * 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 i J 6 On X o & c 59 , , j ( . ( i t l , i 1 1 i (X E— 1 oo < OO 49 22.6 7.5 7.5 3.7 oo 1.8 i 1.8 i 1 3.7 i 1 1 i ffi § < 3 26 Q k<3 o CO CO q CO vq 3 3 3 < H n od od 1 od 00 vo « q M u- 3 X *— < T— « i 1 i T— 1 f— < I 04 i i • 1 i i O 8 , , , 1 , , l i i 1 1 i i oo W >> t— i O 3 < s 3 24 • • ■ 1 • ' i i i 1 1 i i s w u Pi m in W Ok r-=1 t" C3 1 1 Q < < 3 CO r— 1 • • 1 i ' 1 i i i i 1 1 i C 02 Oh q X • ■ . i 1 . . 1 1 i i i 1 t i i o c* P O 3 b s O 3 • 1 1 • 1 ■ 1 1 I i i i 1 1 i Pi W Pi fcS> o o o o o q i O'' ® dr s a to I .1 a. in £ d o c § ■4-r CU g i “5 5 to d to +-» d d -o d a 0 v) d 0 <3 > • x (y0)Ai!P!'Junq (0U)sAdp Auidj Fig. 4. Population dynamics of light attracted reduviids collected from an agroecosystem. ASSASSIN BUGS FROM PENINSULAR INDIA 395 (Ambrose & Livingstone, 1978 a). In the scrub jungles, when the camponotine population was relatively very high the sex ratio was found to be equal and Acanthaspis pedestris has been found to be cannibalistic, often the females predating upon the males, only when they are subjected to starvation. It is also evident that the predatory species migrate from place to place in search of their prey, when the population of latter is depleted in one particular period (Ambrose & Livingstone 1978 b). This may be the reason why the predators are totally absent when the prey is absent. Nicholson (1958) and Clark et al. (1978) have considered the density of the prey population as the primary factor in controlling the population level of predators. Andrewartha and Birch (1969) have noted that the dispersal of the predators is correlated to the migration in search of prey. Milne (1957 a, b) has proposed the theory that the prey population is a density dependent factor for a predator and the present study corroborates Milne’s theory. Reduviid population in the scrub jungle and semi-arid zones is dependent on cam- ponotine ant population. Chitty (1960) maintains that the population level in a habitat is kept con- stant by the genetic factors of the species con- cerned. Pimentel (1961) considers this as a genetic feedback in the maintenance of population Refer Ambrose, D.P. & Livingstone, D. (1978 a): On the mating behaviour of Eclomocoris tibialis Distant and Acan- thaspis pedestris Stal, two reduviids of the scrub jungles of Palghat gap, J. Madras, Univ. B.41 : 69-79. — (1978 b): The population dynamics of three species of reduviids of Peninsular India. Bull. Ent. 19: 201-203. (1979): On the bioecology of Lophocephala guerinii Lap. (Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) a cophrophagous reduviid from the Palghat gap, India, J. Nat. Hist. 13: 581-588. Andrewartha, H.G. & Birch, L.C, (1969): Some recent contributions to the study of distribution and abundance of In- sects. Ann. Rev. ent. 5: 219-249. Chitty, D. (1960): Population process in the vole and their relevance to general theory. Can. J. Zool. 38: 99-113. Clark, L.R., Geir, P.W., Huges, R.D. & Morris, R.F. level of a particular species. Population studies of reduviids of different microhabitats indicate that L. guerini is bivoltine whereas others are either univoltine ( E . tibialis) or multivoltine (A. pedestris ). Since their population dynamics is not apparently regulated by climatic conditions, the authors are tempted to favour the genetic factor in population dynamics as a supplementary factor operating as a regulatory mechanism proposed by Chitty (1960) and Pimental (1961). Goel (1978) from his lunar periodicity popula- tion count mechanisms, reported a high catch of hemipterans when there was high humidity and low rainfall. He further reported maximum collec- tion of reduviids in the month of July. In the present investigations also, it was found that the maximum catch of reduviids has been in July. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the PWD, Walayar forest, for granting permission to conduct part of this investigation and the authorities of the University of Madras for facilitites provided. The senior author expresses his gratitude to the CSIR for the financial assistance for this work. Technical assis- tance of Mr. P. Ramakrishnan and Mr S. John Vennison is acknowledged. N C E S (1978): The ecology of Insect population in theory and practice. ELBS Edition, Chapman and Hall. pp. 26-56. Goel, S.C. (1978): Biological studies of two years cap- ture of Hemiptera in Western Uttar Pradesh. Oriental Insects 12: 369-376. Milne, A. (1957 a): The natural control of Insect popula- tions Can. ent. 89: 193-213. (1957 b): Theories of natural control of insect populations. Cold spring Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 22: 252-267. Nicholson, AJ. (1958): Dynamics of Insect population. Ann. Rev. ent. 3: 107-136. Pimentel, D. (1961): On a genetic feed back mechanism regulating populations of herbivores, parasities and predators. Amr.Nat. 95 : 65-79. FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF THE MALABAR WOODSHRIKE TEPHRODORNIS VIRGATUS SYLVICOLA JERDON AT THEKKADY, KERALA1 Lalitha Vuayan2 Feeding behaviour of the Malabar Wood shrike Tephrodornis virgatus was studied at Thekkady, South India, from March 1980 to February 1981. It is a regular member of mixed- species feeding flocks (MFF). Monthly and seasonal variation in its participation in MFF is dependent mainly on its breeding season and that of most of its close associates. 25 species of birds show significant association with the Malabar Woodshrike in MFF and the probable reasons are explained. The benefit this species achieves might mainly be protection from predators; increased food acquisition by less vigilance, and increasing feeding time and efficiency is also speculated. This species, being a gleaner, flushes out insects for the attending species and also forms the leading and cohesive member of the mixed flocks. Introduction A description of the Malabar Woodshrike with notes on its general biology has been given by Ali (1969) and Ali and Ripley (1983). The present study, though not a treatise on its ecology, deals with some major aspects of its feeding biology. The data were collected during 1980-81 while conducting a study on drongos. The study area was a patch of moist- deciduous/semi-evergreen forest of about 150 ha. at Thekkady in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (9° 15’ to 9 ° 40 ’ N, 76 ° 05 ’ to 77 ° 25 ’ E) in Kerala, south India, at an elevation of 1050 m above mean sea level. The forest patch was a raised portion with low-lying grasslands on either side. The average temperature varied from a minimum of 16° C to a maximum of 35° C. The area receives both the southwest and northeast monsoons; the average annual rainfall during 1980 was 1440.9 mm and for the five years (1977 to 1981), 1707.2 mm. Methods Feeding of the Malabar Woodshrike was oberved along with the mixed-species feeding flocks (MFF), which were followed continuous- y and the composition recorded every 1 5 minutes, Accepted February 1988. 2BNHS Ecological Research Centre, Bharatpur 321 001, Rajasthan, India. noting the number of individuals of each species; each one of this forming one observation. The occurrence of each species in MFF was computed for each month and the relation of this species with others was analysed in detail. Results and Discussion The Malabar Woodshrike is mainly insec- tivorous, searching for insects and caterpillars on the stems or leaves (gleaning) for most part of the time or catching insects like a flycatcher (flycatching or flycatcher-gleaning) as described for the insectivorous passerines by Croxall (1977). It is noted as taking part in the mixed hunting parties of the forests Ali (1969) and Ali and Ripley (1983) and as one of the regular mem- bers in the mixed-species feeding flocks at Thek- kady (Vijayan 1984). Altogether, 2199 observations were made on the MFF from March 1980 to February 1981. The Malabar Woodshrike was noticed in 35% of the observations. As its occurrence was above 25% it is considered as a regular member, as done by Croxall (1976). The number of individuals of this species in MFF varied from two to 1 1 with an average of four. Seasonal variation in frequency of occurrence in MFF: The frequency of occurrence of the Malabar Woodshrike in MFF varied in different seasons and months (T able 1 ), the minimum being in summer and the maximum in spring as noticed FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF MALABAR WOODSHRIKE 397 in other regular and occasional regular members (Vijayan 1984, Vijayan and Joshi (in prep.). Change in the participation of species in MFF results in a change in the flock composition in different seasons, as noticed in Brazil (Davis 1946), Japan (Ogasawara 1965) and Australia (Bell 1980). At Thekkady most of the birds breed in summer and have less flocking tendency as reported elsewhere (Sedgwick 1949, Moynihan 1962, McLure 1967, Morse 1970 and Fairchild et al 1977). The Malabar Woods hr ike, though breeding from January to May, has less occurrence in MFF only during March and May. It might be because of the low participation of the major active species such as the Bronzed Drongo and the Scarlet Min- ivet with which it has a significant association as shown in Table 2, and also by the strong positive correlation of its monthly occurrence with that of the above species (r = 0.82, p<0.01 and r = 0.92, p<0.00 1 respectively). Its low frequency of occur- rence in MFF in October is also in accordance with that of the Scarlet Minivet, which has a second breeding season during this period. The high occurrence of this species in MFF during December- January-February is in relation to the activity of many species. The complexity of the flock with many species and more types of mixed flocks were noticed before the beginning of the breeding season in relation to the greater breeding activity and energy requirement of most of the species. Association with other birds in MFF: The per- centage of occurence of the Malabar Woodshrike with every other species in the flocks was calcu- lated and in order to test the significance of as- sociation, the chi-square value was calculated. Association with some species was not sig- nificantly different from random as with that of some regular members like Racket-tailed Drongo, Yellowbrowed Bulbul and Goldfronted Chlorop- sis. While it showed close association with many species (Table 2), it had negative association with Jungle B abbler and Hill Myna (the observed value was less than the expected value, thereby showing an avoidance or no preference for its company). The probable factors affecting the association of the Malabar Woodshrike with other species in mixed flocks are the foraging zones, foraging habits and the size of the species as explained for drongos (Vijayan 1984). As the Malabar Woodshrike usually foraged in the middle and upper strata of the canopy, its association was also with species foraging in these zones. The Jungle Babbler, which mainly utilized the ground and lower strata of the canopy, was negatively as- sociated with this species. Similar association of species with common foraging zone is reported earlier by Bell (1980) in Australia and Waser (1984) in East Africa. The preferred size of prey is also supposed to be a common factor in this relationship of almost similar sized birds in mixed feeding flocks as found by Mac Donald and Henderson (1977) in Kashmir. Significance in MFF: The major benefit to the Malabar Woodshrike in associating with MFF appeared to be protection from predators. More aggressive species like drongos, especially the Racket- tailed Drongo, chased away predators (Vijayan 1984). Shikra, Crested Serpent Eagle Table 1 PERCENTAGE OCCURRENCE OF MALABAR WOODSHRIKE IN MIXED- SPECIES FEEDING FLOCKS AT THEKKADY DURING 1980-81 Month & Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Total year 1980 1981 %Occurrence 5 29 4 47 29 35 29 13 30 48 53 45 35 No. of obs. of flocks 42 59 45 110 306 226 260 257 142 245 243 264 2199 398 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 ASSOCIATION OF MALABAR WOODSHRIKE WITH OTHER SPECIES IN MIXED SPECIES FEEDING FLOCKS ATTHEKKADY DRUING 1980-’ 81 Species X2 Value 1. Scarlet Minivet 179.70 2. Velvetfronted Nuthatch 83.32 3. Bronzed Drongo 195.50 4. Grey Tit 86.01 5. Goldenbacked Woodpecker 45.10 6. Southern Tree Pie 20.16 7. Jungle Babbler -73.74 8. Tree Pie 15.60 9. Grey Drongo 31.30 10. Small Minivet 38.22 11. Small Green Barbet 9.621 12. Flowerpeckers 6.721 13. Pigmy Woodpecker 13.51 14. Paradise Flycatcher 54.08 15. Leaf warblers 26.05 16. Threetoed Goldenbacked Woodpecker 59.50 17. Heartspotted Woodpecker 55.93 18. Yellownaped Woodpecker 6.941 19. Golden Oriole 5.182 20. Blackheaded Oriole 56.91 21. Whiteheaded Blyth’s Myna 8.471 22. Large Indian Cuckooshrike 18.39 23. B lackheaded C uckoos hrike 13.52 24. Drongo Cuckoo 18.10 -10-17 1 25. Grackle or Hill Myna Note: 2 1 shows level of significance of X P < 0.01 2 has P and all others have P < 0.001 and Brown Fish Owl marauded among the flocks, the first one more frequently than others. In every instance, though almost all the birds produced alarm calls, the drongos and sometimes the Tree Pies also went forward to chase the predators. No successful attack on the flocks was observed. But a few species like Shikra, Brahminy Kite, Grey Hornbill and Tree Pie were observed capturing solitarily feeding Small Green Barbet, Magpie Robin and Malabar Lorikeet. The alarm calls produced by various species were continuous, with various imitation calls which are considered to be a convergence mechanism in mixed flocks for disguise, as ob- served by Bernard (1979). This, along with the tight bunching of individuals, makes it difficult for the predator to single out an individual (Tin- bergen 1951). Dekker (1980) has found that solitary prey individuals were killed by Peregrine Falcon more often than individuals in flocks. Thus flocking is advantageous to all the members of the flock as reported earlier by Moynihan (1962), Morse (1970, 1973), Buskirk et al (1972), Bus- kirk (1976), Gaddis (1980) and Greig-Smith (1981). Besides providing protection and increased corporate vigilance by the members, flocking might also increase the feeding time as observed by Metcalfe (1984) and Monaghan and Metcalfe (1985). Whether the foraging efficiency of the Malabar Woodshrike is increased owing to its association with MFF is not clear; although Ogasawara (1970), Kreba (1973), Fairchild et al (1977) and Geigsmith (1978 a & b) maintain that though the gleaners do not appear to benefit directly, their feeding efficiency might be improved. As the mixed flocks covered more areas feeding actively, the members might be benefiting from not sear- ching in areas already depleted by others. The Malabar Woodshrike being mainly a gleaner is followed by the attending species such as drongos, which could procure food by spending less energy by catching insects flushed out by the gleaners. The Malabar Woodshrike lead the MFF to new areas, and were followed by other species; this has been noticed in other areas of the Western Ghats (V.S. Vijayan, pers. comm.). Its active move- ments and loud and frequent calls might be attract- ing species to the flocks, thus acting as a cohesive force of the MFF. Acknowledgements This study was done along with the work on drongos for my Ph.D. under Dr Salim Ali and FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF MALABAR WOODSHRIKE 399 finanaced by the Salim Ali — Loke Wan Tho Fel- lowship of the Bombay Natural History Society. I thank Dr V.S. Vijayan for encouragement and critically going through the manuscript. Drs. Refer Ali, S.(1969): Birds of Kerala. Oxford University Press, Madras Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Compact edition. Oxford Univ. Press, Delhi. Bell, H.L. (1980): Composition and seasonality of mixed- species flocks of insectivorous birds in the Australian Capital Territory. Emu 80 (4). 227 -233. Bernard, C.J. (1979): Predation and the evolution of social mimicry in birds Am. Nat. 113(4): 613-618. Buskirk, W.H. (1976): Social systems in a tropical forest avifauna, ibid. 110 (972): 293-310. Buskirk, W.H. et al. (1972): Interspecific bird flocks in tropical highland Panama. Auk 89(3): 612-624. Croxall, J.P. (1976): The composition and behaviour of some mixed-species bird flocks in Sarawak. Ibis 118(3): 333-346. (1977): Feeding behaviour and ecology of New Guinea rain forest insectivorous passerines, ibid. 7 79(2): 113-146. Davis, D.E. (1946): A seasonal analysis of mixed flocks of birds in Brazil. Ecology 27: 168-181. Dekker, D. (1980): Hunting success rates, foraging habits and prey selection of peregrine falcons ( Falco peregrinus ) migrating through Central Alberta, Canada. Cand. Field Nat. 94(4): 371-382. Fairchild, L. et al. (1977): Seasonal changes in the feeding behaviour of flocks of seed-eaters and grassquits. ibid 119(1): 85-87. Gaddis, P. (1980): Mixed flcks, Accipeters and an- tipredator behaviour. Condor (3). -3 48 -3 50. GREIG-SMITH, P.W. (1978a): The formation, structure and function of mixed-species insectivorous bird flocks in West African savanna woodland. Ibid 120(3 ):284-296. (1978b): Imitative foraging in mixed- species flocks of Seychelles brids. ibid. 120: 233-235. (1981): The role or alarm responses in the formation of mixed-species flocks of heathland birds. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 8(1): 7-11. Krebs, J.R. (1973): Social learning and the significance of mixed-species flocks of chickadees. (Parus sp.) Can. J. Zool. 51: 1275-1288. Madhav Gadgil and N.V. Joshi of the Indian In- stitute of Science helped me in the statistical analysis of the data. N C E S Macdonald, D.W. & Henderson, D.G. (1977): Aspects of the behaviour and ecology of mixed-species bird flocks in Kashmir. Ibis 119(4): 481-493. McClure, H.E. (1967): The composition of mixed- species flocks in lowland and sub-montane forests of Malaya. Wilson Bull. 79(2):\3\-153. Metcalfe, N.B. (1984): The effects of mixed-species flocking on the vigilance of shore birds: Who do they trust? Anim. behav. 32(4): 986-993. Monaghan, P. & Metcalfe, N.B. (1985): Group forag- ing in wild brown hares: effects of resource distribution and social status, ibid. 33(3): 993-999. Morse, D.H. (1970): Ecological aspects of some mixed- species foraging flocks of birds: Ecol. Monogr. 40(1 ):\ 19-168. (1973): Interactions between tit flocks and sparrowhawks, Accipiter nisus. Ibis 115: 591-593. Mqynihan, M. (1962): The organization and probable evolution of some mixed-species flocks of neotropical birds. Smithsonian Misc. collections 143 , 7, End of Vol. Ogasawara, K. (1965): The analysis of the mixed flock of the family Paridae in the botanical garden of Toholu Univer- sity, Sendai: 1 . Seasonal change of the flock formation. Sci, Rep. Tohoku Univ. Ser.IVBio. 31(3): 167-180. (1970): Analysis of mixed -flocks of tits in the botanical garden of Tohoku University, Sandai: II. Foraging layers by species and their interrelations within the mixed flock. ID. Flock behaviour and inter-specific relations within the mixed flock. Misc. Rep. Yamashina Inst. Ornothol. 6(1/2): 170-187. Sedgwick, E.H. (1949): Mixed associations of small birds in the southwest of Western Australia. Emu 49: 9-13. Tinbergen, N. (1951): The Study of Instinct. Oxford Univ. Press (Clarendon), London and New York. Vuayan, L. (1984): Comparative biology of drongos (Family Dicruridae, Class Aves) with special reference to ecological isolation. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Bombay. Waser, P.M. (1984): Chance and mixed-species associa- tions. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiology 15 (3): 1 97-202. Vuayan, L. & Joshi, N.V. (in prep.): Dynamics of the Mixed species bird flocks at Thekkady, Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala. MATERIAL FOR THE FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR - 8 PTERIDOPHYTES P.V. Bole and M.R. Almeida (Continued from Vol. 83(3): 594) KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF PTERIDOPHYTA OF MAHABALESHWAR 1 . Leaves simple, one nerved, close and small relatively to the axis. Sporangia orbicular or semi-orbicular, compressed, 1 -celled, 2-valved, at the base of the sporophylis which are grouped in a spike 2 2. Isosporous, leaves multifarious without ligule ; LYCOPODIACEAE 2. Heterosporous 3 3. Leaves often 4-farious and differing in shape and size, with a microscopic ligule , Selaginellaceae 3. Leaves multifarious with ligule Isoetaceae I . Leaves large relatively to the axis, multinerved and usually compound. Sporangia on the margins or on the back of the leaves or on modified leaves or borne in sporocarps 4 4. Sporangia produced from plural sub-epidermal cells. Sori without an annular ring Ophioglossaceae 4. Sporangia developed from a single epidermal cell. Sori with an annular ring 5 5. Sori opening across the apex, furnished with a short horizontal ring Osmund ace ae 5. Sori not opening across the apex 6 6. Sori two-valved, opening down the side, crowned by a operculiform complete ring SCHIZAEACEAE 6. Sori opening by bursting as a stroma, surrounded by a jointed vertical and uncomplete elastic ring 7 7. Indusium usually present, true or false 8 8. Spores trilete 9 9. True indusium present Denstadtiaceae 9. True indusium not present 10 10. Sori restricted more or less in the centre of the frond Gymnogrammaceae 10. Sori running along the margins or covering entire lower surface 11 I I . Margins irregularly folded and very much curled SlNOPTERIDACEAE 11. Margins entire or deeply cut, reflexed but not curled 12 12. Sori continuous, exposed at maturity Pteridaceae 12. Sori broken at intervals, covered by reflexed margins even at maturity Adiantaceae 8. Spores monolete 13 13. Sori pocket- shaped or flap-like, veins free Davalliaceae 13. Sori circular, veins reticulate 14 14. Indusium linear or oblong or sometimes horse-shoe shaped, opening towards the mid-rib, outer margins attached to theveins 15 15. Scales clathrate; the two vascular bundles at the base of the stipe uniting upwards in X-Shape Aspleniaceae 15. Scales not clathrate; vascular bundles unite in U -shape Athyriaceae 14. Indusium elliptical, sub-globose or reniform, fixed to the lamina in the centre or at the sinus 16 16. Pinnules with reticulate veins Aspidiaceae 1 6. Pinnules with parallel veins Thelypteridaceae 7. Indusium absent Polypodlaceae LYCOPODIACEAE Lycopodium Linn. 1. Lycopodium hainiltonii Spreng. Syst. 5: 429, 1828; Mahabale, J. Univ. Bombay 6(5): 69,1938. L. obtusifolium Hamilt. in Don, Prod. FI. Nepal. 18, 1828 (non Sw.). L. alvifolium Wall, ex Hook, el Grev. Ic. t. 233, 1829 . L. empelrifolium Dalzell, Hook., J. Bot. 4: 1 13, 1853. L. obtusatum Fairbank, Sensu Birdwood, in J. Bombay naL Hist. Soc. 10(3): 430, 1896. This epiphytic Lycopodium is found near Wada, on the way to Mahabaleshwar, especially on tall mango trees. It grows erect or sub-erect on the host plant in the monsoon, but is usually seen dried and hanging soon after the rains stop. It is a rare species and near Wada it is found at one or two spots only. Spores: September - December. Specimen collected: M.R. Almeida - 247. FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR 401 Selaginellaceae Selaginella Pallisot de Beauvois (nom. cons.) 1 . Median leaves not aristate; plant 20 cm tall S. delicatula 1. Median leaves aristate; plants less than 10 cm S. proniflora 1 . Selaginella delicatula (Desv.) Alston, J. Bot. 70: 282, 1932. Lycopodium delicatulum Desv., Poir. Encycl. Suppl. 3: 584, 1814. S. canaliculata Graham, Cat. Bombay PI. 243, 1839. This is a common species in shady places. It grows on hill- slopes in abundance. It is an erect species, occasionally producing a few adven- titious stilt roots, from the lower parts of the stem. SPECIMEN SEEN: M.B. Vasantha - S.N. (Sept. 1967). 2. Selaginella proniflora (Lamk.) Baker, J. Bot 22: 150, 1855. Lycopodium proniflora Lamk. Encycl. 3: 652, 1791. L. caespitosum Dalz., Hook. Kew Journ. Bot. 4: 114, 1852 (non Blume 1828). This species is found on rocks and on bouldered soil in clusters. The plant is seen to be slightly spreading in juvenile stage but assumes an erect position later. occurrence: August-November. SPECIMEN: P.V. Bole-2306. ISOETACEAE Isoetes Linn. 1. Peripheral strands present; velum rudimentary /. dixit ei 1 . Peripheral strands absent; velum almost complete I. sahyadrica 1. Isoetes dixitei Shende, J. Univ. Bombay 14: 50, 1945. Found in shallow pools of water on Wilson Point, during the second half of monsoon. OCCURRENCE: July. SPECIMEN: M.R. Almeida— s.n. (BLAT). 2. Isoetes sahyadrica Mahabale, Curr. Sci. 7 : 61-2,1938. This species is also described from similar habitat as that of /. dixitei Shende. Unfortunately, type materials are not preserved and presence of peripheral strands on which/, dixitei is segregated from it could not be verified in the absence of type materials. Otherwise both have common charac- ters. All specimens we have examined have shown peripheral strands. OPfflOGLOS S ACEAE Ophioglossum Linn. 1. Ophioglossum reticulatum Linn. Sp. PI. 2: 1063, 1753; Gray in Gazett. Bombay Pres. 25:377, 1886; Blatter, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 18(3): 612, 1908; Mahabale, J. Univ. Bombay 6(5): 109, 1938. Found under the shade of trees on hill — slopes and among grasses in the plains in mon- soon. It can be easily recognised from other species due to its long fleshy and running roots. occurrence: July-November. specimen seen: M.R. Almeida-755. OSMUNDACEAE Osmunda Linn. 1. Osmunda regalis Linn. Sp. PL 2: 1065, 1753; Gray, Gazett. Bombay Press. 25: 377, 1886; Birdwood, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 2(2): 126, 1887; Blatter & d’Almeida, Ferns of Bombay, 192, 1922; Eubank J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 36(1): 193, 1932. The royal fern occurs mostly on the banks of rivers and streams, usually its roots are sub- merged in running water. occurrence: Throughout the year. specimen seen: M.R. Almeida-s.n. SCfflZAEACEAE Lygodium Sw. 1 . Lygodium flexuosum (L.) Sw. in Schrad. Journ. 1800/2; 106, 1801; Graham, Cat. Bombay 242; Birdwood, in J. Bombay 402 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 nat. Hist. Soc. 1(4): 211, 1886; Gray, 377; Blatter & d’Almeida, 195. Ophioglossum flexuosum Linn. Sp. PI. 2: 1063, 1753. A seasonal monsoon fem which starts grow- ing at the beginning of the monsoon and lasts until January. Pteridaceae P ter is Linn. 1 . Fronds simply pinnate 2 2. Pinnae more than 3 cm wide P. pellucida 2. Pinnae less than 1.5 cm wide P. vittata 1 . Fronds bipinnate 3 3. Lowest pinnae having more than one lobe (up to 5 lobes) on the abaxial side. P. quadriaurita (p.p.) 3. Lowest pinnae having only one lobe on abaxial side 4 4. Copious stiff hairs on rachis and costae. P. asperula 4. No stiff hairs on rachis and costae 5 5. Veinlets usually once forked and then free P. quadriaurita (p.p.) 5. Lowest pairs of veinlets of the adjoining veins unite in pairs into an arch P. biaurita 1 . Pteris asperula J. Sm. in Hook. J. Bot. 3: 405, 1841. P. quadriaurita var. setigera Hook. Sp. Fil. 2: 181, 1858. A common species in shady places. It can be easily separated from its allies due to the presence of prickly hairs on its costae. SPECIMEN SEEN: M.R. Almeida-155. 2. Pteris biaurita Linn. Sp. PL 1076, 1753; Eubank, J, Bombay nat. Hist. soc. 36: 191, 1932. Campteria biaurita (Linn.) Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 75A, 1841. P. quadriaurita forma biaurita (Linn.) Blatter & d’ Almeida, Ferns of Bombay, 89, 1922. Very common all over Mahabaleshwar and occurs in association with Pteris quadriaurita Retz. from which it is very difficult to separate, in sterile condition. In herbarium, however, it could be easily separated due to its costular elongated areoles. specimens examined: S.V. Ranade-s.n. 3. Pteris pellucida Presl., Rel. Haenk. 1 :55, 1825; Gray, 376 Birdwood, 211; Blatter & d’Almeida, 86. Found in very thickly shaded places and grows generally on black, humid and loose soil. SPECIMEN EXAMINED: P.V. Bole-127. 4. Pteris quadriaurita Retz., Obs. 6: 38, 1791; Gray, 376; Birdwood, 211; Eubank, 190; Blatter & d’Almeida, 88. One of the common species all over Mahabaleshwar. It is usually found on the sloping grounds on yellowish loamy soil. SPECIMEN SEEN: G.L. Shah-10659. 5. Pteris vittata Linn. Sp. PI. 2: 1074, 1753; P. longifolia auct. (non Linn. 1753); Hook., Sp. Fil. 2: 157, 1858; Bedd. F.S.I. 11, t. 33, 1863 & Handb. 106, f. 55, 1883; Gray, 376; Birdwood, 431; Blatter & d’Almeida, 83. A common species found in crevices of stone walls. It is also found on the ground but it does not produce luxuriant growth on soil. It grows more gregariously in winter than in mon- soon. specimen seen: E. Gonzalves-s.n. SlNOPTERIDACEAE Aleuritopteris Fee 1. Only stipes paleaceous A.farinosa 1 . Stipes as well as rachia paleaceous A. albomarginata 1 . Aleuritopteris albomarginata (Clarke) Ching, in Hong Kong Nat. 10: 1999, 1941. Cheilanthes albomarginata C.B. Clarke, in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 2 (Bot.): 456, t. 52, 1880; Bedd. Handb. 94, 1883; Blatter & d’Almeida, 79, f. 6. A quite common fern occurring mostly on embankments. SPECIMEN SEEN: B. Balamani-304. 2. Aleuritopteris farinosa (Forsk.) Fee, Gen. Fil. 153, 1852. Pteris farinosa Forsk. FI. Aegypt. Arab. 187, 1775; Graham, Cat. Bombay Pres. 241, 1839. FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR 403 Cheilanlhesfarinos (Forsk.) Kaulf. Enum. Fil. 202, 1824; Bedd. F.S.I. 65, t. 191, 1863 & handb. 92; Bird wood, 211; Gray. 376; Blatter & d’Almeida 77, t. 6, f. 31; Eubank, 194. A common and abundant species on open embankments. It is generally known as silver fern due to powdery mildew present on the under surface of leaves, it is a typical monsoon species and starts withering and curling its leaves imme- diately after the rains stop. SPECIMEN SEEN: P.V. Bole-1219. Gymnogrammaceae Anno gramma L Annogramma leptophylla (Linn.) Link., Fil. Sp. Cultae, 137, 1841. Polyp odium leptophyllum Linn., Sp. PI. 2: 1092, 1753. Gymnogramme leptophylla (Linn.) Desv., Berl. Mag. 5: 305, 1811; Bedd., F.S.I. 88, t. 270 & Handb. 382; Gray, 376; Blatter & d’Almeida, 175. Found on the sides of old walls, and on tree-trunks during monsoon and in winter. SPECIMEN COLLECTED: M.R. Almeida - 7 1 2. Adiantaceae Adiantum Linn. 1. Fronds simply pinnate 2 2. Pinnae petiolate, kidney-shaped, not deeply incised A. philipp ensis 2. Pinnae sessile, fan-shaped, deeply incised A. incisum 1 . Fronds tripinnate or decompound A . cuneatum. 1. Adiantum incisum Forsk. FI. Egypt. Arab. 187, 1775; A. caudatum auct. (non Linn. 1753), quod, Bedd. Ferns Brit. India, t. 2, 1868 & Handb. 82, 2.44; Gray, 376; Blatter & d’Almeida, 61. A rare species in shady places. It grows on black soil, which is rich in humus due to the decayed leaves. SPECIMEN SEEN: M.S. Samant-s.n. 2. Adiantum cuneatum Langs, el. Fish., Ic. Fil. 23, t. 26. 1810; Blatter & d’Almeida, 72, f. 28. This, an introduced garden species some- / , times found growing wild, probably as an escape from cultivation. specimen collected: M.R. Almeida - 742. 3. Adiantum philippense Linn. Sp. PI. 2: 1094, 1753. A. lunulatum Burm.f., FI. Ind. 235, 1768; Graham, 242; Beddome, Handb. ,115; Birdwood, 211; Gray, 376; Blatter & d! Almeida, 92, f. 35. A common and abundant monsoon species found all over in shady places. It grows luxuriant- ly on embankments but it disappears immediately after monsoon. Some times it is seen growing on trees in crevices of branches but it is not an epiphyte. specimen collected: M.R. Almeida - 246. Denstadtiaceae Pteridium Scop 1. Pteridium aquilinum (Linn.) Kuhn, in V. Deck. Reis. 3/3, Bot. 11, 1879. Pteris aquilina Linn., Sp. PI. 2: 1075, 1753; Graham, 241; Bedd., F.S.I. 14, t. 42 & Handb. 1 15; Birdwood, 211; Gray, 376; Blatter & d’Almeida, 92, f. 35. The commonest and dominant species of plains of higher hills at Mahabaleshwar. It is the first species to reappear after any forest clearing is done. It is locally used for thatching the roofs of huts. specimen collected: M.R. Almeida - 155. Davalliaceae Leucostegia. Presl. 1 . Leucostegia immersa Presl, Tent. Pterid. 95, 1836; beddome, Handb. 51; Birdwood, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 10(3): 431; Blatter & d’almeida, 42, f. 5A; Eubank, 191. Acrophorus immersa Moore, in Proc. Linn. Soc. London 2: 286, 1839; Bedd., F.S.I. 4, t. 1 1, 1863; Gray, 376. Quite a common epiphytic or lithophytic species at Mahabaleshwar. It is a common fem but it lasts up to January end only. 404 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 specimen seen: M.R. Almeida - 735. Thelypteridaceae Christella Holttum 1 . Christella papilio (Hope) Holttum Apud Nayar, Comp. Ferns Brit. India 208, 1974. Nephrodium papilio Hope, J. Bombay naL Hist. Soc. 12:625, 1899. Nep hr odium molle var. major Bedd., Handb. Suppl. 76, 1892 (p.p.). Quite a common fern on sides of water- courses and in moist shady forest under growths. Aspleniaceae Asplenium Linn. 1. Epiphytes; texture thick, leathery A. indicum 1 . Terrestrial; texture thin, membranaceous A. inaquilalerale 1. Asplenium inaquilaterale Willd., Sp. PI. (ed.4) 5: 322, 1810; Hieron, Hedwigia 61: 22, 1919. A. trapeziforme (non Roxb., 1832) sensu Beddome, F.S.I. 45, t. 134, 1863; Gray, 376. A. lunulatum var. trapeziforme Beddome, Handb. FBI 148, 1883; Birdwood, J. Bombay naL Hist. Soc. 2((2); 127, 1887; BlatL & McCann. 105 (p.p. excluding synonym) Found in white loamy soil and calciferous deposits. It is a rare fern at Mahabaleshwar. SPECIMEN SEEN: N.Y. Dalzell - s.n. (1878). 2. Asplenium indicum Sledge, in Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Botany, 3(6): 264-5, 1965. Asplenium laciniatum sensu Beddome, F.S.I. 49, L 145, 1863 & Handb. 154, 1883 (non Don, 1825); Birdwood, 211; Blatter & d’ Almeida, 108; Eubank, 193. A. planicaule Wall, ex Metten., Asplen. 157, 1859; Gray, 376; Birdwood, J. Bombay nat. Hist Soc. 1(4): 211 (non lows, 1858). A common epiphytic fern growing mostly on Eugenia and Memecylon species. But after wet season it is found in dried condition and fronds are seen hanging on host stems. Athyriaceae 1 . Sori only one on the acroscopic sides of the veins; annuals Athyrium 1 . Sori bothsides of the veins; perennials Diplazium Athyrium Roth 1 . Frond simply pinnate, or sometimes lobed with much larger acroscopic lobe to each pinna; pinnae sessile A.falcatum 1 . Fronds bipinnate or tripinnate; no large lobe to the acroscopic side of the pinnae; at least lower pinnae petiolate 2 2. Fronds up to 30 cm tall 3 3. Sori usually kidney-shaped A. anisopterum 3 . Sori ovate, running alongtheveins A. hohenakerianum 2. Fronds above 40 cm tall 4 4. Fronds tripinnate A . spinulosum 4. Fronds bipinnate 5 5. Lobes ovate, margins and apex serrate A.filix- foemina \ax.flabellata 5. Lobes delotoid, margins and apex fimbriate A.filix-foemina var. pectinata 1 . Athyrium anisopteris Christ, in Bull. Herb. Boiss. 6: 962, 1898; Sledge, in Bull. Brit. Mus. Bot. 2(2): 289, 1962. A. macrocarpum Bedd., F.S.I. 51, t. 152, 1863 & Handb. F.B.I. 165, 1883 (p.p.) (non Aspidium macrocarp w/wBlume); Blatter & d’Almeida, 112. A rare species found near watercourses. It is very much allied to A. hohenakerianum Moore, but it differs from it in having kidney shaped sori. occurrence: October. SPECIMEN SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 71 1. 2. Athyrium falcatum Bedd., Ferns South India, 51, t. 151, 1863 & Handb. F.B.I. 164; Gray, 376; Blatter & d’Almeida, 113; Eubank, 194. A. drepanophyllum Baker, in Hook. & Baker, Syn. Fil. (ed. 2) 226, 1868. One of the common monsoon species found all over Mahabaleshwar. It is generally found on earthen embankments in semi-shaded places. It has a fleshy succulent stem. occurrence: July - October. specimen collected: M.R. Almeida - 706. FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR 405 3. Athyrium filix-foemina var. fiabellata Wall, ex clarke, in Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 2(bot. 1)493, t. 60, 1880; Beddome, Handb. 170; Birdwood, 123; Blatter & d’Almeida 115. One of the common ferns at Mahabalesh- war. It grows on shady earthen embankments. It is usually seen with A. hohenakerianum Moore and A. falcatum Bedd., and is very difficult to separate from the former in dried herbarium material but is easily recognisable in the field due to its less succulent nature. SPECIMEN SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 725a, 727. 4. Athyrium filix-foemina var. pectinata Wall, ex Clarke, in Trans. Linn. Soc. London, 2(bot. 1); 492, t. 57, 1880; Blatter & d’Almeida, 1 14. A. pectinatum Wall, ex Hope, in J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 14(2): 253, 1902 (non Bedd., 1863). A. filix-foemina (non Linn. 1753) sensu Bedd. F.S.I. 51, t. 154, 1863. This variety is also found very commonly along with its allies. It generally grows on earthen embankments in monsoon but it dries off soon after the rains stop. specimen SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 710. 5. Athyrium hohenakerianum (Kze.) Moore, Index Fil. 126, 1857; Beddome, F.S.I., 150 & Handb. 163; Blatter & d’Almeida, lll.f. 9; Eubank, 194. Allantodea hohenakerianum Kuntze, in Schk. Fil. suppl. 2:63, t. 26, 1837. The most succulent among the ferns. It is found on earthen embankments during monsoon, and is the first species to dry off immediately after rains. SPECIMEN SEEN: P.V. Bole - 1 1 16. 6. Athyrium spinulosum (Maxim) Milde, Bot. Zeit. 376, 1866; Bedd., Handb. 161. Cystopteris spinulosa Maxim., Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. 9: 340, 1859. There is one specimen of this species at central National Herbarium, Calcutta identified by its collector as .Athyriumfilix-foemina. On the specimen there are remarks written in pencil. “This is a remarkable cut and developed fern, which I can not name”. On this sheet there is also a mark of initials followed by date - 25/1/6, which according to the staff of CNH, is the signature of Sir George Watt. They are of the opinion that this sheet is from King’s collection. DiplaziumS w. 1. Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Swartz., Syn. Fil. 92 & 285, 1806. Hemionitis esc ulenta Retz., Obs. Bot. 38, 1791. Callipteris easculenta J. Sm. ex Moore et Houst., Gard. Mag. bot. 3: 265, 1851; Bedd., F.S.I. 54, L 164; Gray, 376. Anisopteris esculentum (Retz.) Presl, Rel. Hoenk. 1(6): 45, 1836; Bedd., Handb. 192, f. 94; Blatter & d’Almeida, 120; Eubank, 193. A common fern on riverbanks. Sometimes seen partially submerged in water It grows well inland and is also grown in pots at several places. specimen seen: T. Cooke - s.n. Aspidiaceae 1. Veins anastomosing Teclaria 1. Veins free 2 2. Indusium hairy; whole plant covered with silky unicellular hairs Hypodematiwn 2. Indusium glabrous; plants not covered with unicellular hairs Dryopteris Dryopteris Adartson 1 . Fronds ovate-lanceolate, dimorphic; dimorphic; fertile pinnae almost half of the size of those of sterile D. cochleata 1 . Fronds more or less triangular, fertile as well as sterile pinnae similar in size and shape D. sparsa 1 . Dryopteris cochleata (D. Don) C. Chr., Index Fil. 258, 1905. Nephrodium cochlealum D. Don, Prod. FI. Nepal. 6, 1825. Lastrea cochleata (D. Don) Moore, Ind. Fil. 88, 1857; Gray, 376. L.filix-mass var. cochleata Bedd., F.S.I. 51, t. 115, 1863 & Hanb. 250; Birdwood, 128; Blatter & D’Almeida 143; Eubank, 191. 9 406 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 A quite common fern in deeply shaded forest areas, in humid black soil among decaying leaf mould. SPECIMEN SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 778. 2. Dryopteris sparsa (D. Don) O. Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 2:813,1891. Nephrodium sparsum D. Don, Prod. FI. Nepal. 6, 1825. Lastrea sparsa (D. Don) Moore, Index Fil. 87, 1858; Bedd., F.S.L, 36, t. 103, Handb. 252; Gray, 376; Birdwood, 432; Blatter & d’Almeida, 144. Found near the waterfalls in shady places. specimen SEEN: A. Dhanraj - 413. 3. Dryopteris odontoloma (Moore) C. Chr., ActaHort. Gothob. 1:59, 1924. Lastrea odontoloma Moore, Ind. Fil. 90, 1858; Beddome. Handb. F.B.I. 248, f. 128, 1883; Blatter & d’ Almeida, 141. This species has been reported from Kate’s point, Mahabaleshwar, by Blatter & d’Almeida (1922). We have not been able to locate it in the field as well as in any herbarium. Hypodematium Kunze 1. Hypodematium crenatum (Forsk.) Kuhn, V. Deck. Reis. bot. 3(2): 37, 1879. Polypodium crenatum Forsk., FI. Aegypt. Arab. 185, 1775. Lastrea crenata (Forsk.) Bedd., Handb. F.S.I. 258, 1883; Blatter & d’Almeida, 147. Found on old walls and on old earthen em- bankments. It is also found lithophytic on rocky surfaces in shady places. Tectaria Cav. 1 . Margins almost entire or slightly crenate I. macrophylla 1 . Margins serrately dentate. I. macrodonta 1 . Tectaria macrodonta (Fee) C. Chr. in Index Fil. suppl. 3: 181,1934. Saqenia macrodonta Fee, Gen. Fil. 213, t. 24A, f. 1, 1852. Aspidium cicutarium (non Swartz, 1803) sensu Bedd., Handb. Ferns British India, 220, 1883; Birdwood, 211; Blatter & d’Almeida, 132, f. 12; Eubank, 193 (non Polypodium cicutarium Linn., 1764). Saqenia coadunata Wall, ex Bedd., F.S.I., 28, L 81, 1863; Birdwood, 211; Gray, 376. Aspidium coadunatum Hook, et Grev., Icon. Fil t. 202, 1831. The commonest species found at Mahabaleshwar in shady places, in loose, black soils. specimen SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 248. 2. Tectaria macrophylla (Sw.) Copel. in Phillippine J. Sci. Bot. 2:413, 1907. Aspidium macrophyllum Swartz, Syn. Fil. 43 & 239, 1806; Blatter & d’Almeida, 133. Known from only one collection from Mahabaleshwar. specimen SEEN: N. Gunjathkar - 34 (Poona Univ. Herb). Polypodia ceae 1 . Sori acrostichold; fronds dimorphic Leptochilus 1 . Sori round; frond not dimorphic 2 2. Sori in a single row on either side of the midrib Lepisorus 2. Sori scattered over entire frond Microsorium Lepisorus Ching 1 . Lepisorus nudus (Hook.) Ching, in Bull. Fan. Mem. Inst. Biol. Bot. 4: 83, 1933. Pleopeltis nuda Hook. Exot. FI. 1: 63, 1823. P. linearis Moore, Ind. Fil. 346, 1862 (non Kaulf, 1824); Bedd., Handb. 346; Birdwood, 128; Blatter & d’Almeida, 170; Eubank, 191. A common epiphytic fern all over Mahabaleshwar. This species develops fronds in monsoon which dry and curl after the rainy season. The rhizome remains dormant during summer. Common hosts for this epiphytic species are Eugenia jambolana and Memecylon umbel- latum. specimen SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 726. Leptochilus. Kaulf. 1 . Leptochilus lanceolata Fee, Arcost. 37, t. 47, f. 1, 1845. Gymnopteris lanceolata Bedd., F.B.I. suppl. 26, 1876. G. variabilis var. lanceolata FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR 407 Bedd., Handb. F.B.1. 429, 1883. Birdwood, 127; Blatter & d’ Almeida, 186. Found near watercourses attached to rocks. specimen seen: T. Cooke - s.n. 1825. Pleopeltis membranaceus (Don) Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit India, 357, 1883; Gray, 376; Birdwood, 128; Blatter & d ’Almeida, 172; Eubank, 191. The commonest and most abundant fem at Microsorium Link Mahabaleshwar. Every Ficus racemosa tree in Microsorium membranaceum (Don) Ching, Mahabaleshwar Bazar is covered with this species in Bull. Fam. Mem. Inst. Biol. bot. 4: 295, in monsoon. It grows on rocks and on roofs of old 1933. houses. Polypodium membranaceum Don, Prodr. FI. Nepal. 2, SPECIMEN SEEN: M.R. Almeida - 701 . ( Concluded ) NEW DESCRIPTIONS DESCRIPTION OF A NEW RASBORINE FISH, ESOMUS MANIPURENSIS FROM MANIPUR, INDIA1 Raj Tilak and Seema Jain2 ( With two text-figures ) A new rasborine fish belonging to the genus Esomus Swainson, collected from a stream near Imphal, Manipur is described and figure in this paper. The description of the new species extends the range of distribution of the genus Esomus to Eastern India as far as Manipur. Till date three species of genus Esomus are known from India. Fig. 1. Lateral view of Esomus manipurensis, sp. nov. Introduction The recently collected material of the genus Esomus , from a stream near Imphal, Manipur has been studied and determined as a new taxon which has been named Esomus manipurensis. The species is described and figured. Two species of this genus are known so far from India, E. dan- ricus (Hamilton) and E. barbatus (Jerdon). The present species is the third. Accepted January 1988. zoological Survey of India, Dehra Dun. Description Esomus manipurensis sp. nov. (Figs. 1-2) B. m, D. 8 (D/6), P. 13 (1/12), V. 7 (1/6), A. 8 (III/5), Lat. 1. 30-31, Lat. tr. 5/1, Barbels 4, Predorsal scales 16. Body oblong, slightly compressed. Mouth opening small and directed upwards. Jaws highly protrusible. Symphysial knob well- defined. Head small and its length 5.6 1-5.63 times in total length and 4.28-4.44 times in standard length. Snout small, length of snout 4.44-4.50 times and postor- NEW DESCRIPTIONS Fig. 2. Ventral aspect of head and anterior part of body of Esomus manipurensis, sp. nov. bital head length 2.00- 2.12 times in head length. Diameter of eye 3.00-3.60 times in head length. 1.00-1.33 times in interorbital width and 0.67- 0.83 times in length of snout. Depth of body 4.77 -5.27 times in total length and 3.64-4.00 times in standard length. Width of body 12.63-14.57 times in total length and 9.63- 1 1 .40 times in stand- ard length. Lateral line double, with a gap equal to half width of scale between two lateral lines, incom- plete, extending to the anal origin with one scale between the 1st lateral line and base of ventral fin. Barbels 4, rostral pair short and extending upto the posterior margin of the eye, maxillary ones long and extending beyond the ventral origin. Dorsal fin commences beyond the ventral fins and in advance of the anal fin origin. It is nearer the base of caudal than the head, the last undivided ray equal to or longer than the head and its length 0.95-1.06 times in head length. Length of dorsal fin base 2.40-2.66 times in head length. While that of anal 2.25-2.35 times in the same dimension. The length of longest anal ray 0.90- 409 1 .00 times in head length. The length of anal fin base 0.88-0.94 times in length of dorsal fin base. Longest ray of pectoral fin is much longer than the head and extends far beyond the origin of ventral fin, its length is 0.60-0.67 times in head length and 0.77-0.83 times in distance between the origin of pectoral and ventral fins, length of ventral fin 0.90-0.95 times in head length and 0.90-1.05 times in distance between origin of pelvic and anal fins. Caudal fin forked and comparatively longer. Length of caudal fin 0.71-0.75 times in head length, 4.14-4.33 times in total length and 3.14- 3.33 times in standard length. Least height of caudal peduncle 1.60-2.00 times in its length. Predorsal and postdorsal distances 1.92- 2.02 times and 3.75-4.12 times respectively ift total length and 1.47-1.54 times and 2.85-3.14 times respectively in standard length. Preventral and postventral distances 2.36-2.59 times and 2.63 - 3.00 times respectively in total length and 1.82-1.98 times and 2.00-2.29 times respectively in standard length. Preanal and postanal distances 1 .73-1.82 times and 4.83-5.20 times respectively in total length and 1.31-1.39 times and 3.67-4.40 times respectively in standard length. Coloration: A black lateral stripe or streak, fainting anteriorly. Types: Holotype 1 ex., (58 mm in total length) Reg. No. NRS/ZSI/F. 434 Zoological Sur- vey of India,, Dehradun, Locality: stream near Imphal, Manipur. Collector: Dr Raj Tilak. Date of Collection: 25- 12-1986. Paratypes: 4 exs. (50.5- 52.5 mm in total length) Reg. No. NRS/ZSI/F. 435. Locality, collector and date of collection same as in Holotype. Remarks Two species of Esomus, namely E.danricus and E. barbatus are known from India (Hora and Mukerji 1928); E. danricus is found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Orissa, Assam and South India, and E. barbatus is only known from South India. The newly described species, E. manipurensis from Manipur differs from both these species in characters given in Table 1. The newly described species, Esomus 410 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 COMPARISON OF CHARACTERS OF 11 IE INDIAN SPECIES OF THE GENUS Esomus Characteristics E. manipurensis sp. nov. (Hamilton) E. danricus (Jerdon) E. barbatus 1. Head length in total length 5.61-5.83 4.35-5.40 4.30-4.58 2. Head length in standard length 4.28-4.44 3.35-4.13 3.40-3.76 3. Eye in head length 3.00-3.60 3.30-4.13 4.38-4.44 4. Depth of body in total length 4.77-5.27 4.93-5.92 (5.46) (5.46) 6.25-6.61 5. Depth of body in standard length 3.64-4.00 3.71-4.57 5.23 6. Snout in head legnth 4.44-4.50 3.40_4-57 4.25-4.40 7. Eye in snout length 0.67-0.83 0.78-1.14 (0.96) 1.00 8. Length of longest dorsal ray in head length 0.95-1.06 1.04-1.55 1.21-1.25 9. Length of pectoral fin in head length 0.60-0.67 0.67-0.89 0.89-1.00 10. Length of pelvic fin in head length 0.90-0.95 1.00-1.53 1.34-1.54 11. Caudal in total length 4.14-4.33 3.80-5.00 (4.39) 4.77-5.70 12. Lateral line Double, incomplete extending to origin of anal fin, 30-31 scales Single, incomplete piercing 4-6 scales, 28-29 scales Single, complete 31-32 scales 13. Lateral transverse 6(5/l/2+l/2) 8(5/3) 7(5/2) 14. Predorsal scales 16 18 17 15. Maxillary barbels Cross ventral origin may or may not extend to ventral Cross pectoral origin 16. Number of branched pectoral rays 12 10 11 17. Number of branched pelvic rays 6 7 8 18. Coloration. Lateral black streak, fainting anteriorly base. Lateral band extending from eye to caudal No colour band NEW DESCRirriONS 411 manipurensis , remotely resembles E. meiallicus described by Ahl (1923) from Siam but a detailed comparison with this species can be made only after the material of E. metallicus is available for study. The description of the new species extends the range of distribution of the genus Esomus to Manipur. So far no species of Esomus has been reported from Manipur (Hora 1921 , Mcnon 1 950, Refer AHL, E. (1923): Ichthyologische Mitteilung. IV. Fine Revision der Cypriniden Gattung Esomus. Milt. Zool. Mus., Berl.,11: 38-43. HORA, S.L. (1921): Fish and Fisheries of Manipur with some observations on those of the Naga Hills. Rec. Indian Mus., 22: 165-214; pis. IX-XII. HORA, S.L. & MUKERJI, D.D. (1928): Notes on fishes Menon 1952). Acknowledgements We are grateful to Director, Zoological Sur- vey of India, Calcutta and Mr. Gonchandra Shar- ma, Research Scholar, Department of Life Sciences, Manipur University, Kanchipur, Im- phal, for his help in collection of the material. •NCES in the Indian Museum. XVI. On the fishes of the genus Esomus Swainson. Rec. Indian Mus., 30: 41-56. MENON, A.G.K. (1950): Notes on fishes in the Indian Museum, XLIV. Fishes of Kosi Himalayas, Nepal. Rec. In- dian Mus., 47: 231-237. (1952): On a small collection of fish from Manipur, Assam. Rec. Indian Mus. 50: 265-270. INDOGRAMMODES GEN. NOV. FOR POLYGRAMMODES PECTINICORNALIS (GUENEE) (PYRAUSTINAE: PYRALIDAE: LEPIDOPTERA)1 JAGB1R S. KlRTI AND H.S. ROSE2 {With four text-figures ) The species Polygrammodes pectinicornalis s (Guenee) known from certain Indian localities is assigned to a new genus Indogrammodes. The generic characters of the new genus are defined. Introduction During the course of studies on the taxonomy of Indian species of the subfamily Pyraustinae, four individuals of Polygrammodes pectinicornalis (Guenee) were collected from Jatinga (North Cachar Hills) and Kohima (Nagaland). From the study of relevant literature, as quoted under remarks, it is felt that the generic assignment of this species has remained indeter- 1 Accepted March 1988. department of Zoology, Punjabi University, Patiala 147002, Punjab (India). minate for the past many years. In order to stand- ardize its status, a new genus Indogrammodes has been proposed and the generic characters have been defined. Genus Indogrammodes gen. nov. Type-species: Botys pectinicornalis Guenee Pectinicornalis Guenee, Delt. & Pyral., p. 326 (1854) (Botys) (Zentr.-Indien). — Walker, Cat. Lep. Het. Brit. Mus., 18, p. 647 (1859) (Botys). — Lederer, Wien. Ent. Monatschr., 7, p. 391 (1963) (P achy nod). — Walker, Cat. Lep. Het. Brit. Mus., 34, p. 1481 (1865) (Pachynoa). — Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 875 (1885). 412 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 (P achy nod). — Sw inhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 875 (1885). (Pachynoa). - Swinhoe & Cotes, Cat. Moths India, 5, p. 641 (1888) Pachynoa). — Hampson, Fauna Brit. India Moths, 4. p. 398 (1896) (Pachynoa), Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., p. 197 (1899) ( Polygrammodes [Pachynoa]). — Swin- hoe, Cat. Lep. Het. Oxford Mus., 2, p. 524 (1900) (Pitacanda). Labial palpus porrect and rostriform, ex- ceeding head by the length of latter; second seg- ment moderately scaled; third short, with a pointed tuft of scales in front. Maxillary palpus filiform. Antenna of male modified, flagellum with 10-12 basal segments dilated, then pectinated for most of its length and heavily ciliated at distal end; simple in female. Fore wing with discal cell excatly half the length of wing; vein R2 originat- ing from slightly before anterior angle of cell, apposed to R3+4; stalk of R3+4 as long as free parts of R3 and R4; R5 strongly curved and ap- proximated to R3+4; Mi from anterior angle of cell, thick at base and slightly curved; M2, M3 and Cui approximated basally; anal loop weak. Hind wing with discal cell less than half the length of wing; veins Rs and Mi shortly stalked; M2, M3 and Cui from posterior angle of cell, the former two approximated at base. Tibiae with outer spurs half the length of inner spurs. Male genitalia: Uncus very long, curved, dilated at tip, the later setose with hair-like setae; gnathos absent; tuba analis half the length of uncus; subscaphium strongly sclerotized; tegumen broad; vinculum narrow, V-shaped; sac- cus narrow. Valva short and broad; costa strongly inflated; sacculus well defined; harpe prominent, curved upwards and spine-like at tip. transtilla triangular; juxta hammer-like. Aedeagus with one of its walls sclerotized and the other membranous; vesica armed with a strongly sclerotized rod- shaped cornutus in middle. Female genitalia: Corpus bursae bag-like, more or less oval, well sclerotized; signum want- ing; ductus bursae long, narrow posteriorly and with a collar-like thickening at distal end; anterior apophyses long and narrow, dilated near bases; posterior apophyses short and thin; ovipositor with densely setose lobes. Indogrammodes pectinicornalis (Guenee) comb. nov. (Figs 1,2, 3, 4) Guenee, 1854, Delt. & Pyral., 1854: 326 (Botys). Material Examined: Assam: North Cachar hills, Jatinga, 3 Males, 12-4-1982. — Nagaland: Kohima, 1 Female, 28-9-1983. Distribution: Bombay, Poona and Bengal. This species was described for the first time under the genus Botys Latreille by Guenee (1854). The same arrangement was also followed by Walker (1859). Lederer (1863), however, proposed a new combination for this species and referred it under genus Pachynoa Lederer, an arrangement followed by Walker (1865), Swin- hoe (1884), Swinhoe and Cotes (1889) and Hampson (1896). Hampson (1899) in a sub- sequent publication placed this species under the genus Polygrammodes Guenee and synonymised the genus Pachynoa along with two other genera Aphytoceras Meyrick and Pitacanda Moore. The use of the name Polygrammodes along with the synonymisation proposed by Hampson, did not result in any change in the catalogue by Klima (1939). Sevastopulo (1938) collected the species under reference from Calcutta and described it under genus Pachynoa , whereas Bradley and Shaffer (1969), Mandal and Bhattacharya (1980) thought it well to refer this species under Polygrammodes. A critical study of literature reveals that the type-species of the genus Pachynoa (type- species: thoosalis Walker not walkeri as con- sidered by Whalley 1962) and Polygrammodes (type-species: runicalis Guenee) are not con- generic (Munroe 1958b). Besides this generic name, the name Aphytoceras has already been revived and used in various publications by Mun- roe (1950, 1958a, 1958b, 1959, 1960, 1968, 1977), Munroe and Mutuura (1969) and Whalley (1962). However, the genus Pitacanda Moore, another synonym of Polygrammodes has been considered a synonym of Pachynoa by Munroe (1958b). NEW DESCRIPTIONS 413 Figs. 1-4. Indogrammodes pectinocornalis (Ouenee). 1-3: male genitalia; 4: female genitalia. Abbreviations: AED: Aedeagus, ANT.APO: Anterior apophyses, CO: Costa, CRN: Cornuti, CRP.BU: Corpus bursae DU.BU: Ductus bursae, HRP: Harpe, JX: Juxta, OVP: Ovipositor, PO.APO: Posterior apophyses, SA: Saccus, SL: Sac cuius, SSCA: Subscaphium, TG: Tegumen, TU.A.: Tuba analis, UN: Uncus, VIN: Vinculum, VLB: Valva. The species under reference fails to go under Polygrammodes and other allied genera, namely Pseudopoly grammodes Munroe and Mutuura, Polygrammopsis Munroe, Pachynoa Lederer and Aphytoceras Meyrick and hence it requires a new genus for its appropriate placement. Accordingly, a new genus Indogrammodes is being proposed for this particular species. The diagnosis of the new genus is given in detail. The present genus is close to Pachynoa but differs from it in the struc- ture of labial palpi, antemiae, tibial spurs, venation of forewing and valvae of male genitalia. The reporting of the species pectinicornalis from northeast India is a new record. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr B.K. Tikader, Direc- tor, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, Mr Par- tap Singh, Forest Entomologist, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, and Mr M. Shaffer, Pyralid specialist, British Museum (Natural History), London, for their help rendered during com- parison of the species. The financial help provided by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi during the present studies is heartily acknow- ledged. 414 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIM. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 References Bradley, J.D. & Shaffer, M. (1969): Beitrage Zur Kenntnis Der Fauna Afghanistans. ActaMusei Moraviae LIV : 415-430. GUENEE, M.A. (1854): Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Lepidopteres. Deltoides et Pyralites, 7: 1-448. HAMPSON, G.F. (1896): Fauna of British India Moths, 4: 1-594. Taylor & Francis Ltd., London. (1899): A revision of the moths of subfamily Pyraustinae and family Pyralidae. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1899: 172-291. KLIMA, A. (1939): Lepidopterorum Catalogus Pyralididae: Subfam. Pyraustinae. 89 & 94: 1-384. S-Graven- hage. LEDERER, J. (1863): Beitrage Zur JKenntniss der Pyraliden. Wien. Ent.Monatschr., 7: 243-502. MANDAL, D.K. & BHATTACHARYA, D.P. (1980): On the Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) from the Andaman, Nicobar and Great Nicobar Islands, Indian Oceans. Rec. Zool. Surv. India, .77: 293-342. MUNROE, E. (1950): The generic position of some North American species commonly referred to Pyrausta Schrank (Lep., Pyralidae). Can. Ent., 82: 217-231. (1958a): Far Eastern Pyralidae (Lepidoptera). ibid. 90: 249-254. (1958b): some species of Polygram- modes Guenee (Lep., Pyralidae). ibid 90: 257-274. (1959): Pyralidae from collection of California Academy of Sciences (Lepidoptera). ibid. 97:161- 167. (1960): New species of Polygram- modes and a related new genus (Lep., Pyralidae). ibid 92: 279-284. (1968): New Pyralidae (Lepidoptera) from the Papuan region. 2. ibid. 100: 394-401. (1977): A new genus and two new spp. of Neotropical Pyraustinae (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). ibid. 109(4): 481-485. MUNROE, E. & MUTTURA, A. (1969): Contributions to a study of the Pyraustinae (Lep., Pyralidae) of Temperate East Asia, VI. ibid. 707: 897-906. SEVASTOPULO, D.G. (1938): A supplementary list of the Byrsffdae of Calcutta (Lepidoptera). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 40: 132-133. SwiNHOE, C. (1884): On the Lepidoptera collected at Kurrachee. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1884: 503-529. SWINHOE, C. & COTES, E.C. (1889): A catalogue of the moths of India (Indian Museum, Calcutta). Cat. Moths India, Part 5. Pyrales, pp. 591-812. WALKER, F. (1859): List of the specimens of the Lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Pyralides. 77-79: 255-1038. (1865): List of the specimens of the Lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. 34: 323-1534. WHALLEY, P.E.S. (1962): Pyraloidea from Rennell and Bellona Islands (Lepidoptera). Nat. Hist. Rennell, Brit. Solomon Is. Copenhague 4: 97-120. SACCOLOMA CHARTACEUM - A NEW SPECIES1 G. Bhadran Nair Georg Friedrich Kaulfuss (1820) described the fern genus Saccoloma based on the species elegans which Chamisso collected from Sello, Brazil, on his voyage around the world. Later some pteridologists added more species to this Accepted March 1988. ^otanischer Garten der Universitat Zurich, Switzerland. Present Address: Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, PB no. 2415, Trivandrum-695 0\1 1. monotypic genus, while Copeland (1947) segregated this into Saccoloma and Orthiopteris and all species except elegans were included in the new genus Orthiopteris. Tryon (1962), based on morphological studies on species, referred to Saccoloma and Orthiopteris, concluded that the principal differences between the two genera, as pointed out by Copeland, are not significant enough for generic separation. He recognised bleven species (with some reservation) under the genus Saccoloma', Nair (1987) supported Tryon NEW DESCRIPTIONS 415 in the generic circumscription of Saccoloma and only recognised 8 species under it. A critical examination of all herbarium sheets identified as Saccoloma elegans shows that there exist two morphologically distinct elements in the species so referred by authors. The species elegans Kaulf. is distinguished from the “new element’’ as follows: Rhizome decumbent, mature plants always less than 60 cm in height, petiole straw-yellow, without persistant scale bases, pinnae base unequally obtuse, apex cordate acuminate, lamina thin herbaceous, veins always forked once or twice, never raised above the surface of the lamina; sorus submarginal, broader than long, distant; spores striate S. elegans Rhizome erect, mature plants always more than a metre in height, petiole reddish-brown with spine-like persistent scale bases; pinnae base cuneate with crenulate margin, apex narrowly attenuated with deeply toothed margin, lamina chartaceous; veins rarely forked, very prominent, raised well above the surface of the lamina; sorus closer to the margin, separated by prominent septum; spores ribbed S. chartaceum sp. nov. Saccoloma chartaceum sp. nov. Rhizome mostly short erect, decumbent with age, 1 -4 cm in diameter, scaly at the growing point, scales tufted, rarely remain attached at the older parts of the rhizome; scales basifixed, sub- peltate to peltate, linear lanceolate, ovate to ovate- lanceolate, firm dark brown, marginal cells pale, 0.5 mm - 1 .2 cm long, 0.3 - 0.8 mm broad; petiole close to densely clustered, 75-95 cm long, 0.9-1 .4 cm in diameter at the base, stout, abaxially rounded, narrowly grooved above, margin of the groove pale yellow, slightly raised, continuous, the basal half of the petiole with dark spine-like, firm persistant scale base, above glabrous, lamina dark to pale- green, dark green on the dorsal side, pale on the abaxial side, about 1 10 cm long, one pinnate, ovate-oblong, thick chartaceous, apex al- ways with confirm terminal pinnae, pinnae long elliptical to oblong-elliptical, 35-40 cm long, 3- 3.5 cm broad, terminal pinna longer than the ad- joining ones, pinnae base slightly unequal, cuneate with crenulate margin, apex narrowly attenuated with deeply toothed margin, 17-18 pin- nae on one side, opposite, stalked, at the basal part, sub-opposite to alternate above; veins free, paral- lel rarely forked, very prominent below, reddish brown at the base, pale-yellow above; sori ter- minal on the veins, numerous, near the margin, separated by prominent septum, broader than long, indusium thin glabrous, fall short of margin, lamina margin folds back over to the sorus, recep- tacle flat, sporangia simultaneous numerous, long stalked; spores trilete, ovate- tetrahedral, ribbed, laesura thin, extends to the margin, spores 48-52 m in diameter. Type: Mexia, Y. 8429 (MICH) Parroquia de Concepcion, Playa Rica, Esmaraldas, Ecuador. Rhizoma erectum, deinde decumbens, 1-4 cm in diam., ad apiceum aquamatum, partibus veteribus rare squamis affixis. Squamae caespitosae, basifixae, subpeltatae vel peltatae, lineario-lanceolatae, ovatae vel ovato-lan- ceolatae, solidae, atrobrunneae; cellulae margine pallidae, 0.5-1. 2 x 0. 3-0.8 mm; petiolus ap- proximates vel dense fasciculatus 75-95 cm lon- gus, ad basim 0.9- 1.4 cm in diam. et crassus, abaxiale rotundatus, insuper anguste sulcatus; sul- cus ad marginem dilute luteus, leviter prominens, continuus; petiolus dimidio inferiore basibus squamis persistentibus firmis fuscatis spinifor- mibus, supra glaber; lamina dorsale atroviridis, abaxiale dilute viridis, c. 1 10 cm longa, chartacea, 1-pinnata, ovato-oblonga; pinnae longae ellip- ticae vel oblongo-ellipticae, 35-40 x 3-3.8 cm, ad basim leviter inequales, cuneatae, ad apicem an- guste attenuatae, margines ad apicem profunde dentati, ad basim crenulati, pinnae in quoque latera 17-18, ad basim oppositae et stipitatae, suprae suboppositae vel alternatae; pinna ter- minalis ceteris longiore; venae librae, parallelae, rare furcatae infra prominentissimae; venae primariae infra rufobrunnaeae, supra dilute luteae; venae secondariae dilute luteae; sori in venis terminales, marginibus, numerosi; septa prominenta, latiora quam longiora; indusium tenue, glabrum, margini approximati, margine super sorum plicato; receptaculum planum; sporangia simultanea, numerosa, longe stipitata, sporae triletae, ovatae, tetraedricae, costatae; laesura tenuis, margini approximati; sporae 48-52 416 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 jll mindiam. Geographical distribution: The species Sac- coloma elegans Klf. has not been collected out- side Brazil, while the morphologically closely related S. chartaceum is reported as very wide spread in the Americas. Interestingly this species has not been collected from the areas of distribu- tion of S. elegans. Saccoloma elegans , though reported as common in Bahia and rare in other places, has not been collected since 1939. The species S. chartaceum is reported as very common in Panama and Canal zone, Columbia, Venezuela, Guianas, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, its distribu- tion in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Rep. of Dominica, Trinidad, Brit. Honduras, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Brazil, is reported as 4 ‘Scattered or not at all common”. Acknowledgements I thank to the Directors and Keepers of herbaria (K, MICH, C, NY, U, B, BM and Z) for their kind co-operation and to Professor Kramer for providing assistance in the identification. I would like to thank Dr V.J. Nair (Scientist, Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore) for Latin translation and Mr K.G. Ajithkumar and Mr K.P. Vijayakumar for assistance. References Copeland, E.B. (1947): Genera Filicum, Waltham, Mass. study. Chronica Botanica. Tryon, R.M. (1962): Taxonomic Fem notes IH Contr. Kaulfuss, G.F. (1820): Jahrb. & Pham. 51. Gray. Hoeb. Harv. EXCI-100-107. Nair (in press): The Fem Genus Saccoloma-z. taxonomic A NEW SPECIES OF GENUS CREIGHTONELLA COCKERELL, (HYMENOPTERA : APOIDEA : MEGACHILIDAE), FROM CENTRAL INDIA1 Rajiv K. Gupta2 (With seven text-figures ) The genus Creightonella Cockerell, from India, is represented by 3 species, namely: Albifrons (Smith), bellula (Bingham) &fraterna (Smith), A new species Creightonella mitchelli has been described for the first time from Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). It has certain close affinities with C. albifrons (Smith). Genus Creightonella Cockerell, 1908 (type- species Megachile mitimia Cockll.), was original- ly proposed as a subgenus for some African species of genus Megachile Latreille. Michener (1962) upgraded it to generic rank and later (1965), while working with old world Megachilidae, the recategorised numerous speci- 1 Accepted February 1988. lecturer. Department of Zoology, Government College, Dholpur - 328 001. Present address: Raj-Rishi Government College, Alwar 301 001 (Rajasthan). es of Megachile to Creightonella. C. albifrons (Smith), C. bellula (Bingham) & C. fraterna (Smith) are the 3 representatives which inhabit Indian territories. The following combination of characters can distinctly separate the genus Creightonella from the rest of the megachiline genera: Form large, parallel sided; integument black with golden- yellow or snowy-white pubescence. male: Mandible six toothed with small in- complete cutting edges in second to fourth inter- spaces; mid and hind basitarsi much shorter and narrower than corresponding tibiae; claws simple; Vlth tergum scarcely concave in profile, without NEW DESCRIPTIONS 417 PL. 1 Figs. 1-7. Creightonella mitchelli sp. nov. Male: 1. Head, front view; 2. mandible; 3. tergum Vlth; 4. tergum Vllth; 5. sternum Vlth; 6. sternum VUIth; 7. genitalia. (Dots on Figs. 1 & 2 indicate pubescence). 418 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 projecting apex, lateral margins nearly straight and surface with longer hairs; Vlth sternum with scopal hairs over almost entire surface except apical margin; sterna lacking in any apical fasceae of pale hairs. female: Mandible tridentate, lower margin with only a median projection; front coxa with blunt inner apical spine; front tarsi unmodified or slightly broadened; carina of Vlth tergum broadly expanded with a mediolongitudinal ride and mar- gin of carina with strong lateral teeth; Vllth ter- gum with prominent longitudinal median ridge, margin strongly convex; six exposed sterna; Vth and Vlth sterna without membranous zones demarking medastemites; Vlllth sternum like a transverse plate, apex hairy and long spiculum; gonostyles of genitalia slender, apically not lobed. 3 Creightonella mitchelli sp. nov. MALE: Integument black, ventral surface, legs, tergal margins, with redness; pubescence including on face & abdominal fasceae snowy white, tarsi with golden and on tibiae black. Head slightly wider than median length; clypeal margin laterally angulate and medially invaginated; mid-facial groove absent; eye mar- gin with a fine but elevated carina; genal maxi- mum width equal to the eye width in lateral view, narrowed above, margin with slightly elevated carina; mandible tridentate, with a prominent median projection at lower margin. Scutum broadly convex, pubescence white with few black erect hairs inbetween; pronotal carinate ridge produced anteriorly; first recurrent vein at the base and second one slightly far from the apex, of second cuboital cell of fore wing, wing colour pale-hyaline and veins black to brown piceous; second tarsus of fore leg much broadened; length of basitarsi of mid and hind leg more than half of the corresponding tibiae. Basal tergal concavity margin carinate; api- cal fasceae of 1st to IVth terga confined to lateral patches, on Vth onwards discal pubescence ap- pear as ferruginous hairs; Vlth tergal carina not angulated with rest of the dorsal surface, with 6 acute teeth, dorsal longitudinal ridge diminishes quite before carina, either side of ridge shallowly concave, tergal apical margin below - in- vaginated, carinate and infasciate; VHth tergum with a prominent longitudinal ridge from basal to apical margin, medially; basal sternum much ex- panded, margin shortly fringed and carinate, sur- face hairy; density of discal pubescence go on reducing from Ilnd to Vlth stemites; margin broadly outcurved in Ilnd, straight in LUrd and IVth and medially invaginated in Vth stemite; marginal fasceae increases in length upto Vth but lacking at the medial invagination of Vth sternum; Vlth stemite: exposed, apical margin acutely out- curved, infasciate, laterally confined gradulus ‘hairy’; VII th stemite: apical margin entirely produced to broad apical lobe, rim with minute but complete fringe as in Vlth; apical margin of sternum VHIth broadly invaginated, fringed but basal process prominently elongated. Genital gonobase extremely narrow; gonos- tyli slender, diverging; stipites of penis somewhat parallel sided, exceeding gonoforceps in length; genital aperture wide. Measurements : (in mm.): Total length 1 2.5; eye: length 2.01, lateral width 1.0; clypeus: median length 0.8, basal and apical widths 0.92 and 1.7; antennae: length of scape 0.55, pedicel 0. 1 2, flagellar segments 1st 0.5, Ilnd 0.45, Vlth 0.5 and Xlth 0.51 and breadths of Vlth 0.2 and Xlth 0.3; labrum: median length 1.0, basal and apical widths 0.9 and 0.5; labial palpi: length of segment 1st 0.75 and Ilnd 0.6; scutum: median length and maximum width 1.6 and 2.7; total length of fore wing 7.25 and of radial cell 1.75; relative median widths of tergite 1st to Vlth 1.5, 2.75, 2.7, 2.5, 2.01,1.75. female: not known. Material Examined: Holotype Male, Nehru Park, Jabalpur (M.P.), 400’ m.s.l., 23-5-1981. Coll Raju Gupta; Paratype 2 males; same data as for holotype (holotype at N.P.C., Division of En- tomology. I.A.R.I., New Delhi, paratypes will be placed at the same museum, shortly). flower RECORD: Helianthus sp., Chrysan- themum sp., Tegetes sp. 3After Late Dr T.B. Mitchell, Prof. Emeritus, Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, U.S.A. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 419 Remarks The new species closely resembles .Creightonella albifrons (Smith), however, al- bifrons distinctly differs from mitchelli in : inter- space in between 2nd and 3rd mandibular tooth being wider, and the latter one being obtuse; wings apical half dark fuscous and basal half subhyaline; front tarsi simple and unmodified; apical fasceae on tergite 1st to IVth complete and continuous; carina of Vlth tergum broadly rounded with 8 terminal obtuse teeth, medio-lon- gitudinal ridge prominent up to the margin of carina; apical margin of sternite Vth not in- vaginated medially; in VUlth sternite apical lobe rounded; gonostyli parallel sided and gonobase prominent. Acknowledgements I wish to thank Dr. V.K. Tewari, Lecturer in Zoology, Agra College, Agra, for providing necessary facilities and to Drs. S.I. Farooqi and S.L. Gupta both Senior Scientists at Division of Entomology, I.A.R.I., New Delhi, for the ex- tended cooperation, leading to the preparation of this manuscript. References Cockerell, T.D.A. (1908): A new subgenus of African New YorkEntomol. Soc. LXX: 17-29. bees. Entomologists XLI : 146-147. (1965): A classification of the bees of Michener, C.D. (1962): Observations on the classifica- the Australian & South Pacific region. Bull. Amer. Mus. Natur. tion of the bees commonly placed in the genus Megachile. Jour. Hist. 130: 204-205. A NEW SPECIES OF GENUS ANTHOCOPA LEPELETIER AND SERVILLE (HYMENOPTERA : APOIDEA ; MEGACHILIDAE), FROM ORISSA, INDIA1 Rajiv k. Gupta2 (With six text -figures ) Anthocopa anonyma , A. calhena , A. indostana (all by Cameron) and A. matheranensis Michener were earlier described from within Indian limits. A. auric ulata a new species, has been described for the first time from Konark (Orissa). It has some close affinities to A. indostana. The Genus Anthocopa Lepeletier and Ser- ville in the strict sense of Michener (1941 , 1944), was earlier represented by 4 species from India, namely: anonyma, cathena, indostana (all by Cameron 1904, described in genus Megachile Latr., from Deesa, Sind) and Matheranensis Michener (1966, from Pune). Before proceeding to the description of the new species, I wish to en- 1 Accepted February 1988. lecturer, Department of Zoology, Government College, Dholapur-328 001 Present address: Raj-Rishi Government College, A1 war-301 001 (Rajasthan) After the golden pubescens of the body. umerate the distinct characteristics of genus-An- thocopa, which separate it from the closely related genera Hoplitis Klug and Osmia Panzer. “Small, robust, black bees with dense pubescence cover on face, legs and mesosoma; scutellum normal in profile or slightly above to oblique (not so much as in Osmia), usually metanotum moves upto the upper longitudinal line of mesosoma; parapsidial lines linear and distinct; anterior face of mesepisterna not separated from the lateral one with a carina or ridge; legs with distinct arolia; pregradular area of second tergum broadly-shallowly concave transversely; gradulus of second tergum may be- 420 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 0 012 mm 0 03 mm Anthocopa auriculata sp. nov. Male: 1. Head, front view; 2. mandible; 3. sternum Vlth; 4. sternum Vllth; 5. sternum VIHth; 6. genitalia. (Dots Figs. 1 & 2 indicate pubescence). NEW DESCRIPTION 421 subcarinate; seventh tergum of male with con- spicuous posterolateral teeth”. 3 Anthocopa auriculata sp. nov. MALE: Integument black, feebly shining, legs brownish red, tegulae testaceous aple; eyes black; punctures fine and uniformly close; pubes- cence golden all over the body, face completely covered with hairs. Head wider than the median length; inner eye margins strongly convergent below, straight and with prominent carina; clypeal margin lateral- ly acutely angulate, outcurved but medially with a short concavity; vertex unevenly flat, ocellar triangle not elevated, occipital margin incarinate; maximum width of genae less than eye width in lateral view, feebly narrowed above; mandible tridentate, apical tooth much produced, lower margin with a basal process. Scutum surface broadly convex, fine punc- tures inter- connected; pronotal ridge low & obscure; scutellar surface resemble scutum, posterior margin broadly rounded; tegulae with dense pubescence; first recurrent vein far from the base than the second one which is comparatively close to the apex, of second cuboital cell of fore wing; front coxae spinose, inner margins of all coxae incarinate; legs in general are normal, finely punctured but with remarkable long pubescence; tarsi unmodified, claws bifurcated with an arolium in between. Basal tergal concavity margin semicarinate; apical margins fasciate from first to fifth tergites; carina of VI th tergum angulate from basal region, with a pair of blunt median spines and another pair at lateral extremities, acutely produced; apical margin of Vllth tergum strongly recurved and lyriate medially, spines are feebly markable at lateral extremities only; basal sternum broadly expended, fasciate, apical margin feebly in- vaginated medially; margins of Ilnd to IVth ster- nites slightly outcurved, all fasciate, but in Vth, margin at midline deeply incurved and fasceae at this incurve absent; stemite Vlth and onwards eclipsed under Vth; margin of VTHth not fringed, with very few setae on quadrate apical lobe. Apices of gonocoxites divergent, setose and strongly angulate; stipites of penis valve globulate at apex. Measurements: (in mm.): Total length 7.0; eyes: length 1.8, lateral width 0.92; clypeus; median length 0.52, basal and apical widths 0.52 and 1.3; antennal sockets; distance to clypeus, to median ocellus, to eye and to each other 0.55, 0.55, 0.3, 0.55; antennae: length of scape 0.45, pedicel 0.12, flagellar segments 1st 0.12, End 0. 1 8 , Vlth 0.3 and Xlth 0.32, breadths of Vlth 0. 1 8 and Xlth 0.18; labrum: median length 0.6, basal and apical widths 0.6 and 0.5; labial palpi: lengths of segments 1st 0.28 and Ilnd 0.28; scutum: median length and maximum width 1.12 and 1 .92; scutellum: median length of dorsal surface 0.5; fore wing: length of radial cell 1.25 and total length 4.9; relative widths of tergite 1st to Vlth 1.25,1.9,2.05, 2.12, 2.12 and 1.4. female: not known. Material examined: Holotype Male, Konark (Orissa), m.s.l. 16. 8. 1981, Coll. Rajiv K. Gupta, (on wing); Paratype 1 Male same data as for holotype (holotype at N.P.C., Division of En- tomology, I.A.R.I., New Delhi, Paratypes will be placed at the same museum, soon). Remarks The new species is quite separate from matheranensis (very long proboscis, reaching up to hind coxae in repose), but indostana seems to be a close relative of auriculata sp. nov. in respect of the short proboscis, merely reaching upto front coxae in repose and the much produced apical tooth of tridentate mandible. Michener (1966) has expressed the probability of anonyma and indos- tana, being the same species on the basis of char- acters of head and thorax, since the type specimen of anonyma male lacks the abdomen. However, indostana distinctly differs from auriculata in: truncated clypeal margin; mandible without a basal process at lower margin; tegulae smooth; carina of Vlth tergum with a prominent median projection and one on either sides feebly mark- able; tergum Vllth with distinct short spines at apical margin; stipites of genitalia not so broadly 10 422 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 globulate at apices and gonostyli not angulate apically; body pubescence white and punctures on whole body not so uniformly fine. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Dr. H.N. Baijal, Head and Dr. V.K. Tewari, Lecturer, at Zoology depth, Agra College, Agra, for providing neces- sary facilities and to Dr. S.I. Farooqi, Scientist S-3, Division of Entomology, I.A.R.I., New Delhi, for guidance in the preparation of the manuscript. References Michener, C.D. (1941): A generic revision of the American Osmiinae, with descriptive notes on old world genera. Amer. Midi. Naturalist 26: 147-167. (1944): Comparative external mor- phology, phylogeny and classification of the bees (Hymenop- tera). Bull. Amer. Mus. Natur. Hist. 82(6): 263-264. (1966): A new species of Anthocopa from India. Entomologists June : 146-150. TWO NEW SPECIES OF HARPACTORARIA FROM SOUTHERN INDIA (HETEROPTERA: REDUVIIDAEiHARPACTORINAE1 David Livingstone and G. Ravichandran2 (with two text-figures ) Two new species of the genus Sphedanolestes Stal, namely Sphedanolestesnigrocephala sp. nov. and Sphedanolestes bicolorous sp. nov. from Southern India have been described and illustrated. Introduction The genus Sphedanolestes , under the division Harpactoraria, includes species with head as long as pronotum and posterior lobe of the latter longitudinally impressed. Distant (1904 and 1910) recognised 19 species from the Oriental region, mostly from northern India and Burma: S. stigmatellus , S. signatus, S. variabilis , S . ater- rimus and S.frater cuius are the five species so far known from southern India, mostly from Nilgiri Hills. At present three more species, namely 5. dives , S. indicus and S. pulchriventris have been recorded for the first time in Southern India. Without any exception, all are alate, arboreal, and endemic to the tropical rain forests of this region. Now two more species have been added to the list of Sphedanolestes of this region. Accepted March 1988, Contribution no. 72. division of Entomology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore -641 046. 1. Sphedanolestes nigrocephala sp. nov. (Fig. 1) female: Length 7.5 mm; width across the abdomen 2 mm; macropterous; oblongly elon- gate, golden yellow; antennae, tibiae, dorsal sur- face of the postocular area in between and around the ocelli, clypeus, antenniferous tubercles, scape, posterior margin of the frons, eyes, dorsum of the abdomen behind the fifth segment, ventral surface of the genital segments, tibiae, tarsomeres and membrane, piceous; stemites of the fifth to seventh abdominal segments, canescent; head elongately ovate, anteocular area a little shorter than postocular area; ocelli raised, interocular sul- cus deep and dark; collar short, cylindrical; first rostral segment not passing the eyes and the second joint longest, almost as long as postocular area; scape almost as long as fore femora; anterior lobe of pronotum globose, smooth, with a median longitudinal narrow fissure not passing the anterior margin of the posterior lobe; junction of both lobes deeply constricted; antero-lateral ang- NEW DESCRIPTIONS 423 les with acutely pointed, obliquely directed tubercle; posterior lobe finely granulate; discal prominence moderately formed; postero lateral angles rounded; posterior margin slightly con- cave; scutellum broadly triangular without any trace of apical tubercle; fore and mid femora slightly incrassated, obscurely nodulose; membrane passing the abdomen, corium black apically. In the Courtallam ecotype, the entire an- te ocular area and ocellar prominence remain black in both sexes. This species resembles the species of Cyd- nocoris in its general appearance and closely resembles Sphedanolestes trichrous Stal, in the coloration of the head, antennae, abdomen and membrane. But it can be readily recognised from the latter by its bright golden yellow colour and conspicuous development of tubercles at the antero-lateral angles of the pronotum and non- 424 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 tuberculate condition of the broadly triangular scutellum. TYPE INFORMATION: Holotype : Female, serial No. 121. Paratype one male, both pinned specimens deposited for the present in the reduviid collection of the Division of Entomol- ogy, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, South India. Both specimens are arboreal, fast fliers, collected from underneath leaves. collection information: Specimens were collected from tropical Rain forest area near Ser- valar, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, on 2 Oc- tober 1983 at^ elevation 250 m above MSL, temperature 33° C and humidity 52%. 2. Sphcdanolestes bicolorous sp. nov. (Fig. 2) female: Length 9 mm; width across the abdomen 4 mm; macropterous; ovate; stramineous; head, eyes, antennae, scutellum tibiae, thoracic stemites, spots on connexivum piceous; fourth to last abdominal tergites black; head ovate; anteocular and postocular areas sub- equal, ocelli, wide apart and elevated; postocular area globose with short cylindrical ochraceous collar; scape almost as long as the fore femora; first rostral segment reaching the eyes, second segment almost passing the entire postocular area; rostrum and maxillary lobes in front of eyes cas- taneous brown; anterior lobe of pronotum globose, much smaller than the posterior lobe; smooth with a median longitudinal furrow, not passing its posterior limit; tubercles of the anterolateral angles short and curved backward; posterior lobe griceous, finely granulate, lateral angles moderately expanded, discal prominence moderately developed, posterior margin slightly concave; scutellum broadly triangular, apically nontubercuiate; hemelytra bronzy brown, corium tmasparent basally, opaque apically; membrane passing the abdomen; fore femora slightly incras- sated sub-apically; castaneous brown, apically slightly constricted, black; mid and hind femora similar but not incrassated; abdomen stramineous, sternum with lateral longitudinal brown fascia; connexivum dorsally and ventrally stramineous, spotted black. In some specimens, the anterior lobe and discal areas of the posterior lobe of the pronotum are piceous. This species resembles the previous species Sphedanolestes nigrocephala in the coloration of the head, hemelytra and tibiae. But it can be readily recognised by the nature of scutellum, coloration of the pronotum, obscurely recurved tubercles of the antero-lateral angles of the pronotum and the femora being almost smooth without having any nodulose, appearance. TYPE INFORMATION: Holotype: Female, serial No. 122. Paratype one male; both pinned specimens deposited for the present in the reduviid collection of the Division of Entomol- ogy, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, South India. collection information: Specimens were collected from Tropical Rain forest, Yelagire Hills, North Arcot District, Tamil Nadu on 13 September 1948 at elevation of 1000 m above MSL, temperature 23° C and humidity 70%. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the authorities of the Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, for providing facilities and the department of Science and Tech- nology, New Delhi, for financial support and en- couragement, Thanks are due to Dr. S.K. Tandon, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, for his as- sistance in comparing these specimens with the National Collection of Reduviidae. References Distant, W.L. (1904): Fauna of British India including (1910): Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Rhynchota, Vol. II, Heteroptera. Taylor and Ceylon and Burma, Rhynchota, Vol. V, Heteroptera. Appendix. Francis, London, pp. 329-389. Taylor and Francis, London, pp. 203-217. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 425 A NEW SPECIES OF COELOGYNE (ORCHIDACEAE) FROM MANIPUR, INDIA1 T.K. Paul, S.K. Basu and M.C. Biswas2 (With seven text-figures) During a recent floristic survey in the Im- phal valley, Manipur, several interesting orchids have been collected by Dr J. N. Ghatak of Manipur University. A new species of Coelogyne Lindl., collected during the exploration, is described with illustrations. Coelogyne ghatakii T.K. Paul, Basu et Biswas sp. nov. Coelogyne griffithii Hook. f. affinis, sed differt inflorescentiis brevioribus (12-14 cm), floribus 6-8, parvioribus (1-1.5 cm diam.), viridi- flavis, sepalis trinervis, labelli lobis lateralibus ovato-ogy, oblongis, carinis 2, columnaque late alata. Coelogyne ghatakii sp. nov. (Fig. 1-7) Epiphytic or sometimes lithophytic herb. Pseudobulb 5.5 x 2 cm, ovoid-oblong, 4-angled with 4 grooves, dark-green. Leaves 2, petioled; petiole 2-3 cm long, glabrous, channeled; lamina 10-15 x 2.5-3.0 cm, elliptic-lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate, entire, gradually tapering at base, dark-green, coriaceous, 6-7 nerved. Inflorescence c 12 cm long, erect; peduncle c. 6.5 cm long, shorter than the leaves, slender, glabrous, green, naked, raceme with 6 to 8 flowers, basal portion covered with overlapping distichous brownish glumes. Flowers open successively, pedicellate, 1-1.5 cm across, greenish yellow; pedicel 5-10 mm long, slender, erect. Sepals 3, spreading, sub- equal, oblong-lanceolate, acute, entire, glabrous, 3 -nerved, 6-7 x 3 mm; petals 2, spreading, 6-7 x 0.5 mm, linear, entire, apex obtuse, glabrous, 1- nerved. Labellum c. 7x5 mm, deeply 3-lobed, glabrous, greenish yellow; lateral lobes 4 x 1.5 mm, ovate oblong, obtuse, entire with 2-3 brown- accepted August 1988. Botanical Survey of India, Howrah-71 1 103. nish patches; midlobe 4.5 x 3.5 mm, sub- quadrate, recurved, retuse, narrow at base, base with a brown dot, entire, undulate, with 3-4 brown dots; keels 2, prominent on epichile extending near to the apex, yellowish, entire. Column c. 5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm across, wmged on the upper part, wings serrate, light yellow; anther 1, c. 1.5 mm long and broad, light yellow; pollinia 4, c. 1 mm, oval, whitish yellow. Type: India : Manipur, Imphal valley, 20th April 1988, Ghatak 2213a (Holotype : CAL; Isotypes: 2213b, c, d, Manipur Univ. Herb.). FIs. & Frts. : April - June. Ecology : This species grows on tall trees as well as on moss-covered rocks in the Imphal valley. The new species has been recently collected in a remote area of Imphal valley. The fresh specimens were critically studied and it is found that the flowers are small and open successively in the inflorescence, i.e., only few at a time whereas the rest are still in bud-condition. The scape-base is naked but the base of the rachis has a series of distichous glumes and these characters are of the section Ancipiles Pfitz & Kranzle. of the genus Coelogyne. The new species is closely allied to Coelogyne griffithii Hook. f. of the above-men- tioned section but differs in the characters tabled below: It is named in honour Prof. J.N. Ghatak of Manipur University, a leading plant taxonomist in India who collected this species. Acknowledgements We are thankful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India, for all facilities. Thanks are due to Dr. N.C. Majumdar, Scientist-SC, Botanical Survey of India, for rendering the Latin transla- tion and Mr. Saibal Bose for line-drawing of this new taxa. Thanks are also due to Dr B.D. Sharma, 426 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 NEW DESCRIPTIONS 427 Scientist-SE, Central National Herbarium, B.S.L, for kindly going through the manuscript. C. griffithii C. ghatakii Leaf : large (1 1.5-26.0 x 3-6 cm). comparatively smaller (10-15x2.5-3 cm) Inflorescence : longer shorter (12-14 cm), 6-8 (15-34 cm), 6- 18- flowered. flowered. Rowers : 1.5-2 cm across, 1-1.5 cm across, greenish- light brownish. yellow. Sepals : larger (1.0-1.3x03-0.6 cm), smaller (0.6-0.7 x 3 cm), 5-nerved. 3 nerved. Petals : larger (10-13x1 mm). smaller (6-7 x 0.5 mm).. Lateral lobes of Lateral lobes of labellum labellum rounded, keels 5. ovate-oblong, keels 2. Column : narrowly winged. broadly winged A NEW LEPIDOPTERAN INDOCALA GEN. NOV. FROM INDIA (OPHIDERINAE: NOCTUIDAE: LEPIDOPTERA)1 H.S. Rose and A. Srivastava2 (With five text-figures) Indocala gen. nov. has been proposed for the species punjabensis sp. nov. collected from Punjab (India). A brief account of the genitalia has been given along with adult description. Introduction While considering the taxonomy of eighty species of the subfamily Ophiderinae, collected between August 1984 and September 1987, a homogenous sample consisting of seven in- dividuals of a species could not be identified from the relevant literature (Hampson 1894, 1902, 1912, 1924, 1926). The species, in fact, belongs to a group of genera such as Calyptra Ochsen- heimer, Oraesia Guenee, Culasta Moore and Hypocala Guenee. The examination of various morphological characters, especially the wing ve- 1 Accepted August 1988. Department of Zoology, Punjabi University, Patiala-147 002, Punjab, India. nation and genitalia, followed by their evaluation and comparison with the known genera indicated that the new species requires to be placed under a new genus. Accordingly a new genus Indocala is proposed for the new species punjabensis. Genus Indocala n. gen. nov. Type-species: Indocala punjabensis sp. nov. Labial palpus porrect, triangularly scaled; antenna simple, minutely ciliated. Forewing without areole, discal cell more than half the length of wing, R3 and R4 not stalked. Hindwing with discal cell slightly more than one-third the length, Rs and M 1 , and M3 and Cu 1 connate before anterior and posterior angle respectively. Male genitalia with uncus trifid, socii present, valva with well developed saccular extension, harpe 428 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Figs. 1-5. Indocala punjabensis sp. nov. 1 & 2: Fore and hindwing; 3 & 4: Male genitalia; 5; Female genitalia. Abbreviations: IA. First anal vein; 2A. Second anal vein; AED. Aedeagus; ANT.APO. Anterior apophyses; CRP.BU. Corpus bursae; Qij. First cubital vein; Cu2. Second cubital vein; DU.BU. Ductus bursae; DU.EJ. Ductus ejaculatorius; M,. First median vein; M2. Second median vein; M3. Third median vein; OB. Ostium bursae; PO.APO. Posterior apophyses; Rv First radial vein; R2. Second radial vein; R3. Third radial vein; R4. Fourth radial vein; R5. Fifth radial vein; RS. Radial sector; SL. Sacculus; SOC. Socii, TG. Tegumen; UN. Uncus; YIN. Vinculum. NEW DESCRIPTIONS 429 wanting. Female genitalia with ostium region well developed, corpus bursae with a pair of signa present. Indocala punjabensis sp.'nov. Adult: Head, thorax, tegula and patagium greyish; labial palpus porrect, triangularly scaled, brownish, third segment long, beak like; antenna simple, minutely ciliated; eyes naked, large, dark with rounded spots. Forewing with costal margin somewhat straight, apex more or less acute, outer margin uniform, cilia grey brown; inner margin straight, ground colour grey brown, irrorated with large number of dark spots; an indistinct double submarginal outwardly waved lines represented by dark specks; underside yellowish with pinkish tinge, postmedial and submarginal bands dark. Hindwing with costal margin straight, apex some- what truncate, outer margin uniform, cilia yel- lowish with pink tinge, anal margin furnished with yellow-pinkish scales, ground colour dark fuscous with slight pinkish tinge, a distinct post- medial band, a pinkish elongate spot near anal angle; underside yellow with pink shade, a dis- tinct half post- medial line, medial line indistinct represented by dark spots. Abdomen smoothly scaled, grey with reddish tinge. Legs clothed with reddish brown scales. Venation: (Figs. 1 & 2). Forewing with discal cell more than half the length, Ri from well before middle of cell, R3 from just before anterior angle, R4 and R5 from anterior angle, Mi from anterior angle, M2 from a little above posterior angle, M3 from posterior angle, Cui from just before posterior angle, Q12 from two-third of cell. Hindwing with cell less than half the length of wing, Rs and Mi connate before anterior angle, M2 from just above posterior angle, M3 and Cui connate, slightly before posterior angle, Cu2 from three-fourth of cell. Genitalia: (Male: Figs. 3,4). Uncus unique, trifid, uniformly sclerotised throughout, setosed; socii well developed, flap like, thin walled, finely setosed; tegumen well developed, uniformly sclerotised; vinculum narrow, V-shaped, sacculus well developed, with curved saccular extension; transtilla simple, membranous, juxta not sclerotised, simple; aedeagus broad, rod-like, uniformly sclerotised throughout the length, vesica with dents, specific comuti wanting. Female: (Fig. 5): Ovipositor lobes well developed, sclerotised, setosed; posterior apophysis broader and longer than anterior apophysis; ostium bursae sclerotised, vorticella or somewhat V- shaped; ductus bursae thin walled, long, transparent tube like; corpus bursae globular, thin walled; signum present (two rod- like structures having attached to a large number of spines). Wing expanse (half): Male and female : 16 mm. Collection studied : Holotype: Male, Pun- jab: Punjabi University, Patiala, 24-7-1987. Al- lotype: Female, same data as holotype, 24-7-1987. Paratype : 4 Males, 27-7-1987, 1 Female, 29- 7-1987, same data as above. The species is distinct from other known Ophiderines in the absence of an areole in the forewing. The genitalia are also of different and possess unique modifications in respect of certain constituent parts. The uncus is exceptionally well developed and is represented by three finger-like processes besides a pair of flap-like socii. The saccular part of the valva is conspicuous because of the presence of a thumb-like saccular process. In addition to this a pair of signae is also present in the corpus bursae. The ostial region (ostium bursae) looks like a pouch and is shaped more or less like a vorticella. Hence, the new genus In- docala has been proposed for the species which has been named after Punjab state. The new genus with its unique characters, is somewhat allied to genera such as Hypocala Guenee, Calyptra Ochsenheimer, Oraesia Guenee and Culasta Moore, all having rostriform type of labial palpi. However, Indocala gen. nov. differs from its closest genus Hypocala on the basis of the veins R3 and R4 of the forewing, which are not stalked as in the former genus. Apart from this, in the male genitalia the harpe is want- ing and saccus greatly reduced, whereas, socii are present in both the genera. 430 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Acknowledgement providing financial assistance during the tenure of We wish to thank C.S.I.R., New Delhi, for the project on noctuid moths. References Hampson, G.F. (1894): The Fauna of British India, in- cluding Ceylon and Burma, Moth 2: XXII + 609 pp. Taylor and Francis Ltd,, London. (1902): The Moths of South Africa (Part II). Ann. South Afr. Mus., 2: 255-446. — —(1912): The Moths of India, Supplemen- tary paper to the Volumes in “The Fauna of British India” series IV, Parts m-V.y. Bombay nal. Hist. Soc., 21 : 441-446, 878- 911, 1222-1272. (1924): Description of two new genera and two new species of Ophiderinae (Noctuidae). Entomologist, London, 57; 182-184. (1926): Description of new genera and species of Lepidoptera, Phalaenae of the subfamily Noctuinae (Noctuidae) in the British Museum, 641 pp. Trustees of the British Museum (NH), London. AN UNDESCRIBED SPECIES OF MUSSAENDA L. (RUB I ACE AE) FROM EASTERN HIMALAYA1 S.K. Basu and T.K. Paul2 (with ten text-figures) Mussaenda andersonii S.K. Basu et T.K. Paul typified by Anderson\63 from Sikkim is established as a new species. The new species is described and illustrated. While studying the material of Mussaenda L. (Rubiaceae) in CAL we came across some interesting specimens collected by Simons, Anderson, King and others during 1862-1876. These specimens are from Darjeeling, Sikkim Himalaya and had been given a manuscript name by King, but this name does not seem to have been published. Again King remarked on two of these specimens “Same as 6250G Wall. Cat.” Further he also sought the opinion of C.B. Clarke on the identity of these specimens and quoted on the specimens “CBC says = M. wallichii G. Don”. But M. wallichii G. Don as cited by J.D. Hooker (1880) in R Brit. India is a plant with persistent calyx. G. Watt ignored Clarke’s identification and wrote on one of the fruiting specimens (C.B. Clarke? 255), “FI. Br. Ind. remarks regarding wallichii calyx teeth persistent ’ ’ . But he was silent about the identity of that fruiting specimen, jaya- 1 Accepted September 1988. Central National Herbarium, P.O. Botanic Garden, Howrah-711 103. weera (1963) revised the genus Mussaenda L. of India and Sri Lanka but may not have examined these specimens preserved in CAL. Our studies reveal that these specimens neither match with M. wallichii G. Don nor Wall. Cat. 6250 G, i.e., M. glabrata (Hook.f.) Hutch, ex Gamble, nor do they match with any other known species of the genus Mussaenda L. and in fact represent a hitherto unrecognised species. They are therefore described here as a new taxon. Mussaenda andersonii sp. nov. M. frondosae L. affinis, sed differt foliis spars im pilosis, stipulis intus glabris, calycis lobis brevioribus (c. 3 mm longis), puberulisque, sepalis petaloideis glabrescentibus, corollaeque tubis brevioribus (1.9 cm longis). Scandent shrub; young stem hirsute, older stems glabrate, blackish brown. Leaves opposite, elliptic, ovate to oblong, 4.6-1 1 .2 x 2. 1 -6 cm, apex shortly acuminate or acute, base cuneate or ounded, upper surface sparsely hairy, some- times hairs only along the veins and veinlets; primary lateral veins 6-8 pairs; petiole 0.5- 1.0 cm Figs. 1-10. Mussaenda andersonii sp. nov. 1. Flowering twig; 2. Stipule; 3. Calyx lobes; 4. Longitudinal Section of short styled flower with tufted hairs at mouth and stamens in throat of the corolla tube; 5. Longitudinal Section of long styled flower with tufted hairs at mouth and stamens about half way on the corolla tube; 6. Dorsifixed anther; 7. Style of long styled flower; 8. Style of short styled flower; 9. Fruit; 10. Seed. 432 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS BETWEEN M.frondosa AND M. andersonii M.frondosa M. andersonii sp. nov. Leaf : Primary veins 6-10 pairs, Primary veins 6-8 pairs densely hairy sparsely hairy. Stipule : Inner surface hairy Inner surface glabrous Calyx : Calyx lobes longer Calyx lobes shorter (6.5-15 mm long), hairy (c. 3 mm long), minutely pubescent, petaloid sepals hairy petaloid sepals glabrescent. Corolla : Corolla tube longer Corolla tube shorter (2-2.7 cm) long (1.9 cm) long. long, hairy; stipules 4 mm long, broadly trian- gular, bifurcate 1/4 - 3/4 their length, lobes straight, outer surface hairy, glabrous inside, deciduous. Inflorescence terminal or from leaf axils, dichotomously branched, pubescent, few flowered cymes; bracts and bracteoles trifid. Flowers hcterostylous on stout pedicel, pedicel 2-3 mm long, pubescent. Calyx lobes 5, linear, c. 3 mm long, deciduous, outer side pubescent, in- side glabrous or with few hairs; petaloid sepal creamy white, ovate or oblong-ovate, 2. 5-5. 5 x 1.3-3. 2 cm, apex acute to subacute, base long or short attenuate orcuneate at base, glabrescent, 6-7 nerved, lower surface with few hairs on the ner- ves, petiole 6-10 mm long. Corolla tube 1. 9-2.0 cm long, hairy on the outer surface, inner surface densely hairy upto the base of the anthers. Corolla lobes 4x2 mm, ovate, apiculate, outer surface hairy, papillate within. Anthers 4 mm and fila- ments 1 mm long in short styled form, in long styled form anthers 4.5-5 mm and filament 1 .5 mm long, anthers linear, dorsifixed, bilobed at the base. Ovary 1 - 1 .5 mm long, hairy, 2-locular; style and stigma lobes 6 mm and 3 mm long respective- ly in short styled form, 1 .4 cm and 4 mm long in long styled form. Berry globose, c. 1 cm long and broad, sparsely hirsute to glabrous; seeds numerous, minute, c . 0.5 mm long and broad, reticulate, not spiny, brownish in colour. Holotype : India, Sikkim, Kolwong, 9-5- 1862, Anderson 163 (CAL). FIs. & Frts. : May-Sept. Distribution: Eastern Himalaya (Sikkim, Darjeeling). Specimens examined: INDIA: Sikkim : Dungbo forest, 900-1200 m, 29-11-1875, King s.n. (CAL); Tangbob, 600 m, 12-5-1874, si 514 (CAL); Sine , loc. exact. Simons s.n. (CAL). West Bengal, Darjeeling dist., above Mongpoo, 1680 m, Sept. 1874, Clarke (?) 255 (CAL). Mussaenda andersonii S.K. Basu et T.K. Paul is allied to M. frondosa L. but differs as shown in Table 1 . M. andersonii also differs from M. laxa (Hook, f.) Hutch, ex Gamble in having compact inflorescence. The new taxon is named after T. Anderson, the first collector of this new species. Acknowledgements We are thankful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India for all facilities. Sincere thanks and gratitude are also due to Dr D.B. Deb, ex- Deputy Director, Botanical Survey of India for his encouragements; Dr N.C. Majumdar for render- ing the Latin translation and to Dr. B.D. Sharma, Deputy Director, Central National Herbarium, for going through the manuscript. References Hooker, J.D. (1880): The Flora of British India 3: 88. saenda: The species of India and ceylon. Journ. Am. Arb. 44: London. 232-267 . Jayaweera, M.A. (1963): The Rubiaceous Genus Mus- REVIEWS SNAKEMAN by Zai Whitaker. The India Magazine Hooks, 1989. pp. 185, Rs. 195. I have, pasted on the glass door of my book cabinet, a printed maxim that “Nothing is impossible to the person who won’t listen to reason”. Not many people make it safely on the slippery road to success by balking convention. I know of only two in the field of natural history who did so and still made it to the top of the ladder, Salim Ali the noted Ornithologist, and Romulus Whitaker, the Snakeman. This biography records Whitaker’s rough road to suc- cess. I had met him many years ago for a hike through the forests of Kalakad Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, a Sanctuary much loved by both of us. As Rom, after a long day’s trek, settled down in the Dak Bungalow by changing into a Tungi’ and tying a string from window to window to hang up his clothes and his towel, I knew that he was fully assimilated and was, except for his unfortunate colour, as good an Indian as any native of the country. Now a naturalised Indian, Rom has been the single major factor in the conservation of the reptiles of the subcontinent. The snakes particularly have been to a cer- tain extent freed from the web of fear and superstition and from being exported abroad as dressed skins. Rom’s Madras Snake Park was largely responsible for this conservation movement. It is unfortunate that he was winkled out of the management of the Park. A self taught Herpetologist, he has very few peers in the field of ecology of the reptiles of India. This biography leads us through the early years of his snake collecting days in the USA to his return to India where he had studied as a boy, and his total involvement with the reptiles of the land and the people, the tribal Irulas, whose livelihood are the snakes. It is the fascinating story of goals achieved through sheer determination in the face of fohnidable obstacles. The book has been written by Zai Whitaker with warmth and wry humour, and without any rancour for the many vicissitudes created for Rom by obtuse officials and others. The snakes, particularly the King Cobras, come alive in the descriptions of Rom’s search in the subcon- tinent and the Andamans for these beautiful and vibrant animals. The book is pleasant reading throughout. A book recommended not only for naturalists but also for those interested in the unusual in the human psyche. J.C. DANIEL MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL PARKS AND SANCTUARIES IN INDIA by A. Kothari, P. Pande, S. Singh and D. Variava. Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, 1989. 289 pp. Rs 250/ US S 40 (hardcover), Rs 150/ US $30 (soft cover) The protection of nature is a very old tradition in India, deep- rooted in its cultural history. Sacred groves were established by hunter- gatherer societies several thousand years ago and they remain widespread today. As early as the 4th century BC, the establishment of forest reserves and special sanctuaries for wild animals was advocated in the Arthashastra, a manual of state- craft. Subsequently, many rulers set up and maintained reserves for hunting purposes. A number of these have remained largely intact and provided the basis of the present network of national parks and sanctuaries in India, which dates back to the early part of this century. Several sanctuaries in Assam, for example, were established in 1915 and subsequent years, while the first national park, Hailey (later renamed Corbett), was declared in 1936, The number of protected areas has risen rapidly in recent decades, from a modest 65 national parks and sanctuaries in 1960 to 472 by the end of 1989, extending over a total area of about 131,800 sq.km, or 4% of the country. In view of the numerous other pressures on land, especially forested land, this achieve- ment of the state and central governments is remarkable. Establishing protected areas is, however, only the first step: managing them in the face of mounting pressures is becoming an increasingly formidable task, demanding the reconciliation of wildlife interests with human needs and aspirations. Aware of many of the deficiencies in the existing network, the Government of India is to be con- gratulated for sponsoring a survey of its protected areas, the results of which are reported in ‘Management of National Parks and Sanctuaries in India’. The survey, using a questionnaire approach, was carried out by the Environmental Studies Division, Indian Institute of Public Administration, under the direction of Shekhar Singh. Based on a sample of 249 protected areas, this study must rank as among the first of its kind, and the dedication and disciplined approach of the research team is evident in its meticulous and exhaustive treatment of the data. The report is divided into five sections, with chapters on legal 434 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 status, natural resources, human activities, management and recommendations, supported by numerous tables of statistics which fill over half the volume. Perhaps the most startling finding is that only 40% of national parks and 8% of sanctuaries sampled are legally designated; the rest have been initially notified and await completion of legal procedures. The boundaries of the great majority of protected areas, therefore, are not final — some may change during the settlement process. With some 56% of national parks and 72% of sanctuaries in- habited (at densities exceeding the national average of 2.5 persons per hectare in 10 sanctuaries), it is perhaps not suprising that legal procedures take on average three years and in some cases up to eight years to complete. Grazing, habitation, religious and agricultural rights or leases are among the most common issues requiring settlement. Quite apart from the impact of fires, flooding, drought and water pollution, all of which are quantified in the report, protected areas are subjected to ever-increasing pressures from exploitation, both legal and illegal. Graz- ing of livestock, for example, is permitted in 39% of national parks and 73% of sanctuaries, but the incidence of illicit grazing is much higher in both cases. Similarly, timber continues to be legitimately extracted from 1 6% of national parks and 43% of sanctuaries. It would appear from the results of the survey that, in general, management is not equipped to deal with the scale of the problems that threaten many of India’s protected areas. Only an es- timated 50% of national parks and 31% of sanctuaries have management plans. Most of these are never approved by respective chief wildlife wardens, which means that budgets are seldom met in full or on time. Such shortcom- ings have previously been recognised. In 1985, for ex- ample, the Indian Board of Wildlife recommended that 15% of state forest department budgets should be ear- marked for wildlife management at a time when expendi- ture on protected areas accounted for just over 2% of forest department budgets. These are among the salient facts emerging from this study. Undoubtedly, it has its shortcomings and the authors readily acknowledge the fact that responses to the questionnaires have not been independently verified. This is a long process but is being addressed, with each protected area being visited as part of an ongoing project to produce a series of state protected area directories. In the meantime, the present report is warranted, enabling remedial action to be taken by policy and decision makers without unneccessary delay. Overall presentation of the data is clear and concise, although statistics summarising some of the geographical and biological features of protected areas in Chapter 2 could have been presented in a more meaningful context. Data showing the frequency distribution of forest types within protected areas, for example, could have been accompanied by statistics summarising the national coverage of the different forest types, in order to identify gaps in the network. In the annexed section on internation- al conventions, it is unfortunate that no mention is made of the World Heritage Convention, in which India is an active participant, with five natural properties designated under the Convention to date. Such criticisms do not detract from the value of this report. Not only does the study provide a wealth of useful information on India’s protected areas for wildlife managers, scientists and politicians alike, but it also serves as a model which could be usefully adopted in other countries. MICHAEL J.B. GREEN MISCELLANEOUS NOTES LON THE PRIMATES OF GUMTI SANCTUARY, TRIPURA The Gumti Sanctuary in Tripura was notified in December 1988. It extends over 389.54 sq. km, of which approximately 70 sq. km has been inundated by a hydel dam. The sanctuary contains the following 6 species of primates — Hoolock Gibbon Hylobates hoolock , Phayre’s Leaf Monkey Presbytis phayrei, Capped Lan- gur Presbytis pileatus. Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatto. Pig-tailed Macaque Macaca nemestrina and Stump- tailed Macaque Macaca arctoides. I do not know of any area of equal size in the world where 6 distinct species of primates occur in one con- tiguous forest. In this regard, therefore, Gumti would be unique. It would be interesting to get feedback as to whether there are any such areas elsewhere, with such a diversity of primate species. I am given to understand that in a small island of about 20 hectares which has been formed due to the reservoir being created in Gumti as a result of the hydel project mentioned above, 3 species of primates now occur, namely the Hoolock Gibbon, the Leaf Monkey and the Stump-tailed Macaque. This must also be an unusual occurrence. April 4, 1989. RANJITSINH 2. CRAB-EATING MACAQUE MACACA FASCICULARIS (RAFFLES) FEEDING ON HOUSE SPARROW PASSER DOMESTICUS (LINNAEUS) On 21 August 1988, at 1430 hours in the Zoo at Alipur in Calcutta, I saw a male Crab-eating Macaque Macaca fascicular is (Raffles) run, jump and catch a House Spar- row Passer domestic us (Linnaeus) within its spacious enclosure. The monkey seized the bird with its left hand and with its right hand began plucking the feathers from the ventral side of the neck of the screaming bird. After clearing the feathers, the monkey bit on the cleared portion of the neck and tore off the skin and muscle of that region. The monkey ate the bird except for the feathers, claws and the intestine. March 28, 1989 AIAY KUMAR MANDAL 3. SMALL MONGOOSE HARPESTES AUROPUNCTATUS FEEDING ON DROPPINGS OF NILGAI BOSELAPHUS TRAGOCAMELUS With reference to the note “The Small Mongoose feeding on droppings of Nilgai” by S.K. Sharma in J. Bombay not. Hist. Soc. 85 (3): 611,1 would like to add the following comments. Similar observations have been made at Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Bharatpur. How- ever, further observations show that the Mongoose actual- ly feeds on the pods of Acacia nilotica (Babul) present in the droppings of Nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus. Shar- ma reports that the observation was made during the mo- nth of April, which is the peak fruiting period of Acacia nilotica. During this month. Nilgai are frequently seen feeding on these pods. I am writing this note not to contradict his observation but to clarify that the mon- gooses actually feed on the Acacia pods present in the droppings of the Nilgai. It has been observed that they also feed on the pods present in the dung of cattle. May 11, 1989. MD. NAYERUL HAQUE 436 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 4. ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ASIAN HORSESHOE BAT RHINOLOPHUS YUNANENSIS (With a text-figure ) This has reference to the article “A note on- Rhinolophus pearsonii Hors field, 1851 and Rhinolophus yunanensis Dobson, 1872 (Chiroptera; Rhinolophidae)’* by J.E Hill in J. Bombay not. Hist. Soc. 83 (Suppl.). I did not go through the article in detail, but some location errors caught my attention On page 15, col. 2, para 3, the name of the locality “Tupai Mukh” should actually be “Tipaimukh”. It is located in the Lushai Hills, which are presently in Mizoram and not Meghalaya as mentioned. Mishmi Hills are also not a part of Meghalaya, but are in Arunachal Pradesh. Khasi and Jaintia Hills are, of course, part of Meghalaya. The errors are again repeated on pp. 16 and 17. The map (Fig. 1) shows the relative location of Meghalaya, Mishmi Hills and Tipaimukh. Moreover, onpp. 12 and 14 Meghalaya has been mentioned as being part of Assam, which it was only till 1972. Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills were part of Assam, but later became the separate state of Meghalaya. April 20, 1989. ANWARUDDIN CHOUDHURY 5. ON THE STATUS OF MADRAS TREE SHREW ANANTHANA ELLIOT! ELUOTI The Wynad plateau in south India is c. 700 m above sea level and juts into the Malabar plains, ending rather precipitously on the Western Ghats. Wynad receives an average annual rainfall of c. 380 cm, mostly between May and August. It is criss-crossed by streams and supports a dense tropical forest, which until recently was nearly impenetrable. Destruction of forests for establishing Tea, Coffee and Cardamom plantations have now opened up most regions for human interference. At the invitation of Prof. B.K. Nayar, Head of the Department of Botany, University of Calicut, I joined a team that undertook a three day survey of Wynad, Kerala, in February 1982 to assess the extent of possible destruc- tion of the flora and fauna that could be caused by a proposed hydro-electric project. The study was sponsored and financed by the Kerala Electricity Board. The main areas covered were Mananthodi, Pakranthalam, Periya etc. On 15 February 1982, we were collecting plants and observing animals and birds. I walked alone a distance of about half a kilometre ahead of the team and reached a tarred road near the Arboretum (Silviculture Research Centre) of the Forest Department at about 0940 hrs. At the side of the tarred road and adjoining this tree garden, I saw one Madras Tree Shrew Ananthana ellioti ellioti on the ground on and among the carpet of fallen dry leaves, mainly of Teak Tectona grandis. Even at first glance I could see that this animal was somewhat different from a squirrel or rat, and identified it as Ananthana llioti ellioti. I watched the animal for more than ten minutes and it appeared to me that it was not very disturbed by my presence at a very close quarters. Later on, when I picked up a stone and made as if to throw it, the shrew ran and climbed a Teak tree adjacent to a bamboo clump. I was not able to photograph the animal as I did not have a camera with me. The mammal gallery in the Natural History section of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, where I worked from 1969 to 1977, contains a single mounted and ex-hi- MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 437 bited specimen of the Madras Tree Shrew. My familiarity with this specimen aided me to a great extent in identifying this animal in the field. I think there is a lack of information on sightings or distribution of the Madras Tree Shrew. In this context, I feel that it would be worth reporting the sighting of this animal at Periya, Wynad, Kerala. February 22, 1989. N.J. GEORGE 6. NECTAR FEEDING BY THREE-STRIPED PALM SQUIRREL FUNAMBULUS PALM ARUM AT POINT CALIMERE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, TAMIL NADU The food of the Three-striped Palm Squirrel Funam- bulus palmarum (Linnaeus) includes the nectar of flowers (Prater 1980). In the Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, I noticed these squirrels extensively visiting Rivea hypocrateriformis flowers to drink the nectar. Rivea hypocrateriformis (Desr.) Choisy (Convolvulaceae) is a common vine forming mat-like thickets on shrubs and small trees and is an endemic in the flora of peninsular India. Its flowers are large, showy and fragrant, opening at dusk and closing at sunrise; the corolla is white, 7 cm across, salver-shaped; tube narrow, cylindical, 5 cm; stamens 5 with spinulose pollen grains and the style 5.5 cm with bifid stigma (Mathew 1982). Its peak flowering period in Point Calimere is December and January. They bloom en masse and I found 25 to 100 flowers in a plan in a day and one to many squirrels visiting every plant. They visit a flower, hold the thalamus of the flower with a forepaw and the corolla with the other forepaw, bite and tear the tube at the base whee the tube meets the tips of the calyx lobes, and lick the nectar that oozes out from around the ovary. They are very swift in action and finish this job within 30 seconds before moving on to another flower, and likewise attend most of the flowers of a plant. Out of 462 flowers from 10 plants I examined on 30 December 1988, 306 flowers were attended by these squir- rels. Though they attended large number of flowers they did not damage the flowers except in a few instances. Occasionally they plucked the entire flower and dropped it after drinking the nectar. They were feeding actively from 0600 to 0830 hrs. At around 0900 hrs the feeding activities ceased, as all the flowers had by then faded. There is every likelihood that the squirrels, while moving on the bush for feeding on the nectar, transfer pollen from one flower to another. It is interesting to note that the Three-striped Palm Squirrel extensively feeds on the nec- tar of Rivea hypocrateriformis flowers and possibly also plays a role in their pollination. January 19, 1989. P. BALASUBRAMANIAN References Mathew, K.M. (1982): The flora of the Tamil Nadu Prater, S.H. (1980): The book of Indian Animals. Bom - Camatic, Rapinat Herbarium Publications, Tiruchy. Part-2, bay Natural History Society, Bombay. 200-201. 1042. 7. GRIZZLED GIANT SQUIRREL RATUFA MACROURA — DISTRIBUTION IN KUDIRAYAR The Grizzled Giant Squirrel Raiufa mac r our a probab- ly has a wider distribution than is believed. I have observed a few of these squirrels recently in the Kudirayar valley (25 km from Palani in Anna district of Tamil Nadu), which is situated on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats below the Palani (Kodaikanal) Hills. It is hoped that the dam across Kudirayar stream, which is almost ready, will help the species, which is now mostly confined to the Kudirayar stream margin, to widen its base. There does not appear to be any serious threat to the squirrel’s survival here. April 11, 1989. PETER DAVIDAR 11 438 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 8. ELEPHANTS LIVING IN HARMONY WITH PEOPLE It is quite surprising to witness the way in which the Elephants of Anakulam area interact with the local people. This area is a part of the Pooyamkutty reserve forest situated in Devikolam taluk of Idukki district, Kerala, and will be completely denuded if the proposed Pooyamkutty hydro — electric project becomes a reality. The western border of the Anakulam river bears rich forests that spread northwards, while the eastern border extends up to Mankulam. Herds of elephants regularly visit, drink and revel in the waters of the Anakulam river at one spot, where bubbles are always emerging from the river bed. This part of the river is directly opposite to human habitation, and is easily fordable. But the elephants never cross the river to enter cultivated land. During daytime the local people bathe and wash their clothes at the same spot. At the close of the day, when the residents retreat, the same spot is taken over by the be- hemoths, who in turn return to the dense forest by day- break. The settlers are also very particular not to disturb the elephants during their revelry. They have been wit- nessing this for the last two to three decades. One comes across numerous articles about elephants destroying crops and killing people. But in this area such a case is unheard of. During my visit to this area a few months back, from 21*00 to 0500 hrs I observed twenty elephants, including young ones, visiting this area. Such harmonious coexistence between man and wild elephants is an unusual phenomenon. January 13, 1989. SHAJU THOMAS 9. MUSK DEER MOSCHUS CHRYSOGASTER : MUSK EXTRACTION FROM LIVE DEER ( With a plate and a text-figure ) Introduction The Himalayan Musk Deer Moschus chrysogaster , a primitive ruminant, is commonly found in the Himalayan region between 2400-4300 m in Nepal. The main tl^reat to Musk Deer survival is habitat destruction and poaching to procure musk pod from the males. But theuse of traps and snares also kills females and young indiscriminately (Blower 1974). The musk sac is located between the reproductive organs and the umbilicus. It opens to the exterior through an orifice which lies anterior to that of the urethra. Tradi- tionally, the musk pod is incised out ater killing the deer. The musk can also be extracted by a simple operation, but this method is time consuming and causes much stress in the deer (Shrestha 1983). Methods An 18-month old male was physically restrained and secured by three persons and placed on its side to expose the umbilical region. A silver scoop ith one large and one small groove at each end was sterilised and ubricated with antibiotic cream. Holding the musk sac with left hand, the scoop was inserted gently with a rotating movement. The edge of the scoop is smooth and rounded to facilitate easv insertion and to prevent injury to the musk gland. T musk was collected by rotating the scoop and was scooped out. Antibiotic cream was applied in the gland to prevent possible infectionThe whole operation was completed within 15 miutes. Because this technique was found most suitable, scooping w’as repeated 6 times on the same animal. -J Fig. 1 . °7o moisture content of musk yield at different ages. Plate i J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc .86 Shresha: Musk Deer Above : Musk Deer Below : Extraction from musk gland, using a scoop. hi MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 439 Table 1 EXTRACTION OF MUSK AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS Date of musk extraction and age of Musk Deer Musk yield in grams Wet Dry Moisture content in % Colour, consistency, scent Remarks 1. 29 Dec 1981 1 year 6 months 2.000 0.325 83.75 Dark red brown, pasty, urine smell Extracted at beginning of expected mating season (December - January). 2. 23 Dec 1982 2 years 6 months 5.700 5.655 0.78 Dark red brown, granular, strongly scented -do- 3. 19 Jan 1984 3 years 7 rry nths 2.200 1.150 2.27 -do- Extracted 26 days after previous extraction. 4. 6 Dec 1984 4 years 5 months - — - Light brown, pasty, slightly scented Small amount extracted to check colour and consistency 3 weeks before First extraction. 5. 11 April 1985 4 years 9 months - - - Creamy white, pasty, no remarkable scent Small amount extracted to check colour and consistency 5 months after expected mating season. 6. 21 Dec 1985 5 years 6 months 3.000 2.380 20.66 Dark red brown, granular, strongly scented Extracted in expected mating season. 7. 27 June 1987 7 years — — — Creamy white, pasty, no remarkable scent Small amout extracted to check colour consistency and scent 6 months after mating season. earlier. At the age of 7 years, a little musk was taken 6 months after the expected mating season. The musk was immature i.e., creamy white in colour, pasty in appearance and without any scent. A sharp decline of percentage moisture content of musk yield was observed with age (Fig. 1). Discussion and Recommendations Musk yields varied because of the diseased condition of the deer and frequent extractions of musk in small quantities to check the colour, consistency and scent of musk before and after the mating season. The quality of the musk was better when the musk was extracted between 3rd week of December and January. Musk extracted in the months of November, April and June was immature. The musk can also be extracted annually during the rutting season by this method from adult males in the wild Results The length of the musk sac was 4.1 cm externally. Width and depth were 3.3 and 4.6 cm respectively. At the age of 1 .5 years, the extracted musk was not of the desired quality, with a pasty appearance and pungent urine smell (T able 1 ). Musk at the age of 2.5 years was of good quality. The brown granular powder was strongly scented, and the yield satisfactory. At 3.6 years the musk extracted 26 days after the previous extraction was comparatively less in yield (Table 1). At 4.4 years, 3 weeks prior to be expected rut season, the musk was light brown, pasty and slightly scented. At 4.8 years musk was extracted 4 months after the expected rut season. The musk was creamy white, pasty in appearance and without scent. At 5.5 years, the musk extracted in the rut season was dark red brown, granular and strongly scented. The reduction in the musk yield this time could be due to removal of some musk 440 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 after capturing them with nets through a drive and releas- ing them after harvesting the musk. If an arrangement could be made at village level through local panchayats on an annual basis for the benefit of a specific village community, such a programme would generate a self — supporting economy, which means concrete support for Refer Blower, J. (1974): Notes on trade in musk, Nepal. Report to WWF/IUCN, Morges, Switzerland. wildlife conservation at grassroots level. In addition to this, the villagers would themselves become watchdogs against poaching, ensuring the survival of the endangered Musk Deer in Nepal. December 12, 1988. MUKTI N. SHRESTHA E N C E S SHRESTHA, M. (1983): Moschus von Chinensis Chen Farmen. TIER. W. Germany, Vol. (1). 10. SIGHT RECORD OF REDNECKED GREBE PODICEPS GRISEIGENA NEAR RAJKOT, GUJARAT On 11 December 1986 at the Nyari reservoir, south- west of Rajkot city (22° 18’ N, 70 47’ E), Gujarat, we observed two grebes diving under the water close to an islet on which both species ofmigrant cranes, Demoiselle Cran e Anthropoides virgo, and Common Crane Grus grus were roosting. The grebes were intermediate in size to our two com- mon grebes, the Little Grebe Podiceps ruficollis and the Great Crested Grebe P. cristatus. Both these species occur regularly at this reservoir. These new arrivals were in their winter plumage and had a distinctly visible yellow base to the lower mandible, best illustrated by Peterson et al. (1983). This confirmed their identity to be the Rednecked Grebe P. griseigena. The same evening, we visited the reservoir with Prof. R.M. Naik and saw the birds again. This time they were further away and were resting in the Refer Ali, S. (1954): The birds of Gujarat — Part I J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 52:374-458. Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Dharmakumarsinhjl K.S. (1955): Birds of Saurashtra. Times of India Press, Bombay. Holmes, J.R.S., Roberts. R.J. & Savage, C.D.W. (1967): water. On later visits that winter the birds were not ob- served. So far there have been only two records of the bird from the Indian subcontinent, on the basis of which Ali and Ripley (1983) consider the bird to be a rare winter visitor. These records are from Pakistan and were made by Hol- mes et.al (1967) of one bird in winter plumage, on 14 January 1967, and by Savage (1968), of two birds, of which one was in complete summer plumage, on 24 September 1967. There is no mention of this species ffomGujarat, either in Ali (1954) or Dharmakumarsinhji (1955) and so it is believed to be an addition to the list of birds for the state. TAEJ MUNDKUR November 17, 1987. RISHAD PRAVEZ E N C E S Rednecked Grebe Podiceps griseigena (Boddaert) sighted in west Pakistan-/. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 64: 555-557. Peterson, R., Monfort, G. & Hollom, Pa.d. (1983): A field guide to the birds of Britian and Europe. Collins, London. Savage, C.D.W. (1968): Rednecked Grebe Podiceps griseigena (Boddaert) again sighted in west Pakistan J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 65: 773. 11. MONTHLY VARIATIONS IN DIET OF CATTLE EGRET BUBULCUS IBIS COROMANDUS IN AND AROUND CHANDIGARH Documentation on the feeding ecology of the Asiatic subspecies of the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis coromandus (Boddaert) is meagre. Ikeda (1956), Kosugi (1960), Muk- herjee (1971), and McKilligan (1984) studied the food habits of this subspecies. Except for Mukherjee( 1971), all other workers made observations only during the breeding season. Accordingly, a study was conducted from February 1984 to February 1986 to gather comprehensive information on its feeding ecology. Some results of the investigations have been reported elsewhere (Sodhi and MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 441 Khera 1984, Singh et al. mpressSodhi). The present paper examines variations in the diet of the Cattle Egret during different times of the year. Material and Methods 45 Cattle Egrets were shot from Chandigarh (30° 42’N, 76° 54’ E) and surrounding areas between March 1984 and March 1985, each after at least one hour of feeding, so as to obtain maximum information. No egrets were shot during June, August, September or November. The stomach contents were preserved in different percent- ages of formaldehyde, depending on their nature. Contents of each stomach were categorized into different prey groups, namely Annelida, Odonata, etc., and counted. To study the dominance of a particular prey group during different months, Simpson’s dominance index 'L - s L Pi was calculated, following Ruiz (1985). Pi is the number of prey in one stomach divided by the total number of prey encountered in the same stomach. Simpson’s dominance index is a measure of the expected frequency of particular prey and offers an estimate of dominance of a given prey group in the predator’s diet (Ruiz 1985). Values less than 0.01 in preliminary calcula- tions were discarded. To estimate diversity in the diet, mean number of food items and mean number of food objects were calculated for different months. Food item, as referred here, is a particular food group, e.g. Annelida, Odonata, etc., and food object is the total of all food items. Further, foraging index = mean number of food items/mean number of food objects x 100 was calculated for each month to get an idea of the quantities of food objects in terms of variety of food items, following Siegfried (1972). Results Table 1 presents Simpson’s dominance index for each prey group during different months. From the table it is evident that Coleoptera (January), Diptera (February to April), Lepidoptera (May and December), and Orthoptera (July and October) were the most important prey groups. Based on dominance index, Diptera, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera were the three most important prey groups (T able 2). T able 3 infers that Cattle Egrets consumed most diverse food in February and least diverse food in Decem- ber. Discussion From the analysis, it is evident that the Cattle Egret is predominantly an insect forager. It is morphologically adapted to feed on insects (Dubale and Mansuri 1969, 1972, Payne and Risley 1976). The variations in their diet during different months may be due to: (a) availability of a particular prey group in nature during those months, (b) their ability to catch that particular prey, or (c) prey selection being influenced by Table 1 SIMPSON’S DOMINANCE INDEX OF DIFFERENT PREY GROUPS IN DIFFERENT MONTHS Prey group Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jul. Oct Dec. Annelida _ 0.01 _ _ + 0.32 _ _ Odonata 0.17 + 0.04 - 0.05 - 0.01 - Orthoptera 3.34 2.43 2.68 0.22 0.09 5.29 1.36 1.18 Dermaptera + + 0.06 0.01 - - 0.45 - Dictyoptera + + + - - + - - Hemiptera - + + - 0.06 - - - Coleoptera 4.75 0.67 0.65 0.04 + 1.96 + + Diptera 1.02 7.18 20.97 2.49 0.04 1.61 + 0.01 Lepidoptera 0.75 1.58 1.76 1.82 1.51 0.03 + 2.04 Hymenoptera + 0.02 0.05 - - 0.09 - - Arachnida 0.28 0.09 2.68 0.02 + 0.27 0.02 0.03 Chilopoda - + - - - - + - Amphibia - - - - - 0.07 - - Reptilia - - - - - + - - Mammalia - - - - - - - + Sample size 7 7 11 4 3 7 2 3 + = Values less than 0.01. 442 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 SIMPSON’S DOMINANCE INDEX OF DIFFERENT PREY GROUPS. 11 IS PERCENTAGE OF DOMINANCE INDEX VALUES Prey group 1 U Annelida 0.57 0.19 Odonata 1.06 0.36 Orthoptera 107.53 36.63 Dermaptera 0.77 0.26 Dictyoptera + - Hemiptera 0.09 0.03 Coleoptera 29.92 10.19 Diptera 132.02 44.97 Lepidoptera 7.68 2.61 Hymenoptera 0.77 0.26 Arachnida 13.03 4.43 Chilopoda + - Amphibia 0.07 0.02 Reptilia + + Mammalia + + = Values less than 0.01 + some physiological stimuli (Ruiz 1985). The most important prey group during the present study was Diptera. Earlier, Orthoptera was found to be the most important prey group in Egypt, South Africa, Sun- darban (India), North America, Australia, while Coleop- tera and Amphibia were the most important in Japan and Refer Dubale, M.S. & Mansuri, A.P. (1969): A comparative account of the bony elements of the feeding apparatus of certain herons (Family: Ardeida e).Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. India 39: 226- 232. (1972): Functional significance of quantita- tive analysis of jaw -muscles in relation to feeding behaviour of certain Indian herons and egrets (Family : Ardeidae). Pavo 10: 43-57. Ikeda, S. (1956): On the food habits of the Indian Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis coromandus. Jap. J. appl. Tool. 21: 83- 86. Jenni, D.A. (1973): Regional variation in the food of nestling Cattle Egrets.A«* 90: 821-826. Kadry-bey, I. (1942): The economic importance of the Buff- backed Egret ( Ardea ibis L.) to Egyptian agriculture. Zool. Soc. Egypt Bull. 4: 20-26. Kosugi, A. (1960): On the food habits of some herons. Table 3 MEAN NUMBER OF FOOD ITEMS CONSUMED AND FORAGING INDEX DURING DIFFERENT MONTHS Month food items Mean no. of index Foraging Jan. 4.14± 1.86 3.58 Feb. 6.85± 2.73 2.16 Mar. 6.1811.40 7.37 Apr. 5.251 0.95 8.03 May 5.001 0.0 25.50 Jul. 4.421 1.90 24.40 Oct. 6.501 0.70 26.00 Dec. 4.001 1.73 15.00 Spain (Kadry -Bey 1942, Siegfried 1966, Mukheijee 1971, Jenni 1973, McKilligan 1984, Ikeda 1956, Ruiz 1985). The dominance of a particular prey group in diet, in a region, is perhaps due to abundance of that prey group in that region (Sodhi 1985). Acknowledgements I am grateful to the ICAR, New Delhi, for financing this research. Thanks are due to Dr Navdeep Singh, Prof. S . Khera and Mr Rajiv Singh for their help, and to Dr Lynn W. Oliphant for making comments on this manuscript. March 16, 1988. NAVJOT S. SODHI N C E S Miscel. Yamashina Inst. Orn. 15: 89-98. Mckilligan, N.G. (1984): The food and feeding ecology of the Cattle Egret, Ardeola ibis when nesting in southeast Queenslandj4«jr. Wildl.Res. 11: 133-144. Mukherjee, A.K. (1971): Food-habits of water birds of the Sundarban, 24-Parganas District, West Bengal, India-IIIJ. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 68: 691-716. Payne, R.B. & Risley, CJ. (1976): Systematics and evolutionary relationships among the herons (Ardeidae).Mhc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan 150: 1-115. Ruiz, X. (1985): An analysis of the diet of Cattle Egrets in the Ebro delta, Spain Ardea 73: 49-60. Siegfried, W.R. (1966): On the food of nestling Cattle Egrcis.Ostrich 37: 219-220. (1972): Aspects of feeding ecology of Cttle Egret ( Ardeola ibis ) in South Africa J. Anim. Ecol. 41: 71-78. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 443 Singh, N., Sodhi, N.S. & Khera. S. (in press): Biology of the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis coromandus (Boddaert)./tec. Zool. Surv. India, Occ. Paper. Sodhi, N.S. (in press): Role of Cattle Egret in suppression of insect pests .Geobios new Reports 6. & Khera, S. (1984): Food, food require- ment during growth, and feeding behaviour of nestling Bubulcus ibis coromandus (Boddaert). Pavo22: 21-29. 12. BROWN BOOBY SULA LEUCOGASTER (BODDAERT) ON THE WESTERN COAST ( With a text-figure) While bird witching at Mandvi in Kutch, Gujarat, on 22 August 1987, some distance short of the mouth of River Rukmavati which joins the Arabian Sea, opposite the town and port of Mandvi, a fisherman told us that he had seen a sea bird which he said he had not come across before. When we went to the spot pointed out by him we saw a Brown Booby Sula leuco-gaster, sitting quietly. We ap- proached it very close and even when we caught it, it showed no signs of fright. We therefore felt it was either injured (there was no external sign of injury) or ill. We then had the bird photographed. On studying the literature it appears that except for a specimen collected from the Malabar coast, this is the only record for the western sea board. M.K. Himmatsinhji, to whom we showed the photo and who has confirmed our identification of the Brown Booby, thinks it is an accidental occurrence, and that we should try to collect it as specimen for the Society. S.N. VARU September 22, 1987. N.N. BAP AT Fig. 1. Brown Booby Sula leucogaster. 13. OCCURRENCE OF CICONIA CICONIA GRUIDAE AND BREEDING OF PHOENICOFIERIDAE IN KUTCH, GUJARAT Apparently the White Stork was first recorded in Kutch, Gujarat, by Capt. C.D. Lester during the last cen ury; he saw a pair of them at Devisar tank (about 14 Km. north of Bhuj) in August 1895. The Salim Ali survey in 1943-44, prior to the publication of ‘The Birds of Kutch’, did not come across it. However, I am not aware whether he himself or anyone else recorded Ciconia ciconia in Kutch in subsequent years. I saw one in the Banni in December 1954. Since then I have come across them in ones and twos on several occasions, but during the last decade or more an ever increasing number of these storks have been seen. The number of C. ciconia mentioned by A.A. Vaidya in his note in 7. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83(2): 433, appears to me rather highly exaggerated. It is likely he counted some birds in flight which also included flying Pelicans Pelicanus onocrotalus which it is possible were mistaken for White Stork. The ‘famous dhandh’ men- tioned by Vaidya (the word ‘dhandh’ in Sindhi and Kutchhi means a shallow collection of water) is known as the ‘dhandh’ of Chhari, a village nearby, where the Greylag Geese used to come in large numbers in the years gone by. They no longer visit Kutch now. This lagoon is situated almost where ‘mainland Kutch’ ends and a part of the western Banni begins, about 30 Km. or so from where the Great Rann of Kutch is situated. I call this wetland ‘mini Nal Sarovar’. I have come across this bird over the years as hereunder: I counted 40 in the marshes on both sides of the Bhuj- Pachham road in the Banni in 1979. On 10 February 1980 I saw 100+ White Storks in the marshes interspersing and surrounding a large collection of water about 4 Km. 444 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 west — northwest of Bhirandiara village in the Banni. The extent of water and marsh was so great that it was not possible to approach the area from all sides, and so a full and proper count could not be undertaken. These storks were dotted about all over in big and small groups and also singly as far as the eye could reach, and perhaps there were many more of them beyond, which were not visible. The Blacktailed Godwits were there too, in such vast numbers that they defied an exact count. During the 1978 rainy season pesticides were sprayed on the hill feature known as ‘Kala Dungar’, overlooking the Great Rann of Kutch, to destroy a swarm of the Desert Locust which had settled there. Soon after this a heavy shower of rain fell on the hill which washed down the poisonous substances into the Rann, destroying all forms of aquatic life. The flamingo did not breed either that year or in subsequent years. In fact they abandoned the famous ‘flamingo city’. However, in recent years some juveniles have been regularly sighted which belonged both to Phoefftcopterus roseus and Phoeniconaias minor. In this context the ‘Habhi Flamingos’ mentioned by A.A. Vaidya in J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83(3): 661 were surely juveniles, as very rightly remarked by the late Dr Salim Ali at the foot of the note concerned. I may mention here that the Kutchhi name for the flamingo is ‘hunj’, and that the term ‘Habshi Flamingo’ (literally meaning ‘negroid flamingo’) was coined by a person from the island of Khadir a few years ago when he saw some juvenies for the first time and thought they belonged to a different race of this bird! Similarly the Banni is an alluvial grassland which at present is ruined in parts by overgrazing. Prosopis juliflora has grown and spread unchecked over large parts of it, thus reducing the area available to the Great Indian Bustard for breeding there during the mon- soon months. The local people of Kutch have divided the Banni into the eastern and western parts in common par- lance; and there is no part of it that is locally known as ‘Nani — Banni’. Coming back to sightings of juvenile flamingo, I saw 3 on 10 September 1978, a large number of them along with juvenile Rosy Pelicans on 21 September 1980, in the Banni, 30 adults with a few juvenile P. roseus at Laeja Creek, Mandvi, on 10 October 1982. The largest number of juveniles seen by me were those of the Lesser Flamingo on 7 January 1984 in the western part of the Great Rann. There were about 600+ young — • half of these appeared to be larger from an earlier brood, while the rest were smaller and darker coloured, seeming to have come from a colony nearby . These were accompanied by 1 00+ adults ; the total number of Lesser Flamingo present at that collec- tion of water was approximately 800. Apart from this I saw 1 juvenile Lesser Flamingo with an adult on the Laeja creek on 12 January 1986. From this it would seem that the flamingo have started to breed in the Great Rann, and perhaps in and near the Little Rann as well in small colonies. During the last three years there was paucity of rain, and this year is a complete famine; so there is no question of any breeding taking place. However, in a normal year in future, when the Great Rann gets flooded again, proper investigations need to be carried out to find out where these birds breed. Phoeniconaias minor breeds mostly in saline water, and so there is every likelihood of finding their nesting colonies, big or small, in the tidal creeks both to the east and west of the Great Rann of Kutch, or even in the Little Rann itself . Without meaning to contradict Vaidya’s reference to Anthropoid.es virgo seen by him in Kutch and also to record my own observations on cranes in Kutch, it is more likely he saw Grus grus, which is always to be seen in the Banni. The former is hardly seen in this part of Kutch; and even normally, far fewer numbers of them than G. grus visit us here. I have seen A. virgo only once in the Banni, on 7 October 1967. 1 have never come across a congrega- tion of the Common Crane exceeding 1000 birds at a time at one location in Kutch. Besides, to the east, northeast, north and northwest of the Dhandh of Chhari lies the vast Banni, in which no cultivation is practiced; and to the southeast, south and southwest there are hilly tracts where the crops of either groundnuts or foodgrains are not suffi- cient to support such a vast concourse of cranes, particular- ly at the time of year Vaidya saw them. About the count of cranes undertaken by the Gujarat Forest Department, I may point out here, as I did to V aidy a soon after the count was taken in Kutch, that this was done in the month of February when the return migration of the birds starts; and at that time many cranes pass through on their way to their breeding grounds up north. Obviously, therefore, this kind of census could not present the true picture of cranes present in Kutch. The birds first arrive in their winter quarters from about September onwards, and so the best time to take the count would be any time between Novem- ber and January. During scarcity or famine years hardly any cranes remain in Kutch during the cold weather. This year we are in the grip of the worst famine in living memory, and there are neither any crops or water in most of the tanks and irrigation dams. Similar conditions prevail in many parts of north Gujarat and some areas in Saurashtra, and so the cranes along with ducks and other waterbirds would all go further south. I heard the calls of Common Cranes in September, but have not seen any birds so far. October 29, 1987. M.K. HIMMATSINHJI MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 445 14. REAPPEARANCE OF AN SER INDICUS (LATHAM) AND T ADORN A TADORNA (LINNAEUS) IN KUTCH, GUJARAT One of the authors of this note (NNB) saw three Barheaded Geese on 6 November 1987 at the Rudramata Dam, about 14 Km. north of Bhuj, Gujarat. When both of us went there the next day and on the 8th along with the other members of the Pelican Nature Club of Kutch, the geese were still there. A riser indie us has always been a very rare cold weather visitor to Kutch, Saurashtra and the other parts of Gujarat. Even in earlier years, when A riser anser used to come regularly (they stopped coming over fifty years ago), the bar he ad hardly ever came this way (Vijayarajji, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc 21: 678). So it is perhaps after over half a century that this goose has been seen here. After three years of scarcity of rain, this season we have had a total failure of the monsoon rain. Consequently, except for two or three irrigation dams which have some water in them, all the other lakes, reservoirs and village tanks are empty, or in the process of drying up. In the Rudramata Dam itself the level of water is quite low. As it recedes, part of the dam bed is ploughed, and Sorghum Panicum sp. sown, which is at various stages of growth in the wet silt that tends to remain moist for quite some time. The geese do not fly anywhere to feed, as they usually do, but just waddle over to any one of the cultivated plots of their choice and start feeding! On November 13th, NNB saw one Common Shelduck at the dam. This duck is also rare in this part of the country. The first record of its occurrence in Kutch was that of one Col. C.B. Obrien in 1921. The second was by Maharao Madansinhji, who saw two of these ducks in a small pool of water in the coastal sand dunes about 10 Rm. west of Mandvi on 4 December 1966. He collected one specimen (sex not known). Thus the recent sighting of Tadorna tadorna comes after an interval of 21 years. As with Kutch, neighbouring areas of Sind (Pakistan) to the north and some districts of Rajasthan to the northeast are also experiencing drought conditions , as a result of which these waterfowl seem to have strayed into Kutch. The Common Shelduck, according to the ‘HANDBOOK’ (Ali & Ripley), is known to visit parts of Sind regularly during recent years. M.K. HIMMATSINHJI December 8, 1987. N.N. BAP AT 15. PARIAH KITE MILVUS MIGRANS CAPTURING WHITEBREASTED KINGFISHER HALCYON SMYRNENSIS A commotion was created when a Pariah Kite Milvus migrans captured a Whitebreasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis in the JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research) campus in Pondicherry one June afternoon. A number of Pariah Kites have taken up residence on top of the three storey JIPMER building and adjoining places, possibly attracted by the Central Animal House nearby, where laboratory animals are being bred. On this particular afternoon four kites were seen flying about frantically, with a dozen or so noisy house crows in hot pursuit. One of the kites flying overhead at a low level had a Whitebreasted Kingfisher firmly in its talons. The kingfisher’s cries of agony were clearly audible. The R E F E Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Compact edition. Oxford University Press, commotion died down after about 2 minutes, when the kite managed to escape with its prey. The kite had to face two problems after grabbing the kingfisher: avoiding the crows excited by this act of capture by the kite, and preventing the other kites from forcibly taking possession of the kingfisher. It is not known when, where and how the kite caught the kingfisher. Whitebreasted Kingfishers are very com- monly seen in this locality. Pariah Kites are known to lift poultry, and have also been reported to capture bats (Ali & Ripley 1983). June 26, 1987. E. NARAYANAN R E N C E Delhi. 446 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 16. SIGHTINGS OF GOSHAWK ACCIPITER GENTIUS IN HINGOLGADH, GUJARAT The Goshawk Accipiter gentilis is a rare winter visitor to north India (Ali and Ripley 1983), though it has been recorded as far south as Poona in Maharashtra (Ingal- halikar et al. 1987). In Gujarat, there are only two earlier records of the bird from Gir forest and Bhavnagar (Dhar- makumarsinhji 1955). For two consecutive winters now, a single bird was observed at the Hingolgadh forest (Hingolgadh Nature Educational Sanctuary). This forest is located 17 Km east of the town of Jasdan. It is a small scrub forest, one of the few forested areas now left in Saurashtra, and thus serves as an important stopover point for a variety of migrant passerine species, though it has come under increasing human and cattle pressure in the last three years. We saw a bird on 17 September 1985, and identified it as a female Goshawk from its size and colour. She was seen diving on flocks of Rosy Pastor Siurnus roseus . The Rosy Pastors had just arrived; a majority of them were juveniles, and foraging for the ripe berries of Rhus mysurensis. A year later, on 5 October 1986, we again saw a single female Goshawk in the same locality, engaged in the same activity as in the previous year. In September — October of 1987 we kept a look — out for the Goshawk, Refer Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi. Cade, T.J. (1982): The Falcons of the World. Comstock, Cornell University Press. Ithaca, New York. Dementiev, G.P. (1957): On the Shaheen Falco but the bird did not mm up. There was no mass flowering and fruiting of most of the trees and bushes due to insuf- ficient rains during the preceding monsoon and there were very few Rosy Pastors in the forest. It is documented for a number of avian raptor species that during southward migration of passerines and other birds, the raptors follow and prey off them. For example, in northern Asia migratory Shaheen Falcon (Barbary Fal- con )Falco peregrinus babylonicus follow Pintail Sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and Pallas’s Sandgrouse Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Dementiev 1957), while the Mer- lin Falco columbaricus is believed to follow some pas- serines during both autumn and spring migrations (Cade 1982). From our observations it appears that the Goshawk follows and preys on Rosy Pastor during autumn migra- tion. PS: A pair of Goshawks were observed in the same area on 1 6 October 1 988 in the company of Kestrels Falco tinnunculus. S HIVR AJKUMAR KHACHAR November 12, 1987. TAEJ MUNDKUR N C E S peregrinus babylonicus. Ibis 99: 477-482. Dharmakumarsinhji, R.S. (1955): The birds of Saurashtra. Times of India Press, Bombay. Ingalhalikar, S., Mundkur, T. & Gole, T. (1987): The Goshawk Accipiter gentilis (Linne) in Poona, Maharashtra. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 84: 434-435. 17. FOOD STORAGE BY BONELLFS HAWK-EAGLE HIERAAETUS FASCIATUS A pair of Bonelli ’s Hawk — Eagles nest on a Dalbergia tree on a hill slope at Pashan near Pune, Maharashtra. The same nest has been in use for the last four year s. During the last season i.e. late in the winter of 1986 — 87, two chicks were successfully reared. We observed and recorded the nesting activities during this season. Two eggs were laid by the female in the third week of December. One hatched on 19 January 1987 and the other one on the following day. We witnessed the hatching of the second egg, which took place at 0845 hrs. The female was present on the nest from dawn, covering the day old chick and the second egg. She looked restless from about 0830 and repeatedly passed her bill under her chest where she had placed the egg. At 0845 hrs she suddenly took off with the eggshell in her bill. Perching on a tree about 300 m away she dropped the eggshell, preened for five minutes and returned to the nest. After about 15 minutes, were surprised to see her feeding the chicks. At first we thought that she was picking up the leftovers from the previous day’s meals, but soon we realised that it was an entire kill untouched so far. It had been inside the nest (we hadn’t noticed it until then) and we guessed it was a bird the size of a dove. The bird could not be identified at that time. It was obvious, how- ever that it was killed on the previous day since the female did not leave the nest (except to throw away the eggshell) that morning and the male did not turn up. We found that up to a period of four weeks after the MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 447 chicks were bom, food was regularly stored, which served as breakfast for the chicks. Prey could be identified several times and consisted of more than 90% birds (mainly mynas. Blue Rock Pigeons, quails, doves and domestic pigeons), occasionally small mammals (species could not be identified) and rarely lizards. During the first 11 days the male hunted alone and brought food for the female and the chicks. After 12 days both parents started hunting together, leaving the chicks in the nest. In either case hunting started only after 0930 or 1000 hrs. In the chill January mornings, apparently thermals were not available till 0930 hrs. The chicks, however, had their breakfast every morning before 0900 hrs. This was only possible due to stored food. We also watched the eagles in the evening and saw that the last kill of the day was neither eaten nor fed to the chicks. After the fifth week food was not stored regularly. Both chicks, with their growing appetites, finished practically everything of the day’s kills and hardly anything remained to be stored. The food storage was thus deliberate, consistent and followed a specific pattern. This habit may have served the following purposes. 1 . Tenderizing meat: the storage time ranged from 12 to 20 hours, probably sufficient for softening of meat but not enough for development of maggots. We also noted that during the first three weeks the harder and rougher portions like large bones and legs wre eaten by the female and tender part fed to the chicks. 2. Eagles are known for their ability to stand prolonged starvation as adults. However, young eagles below four weeks naturally do not have this ability, and they need food early in the morning. Since thermals were not available during this time of the year, hunting was not possible in the early hours, and storing food was obligatory. Later in March, when the chicks were more than five weeks old, and as the weather grew warmer, early hunting was possible. The earliest successful kill was noted at 0835 hrs on 22nd March. We therefore think that storage of food is an indispen- sable part of the nesting activities and is vital for the survival of chicks during their younger days. MILIND WATVE VIJAY JOSHI NIRANJAN SANT July 2, 1987. SUNIL RANADE 18. AVOCET RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA IN KERALA On 28 November 1986 at the Kadalundy Estuary, about 20 Km. south of Calicut town, Kerala, where the Kadalundy river discharges into the sea, extensive mud — flats are exposed during low tide. From September 1985, we have been making regular weekly observations at the estuary. One of us (L.N.) spotted a single Avocet on the mudflats standing among die many gulls and terns. The bird was observed from 0900 to 1300 hrs. This species is not included in Salim Ali’s Birds OF Kerala (1969). The handbook Vol. 2 (Compact Edition, 1983, p. 178) says: “Not in Kerala, Andamans and Nicobar Islands or in the Maldives”. L. NAMASSIVAYAN December 1, 1987. R. VENUGOPALAN 19. BREEDING RECORDS OF CREAMCOLOURED COURSER CURSORIUS CURSOR CURSOR (LATHAM) FROM INDIA About the breeding of the Creamcoloured Courser Cursorius cursor cursor (Latham) in the Indian subcon- tinent, Ali and Ripley (1983 ) write, “extralimital but some suggestive circumstantial evidence of nesting, sporadical- ly (?) in Bahawalpur and Kutch”. Recently, Sharma (1986) in mid — February, found small chicks of this species in the Diyatra region of Bikaner district On a trip to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, cn 27 July 1987, at about 1830 hrs, we saw two chicks and two adults of the Cream- coloured Courser. The birds were seen in a barren area near Nibha village, between Sam and Sudasari chowkis of ’the Desert National Park. The chicks were able to fly a short distance. At a later date, we saw one more individual of the courser in a different area of the Park. These two recent breeding records prove that the Creamcoloured Courser is not just a winter visitor to India, as opined by Ali & Ripley (1983) but that it also breeds within our limits. ASAD R. RAHMANI August 13, 1987. RAN JIT MANAKADAN 448 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 References Ali, S. & Rdpley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds of Sharma, V.D. (1986): Breeding of the Cream-coloured India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, Courser in India. Sanctuary Vol. V7(l): 49-50. Bombay. 20. TAXONOMIC STATUS OF PSITTACULA INTERMEDIA (ROTHSCHILD) While commending the authors of the recent paper ‘On the taxonomic status of Psittacula intermedia (Rothschild)’ (Sane et al. 1987) for undertaking an inter- esting study on biochemical characteristics of four species of Indian parakeets to understand their taxonomic af- finities, with special reference to the little — known Rothschild’s Parakeet, I cannot refrain from commenting on certain points presented in the paper. 1 . The presence or absence of the wing — patch has been given too much importance in sex — distinction in Psittacula intermedia , especially when it may be present or absent or obsolete in one or both sexes in the allied species. Thus, the authors conclude (p. 128, para 4), solely on the basis of the absence of the wing — patch in two captive adult male specimens, “that contrary to the as- sumption of Biswas (1959), the 6 skins of adult P. inter- media in the collection of AMNH are all females ”, inspite of the fact that they all have plum — coloured heads! I should be interested to know about the colour of the heads of the two adult males of Sane’s collection, one skinned and in BNHS collection and the other alive, and of the subadult female, also alive. 2. The authors write in the same para: “It is not clear to us as to how Biswas (loc.cit.) and others before him identified the all — green seventh skin in AMNH as an immature specimen of intermedia since it could as well be that of himalayana' ’ . Compare this with what I had written in my 1959 paper (p. 559): “... the seventh ... is an immature specimen being green all over, ... Incidentally, it may be added that this specimen has as long a wing as that of the longest — winged male specimen, and it matches well with immature examples of P . himalayana, both in coloration and in size. I am thus led to consider it as an immature specimen of P. himalayana ...”! I wish the authors had read my paper a little more carefully. 3. In Table 1 (p. 128), the wing measurement 168 given for a paratype, should be 158 (Biswas 1959, p. 561, Table 1). It is strange that the item no. 3 in the same Table is given with wing — measurement of 153/151 and the bill, 21.5, although these figures when measured in the living bird were 161 and 21 respectively. 4. It is also noted that the authors gave no importance to certain other important characters such as the colours of the crown, the under wing — coverts and the tips of central rectrices. November 17, 1987. BISWAMOY BISWAS Refer Biswas, B. (1959): On the parakeet Psittacula intermedia (Rothschild) (Aves : Psittacidae)J. Bombay nal. Hist. Soc., 56: 558-562. Sane, S.R. Kannan, P., Rajendran, C.G. Ingle, S.T. & e n c e s Bhagwat, A.M. (1987): On the taxonomic status of Psittacula intermedia (Roths child)-/. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 83 (Suppl.): 127-134. 21. PIED CRESTED CUCKOO CLAMATOR JACOBINUS — THE HARBRINGER OF THE MONSOON In the Kathiawad peninsula in Gujarat, everything revolves around the success of failure of the monsoon. The migratory Pied Crested Cuckoo is associated with the advent of the monsoon in the region. Very few birds migrate to India from Africa. The Pied Crested Cuckoo is one of them. Coming with the monsoon winds, it crosses the Arabian Sea with the favourable southwest wind and returns to Africa with the northwest winds in October — November. On both the ocean cross- ings it thus takes full advantage of the prevailing favourable winds. There are not many records from the Oman and Mekran coasts, and the bird presumably flies more directly over the Arabian Sea. I have always looked forward to the arrival of the season’s first Pied Crested Cuckoo, and have in- varialy first heard the bird calling at night while flying high overhead. For the last 7 years I have kept a record of these dates, which are as follows: MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 449 18 June 1981 5 June 1982 7 June 1982 8 June 1982 9 June 1983 2 June 1984 3 June 1984 4 June 1986 4 June 1987 - First heard at Hingolgadli. - Full moonlight. Heard calling at 2300 hrs - Heard calling at 2300 hrs. - Moonlight clear night. Heard calling - and flying overhead west to east - monsoon over Kerala and Madras. - Heard calling and flying high overhead at 0020 hrs. - Heard calling early in the morning at 0315 hrs Monsoon current over Kerala since 31 May 1984. Weak current. - Heard calling and flying high overhead at 2330 hrs. - Heard calling and flying high overhead early in the morning at 0330 hrs - Calling and flying high overhead at 2310 hrs. Monsoon over Kerala and Goa. Every time I have heard the call, the cuckoo was flying from west to east. This is the normal direction for it to migrate from Africa into the Indian subcontinent. I have never heard it calling and flying in any other direction in all these years. Since some years the numbers of Pied Crested Cuck- oos in the Jasdan area have decreased. The scrub forest at Hingolgadh is getting sparse. Grazing by cattle and goats and cutting of grass as well as trees and bushes for fuel have disturbed the bird life of the area. The Yellow Eyed Babbler, a former breeding resident, has not been seen for the last few years and the White Bellied Minivet is also on the way out. The Acacia groves have thinned out and with the loss of grass and bush cover the numbers of Common Babblers — the main hosts of the parasitic Pied Crested Cuckoo — have declined. Perhapse, the numbers of the Pied Crested Cuckoo have gone down in the Jasdan area due to these several factors. June 16, 1987. SHIVRAJKUMAR KHACHAR 22. FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF WHITEBREASTED KINGFISHER HALCYON SMYRNENSIS (LINNAEUS) At 1 1 15 hrs on 1 January 1987, 1 saw a Whitebreasted Kingfisher on the parapet of a nullah near my house in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The bird had a frog in its beak. It started beating the frog on the parapet, then flew to a tree in the compound of our house and started beating the frog on a branch. I tried to photograph it, but it was disturbed and flew further up into dense foliage. It beat the frog on the branch for half an hour. At 1 145 hrs it started swallowing the frog. It took 10 minutes to swallow it and in the meanwhile it excreted four times. While swallowing, it was breathing heavily and this state remained for 15 minutes. When the legs of the frog disap- peared into its gullet it remained in a stiff position. Meanwhile some bird of prey flew overhead and many birds either ducked or flew away, but the kingfisher remained still. To see the reaction of the bird I beat the trunk of the tree and made noises, but it did not move. The bird remained in this state for four minutes. Then it started moving its head, and gradually its breathing became less heavy. After 20 minutes of the swallowing of the frog the kingfisher flew away. January 20, 1987 RAZA TEHSIN 23. BLACK DRONGO DICRURUS ADSIMILIS NESTING ON ELECTRIC POLE The Southern Black Dr on go Dicrurus adsimilis (Be- chstein) is known to nest generally on trees (Ali & Ripley 1972, Shukkur & Joseph 1980). However, we found a pair nesting on an electric pole in the Circuit house compound, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, even though there were a number of large sized suitable trees nearby. The nest was located in a small space between the horizontal and vertical sections of the cemented pole, just below the lower power line. It was first observed on 21 July 1987 with an adult bird brooding in the nest. On 24th July we noted two fledglings. We photographed the nest and a fledgling on 29th July. They remained in the nest till about 29th August. On 27th and 28th August, we noted only one parent feeding the young till as late as 1905 hrs (sunset that day was at 1 827 hrs) by bringing flying insects attracted to the nearby light. We cannot understand whether this rather unusual nest site provides any special advantage to the bird, especially when there are suitable trees nearby. Could it be that the bird selected the location to take advantage of abundant insects that were being attracted to the lights, so that it could feed its young with relatively less effort? K.S.R. KRISHNA RAJU December 17, 1987. U.V. BAIRAGI RAJU 450 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 References Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1972): The handbook of the Birds ogy of the Black Drongo. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 75: (Suppl.) of India & Pakistan — Vol. 5. Oxford University Press, Delhi. 1212-1226. Shukkur, E.A.A. & Joseph, KJ. (1980): Breeding biol- 24. COMMON MYNA AS A CAMPFOLLOWER OF LESSER WHISTLING TEALS The Common Myna is known to follow domestic cattle, horses and wild herbivora when they graze. The grazing animals disturb insects which become easily ac- cessible to the mynas. One afternoon I saw a flock of 9 Lesser Whistling Teals land on the banks of the Mula — Mutha bird sanctuary and waddle into the grassy bank looking for food. A few minutes later they were joined by a few Common Mynas. Soon about 20 of them aggregated around the teals and followed them persistently down thebank for about 50 m. The next day the teals arrived at the same time, and were immediately spotted by the mynas, who seemed to appear from nowhere began following them much more closely. In fact they seemed to pick up insects from just around the feet of the teals. I saw the same pattern repeated again three times during the next couple of days. This shows how rapidly such a bond between different species can be formed when food availability is a motivat- ing factor. June 6, 1987. E.K. BHARUCHA 25. TOOL- USING BEHAVIOUR IN INDIAN HOUSE CROW CORVUS SPLENDENS Tool-using behaviour in birds and other animals has been described by many authors. The Woodpecker-finch Cactospiza pallida and the Mangrov e-finch c. heliobates of the Galapagos islands use Cactus spines, leaf petioles, twigs, etc., for probing into holes and crevices during their food search. Recently Orenstein (1972) recorded tool-use in the New Caledonian Crow, Corvus moneduloides. On 8 January 1987, we had an opportunity to observe activity related to tool-use in the Indian House Crow Corvus splendens. At 1248 hrs we saw a House Crow on a Manilkara hexandra tree, just 2 m below the canopy (the total tree height is c. 7 m) busily engaged in an intricate behaviour. We were sitting about 10 m away from the tree. The crow perched on a small branch, plucked a leaf and immediately thrust it into a hole in one of the big branches just opposite its perch. After thrusting in the leaf it waited for about a minute, removed the leaf the hole and, holding it under its feet, pecked at some prey from the leaf and ate. It then dropped the leaf, plucked another leaf, thrust it into the hole and repeated the operation. The bird repeated this process dexterously till 1302 hrs. We recorded it perform- ing this activity five times. Twice it dropped the leaf without picking up anything; apparently there was no prey attached to the leaf. During these observations we also noticed the crow thrusting its beak alone deep into the hole twice but without success. When the crow left the perch, one of us immediately climbed the tree and investigated the hole to determine the food that the crow had obtained. We found a colony of ants, Sima sp. deep inside the hole. The depth of the hole was 12 cm. We collected nine Manilkara hexandra leaves from under that branch on the ground where the crow had sat. We had observed the crow using the leaf as a tool five times but the number of dropped leaves collected on the ground indicates that the process was on well before we located the crow. This repeated use of leaves by the crow to obtain prey is of a clear — cut evidence of tool— use by the crow Corvus splendens. S. ALAGAR RAJAN June 17, 1987. P. BALASUBRAMANIAN References Orenstein, R.I. (1972): Tool— use by the New Van Lawide-goodall, J. (1970): Tool-using in primates Caledonian Crow Corvus moneduloides. Auk 89: 674-676. and other vertebrates. Aust. J. Biol. Sci. 23: 717-720. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 451 26. RANGE EXTENSION OF YELLOWBELLIED WREN-WARBLER PRINIA FLA VIVENTRIS According to Ali & Ripley (1983), two races of the Yellow bellied Wren-Warbler occur in India. Prinia flaviventris sindiana is present in Punjab and Pakistan, in the plains of the Indus river system, and south through Sind. Its habitat has been given as riverine tamarisk, sarkhan grass jungle or reed beds. The other subspecies, P.t. flaviventris , occurs from Bengal eastwards through Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in habitats of humid grassland with bushes, elephant grass and reeds. There is a single post-Hodgsonian record from Rapti Dun in Nepal. However, Fleming et al (1976) mention it as resi- dent and occasional in Nepal. There is a single specimen from Meerut of uncertain subspecification in the Society’s collection (Abdul ali 1986). The ranges of both subspecies are disjunct and thus the species appears to be absent from the Uttar Pradesh terai. In May 1987, on a visit to Dudhwa National Park, Lakhimpur- Kheri district, Uttar Pradesh to study the Refer Abdulali, H. (1986): A catalogue of the birds in the collection of BNHS — Part 30 J. Bombay nal. Hist. Soc. 83: 130-163. Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds of Bengal Florican I saw the Yellowbellied Wren-warbler quite frequently. One pair that I was able to watch for a while was seen building a nest. A few days later, the repeated clamouring of the young and the frequent visits of the parent birds with food to the nesting site announced a successful hatching. While the lemon yellow lower belly is a character that makes this Wren-warbler unmistakable, photographs were also taken to confirm the identification. Though the subspecies of the Yellowbellied Wren- warbler seen at Dudhwa is uncertain, it is undoubtedly an extension of the range of the species in India. However, as it is present in the Nepal terai (Fleming et al 1976, Inskipp & Inskipp 1985) the occurrence of the Yellowbel- lied Wren-warbler in the Indian side of the terai should have been expected. October 8, 1987. RAVI SAN KARAN N C E S India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, Bombay. Fleming, R.L. SR., Fleming, R. JR & Bangdel, L.S. (1976): Birds of Nepal. Avalok Publishers, Kathmandu. 27. ON SOME WILLOW WARBLERS ( PHYLLOSCOPf) IN THE COLLECTION OF ST. XAVIER’S HIGH SCHOOL, BOMBAY While cataloguing the Phylloscopi in the BNHS Col- lection with Mr Humayun Abdulali, those at St. Xavier’s High school, Bombay, Maharashtra, mostly collected by Br. A. Navarro S.I. were also examined. There is nothing of startling interest but several of them add a little to the known distribution of some species and may be worth recording . The first number corresponds to that in Ripley ’ s SYNOPSIS (2nd edition 1982). 1575 Phylloscopus colly bita tristis (B lyth) :The earlier Maharashtrian records supported by specimens in the Bombay collection are 3 from Madhmesfowar, Nasik dis- trict. The present specimens include 3 from Nasik col- lected on 28 December 1967, 24 January 1966 and 27 January 1973 and one from Poona on 4 September 1966. There are no records from the Konkan below the Ghats though the birds have been noted further south from North Kanara, 1591 Phylloscopus inornatus mandellii (Brooks): Coll. No. 1675 from Barlowgunj, Mussoorie, obtained on 22 October 1963 was marked Seicercus xant hose hist os albosuperciliaris We make it Phylloscopus inornatus - mandellii and this appears to extend the distribution about 10° west of Sikkim. 1592 Phylloscopus inornatus inornatus (Blyth): Male Coll. No. 1887 obtained at West Khandesh on 30th December 1961 is an addition to the list of birds recorded from Maharashtra. 1601 Phylloscopus magnirostris from Kotagiri, Nil- giris. Attention is drawn to this record because the species has not been very often noted in the south. 1602 Phylloscopus trochiloides viridanus (Blyth): Specimen obtained at Ambamath, Kalyan, Kolaba dist. is dated 1 July 1962 and appears exceptionally early. 1606 Phylloscopus occipitalis occipitalis (Blyth): Specimen Coll. No. 1932-Funnel Hill (Kamala), Panvel is dated 21 June 1965 which also appears very early but may only be an indication of our lack of knowledge of the movements of these birds. December 2, 1986. A. NAVARRO S. UNNTTHAN 452 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 28. THE DESERT WHEATEAR OENANTHE DESERT! IN MADRAS On the afternoon of 30 November 1986, while watch- ing birds at the meadow on the northern banks of the Adayar Estuary, I was caught in a sudden cloudburst. As I stood still, waiting for the rain to subside, I noticed on a bare branch of a Prosopis bush, a small bird, about the size of a sparrow. I was close enough to get a brief but unmis- takeable view of the bird to identify it as a male Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti. The bird suddenly took off, hovered like a flycatcher briefly, revealing its black and white tail pattern before flying away. On the afternoon of 6 December 1986, however, I located the bird again, and observed it closely. There was no doubt whatsoever as to its identity. The bird was pale sandy buff on the crown, nape and back. The sides of the head, chin and throat were black, slightly speckled with white. The wings appeared to be black from a distance but a closer look revealed that they were dark blackish-brown. The upper tail coverts and basal half of the tail were white, contrasting with the otherwise black tail. The underparts were pale buff. A pale supercilium bordered the black over the eyes and the dark wings also had a whitish border. The bill and legs were dark. The bird was seen mostly on the ground and at times, perched on small stones or atop bare branches of Prosopis or Calotropis bushes, invariably flicking its tail, flashing the contrasting tail pattern. Most of the feeding was done on the ground, although at times, the bird indulged in short fly catching sorties. On the ground, it would run in short spurts, sideways, at an angle. It would stop now and then, stretch its neck and be on alert lookout, while the tail kept flicking up and down in a manner reminiscent of a pipit Refer Ali, & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. (Compact Edition). Oxford University or wagtail. Foraging was done in the sandy area or grassy patches and mostly small insects were devoured. The wheatear appeared to be a loner and there were no signs of another of its species anywhere in the locality. I have seen wagtails feeding close to the wheatear and occassionally they chased each other. I also observed in one instance, a Common Swallow Hirundo rustica pursu- ing the wheatear. On 10 January 1987 I heard the bird calling in a quiet and subdued manner and subsequently these warblings were heard on a couple of occassions. Apart from this, the bird did not call and was silent throughout. The bird appeared to be parochial, keeping to the same portion of the meadow day after day. Only once did it shift its territory to another part of the meadow. I was quite surprised at the tameness of the bird. It allowed me to approach it as close as 8-30 feet and I photographed it at this distance. The Desert Wheatear is mainly a winter visitor to Pakistan and India and the southernmost records of this species are from central Maharashtra (Poona, Ahmed- nagar) and northern Andhra Pradesh (Nirmal) (Ali and Ripley 1983). In view of this fact, the occurrence of this species in Madras city, far from its usual winter range is noteworthy. The bird was seen in Madras at the same locality for over months and was last seen on 1 February 1987. Thereafter, the site was visited on 14 February 1987 and 15 February 1987 but the bird was not to be seen. June 9, 1987. V. SANTHARAM E N C E S Press, Delhi. 29. TREECREEPER (CERTHIIDAE) NESTING IN WESTERN NEPAL A late spring trek in 1985 afforded me the opportunity to gather nesting data on birds in the remote and rugged Lake Rara-Jumla area of western Nepal. On 9 May 1985, 1 observed a pair of nesting Common Treecreepers Certhia familiar is mandelli while travelling northwest from the regional center of Jumla. This record occurred at approximately 3250 m elevation, some 400 m beyond the hamlet of Thahamari, and 15 m from the main trail that traverses the north slope of Dori Lekh. The nest was located at a height of 5 m in a trunk crevice of a dead fir Abies spectabilis , which unfortunately could not be closely examined. Nonetheless, it was evi- dent that chicks were present, as both parents busily foraged lepidopteran larvae and small insects. One parent would remain on the nest, occasionally poking its head out of the crevice, until the other returned with food, whereupon the waiting parent would immediately dart off in search of prey. I returned to this site on 20 and 21 May 1985 after completing a circuit to the north. There was no further activity at the nest, but on 21 may a single treecreeper, most likely C.f. mandelli although not posi- tively identified was noted briefly in the vicinity high up MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 453 a conifer. Habitat at this site is mixed montane forest of fir A. spectabilis and birch Betula utilis with scattered maple Acer sp., and a relatively open understorey of saplings, shrubs and bamboo Ar undinar i. a spp. C.f. mande lli ranges from the Kulu region of northwest India across the Nepalese Himalaya to extreme western Arunachal Pradesh (Tawang; Ali and Ripley 1973). Its abundance has been variously reported as occasional (Fleming etal. 1984), fairly common (Inskipp andlnskipp 1985), and common (Ah and Ripley 1973). However, few breeding data exist for this treecreeper subspecies. Nest building in an old fir stump at 3355 m was recorded by Polunin on 19 April 1952 at Punga Lekh, Jumla district (Inskipp and Inskipp 1985), Juveniles independent of parents were collected at 3950 m and 4200 m in Khumbu, East Nepal in June 1962 (Diesselhorst 1968). Thus, this most recent breeding record is similar to those previously noted with respect to nesting habitat, elevation, and tem- poral activity. Also on 9 May 1985, but further northwest of Dori Lekh along the Khapar Khola, I noted nesting activity of the Himalayan Treecreeper C. himalayana infuna near Bumra village at about 2740 m. A single bird, presumably Refer Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (1973): Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol 9. Oxford University Press, Bombay and London. Diesselhorst, G. (1968): Beitrage zur Okologie der Vogel Zentral-und-Ost-Nepals. Khumbu Himal .2: 1-417. Fleming, R.L. SR., Fleming, R.L. JR., & Bangdal, L.S. a female, was observed in an open riverside grove hitching up a walnut Juglans regia tree with a beakful of short yellow grass. A pursuing Sparrow Hawk Accipiter nisus thrice attempted to grab her by clumsily manoeuvering through the branches, but each time the treecreeper suc- cessfully evaded the raptor by sidling around the walnut trunk, until it flew off unnoticed. The four certhiid species in Nepal all occur in the far western region. However, the Brown-throated Treecreeper C. discolor discolor and the Rusty-flanked Treecreeper C. nepalensis are primarily eastern Himalayan species, sparsely distributed at the western limits of their ranges (Inskipp and Inskipp 1985). Niche distinctions between the more common C.f. mandelli and C. h. infima remain poorly understood, although the former appears to favour higher altitude mixed conifer forests where associated rhododendron Rhododendron spp. is replaced with birch (Martens 1981, Inskipp and Inskipp 1985). Clearly, further study of certhiid ecology in western Nepal, especially breeding biology and factors affecting competitive exclusion, is needed. September 26, 1987. JACK H. COX E N C E S (1984): Birds of Nepal. Second edition. Avalok, Kathmandu. Inskipp, C. & Inskipp, T. (1985): A Guide to the Birds of Nepal. Croom Helm, London and Sydney. Martens, J. (1981): Lautau Berungen der Baumlaufer des Himalaya. Behaviour 77(4): 287-318. 30. FOREST WAGTAIL MOTACILLA INDICA AT JASDAN, GUJARAT On 19 November 1987 I saw a single Forest Wagtail This bird is a rare winter visitor to Gujarat. Motacilla indica in my compound. The bird was seen again on 21st and 22nd and I managed to catch it in a mist net on 23 November 1987 and ring it (ring No. A. 39294). November 28, 1987. SATYAJIT KHACHAR 31. HOST PLANTS USED BY BAYA WEAVER BIRD PLOCEUS PHILIPPINES (L.) FOR NESTING IN UDAIPUR DISTRICT, RAJASTHAN During the breeding season of 1986, 1 surveyed some parts of Udaipur District of Southern Rajasthan to study the free preference of Ploceus philippinus for nesting. I travelled on foot or cycle and sometimes by motorcycle along the different roads in the district. I surveyed a 50 m wide strip of land on either sides of the 200 km. long road in different localities including some forest areas like the Keora Ki Nall Reserve Forest and Banki Block of Udaipur (south) Division and Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary. My findings are as below (Tables 1 & 2). 12 454 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 1 DICOT HOST PLANTS USED FOR NESTING Family of Preferred Number of preferred plant plant plants used for nesting Capparidaceae Capparis sepparia l Mellaceae Azadirachta indica 2 Rhamnaceae Zizyphus mauritiana 13 Leguminosae Acacia nilotica var. indica 98 Acacia leucophloea 39 Prosopis spicigera 6 Prosopis juliflora 2 Albizzia lebbek 1 Tamar indus indica 1 Butea monosperma 7 Bauhinia racemosa 2 Dichrostachys cinerea 2 Pithecolobium dulce 4 Ulmaceae Holoptelia integrifolia 6 Moraceae Ficus religiosa 1 Rutaceae Aegle marmelos 1 Ebenaceae Diosphyros cordifolia 2 Anacardiaceae Lenia grandis. 2 Santalaceae Santalum album 2 Anonaceae Anona squamosa 1 SlMAROUBIACEAE Ailanthus excelsa 2 Total: 12 families. 19 genera, 21 species. 195 Table 2 MONOCOT HOST PLANTS USED FOR NESTING Family of Preferred Number of preferred plant plant plants used for nesting Palmae Phoenix silvestris 50 Gramineae Dendrocalamus strictus 1 Total: 2 families. 2 genera, 2 species, 51 plants. It can be seen from Table 1 that Acacia nilotica var. of Forest, Udaipur (North) Division for his encourage- indica is the most preferred plant for nesting followed by ment. My thanks are also due to Mr Balvant Singh Kan- Phoenix silvestris and Acacia leucophloea. It is also clear thalia, Forester, and Mr. Ajat Shatru Singh Bhatti, from Tables 1 & 2 that a number of forest species can be Forester, who have helped me in collection of some data. selected for nesting. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Mr U.M. Sahai, I.F.S., Dy. Conservator August 18, 1987. SATIS HKUMAR SHARMA MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 455 32. HOST PLANTS USED BY BLACKTHROATED WEAVER BIRD PLOCEUS BENGHALENSIS FOR NESTING IN SOME DISTRICTS OF RAJASTHAN AND HARYANA Table 1 LIST OF AREAS STUDIED State District Areas studied Rajasthan Alwar (i) Alwar to Bharatpur border at S.H. 14. (ii) 120 ha. plantation area of Forest Deptt. near village Tatarpur (27 ° $47’N,76° $31’E) (hi) River Sabi from village Soda- was to Sabi bridge. Bharatpur (i) Alwar border to Bharatpur at S.H. 14. (h) Halena to Bharatpur at N.H. 11. (hi) Some patches in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. Sikar (i) Ringus to Sikar railway line. Jaipur (i) Kotputli to Jaipur at N.H. 8. Dungarpur (i) Almost whole district. Haryana Mahendra Garh (i) Area of 200 m radius around Station Mazri on Jaipur- Delhi railway line. (ii) Rewari to Mahendra Garh railway line. Gurgaon (NH = National Highway, SH = State Highway) (i) Rewari to Gurgaon railway line. This note deals with a field study on the preferred plants used by the Blackthroated Weaver Bird Ploceus benghalensis for nesting. The preferred host plants were surveyed in the many districts of Rajasthan namely Alwar, Bharatpur, Sikar, Jaipur, Dungarpur, Chittor Garh, Banswara and two districts of Haryana, Mahendra Garh and Gurgaon. Details of areas studied during the host plant survey are given in Table 1 . I concentrated my attention on 50 m wide strips of land on either side of the roads, railway lines and main river courses. A 50 m wide strip of land was also surveyed around water bodies. My observations are as shown in Table 2. It is generally believed that Blackthroated Weaver Birds use grasses and other grass like monocotyledons to hang their non — pensile nests. But in cases of scarcity of grasses and other grass-like monocots, Blackthroated Weaver Birdshang their nests on 'dicots also as observed near Rly. Station Mazri in Haryana. At this particular site suitable tall grasses could not be traced. It is interesting to note that at this particular site the birds hung their nests at an average height of 1 m from ground level on dicot hosts, similar to host grasses. A detailed survey was conducted in district Chittor Garh, Banswara and Udaipur in Rajasthan but no nesting was observed. July 30, 1987. SATIS H KUMAR SHARMA 456 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Table 2 HOST PLANTS PREFERED FOR NESTING BY BLACKTHROATED WEAVER BIRD Ploceus benghalensis Group of Family Preferred No. of preferred plants/clumps used for nesting plants of plant used for in various districts in different breeding seasons preferred plant nesting Alwar Bharat- Sikar Jaipur Dungarpur Mahendra Gurgaon pur Garh 1982 1983 1987 1980 1987 1987 1987 1984 1987 1987 Monocots Typhaceae Typha ariguslata 1 3 6 . . . .. Gramineae Saccharum munja 85 91 61 74 76 96 4 - 40 65 S. sponlaneum 11 8 - - - - - - - S. officinalis - - - 1 - - - - - Sorghum vulgare - 1 - - - - - - - Penninsetum typhoides 1 1 ' ^ " ' ■ Dicots Convoloulaeeae Ipomoea fistula - - - - - - 4 - - Leguminosae Acacia nilotica - - - - - - 2 - - Rhamnaceae Zizypus jujuba - - - - - - 1 -■ Total: 5 families 7 genera, 9 species 98 104 61 81 76 96 4 7 40 65 33. HALF-BUILT NESTS OF BLACKTHROATED WEAVER BIRD PLOCEUS BENGHALENSIS WITH DOUBLE CHIN STRIPS (with two text-figures) Half built nests of Blackthroated Weaver Bird normal- ly Ploceus benghalensis and other species of weaver birds have only one chin strip, which creates two openings in the half-built nest at helmet stage. During a survey in the 1983 breeding year in Alwar district of eastern Rajasthan. I found 8 abnormal half-built nests of P. benghalensis in clumps of Sac char um munja in different localities of this district. Seven of these nests had double chin strips, while the eighth was without a chin strip. Each of the nests with double chin strips was observe carefully. Each was formerly a normal nest with a single chin strip, but perhaps due to rejection of the whole nest or at least rejection of the egg - chamber (partial rejection) by the female, former chin strips were darned by the cocks with the ceiling of respective nests. Simultaneously they prepared an additional chinstrip upwardly, parallel to the original chin strip to create a new egg chamber within the old nest. Once a nest is completed separate identity of primary chin strip cannot be visualized. August 18, 1987. SATISH KUMAR SHARMA 34. GREYNECKED BUNTING EMBERIZA BUCHAN ANI BLYTH SIGHTED NEAR UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN On the outskirts of Udaipur city, Rajasthan, is a small hill called ‘Neemach Mata’, which is surrounded by flat land having open scrub. We were trekking in this area on 9 April 1987 and at about 1300 hrs, we noticed a bird of House Sparrow size silently feeding on the ground under the shade of an Acacia nilotica (Babul) tree. A few paces away from the bird a male Crested Bunting Melophus lathami was feeding on the ground. The distinct style of MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 457 PcLchin strip , Upwardly extended part the helmet Egg chamber Sec.chin strip New egg- chambpr Darned pri.chin strip -Old egg chamber Fig- 1: Half built nest of Ploceus benghalensis showing formation of Secondary chin strip. Fig. 2'Darnmg of first chin strip with selling of nest is being looked in VS. view of haff built nest of Ploceus benghalensis- 458 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 movement of the bird caught our attention from a distance of about 50 m. On focussing our binoculars we were surprised to find grey colour on the head and flanks of the neck and a very distinct white ring around the eyes. Moustachial streaks were also very prominent. The rest of the body on ventral side was light brownish in colour. The dorsal side was very much like that of a sparrow, but with darker streaks on the folded wings meeting over the rump. The tail was forked and during flight white coloration of the outer retrices could be observed. Colour of the beak brownish yellow and legs were almost brown. On 10 April 1 98,7 it was again seen at the same place feeding from 1 200 to 1 600 hrs. On intrusion it took refuge on the Babul tree. We kept a watch over the bird’s activities and found it feeding at the same place from 9 to 19 April 1987. There- after it left the place. We consulted the HANDBOOK OF THE BIRDS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN (Compact Edition) (Ali & Ripley) and concluded that the bird was a Greynecked Bunting. RAZATEHSIN MANOJ KULSHRESHTHA July 30, 1987. RAVINDER SINGH 35. FOUR ADDITIONS TO THE BIRDS OF KERALA Out of the 300 and odd species of birds belonging to the Order Charadriformes (waders, gulls, terns etc.), only 41 species are included in THE BIRDS OF KERALA by Salim Ali (Oxford University Press, 1968). The status of some among these 41 species is still quite uncertain. During a study conducted in the Kadalundy estuary from Septem- ber 1985 to June 1986, we discovered at least four species hitherto unrecorded in Kerala. We have also earlier ob- served 3 species recorded as very uncommon in Kerala before. Kadalundy is about 20 km south of Calicut, (11° 05° N, 75° 51’E). Here the Kadalundy river originating in the Karuvarakundu forests westof the Silent Valley, joins the Arabian sea. The river mouth is blocked in part by a coastal sandbar, thus forming a lagoon undis- turbed by the turbulence of the sea. A railway line cuts across the estuary. Our study was conducted mainly in the 60 acre wetland between the railway line and the sea. During low tide, about 25 acres of mudflats become exposed. We paid about 45 visits to Kadalundy, jointly or separately, between September 1985 and June 1986. We observed in the study area more than 30 resident birds and 50 migrants. We did not attempt to identify several warblers seen there. Of the birds not included in THE BIRDS OF KERALA or reported later in J. Bombay nat. H ist. Soc., only those we could identify for certain are described in this note. Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis : Our most exciting find in Kadalundy was the Sandwich Tern. There are only two previous records of this bird in India. In 1958, Dhar- makumarsinhji observed it near Varaval Coast in Saurashtra {JBNHS 55: 35). In 1976, C.K. Krishnaprasad of Cherai near Cochin shot a S andwich T em bearing a ring put on it at Krasnovodsk Reserve, Krasnovodsk Gulf, Caspian Sea, Turkmenian SSR, USSR. The Sandwich Tern was first observed in Kadalundy by one of us (LN) on 6 October. The bird was seen in fairly large numbers during all our subsequent visits. From January to March they were present in hundreds. On 10 March we estimated theirnumbers at 500. SandwichTems were always seen along with Large Crested and other terns, and sometimes in large mixed flocks of terns and gulls. Never did we observe Sandwich Terns fishing in the Kadalundy Estuary. It appeared that they went for fishing to the open sea in the mornings and evenings and came to the estuary to rest during the hot hours of the day. By about 0800 hrs one could see small parties of Sandwich Terns coming from the west (the Arabian sea). By about 1600 hrs they flew back in the opposite direction. The black bill with yellow tip and black legs were distinctly observed. On 27 March there was a large number of Sandwich Terns in Kadalundi. But they were absent on 5 and 19 April. Surprisingly, LN saw 4 SandwichTems on 1 June. Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola : The Grey Plover has not been recorded in Kerala and is not mentioned in THE BIRDS OF KERALA. On 5 October, LN observed one Grey Plover in Kadalundy. On 16 November there were 3, and on 24 November, 10. Thereafter the Grey Plover was regularly seen in Kadalundy in fairly large numbers. It was last seen on 10 March. At times there were flocks of about 25 birds feeding or resting at the edge of the water, sometimes even in water a few inches deep. Grey Plovers always kept near the edge of the water, unlike Golden Plovers, which were also seen in fairly large numbers, and favoured the eastern half of the mudflats dotted with reeds and a few emergent mangroves. We never observed any interaction between these two plovers in Kadalundi. PKU has taken pictures of Grey Plovers showing the identification marks, black armpits and white rump, clear- ly. We have also observed this bird in Calicut north and in Badagara Sandbanks (40 km north of Calicut) and also in MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 459 the Azheekal estuary near Cannanore. Prof. K.K. Neelakantan saw the Grey Plover near Trivandrum at Perumathurai, a bird with vestiges of breeding plumage on 6 October 1973 and a few at Poovar on 19 November 1978, 22 January 1979, and 28 January 1979 (Pers. comm.). From these observations it can be safely deduced that the Grey Plover is not an uncommon winter visitor to the Kerala coast. Dunlin Calidris alpina: Salim Ali says in THE BIRDS OF KERALA, ‘ ‘No doubt the Dunlin Calidris alpina (Linnaeus) also winters in Kerala with mixed flocks of small waders on the sea coast, but has been overlooked.” From 7 November 1985 to 27 March 1986, the Dunlin was seen regularly in Kadalundy. We have estimated 20-30 birds feeding with other small waders like the Terek Sandpiper, the Curlew Sandpiper, the Turnstone, the Lesser Sandplover, the Kentish Plover, the Little Stint, and the Temminck’s Stint. The Curlew Sandpiper and the Dunlin were seen side by side and could easily distinguish them by comparing the curvature of the bills. The bill of the Dunlin is only slightly downcurved at its tip. This bird used to feed all over the exposed mudflat. At least in Kadalundy the Dunlin is a common winter visitor. Bartailed Godwit Limosa lapponica: Neither the Black- tailed nor the Bartailed Godwit has been recorded pre- viously in Kerala. The Bartailed Godwit was first seen in Kadalundy on 7 November. Its number was never high in Kadalundy. On 15 November, 6 birds were observed, and on 29 November LN saw 10. This was the largest number ever seen. Usually Bartailed Godwits were seen resting and preening among other waders, almost always near the waterline and sometimes even in shallow water. On 8 December LN saw one Bartailed Godwit feeding in the estuary. This species was not seen in Kadalundi after 23 December. Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminkii: In THE BIRDS OF KERALA, Salim Ali says: ‘ ‘Although the Temminck’s Stint has not been recorded from Kerala, it is more than likely that it occurs in winter along with the Little Stint”. The occurrence of the Temminck’s Stint was recorded by Dr A.J. Gaston from Cheruthuruthy, in Bharatapuzha ( JBNHS 2: 28). Even though we might have seen the Temminck’s Stint earlier, we identified the bird first on 19 January. Along with the Little Stint was another bird of the same size and with the same type of bill, but with yellowish brown legs and brownish breast. We could also note the white outer tail feathers. As Temminck’s Stints always associated with Little Stints, it was easy to estimate their approximate number, which was definitely not very high. The Temminck’s Stint was seen in Kadalundy till 5 April. Oystercatcher Haemanlopus ostralegus : Even though the Oystercatcher is included in THE BIRDS OF KERALA, there are very few sight records of this bird in Kerala. It was last reported by Jerdon from the Tellicherry coast. In 1 980 September LN saw a single Oystercatcher on Calicut beach for a few days. On 15 September 1985, all three of us were watching birds in the Kadalundy es aiary. On that day, with the migration at its peak, the estuary was teeming with waders, including a number of curlews and Whimbrels. By about 1030 hrs two Oystercatchers appeared in the shallow waters in the western part of the estuary. After staying there for only a few minutes, the birds took to their wings, presumably disturbed by passing country boats. Within those few minutes during which we could observe them, PKU took a few pictures of the Oystercatchers clear enough for record purposes. Later in the season LN and C. Sasikumar of Cannanore saw 5 Oystercatchers in the Azheekal estuary near Cannanore, but they were not seen at Kadalundy after 15 September. Sasikumar has since regularly seen Oystercatchers in Azheekal. The largest number seen by him was 14 (pers. comm.). Lesser Blackbacked Gull Larus fuscus: According to THE BIRDS OF KERALA, there is only one record of the Lesser Blackbacked Gull from the Kerala coast. Throughout the migration season, thousands of gulls occur at Kadalundy estuary. On 12 January, in the midst of a large flock of Brownheaded Gulls and Lesser Black- headed Gulls, six large sized gulls with dark mantles were seen. The Lesser Blackbacked Gull was seen again on 25 January and on 2 February. This gull is only an occasional visitor to the Kadalundy estuary, like the Great Black- headed Gull seen for a few days in March. In variety and concentration of birds, especially of waders and terns, the Kadalundi estuary surpasses any similar area we have seen in Kerala. Surely it is a unique bird habitat, and, as such, it has to be properly protected. We persuaded the district administration to put up a notice board prohibiting the shooting of birds in Kadalundy, but a lot more remains to be done by was of research and conservation action. We are grateful for the financial assistance provided by the Dept, of Environment, Govt, of India. L. NAMASSIVAYAN P.K. UTHAMAN July 17, 1987. R. VENUGOPALAN 460 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 36. SOME OBSERVATIONS OF SCARCE BIRDS IN KERALA AND TAMIL NADU In January and February 1985 we, together with N. Simpson, visited southern India to watch birds. A variety of habitats was visited and in particular our attention was concentrated on the endemic avifauna (Harrap and Red- man in prep.). Observations were also made of four species which are scarce or previously unrecorded in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and these are documented below. The opportunity has also been taken to include recent related records by other observers (all records are the authors’ unless otherwise indicated). Red winged Crested Cuckoo Clamator coromandus : One was seen 16 Km west of Munnar, Kerala, on 31 January 1985 near the Cochin road at about 1000 m on the southern flanks of the High Range. It was moving slowly through ground-storey vegetation in evergreen forest. Its status in the peninsula is ‘very imperfectly known or understood’ (Ali & Ripley 1983). For Kerala, Ali (1969) gives a suite of records indicating that it is a scarce but regular winter visitor throughout the state. Our sight- ing fits well with this pattern. Kashmir Redbreasted Flycatcher Muscicapa subrubra: A male was seen by R. Grimmett and C. Robson at Ootacamund (Ooty) in the Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, at about 2250 m on the edge of a relict stand of montane forest amidst pine and eucalyptus plantations on 4 and 5 February 1984, and a female was seen there on the latter- date. Two males were observed by us at the same site on 8 February 1985, with another two males 3 km away on the edge of scrub adjacent to the Avalanche road. Finally, a male was observed at the original Ooty site by K. Derbyshire and J. Eames on 10 December 1986. The males were easily distinguished from Redbreasted Flycatcher M. parva by extensive orange-red on the throat, breast and upper belly, bordered by a black line along the lower edge of the ear coverts and the sides of the breast, extending diffusely onto the flanks. Notably, the head and mantle were smoky blue-grey and the bill con- spicuously pinkish-orange, only slightly darker along the culmen, features not adequately covered by Ali & Ripley (1983) where the male is described as dark grey-brown above and the bill brown, with only the lower mandible yellow. • The Kashmir Redbreasted Flycatcher winters in Sri Lanka above about 750 m in gardens, tea estates, borders of forest etc., but is scarce on passage in the peninsula and apparently not previously recorded in Tamil Nadu or Kerala (Ali & Ripley 1983). The presence of birds at Ooty in three different years indicates that the species wintersregularly in the Nilgiris, and perhaps the whole of the Western Ghats complex. Why it should have been previously unrecorded is not clear, though S.C. Madge (in litt.) notes that some males are poorly marked and easily passed off as M. parva. Tytler’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus tytleri : Two birds were observed above Vagavurrai, 20 km northeast of Munnar, Kerala on 2 February 1985 at about 2000 m on the slopes bordering the Eravikulam Plateau. They were feeding actively in the middle-storey on the edge of a shola. Due to the difficulties of identifying Phylloscopus warblers, their appearance will be discussed in detail. Description: Size and shape similar to a Dull Green Leaf Warbler P. trochiloides (i.e. about 10 cm). Crown, mantle, rump and wing coverts dull olive-grey. A narrow but well-defined whitish supercilium contrasted with the dark eyestripe. Remiges and rectrices dark olive-brown, on one individual fringed bright olive-green. Underparts off-white lightly sullied with grey, and with a touch of yellow in the centre of the breast and on the undertail coverts. Bill not noticeably long, but slender, blackish and with a very small pale base to the lower mandible. Legs mid- to pale grey. Call a hoarse, squeaky huweest. Discussion: In fresh plumage, Tytler’s Leaf Warbler is greyish-olive above, remiges and rectrices dark brown fringed with olive-green, underparts yellowish-white streaked brighter yellow. In first winter plumage they are greener above and yellower below. Worn birds are grey- brown above and dirty white below (Ticehurst 1938, Williamson 1967, Inskipp & Inskipp 1985). Particularly, in worn plumage, confusion is possible with Largebilled P. magnirostris , Dull Green P. trochiloides and Bright Green Leaf Warblers P. (t.) nitidus , all of which are common winter visitors to peninsular India. All three species can be excluded by a combination of the following characters: 1. Absence of wingbar. The three species show a narrow pale wingbar on the tips of the greater coverts, although in worn plumage this may be absent. The bright green fringes to the remiges of one of the Vagavurrai birds indicate that these feathers and their coverts were relative- ly fresh and unabraded and that they did not therefore show wingbars in fresh plumage. 2. Slender, all-dark bill. Inskipp & Inskipp (1985) state that a more slender and all-darkish bill separates Tytler’s from a worn Dull Green Leaf Warbler, and indeed Dull Green (of the forms ludlowi and viridanus) and Bright Green Leaf Warblers always show a prominent pale base to the lower mandible. However, P. t. trochiloides , which is rare south of the Gangetic plain, can show a MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 461 predominantly dark lower mandible (pers. obs. and R. Grimmett pers. comm.). Interestingly in this context, Alexander (1955) gives details of Dull Green Leaf Warblers seen at Ootacamund with all-darkish bills. The Largebilled Leaf Warbler has a long and stout bill, the lower mandible with a variable pale base, although usually darker in the breeding season and dark in skins (Ticehurst 1938). Statements in the literature that Ty tier’s Leaf Warbler has a very long bill appear to be erroneous; it is only marginally, if at all, longer than that of the dull Green Lei Warbler (12-14 mm for Tytler’s, 11.5-14.5 mm for Dull Green (Ticehurst 1938, Williamson 1967). The slender profile is, however, distinctive. 3. Call — all three species can be excluded by call. The Largebilled Leaf Warbler has a very distinctive, stereotyped call (Ali & Ripley 1983 and pers. obs.). Bright and Dull Green Leaf Warblers share very similar, une- quivocally disyllabic calls, achee — wee or tiss — yip (Dean 1985 and pers. obs.). Unfortunately we are unfamiliar with the call of Tytler’s Leaf Warbler, which is usually described as a single feeble note and a double y — it (In- ski pp & Inskipp 1985). The winter range of Tytler’s Leaf Warbler is poorly known, but the few records include two from the Nilgiris and it is generally believed to comprise the Western Ghats complex (Ali & Ripley 1983). Our observations support this hypothesis. The difficulty of identifying birds in their winter quarters perhaps explains the dearth of records. Refer Alexander, H.G. (1955): Field -notes on some Asian leaf warblers - 1 Brit. Brids 48: 293 - 99. Ali, S. (1969): Birds of Kerala. Second Edition. Delhi. & Ripley, S.D. (1983): Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Compact Edition. Oxford University Press, Delhi. Dean, A.R. (1985): Review of the British status and Dark Thrush T urdus obscurus: One was seen on 4 February 1984 by C. Robson at Ootacamund at about 2250 m in a relict stand of montane forest amidst pine and eucalyptus plantations. One was seen on 23 January 1985 by SCH at Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu, in scrub immedi- ately inland of the coast. The combination of a prominent pale supercilium and variable buff or peachy flanks and breast and distinguish this thrush. The Dark Thrush is a common winter visitor to the Indian subcontinent from Bangladesh eastwards. The above records appear to be the first from Tamil Nadu but, together with four recent winter records from Nepal (In- skipp & Inskipp 1985) and a record from northwest Kar- nataka (Ali & Ripley 1983), may indicate that the species is a rare, but regular straggler to other parts of the subcon- tinent. Acknowledgements We would like to thank R. Grimmett and C. Robson for their expert advice in planning our trip and provision of their records. J. Eames also supplied us with details of his observations and S.C. Madge kindly commented on a draft of this note. S.C. HARRAP October 29, 1987. NJ. REDMAN E N C E S identification of Greenish Warbler. Brit. Birds 78: 437 - 451. Inskipp, C, & Inskipp, T. (1985): A guide to the birds of Nepal, London. Ticehurst, C.B. (1938): A systematic review of the genus Phylloscopus. London. Williamson, K. (1967): Identification for ringers, 2. The genus Phylloscopus. Revised Edition. Tring, U.K. 37. ADDITIONAL RECORD ON MORTALITY FROM HAILSTORM AT JAIPUR On 8 May 1987, at around 1630 hrs, a heavy hailstorm hit some parts of Jaipur city, Rajasthan. The effect of this hailstorm, which lasted more than an hour, was very severe inside the campus of Rajasthan University at Jaipur. The weight of the hailstones Varied from 100 to 150 gm. Considerable damage was caused to the fauna and flora of this area. A number of trees like Polyalthia lon- gifolia, Delonix regia. Cassia fistula, Azardirachta indica were damaged. The next morning we recorded dead bodies of several species of common birds and some mamals. They were Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus. Red wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus. Common Myna- Acridotheres tristis, Rosering ed Parakeet Psittacula krameri. Ringdove Streptopelia decaocto. Blue Rock Pigeon Columba livia. House Crow Corvus splendens. House Sparrow Passer domesticus. Spotted Owlet Athene bramma and Five-striped Palm Squirrel Funambuluspen- nanti. B. RAM MANOHAR October 18, 1987. M. RAJASEKARAN 462 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 86 38. CATTERPILLAR IN DIET OF HOUSE GECKO The food of the House Gecko Hemidactylus flaviviridis consists mainly of insects. Smaller insects are swallowed whole, whereas larger victims are battered to death and then eaten (The Book OF INDIAN REPTILES, J.C. Daniel, p. 36). The gecko has been observed catching moths, butterflies and a variety of insects. In the evening of 15 February 1988 a gecko was hunting insects on a wall adjacent to a bed of chrysan- themum flowers, when it noticed a black caterpillar with yellow spots on one of the plants very close to the wall. Without much difficulty it caught the caterpillar and swal- lowed it. This is the first such instance noticed by me. April 11, 1989. ARUNM.K. BHAROS 39. REDISCOVERY OF HOLOTYPE OF TROPIDONOTUS STRIOLATUS BLYTH, 1868 (SERPENTES: COLUBRIDAE) IN THE COLLECTION OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA (With a plate ) Tropidonotus striolatus was described by Blyth (1868), based on a single well-preserved specimen of colubrid snake from the Andaman Islands, collected by Capt. Col. R.C. Tytler. Although currently considered a synonym of Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider 1799), Theobald (1868) in his “Catalogue of the Reptiles in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal’ ’ considered the species as distinct and gave a detailed description of the species. Later Theobald (1876 : 175 — 176), in his “Descriptive Catalogue of the Reptiles of British India’’ again supported the separate status of the species based on this type. Smith (1943), who examined the entire collection of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, prior to this publication, called attention to the fact that the type of Tropidonotus striolatus later synonymised with Xenochrophis piscator was lost. The purpose of this communication is to an- nounce the rediscovery of the holotype of Tropidonotus striolatusBlyth in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. The holotype was originally deposited in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (A.S.B. 46 a), which became a part of the collections of the Indian Museum (Calcutta) in 1 880 as I.M. 7402. The zoological accessions in the Natural History section of the Indian Museum were then transferred to the Zoological Survey of India, Calcut- ta, in July 1916. The holotype is an adult male from the Andaman Islands which was catalogued in volume II of the Register of Presentations to the Indian Museum on 20 August 1880 with the registration No. 7402 (A.S.B. 46 a). The standing of this specimen as the type of Tropidonotus striolatus must now be examined. The evidence concern- ing the type status of the specimen is as follows: i) The registration register and the label afford the biomen Tropidonotus striolatus , and the accession to the Indian Museum collection of the specimen on 20 August 1880, is consistent with the date on which the species was described (1868). ii) There is a specific entry ‘Type’ in the registration register against the accession number. iii) The holotype agrees well with B ly th’ s original descrip- tion of the species, and the data on the label and the registration number are consistent. iv) Further evidence of critical number is provided by thefollowing statements in the Annual Report for 1910 — 1 1 ofthe Indian Museum (Annandale 1911): “The following ‘Type’ specimens of new genera and species, subspecies and varieties have been added to the collection of the Indian Museum during the year: Reptilia Tropidonotus piscator type of Tropidonotus striolatus Blyth. This type was deposited in the Indian Museum in the spirit of the resolution adopted at a Conference as regards Museums in India, held in Calcutta during December 1907, ‘that all zoological types in India shall be deposited in the Indian Museum’ (Anonymous 1908)’’ In view of Smith’s categorical statement that the type of Tropidonotus striolatus Blyth was lost, it was con- sidered necessary to draw the attention of herpetologists to the continued existence of the type. The holotype of Tropidonotus striolatus , presently known as Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider) from the Andaman Islands, was described as having 19 rows of keeled scales, 141 ventrals, 85 subcaudals, one pre — and 3 or 4 postoculars, 9 supralabials, one large and square loreal; the anal is divided. The specimen (ZSIC 7402) in MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 463 our collection has the same pholidosis, clearly indicating that this is the same Andaman specimen. It is still in a fairly good state of preservation. Its current taxonomic status is: Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider) Hydrus piscator Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph., 1 : 247 (East Indies; based on Russell’s “Neeli Koea”). Tropidonotus striolatus Blyth, 1868, in Theobald’s Cat. Rept. Mus. Asiat. Soc.: 55 (Andaman Islands), and Rept. Brit. India, 1876: 175. Natrix piscator piscator Smith, 1940, Rec. Indian Mus., 42: 383. Material examined: Holotype an adult male, 1020 mm in standard (snout — vent) length, tail 300 mm; loc., An- Refer Anonymous (1908): Report of the Conference as regards Museums in India, held in Calcutta from 27 to 3 1 December 1907. Annandale, N. (1911): Indian Museum Annual Report,42: 1-27. Blyth, E. (1868):/n: W. Theobald, Catalogue of the Reptiles in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal./. Asiat. Soc. Beng., extra number, 1868: 55. Theobald, W. (1868): Catalogue of the Reptiles in the daman Islands (India); Coll. Capt. Col. R.C. Tytler; Zoological Survey of India Regd. No. 7402 (46 a A.S.B.). Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, for the laboratory facilities provided to examine the type material, and to Dr Herndon G. Dowling, Herpetologist and Professor of Biology, New York University, for critically reviewing the manuscript and for his valuable suggestions. S.K. TALUKDAR D.P. SANYAL January 25, 1989. B. DUTTAGUPTA N C E S Museum of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 88 + iii pp., pis. /. Asiat. Soc. Beng., extra number, Calcutta. (1876): Descriptive Catalogue of the Reptiles of British India. Calcutta. 238 pp., Synopsis, pp. i- xxxviii. Appendix, pp. i-xiii. Smith, M.A. (1943): The fauha of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia, III (Serpentes), xii + 583 pp., Taylor & Francis (London). 40. ON A SMALL COLLECTION OF FISH FROM MIZORAM, INDIA The state of Mizoram is surrounded by Assam to the north, Manipur and Burma to the east and south, Tripura and Bangladesh to the west, whose fish fauna is fairly well known. This note is based on the fish collected during the faunistic survey of the Teirei river and its tributaries undertaken by the Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, under the leadership of Dr Shyamrup Biswas, Zoologist, inFebruary-March 1984. A total of 17 species comprising 73 examples belonging to 14 genera, 8 families and 5 orders have been recorded. The taxonomic account is arranged on the lines adopted in Jayaram (1981). The distribution of the species is given by Jayaram (loc. cit). Lengths of the species given in the note are standard lengths. TAXONOMIC ACCOUNT Order CYPRINIFORMES Family Cyprinidae Genus Esomus Swainson Esomusdanricus (Hamilton) Cyprinus danrica Hamilton, 1822./7L/z. Ganges: 325, 390; pi. 16, fig. 88 (type-locality: ponds and ditches of Bengal). Nuria danrica Day 1889, Fauna Br. India, Fish. 1: 334. Material: (i) 2 exs., 35 mm, 46 mm; 26 February 1984. (ii) 3 exs., 42 mm, 48 mm; 27 February 1984. This larvicidal fish is provided with a lateral line which pierces only 4-6 anterior scales. This fish is popularly called “Flying Barb’’. It is also known from Malaya and Thailand. Genus Danio Hamilton Danio (Danio) aequipinnatus (McClelland) Perilampus aequipinnatus McClelland, 1839, Asiat. Res. 19(2): 393, pi. 60, fig. 1 (type — locality : Assam) Danio (Danio) aequipinnatus Hora & Mukerji, 1934, Rec. Indian Mus. 36(1): 133 (synoptic table to species of the subgenus Danio). 464 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Material: 3 exs., 48 mm to 60 mm; 27 February 1984. Hora & Mukerji (1934) gave a synopsis not only of the Indian and Burmese species of Danio then known, but also of Brachydanio. In this synopsis Danio aequipinnatus (McClelland), Danio strigillifer Myers and D. malabaricus Jerdon are shown as three distinct species. Hora & Nair (1941) synonymised D. strigillifer and D. malabaricus with D . aequipinnatus. Mukerji (1934) again synonymised D. browni Regan withD. aequipinnatus. This species has a preorbital spinous process directed backwards at the anterior rim of the orbit derived from the lachrymal bone. Danio (Brachydanio) rerio (Hamilton) Cyprinus rerio Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 323, 390 (type — locality : R. Kosi). Danio (Brachydanio) rerio, Hora & Mukerji, 1934, Rec. Indian Mus. 36(1) : 130, 131 (synoptic table to species of the subgenus Brachydanio). Material: 9 exs., 21 mm to 23 mm; 27 February 1984. This species in this area entirely lacks the lateral line and shows a tendency towards the reduction in number of anal fin rays 12-15 v. the normal 15-16. Genus Rasbora Bleeker Rasbora daniconius daniconius (Hamilton) Cyprinus daniconius Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges : 327, pi. 15, fig. 89 (type-locality : rivers of southern Bengal) Rasbora daniconius Day, 1878 ,Fish. India: 584, pi. 146, fig. 2. Material: (i) 13 exs., 28 mm to 74 mm; 26 February 1984. (ii) 5 exs., 43 mm to 65 mm; 27 February 1984. Seven out of the 18 specimens of this species have an incomplete lateral line extending either up to the base of anal fin or between it and base of the caudal fin. The specimens also show a marked increase in the number of dorsal and anal fin rays. Dorsal fin rays 10 (ii, 8) v. the normal 9 (ii, 7) and anal fin rays vary from 8 to 9 (ii-iii, 6) v. the normal 7 (ii, 5). Genus Amblypharyngodon Bleeker Amblypharyngodon mola (Hamilton) Cyprinus mola Hamilton, 1822 ,Fish. Ganges: 334, 392, pi. 38, fig. 92 (type — locality : ponds and freshwater rivers in every part of the Gangetic provinces). Amblypharyngodon mola Day, 1889, Fauna Br. India, Fish 1: 291, fig. 101. Material: 3 exs., 41 mm to 49 mm; 26 February 1984. Lateral lines of these specimens pierce upto 14-15 anterior scales. Anal fins show a marked increase in the number of rays 9-10 (iii, 6-7) v normal 7 (ii, 5) and dorsal fin rays 9-10 (ii, 7-8) v. the normal 9 (ii, 7). Genus Barilius Hamilton Barilius barila (Hamilton) Cyprinus barila Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 267 , 384 (type — locality : rivers of northern Bengal) Barilius barila Day, 1878, Fish. India: 594, pi. 149, fig. 4. Material: 2 exs., 91 mm, 105 mm; 27 February 1984. Day (1878) described this species as having only one pair of rostral barbels. It has two pairs of barbels — a rostral pair equal to half of eye diameter and a maxillary pair shorter than the rostral pair. Hora (1921) has already recorded this species with two pairs of barbels from Manipur. Genus Puntius Hamilton Puntius chola (Hamilton) Cyprinus chola Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 312, 389 (type — locality: northeastern parts of Bengal). Barbus chola Day, 1878, Fish. India: 571, pi. 142, fig. 4. Material: 3 exs., 43 mm to 57 mm; 26 February 1984. Chaudhury (191 1) recorded this species from Yunnan Province, China. Generally a dark blotch is present be- tween the 21st and 23rd scales on the lateral line besides a dark mark at the base of anterior dorsal fin ray. Puntius sophore (Hamilton) Cyprinus sophore Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 310, 389 (type-locality: ponds of Bengal) Barbus stigma Day, 1878, Fish. India: 579, pi. 141, fig. 5. Material : 1 ex., 19 mm; 26 February 1984. Chaudhury (1916) clarified the errors in Hamilton’s original description of this species in respect of the barbels and also the erroneous identification of Day (1878) of material not referable to this species at all. P. sophore is without barbels and is a common species throughout India, there is no justification for retaining P. stigma without barbels as a separate species. As the name sophore has priority over stigma the latter is synonymised The specimen has a dark blotch, more or less distinct at the base of the caudal fin. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 465 Funtius ticto ticto (Hamilton) Mystus bleekeri (Day) Cyprinus ticto Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 314, 389, pi. 8, fig. 87 (Type-locality: southern parts of Bengal) Barbus ticto Day, 1889, Fauna Br. India, Fish 1: 325. Material: 1 ex., 40 mm; 26 February 1984. The specimen has an incomplete lateral line which is perforated only up to the 7th anterior scale. A dark spot is present on the third and fourth scales and a second dark spot above the lateral line over the 18 — 20 scales. Family Cobitidae Genus Botia Gray Botia (Botia) dario (Hamilton) Cobitis dario Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 354, 394, pi. 29, fig. 95 (type — locality : northern nvers of Bengal). Botia dario Day, 1878, Fish. India: 606, pi. 154, fig. 1. Material: 1 ex., 52 mm; 1 March 1984. Hamilton (1822) described this species along with Botia geto from north Bengal. Gunther (1868 : 366) regarded B. geto as a young form of B. dario. Hora (1932 : 573) considered B. geto as a juvenile form of B. dario. Comparison of a large series of specimens of the two species show that the different colour pattern of the two species is very closely related with each other and hence has no specific value. It is relevant to mention here that B. geto of Day’s later works (1878, 1889) is a different species and was described by Hora (1932) as Botia dayi. The single specimen of this species in this collection has seven vertical broad bands. Genus Lepidocephalus Bleeker Lerpidocephalus (Lepidocephalichthys) guntea (Hamilton) Cobitis guntea Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges : 353, 394 (type — locality: ponds and freshwater rivers of Bengal) Lepidocephalichthys guntea Day, 1878, Fish. India: 609, pi. 155, fig. 4 Material: (i) 11 exs., 41 mm to 54 mm; 26 February 1984 (ii) 1 ex., 52 mm; 27 February 1984 Order siluriformes Family Bagridae Genus Mystus Scopoli Bagrus keletius (nec. Valenciennes) Bleeker, 1846, Nat. Geneesk Arch. Ned. Ind (2) 3: 135 (type — locality : Bengal) Mystus bleekeri Day, 1878, Fish. India: 451, pi. 101, fig. 1 (new name ior Bagrus keletius Bleeker) Material: 1 ex., 97 mm; 26 February 1984 Fainily Heteropneustidae Genus Heteropneustes Muller Heteropncustesfossilis (Bloch) Silurus fossilis Bloch, 1794, Naturg. Ausland. Fische 8: 46, pi. 370, fig. 2 (type — locality : Tranquebar) Saccobranchus fossilis Day, 1889, Fauna Br. India, Fish 1: 125, fig. 53. Material: (i) 1 ex., 1 10 mm; 26 February 1984. (ii) 1 ex., 127 mm; 27 February 1984. Order ATHERINIFORMES Family Cyprinodontidae Genus Aplocheilus McClelland Aplocheilus panchax (Hamilton) Esox panchax Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 211, 380, p. 3, fig. 69 (type — locality : ditches and ponds of Bengal) 1 1 aplocheilus panchax Day, 1878 , Fish. India: 523, pi. 121, fig. 3. Material: 2 exs., 33 mm, 37 mm; 26 February 1984. It is a widely distributed species of the Oriental region. Order CHANNIFORMES Family Cuannidae Genus Channa Scopoli Channa punctatus (Bloch) Ophicephalus punctatus Bloch, 1793, Naturg. Ausland. Fis- che 7: 139, pi. 358 (type — locality : Malabar coast) Ophiocephalus punctatus Day, 1 878, Fish India: 367, pi. 78, fig. 1. Material: 3 exs., 95 mm to 1 10 mm; 27 February 1984. Order PERCIFORMES Family Nandldae Genus Badis Bleeker Badis badis (Hamilton) Lambrus badis Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 70, 368, pi. 466 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 28, fig. 23 (type — locality: ponds and ditches throughout the Gangetic provinces) Badis huchanani Day, 1878, Fish. India: 128, pi. 31, fig. 6. Material: (i) 2 exs., 37 mm, 38 mm; 26 February 1984. (ii) 1 ex., 50 mm; 1 March 1984. Family Gobiidae Genus Glossogobius Gill Glossogobius giuris giuris (Hamilton) Gobius giuris Hamilton, 1822, Fish. Ganges: 51, 366, pi. 33, fig. 15 (type — locality : ponds and freshwater rivers of Gangetic Provinces) Gobius giuris Day, 1878, Fish. India: 294, pi. 66, fig. 1. Refer CHAUDHURY, B.L. (1911): Contribution to the fauna of Yunnan based on collections made by J. Coggin Brown, 1909- 1910. Part II, Fishes. Rec. Indian Mus. 6: 13-24. (1913): Zoological results of the Abor Expedition, 1911-12, Fish, ibid 8: 243-257. (1916): Fauna of the Chilka Lake. Fish (part 1 )Mem. Indian Mus. 5: 405-439. Day, F. (1 878): The fishes of India; being a natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the seas and freshwaters of India, Burma and ceylon. Text and atlas in 4 parts. London, xx + 778, 195 pis. (1889): The Fauna of British India, in- cluding Ceylon and Burma. Fishes. London 1: pp. i-xviii, 1-548, 164 figs.; 2: pp. i-xiv, 1-509, 177 figs. Gunther, A. (1 868): Catalogue of the fishes in the British Museum 7: pp. i-xx, 1-512. Taylor and Fracis, London. Hamilton, F. (1822): An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Edinburgh and London, pp. i-viii + 405, 39 pis. Hora, S.L. (1921): Fish and fisheries of Manipur with some observations on those of the Naga Hills. Rec. Indian Mus. 22: 165-214. (1924): Fish of the Siju cave, Garo Hills, Assam, ibid 26: 27-31. (1932): Notes on fishes in the Indian Museum, xix. On a new loach of the genus Botia, with remarks on B. dario (Ham.-Buch). ibid.J4: 571-573. (1936): On further collection of fish from the Naga Hills, ibid 38: 317-331. Material: 3 exs., 60 mm, 74 mm; 26 February 1984. It is one of the most widely distributed species of the Oriental region. Acknowledgements I am grateful to Dr B .K. Tikader, Director and Dr Ashis Ghosh, Deputy Director, Zoological Survey of India, Cal- cutta, for giving me the opportunity of working the material for taxonomic assessment. I am also thankful to Dr K.C. Jayaram, Joint Director, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, for his constant guidance. August 17, 1984 R.P. BARMAN E N C E S & Mukerji, D.D. (1934): Notes on fishes in the Indian Museum. XXII. On a collection of fish from the S. Shan States and the Pegu Yomas, Burma, ibid 36: 123-138. (1935): Fish and fisheries of the Naga Hills, Assam, ibid. 37: 381-404. &Nair, K.K. (1941): Fishes of the Satpura Range, Hoshangabad district. Central provinces, ibid 43: 361- 373. Jayaram, K.C. (1981): The Freshwater fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka. A handbook. Govt, of India, pp. t-xii + 1-475, pis. 13. & Majumdar, N. (1964): On a collection of fish from the Kameng Frontier Division, N.E.F.A. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 61: 264-280. Menon, A.G.K. (1954): Further observations on the fish fauna of Manipur state. Rec. Indian Mus. 52: 21-26. Mukerji, D.D. (1934): Report on Burmese fishes col- lected by Lt. Col. R.W. Burton from the tributary streams of the Mali Hka river of the Myitkyina district (Upper Burma) J. Bom- bay nat. Hist. Soc. 37(1): 38-80 (Part II). Pillai, R.S. & Yazdani, G.M. (1977): Ichthyofauna of Garo Hills, Meghalaya (India). Rec. Indian Mus. 72: 1-22. Srivastava, C.B. (1966): On a collection of fishes from Tirap Frontier Division, N.E.F.A., India. J. Tiool. Soc. India 18(1 & 2): 122-128. Yazdani, G.M. (1976): Fishes of the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya (India) with observations on their distributional pat- tern. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 74: 17-28. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 467 41. A NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORD FOR ISO NATALENSIS (REGAN, 1919) (PISCES: ISONIDAE) FROM THE BAY OF BENGAL During a study of rock-pool fishes at Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India, we collected the fish Iso natalen- sis, which has so far been recorded only from the south — east coast of Africa. The fish conforms to the description and figure given by Smith (1961: 324). The fishes of this family are commonly called silver-sides. Material examined : 49 (22.5-42 mm SL) (a) 1 sp., 35 mm SL: 16 Nov 1978 (b) 6 sp., 22.5-29.5 mm SL: 30 Nov 1978 (c) 21 sp., 29.5-37 mm SL: 28 June 1979 (d) 21 sp., 31.5-42 mm SL: 10 July 1979 Description: D. ffl-VI; I 12-16; P 12-14; V I 5; AI 21-28; C 15; gill rakers 3-4 + 1-10-12(1 ray on each arm sometimes rudimentary), lateral series of scales 45-50; L.tr. 5/1/6-7. As percentage of standard length: Total legnth 1 15.3— 127.9; body depth 22.0-28.6; head length 19.6-25.0; snout length 5.4— 9.5; eye diameter 7.1-10.0; interorbital 7.9-10.9; pectoral length 13.5-18.8; ventral length 8.0- 11.7; distance to first dorsal 44.3°. 0; to second dorsal 63.3-71.9; pre-pectoral distance 23.0-28.6; pre-ventral distance 33.3-39.6; pre-anal distance 52.4-60.0. As percentage of head length: Snout 25.0-37.5; eye diameter 30.0—42.9; inter-orbital distance 35.3-48.0; post-orbital 3 1 .3-43 .8 . Body elongate, compressed, deepest at pectoral origin. Mouth small, slightly oblique, villiform teeth in both jaws and on vomers and palatines; outer single row of teeth in both jaws elongated and curved. Teeth on upper jaw are visible even when the mouth is closed. Maxillary reaching below anterior margin of pupil. Pre-opercular margins and angle finely serrated, opercle smooth, post-opercular margins and angle finely serrated, opercle smooth, post- orbital less than half in head length; spines of fins weak. Second spine of the first dorsal longest; second dorsal rays longer than spines. Pectoral high up, reaching middle of ventral. Ventrals short. Ventralmostrow of scales between ventral and anal fins larger than those immediately above them and the three scales of either side between vent and anal fin are fused. Anal spine shorter than rays. Caudal forked, lobes rounded. A minute, cartilaginous protruberance beyond vent. Scales ctenoid, thin and high- ly deciduous. Head, belly upto vent naked. Pre-dorsal scales present. Colour: A broad silvery band along the body from pectoral base to slightly beyond middle of caudal peduncle, with a silvery blotch at base of caudal fin. The band is bordered above by a narrow grey-green stripe with iridescence. Above and below the band, the body is trans- lucent in life, becoming opaque after death. On dorsal side Table 1 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN Iso natalensis AND I. flosindicus S.No. Character Iso flosindicus Herre, 1944, Iso natalensis Smith, 1965 Iso natalensis, material observed 1979 1. Teeth on vomer Not seen? Few each side Patch of teeth on each side 2. Teeth outside closed mouth Yes Upper front On upper jaw 3. Dorsals III-IV - 1 13-15 IV-VI - 1 13-17 III- VI - 1 12—16 4. Anal 121—24 121—27 I 21—28 5. Pectoral ? 12—13 12—14 6. Number of lateral series of scales 40-44 About 60 45-52 7. Gill rakers 3 + 10 3-4+1+10+12 3-4+1+10-12 8. Body depth in standard length 3.3-3.53 3. 6-4.6 3.09-4.21 468 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 of head there is a violet blotch. From between the middle of the eyes in the anterior half is an unpigmented spot which later becomes conspicuous after preservation. Dor- sal surface of snout dusky. Maxilla, cheeks and ventral side of head silvery. Fins hyaline. Discussion The present specimens conform to the description given by Smith (1965) for Iso natalensis in all respects except for minor differences in the dorsal fin formula and the number of lateral series of scales. Smith (op. cit.) gave the number of first dorsal spines as IV-VI. In the present specimens the number ranges from III — VI. The lateral series of scales are found to be less in number (42-52) as against 60 given by Smith. The presence of a smaller number of scales may be correlated to the smaller size of the specimens as observed by Smith. R E F E I Herre, A.W.C.T. (1944): Notes on fishes in the Zoologi- cal Museum of Stanford University. XVII. New fishes from Johore and India Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 57: 45-52. Regan, C.T. (1919): Fishes from Durban. Ann. Durban Mus.2: 200-201. Smith, J.L.B. (1961): The sea fishes of Southern Africa. Iso flosindicus Herre, 1944 has been recorded earlier from Visakhapatnam. But the present specimens differ from the above species in the number of dorsal spines, gill rakers, anal fin rays and lateral series of scales (Table 1). This fish is being recorded for the first time from India from a rock — pool at Visakhapatnam on the east coast. The authentic record so far is only from South Africa (Smith 1961). According to Smith (1961) related species recorded from Japan and Australia held to be distinct may all eventually be found to be the same (species) (p. 324). As Herre (1944) erected the species Iso flosindicus on the basis of a single specimen, which was much spoiled, its validity is doubtful. However, the type should be com- pared before the name is synonymised. N.A.V. PRASAD REDDY April 19,1989 C. UMA DEVI iNCES S. Africa: Central News Agency, (4th Ed.; 480 pp. (1965): Fishes of the family Atheiinidae of the Red Sea and the Western Indian Ocean with a new freshwater genus and species from Madagascar./cAz/iyo/. Bull. Rhodes Univ. 31: 602- 629. 42. KEY TO GENERA AND RECORDS OF SOME SPECIES OF COCCINAE (HOMOPTERA : COCCIDAE) FROM INDIA Subfamily Cocclnae Falien Recently, V arshney (1985) listed 25 genera of Coc- cidae from India under 3 subfamilies ; Filippiinae, Coc- cinae and Ceroplastinae. In the present study only 2 subfamilies are recognized except Filippiinae, the genera of which are considered here in Coccinae. The Indian genera and species of Ceroplastinae are included by Avas- thi & Shafee (1986). Therefore only the subfamily Coc- cinae is treated here which is represented by 23 genera from India. So far, no consolidated key for the identifica- tion of Indian genera is available. The main object of this paper is to present a key to the Indian genera of Coccinae. Observations if any, and records of 6 species of Coc- cinae are also given. The genus Chloropulyinaria Borchsenius is not considered here as distinct from Pul- vinaria Targ. — Tozzt. as we did not find any remarkable difference between these two genera. The material studied by us are deposited in the Zoological Museum, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India. KEY TO INDIAN GENERA OF COCCINAE, BASED ON ADULT FEMALES 1 . Marginal setae variously shaped, but never broadly expanded and flattened 2 — Marginal setae broadly expanded and flattened Paralecanium Cockerell 2. Cribiform plates or rounded chitinous areas present on dorsum 3 — Cribiform plates absent on dorsum 5 3. Xegs and antennae absent or much reduced; with more than 4 cribiform plates of variable sizes 4 — Legs and antennae well developed; with only 4 quite large cribiform plates, all of about the same size Hemilecanium Newstead. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 469 4. Legs and antennae rudimentary; derm around anal plates unsclerotized. ...Cribrolecanium Green — Legs and antennae absent; derm around anal plates strongly sclerotized Akermes Cockerell 5. 8-shaped pores absent on dorsum, if present sparse in distribution 6 — Large 8-shaped pores present along the mid — dorsal line and around body margin Cardiococcus Cockerell 6. Legs and antennae well developed; multilocular pores mainly confined to abdominal venter; spiracles not surrounded by sclerotic plate 7 — Legs and antennae much reduced or rudimentary; numerous multilocular pores present along the sides of body; spiracles surrounded by a sclerotic plate Lecanopsis T argioni — Tozzetti 7. Longitudinal series of conical spines absent on dorsum 8 — 2 longitudinal series of short, thick conical spines extend from rostrum to abdomen on dorsum Metaceronema Takahashi. 8. Ventral tubular ducts numerous 9 — Ventral tubular ducts absent or very few in number 21 9. Stigmatic spines if present 1-6 only ..........10 — Stigmatic spines numerous, stout, bluntly rounded, in the usual 4 groups, each accompanied by sclerotic plate Ceronema Masked. 10. Stigmatic spines more or less resemble with marginal spines or somewhat represented by 1-2 slightly longer setae 1 1 — Stigmatic spines 3, rarely 5-6, much distinct from marginal setae 15 1 1 . Tubular ducts either absent on dorsum or very infrequent, if numerous, sparsely distributed 12 — Tubular ducts very frequent on dorsum, arranged in mid-longitudinal and marginal band Dicyphococcus. Borchsenius 12. Marginal setae conical or slendrical 13 — Marginal setae spear — head shaped Ceroplastodes Cockerell 13. Submarginal band, of tubular ducts absent on venter 14 — Submarginal band of tubular ducts present on venter Eulecanium Cockerell 14. Distinct mid — dorsal line of pores present; multilocular pores confined to anal region and on the abdomen; glossy test is divided longitudinally into two halves Inglisia Maskell. 15. Mid-dorsal line of pores absent; multilocular pores present throughout the median region of thorax and abdomen; glossy test notdivided longitudinally into two halves Ctenochiton Maskell 15. Anal cleft normal not extending to centre of body; anal plates variable 16 — Anal cleft long extending to centre of body; anal plates elongate, about 4 times longer than wide Protop ulvinaria Cockerell 16. Submarginal band of tubular ducts present on venter 17 — Submarginal band of tubular ducts absent on venter 19 17. Multilocular pores confined only to the abdominal venter; median stigmatic spine much longer than laterals 18 — Multilocular pores present ventrally on abdomen and also present in groups behind base of each coxae Parthenolecanium Sulc. 18. Dorsal setae cylindrical or slightly swollen apically; anal plates without large discal seta; dorsum with cellular pattern composed of distinct polygonal areas Parasaissetia Takahashi — Dorsal setae setose or spinose; anal plates with a large discal seta; dorsum with cellular pattern composed of much less distinct circular or oval areas Saissetia Deplanche 19. Marginal setae of variable shapes, simple, bifid, fimbriate or clubbed apically; stigmatic clefts usually with 3 spines, anal plates with thin apical setae 20 — Marginal setae thick, stout, more or less cylindrical, mostly with bidentate apices; stigmatic clefts each with 4-5 spines of variable lengths; anal plates with a thick apical setae... Megap ulvinaria Young. 13 470 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 20. Ovisac is not strongly convex (Borchsenius, 1957) E up ulv inaria Borchsenius Ovisac strongly convex (Borchsenius, 1957) Pulvinaria Targioni — Tozzetti 21 . Stigmatic spines 3, median longer than laterals, located in the centre of the clefts; paraopercular pores if present few, never extend upto head 22 — Stigmatic spines 2 of equal sizes on either end of the sclerotized band; paraopercular pores numerous, arranged in a band along the median line of the body and extending as far as the head Marsipococcus Cockerell & Bueker 22. Dorsum with large tessellation Eucalymnatus Cockerell — Dorsum without tessellation Coccus Linnaeus Ceroplastodes cajani (Maskell) Material examined. : 1 6 females, INDIA: Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh, on Ficus infectoria 10. viii. 1980 ( R.K.Avasthi ). This species is more common on Ficus plants at Aligarh. It is easily recognized in the field by the presence of glossy covering whereas the mounted specimens by the presence of single large spine on dorsum at the region of stimatic clefts and two rows of small spear — head shaped marginal spines. Megapulvinaria maxima (Green) Material examined: 2 females INDIA: Andhra Pradesh, Nellore, Bucchireddypalam, on weed plant, 27. i. 1978; 1 female, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, on Flacourtia indica, 21. in 1979 (R.K.Avasthi). This species is considered as a serious pest of Neem trees in India (Ayyar 1930). Mounted specimens are easily identified by the stout, truncated marginal spines with bidentate apices. Refer Avasthi, R.K. & Shafee, S.A. (1986): Species of Ceroplastinae (Homoptera : Coccidae) from India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 83(2): 327-338. Ayyar, T.V.R. (1930): A contribution to our knowledge of South Indian Coccidae (scales and mealy bugs).#w//. Agr. Res. Parasaissetia nigra (Nietner) Material examined: 8 females INDIA: Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, on Hibiscusrosa-sinensis L., and Abutilon indicum, 27. iii. 1979 ( R.K.Avasthi ). Mounted specimens of this species are easily identified by the presence of large pale polygonal areas and thick, cylindrical setae with slightly swollen apices on dorsum. Saissetia coffeae (Walker) Material examined: 3 females, India: Andhra PradesK, Guntur, on Cajanus cajan , 5. i 1967; 5 females, Tamil Nadu, Tirunlveli, on Psidium guava L., 5. iii. 1967 (SA. Shafee). 2 females, Coimbatore, Mettupalaiyam, on weed plant, 27. iii 1979 (R.K.Avasthi). Saissetia oleae (Olivier) Material examined: 4 females, INDIA: Andhra Pradesh, Guntur, Ponnur, on Cajanus cajan, 3. iv. 1979 (R.K. Avasthi). De Lotto (1971) discussed the authorship of this species and credited it to Olivier instead of Bernard. Saissetia privigna De Lotto Material examined: 5 females, INDIA: Andhra Pradesh, Guntur, on Abelmoschus esculentus 14, iv. 1979 (R.K. Avasthi). This species is closer to S. oleae , but distinctly differs in having numerous long marginal setae and in the shape of tubular ducts which have inner ductule much narrower than outer. Acknowledgements We are grateful to the Chairman, Department of Zool- ogy, A.M.U. Aligarh, for providing research facilities. One of us (RKA) is thankful to C.S.I.R., New Delhi for financial assistance. RAJENDRA KUMAR AVASTHI August 18, 1988. S. ADAM SHAFEE N C E S Inst. Pusa,197 (1929): 77 pp. Borchsenius, N.S. (1957): Fauna of U.S.S.R. Homop- tera, Coccidae (in Russian)A£od. NaukZool. Inst. (n.s. 66)9: 493 pp. De Lotto, G. (1971): The authorship of the Mediter- MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 471 ranean black scale (Homoptera : Coccidae)J. Ent. (B) 40(2): Varshney, R.K. (1985): a review of Indian Coccids 149- 150. (Homoptera : Coccoidea ).Oriental Insects, 19: 1-101. 43. A NEW TYPE OF MIMICRY IN BUTTERFLIES Hitherto, two types of inter-butterfly mimicry have been observed: 1 . Batesian, where non-poisonous/ palatable butterflies, generally females, mimic wing coloration patterns, habits and flight patterns of poisonous/ non palatable butterflies. B atesian mimicry is apparent in relationships such as those between females of the Eggfly Hypolimnas misippus L., the Palmfly Elymnias hypermnestra L. on the one hand and the Plain Tiger Anosia chrysippus L. on the other. Similarly between the Tawny Mime Chilasa agestor Mo. and the Chestnut Tiger Parantica sita Kol. 2. Mullerian, where poisonous butterflies mimic each other’s wing/body coloration in an effort to develop a warning coloration pattern easily recognisable by predators. Mullerian mimicry is prevalent among the Windmills (Byasa dasarada M. group), the Black Crows ( Euploea core Cr. group)and the Blue Crows (Euploea mulciber Cr. group). A strange relationship exists between the Swordtails ( Pazala eurous cashmirensis Roth, and Pazala glycerion Gr.) and the Cabbage Whites (Pieris brassicae L. and Artogeia canidia Sparrman). The Swordtails are on the wing for two to three weeks in early spring, at elevations between 1250-2200 m above sea level. Their flying time coincides with the first brood of Cabbage whites. During this period, the Whites out- number the Swordtails in a ratio of about 25:1. During the morning hours, the Swordtails make no attempt to mimic any insect, but depend on swift flight in the upper canopy of trees to avoid predators. At midday, however, both species of Swordtails come down to 3-5 m above ground level, that is, the zone in which Cabbage Whites are predominant. At this level, they affect the much slower, fluttering, erratic flight of the Whites as opposed to their normal ‘flap and glide’ technique making it ex- tremely difficult to distinguish between the mimic and the model. The reason behind this became clear when I (in the role of predator) tried to catch them. Calculating the net’s sweep according to the feigned flight of the Swordtail, I was surprised when it reacted with a series of high speed, complicated manouvres that on most occasions left me baffled. Since these insects seem to be capable of reacting more swiftly than Cabbage Whites and are more alert, they generally manage to escape into the upper canopy (birds seem to be incapable of maintaining the rate of accelera- tion while ascending) when attacked, and, after a while, return to the lower levels to continue the mimicry. The other advantage of this form of mimicry lies in the large population of the models. The chances of being singled out for attack are considerably reduced by ‘merging with the crowd’. In the case of the Swordtails, this fact is relevant since they are the only inhabitants of the upper canopy at that time of the year. I propose to refer to this form of mimicry as Self- Detractive mimicry because the mimic actually imitates the vulnerability of the model and, after detracting from its own abilities, depends upon its true capabilities to escape predators. As opposed to this is Batesian mimicry, where the non-poisonous mimic imitates various aspects of the poisonous model in order to be considered poisonous as well. Since it is being poisonous that makes the model invulnerable, it is clear that the mimic imitates this invulnerable aspect of its model. Self-detractive mimicry is also prevalent between the Sailers (Genus Neptis), which are the models and the Sergeant Major Abrota ganga Mo., the Sergeant Emperor Apatura chevana Mo. and the Sergeants (Genus Athyma, prev .Pantoporia) which are the mimics. It probably exists in other insect relationships, but results can only be ob- tained by observation of the subjects in their natural habitat. August 3, 1988 PETER SMETACEK 472 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 44. OVIPOSITION BEHAVIOUR AND EGG HATCHABILITY IN TASAR UJI FLY BLEPHARJPA ZEBINA (WALKER) (With a text-figure) Introduction The tasar uji fly Blepharipa zebina (Walker) (Diptera: Tachinidae) has been amajor parasitoid of tasar silkworm Anther aea paphia (Linn.) (=A. mylitta Drury) in the tradi- tional and oak tasar belts of North India, causing nearly 10% loss to the tasar crop (Jolly et al. 1974). The parasitoid occurs in Khanapur andBiligiri Rang ana Hills of Kamatak where tasar silkworm is reared on commercial scale. A perusal of literature revealed that information on oviposi- tion behaviour and egg hatchability of the parasitoid is very scanty, and this paper deals with the above aspects. Material and Methods The observations on oviposition behaviour were made at the Basic Tasar Seed Farm, Khanapur (Belgaum Dis- trict) during December, 1986. The A. paphia worms util- ized for the study were from the commercial outdoor rearings on Terminalia trees. They were mostly at their III or IV instars. The uji infested worms were brought and held in the laboratory for studies on oviposition and egg hatchability of the parasitoid. Observations and Discussion Host-stage-preference: The uji fly exercised care and preference in selecting the proper host for oviposition. Fourth instar worms were most preferred as compared with those at III instar. In the present survey, the number of eggs laid by the parasitoid on IV instar host was ten times the number laid on HI instar host. For instance, on 'Fig. 1 . Tasar silkworm Ant her aea paphia parasitized by uji fly Blepharipa zebina: a. Tasar uji fly eggs; b. Black scar, diagnostic of tasar infestation. an average 41 .33 eggs (ranging from 22 to 77 per larva) were laid on IV instar, whereas only 4.0 eggs (ranging from 1 to 8 eggs per larva) were laid on III instar tasar worm. Even during the III moult, i.e. at the time when the host was entering into its IV instar, the number of eggs laid by the parasitoid was very less (average 1.67). Moreover, the worms at II and I instars were among the least preferred ones. Interestingly, no eggs were laid on the fully grown prespinning or spinning worms. Likewise, the worms settling for moult were also avoided. Besides, less number of eggs (on an average 2.0 per larva) were laid on pebrinised worms. Furthermore, it was noticed that, even among the worms of preferred instars, the fly selected well-fed worms as against the poorly developed ones. Singh (1986) remarked that generally the parasitoid preferred bigger worms. However, the present study shows that the preferences were made on the basis of the host-stage, health and vigour. Host-site-preference: The parasitoid laid the majority of eggs on the dorsal surface of the host. For example, about 75.4% of the eggs were laid on dorsal aspect, while only 24.1 and 0.5% on the lateral and ventral surfaces respec- tively. Reasons for such a preferential deposition of the eggs appear to be the responses of the host to the uji fly at the time of oviposition. It was observed that the fly which alighted on the lateral aspect was driven away by the sideward movements of the body, and the eggs laid on sides were dislodged by nibbling by the host. Moreover the parasitoid could hardly get any space to oviposit on the ventral surface since it was tightly attached to the substratum. However, the fly which alighted on dorsal surface remained undisturbed. Act of oviposition: The adult uji flies were very active during cooler hours of the day with moderate sunshine, i.e. from 0900 to 1200 hrs and 1600 to 1700 hrs. During this period they flew actively around the tasar silkworms. Initially, tasar silkworms did not allow the gravid female uji fly to alight on their body for oviposition. They briskly moved their anterior portion of the body sidewards so that the fly got physically disturbed. However, the female fly made persistent and hectic attempts to settle on the body of the host. Too frequent visits by the fly ul- timately exhausted the worms and at this stage the fly alighted on the host’s body and walked freely over its body. Settling on the host, the fly first feels the surface of the worm with the help of its protruded ovipositor. Sitting parallel to the body segments of the host, she fastened the MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 473 eggs one after another tranversely to the long axis of the body, avoiding the intersegmental regions and the tubercles. The eggs were laid singly but in instalments. In majority of thercases the eggs were glued side by side very near to each other (Fig. 1) with their micropylor end invariably pointing upwards. At each visit the fly laid one or more than one egg on the host. A maximum of 77 eggs were counted on the body of a healthy IV instar host. Perhaps, therefore, the superparasitism was very common in the tasar population. Hatching of eggs: The eggs usually hatched in 3 days after deposition, i.e., in the present case they hatched in the last week of December. The percent hatchability was as high as 97.9 (ranging from 66.7 to 100) under laboratory con- ditions. A longitudinal slit was made on the attached surface of the egg extending up to 1/2 or 2/3 length from themicropylar end. And the tiny maggot penetrated direct- ly into the host’s integument through the slit. Soon the area around the point of entry of the maggot became black (Fig. 1). This black mark is the characteristic feature of uji fly infestation which can be utilized for diagnostic purpose. The egg shell remained attached to the integument of the host even after the death, decay and drying of the carcass of the silkworm. G.M.PATIL January 20, 1989. C.J. SAVANURMATH References Jolly, M.S., Sen, S.K. & Maqbool, M. (1974): Tasar Singh, R.N. (1986): Enemies of tasar silkworm and their Culture. Ambika Publishers, Bombay: pp. 1-266. conXxoU ndian silk 75(5): 15-18. 45. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE FLORA OF GANGANAGAR (RAJASTHAN) Introduction Ganganagar is situated in the north of Rajasthan State between 28° 40’ and 30° 06’ N Lat. and 72° 36’ and 75° 30 E Long. It constitutes a part of the Great Indian Desert. The Gang canal drawing water from the Sutlej river was launched in the year 1927-28, which has greatly changed the face of the area. The irrigation waters, which owe their source to the Punjab rivers, have been bringing seeds and other propagules of a number of extra-limital species year after year and many of these have already become successfully established in the area as crop weeds or along the banks of canals (Dhillon and, Bajwa 1969, D hi lion and Bhandari 1974, Singh and Brar 1984). The most striking example of this naturalization of Himalayan plants in the Great Indian Desert are species of Riccia, Marchantia and Ophioglossum vulgatum L. (Singh and Brar 1980) which are found frequently in the canal ir- rigated areas, showing thereby the extent to which plants from the Himalayas and other places have become naturalised in the irrigated desert. There are no rocks or gravelly soil in the district. In the irrigated tract, soil under irrigation by Gang canal and Bhakra canal are sandy-loam. In the non-command areas, sandy plains with stabilized and shifting sand dunes are a common sight in the South of the district and its adjoining districts Churu and Bikaner of Rajasthan. There is a seasonal river called Ghagger which enters the tehsil Tibbi in the East and through Anupgarh flows to Pakistan. The soil in the bed of this river is heavy clay. There are some saline areas near Jetsar and Anupgarh where a few halophytes occur. The average annual rainfall is less than 300 mm. The rainy months are June to September with maximum rainfall in July — August. The summers are extremely hot and winters severely cold. The maximum and minimum average temperatures recorded are 44° C and 5° C, respectively. We are presently working on the flora of North Rajas- than. While studying the specimens, we found some of these were not reported previously from Rajasthan desert (Blatt. and Hallb. 1918—21; Puri et al. 1964, Bor 1960, Bhandari 1978, Sharma and Tiagi 1979), therefore, new extrants to the desert. The specimens have been preserved in the Herbarium, Department of Botany, SGN Khalsa College, Sriganganagar, Rajasthan. Results and Discussion, The vegetation of the area explored can be divided into: ( 1 ) vegetation of loose sand dunes and sandy regions, (2) vegetation of stablized sand dunes (3) vegetation of Ghagger Alluvial plains, (4) weeds of winter season (5) weeds of rainy seas on, (6) vegetation along canals, 474 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 (7) aquatic plants, (8) Common parasites are Cistanche tubulosa , Orobanche aegyptiaca, Striga angustifolia, Cuscuta reflexa, C. capitata on Medicago saliva and on the species of Tribulus and Zaleya. Total number of wild species so far collected is 487, belonging to 305 genera covering 82 families. In the present work, flora of an area of about 20,648 sq.kfn of northwest part of Thar desert, which is now under irriga- tion by network of canals system, has been studied and compared with that of non-irrigated regions of the area. A comparison of the vegetation of the hitherto unirrigated areas and that of the irrigated regions of the district of Ganganagar shows that irrigation has brought about remarkable changes in the composition of the original flora, both by way of new introduction as well as elimina- tion of many of the original species. In comparison to the natural flora of the Thar desert (unirrigated parts only), the following species are new introductions in the irrigated regions. 1 . Ranunculus cantonenesis DC. 2. R.sceleratusLinn. 3. Nymphaea stellata Willd. 4. Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. 5. Argemone ochroleuca Sweet 6. Dilophia salsa Thoms. 7. Farsetia jacquemontii Hook.f.et Thoms. 8. Malcolmia africana R. Br. 9. Hypecoum procumbens Linn. 10. Oligomer is linifolia (Vahl) Macbride 1 1 . Arenaria serpyllifolia Linn. 12. Vaccaria pyrimidata Medik. 13. Portulaca grandiflora Hook. 14. P.pilosa Linn. 15. Oxalis latifolia H.B. & K. 16. Astragalus subumbellatus Klotzsch 17. A. tribuloides Del. 1 8. Lotus corniculatus Linn. 19. Medicago minima Lamk . 20. M. lupulina Linn. 21. Trigonella hamosa Linn. 22. T. pubescens Edgew. 23. Myriophyllum spathulatum Blatt .et Hallb. 24. Anethum graveolens Linn. 25. Ammi majus Linn. 26. Centella asiatica (Linn.) Urban 27. Oenanthe javanica (Bl.) DC. 28. Psammogeton canescens (DC.) Vatke 29. Tr achy spermum ammi (Linn.) Sprangue 30. C art hamus oxy cant ha Beib. 3 1 . Cirsium wallichii DC. 32. Cichorium intybus Linn. 33. Cotula anthemoides Linn. 34. Lactuca scariola Linn. 35. PartheniumhysterophorusUnn. 36. Soliva anthemoides (Juss.) R. Br. 37. Sphenoclea zeylanica Gaertn. 38. Gastrocotyle hispida (Forsk.) Bunge 39. II eliotr opium currasavicum Linn. 40. Cuscuta capitata Roxb. 4 1 . Lycium europaeum Linn. 42. Antirrhinum orontium Lmn. 43. Majus pumilus (Burm.f.) Steenis 44. Verbascum thapsus Linn. 45. Orobanche aegyptiaca Pers. 46. Utricularia inflexa Forsk. 47. Lantana camara Linn. 48. Salvia plebeia R. Br. 49. PlantagoamplexicaulisCzv. 50. Kochia indica Wt. 5 1 . Chrozophora oblongifolia (Del.) A. Juss. 52. C. prostrata Dalz. 53. Euphorbia helioscopia Linn. 54. E. parvifloraLxrm. 55. E. serpens H.B.E. 56. Pouzolzia pentandra (Roxb.) Benn. 57. Polygonum lanigerum R. Br. 58. Ficus palmala Forsk. 59. Commelina diffusa Burm.f. 60. Lemna trisulca Linn. 61. Carexfedia Nees 62. Cyperus exaltatus Retz. 63. Eleocharis dulcis (Burm.) Henschel 64. F imbristylis diphylla (Retz.) Vahl 65. F. woodrowii Clarke 66 . Pycre us polystachyus Beauv . 67. Aristida plumosa Linn. 68. Catabrosa aquatica (Linn.) P. Beauv. 69. Crypsis schoenoides (Linn.) Lamk. 70. Dichanthium odoralum (Lisboa) Jain 7 1 . Digitaria bicornis (Lamk.) Roem. 72. D. slricta Roth ex Roem. 73. Diplachne fusca (Linn.) P. Beauv. 74. Eleusine indica (Linn.) Gaertn. 75. Eragrostis nutans (Retz.) Nees ex Steud. 76. Koeleria argentea Griseb. 77. Leptochloa phleoides (Vill.) Reichb. 78. Lolium temulentum Linn. 79. Leptochloa chinensis (Linn.) Nees 80. L. pumila (Desf.) Bor 83. P. psilopodium Trin. 84. P . repens Linn. 8 1 . Panicum austroasiaticum Ohwi 82. P . miliaceum Linn. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 475 85. Phalaris minor Retz. 86. Setaria homonyma (Steud.) Chiov. 87. Sporobolus indicus auct. non (Linn.) R. Br. Thus, out of 410 naturalized species of the area, 87 are new entrants in comparison to the flora of the unirrigated desert regions. This means that irrigation over the last 60 years or so has apparently changed about 21 per cent of the species of the natural flora. This is too superficial a judgement since the real change is much more and not easily comprehensible. Some of these new extrants are temperate Himalayan plants such as Cotula anthemoides, Arenaria serpyllifolia, Astragalus subumbellatus, A. tribuloides, Ammi majus, Trachyspermum ammi, C ichor ium intybus, Soliva anthemifolia, Verbose um thap- sus, Pktntago amplexicaulis, Pouzolzia pentandra etc. Still many of them are abundant in the cooler regions of Punjab. It is therefore obvious that their seeds have been transported by irrigation waters. Further, protracted irrig- ation has brought about so much amelioration in the climate that it is already supporting luxuriant growth of such arborescent forms of humid tropics such as Bambusa. Many other tree species such as Dalbergia sissoo, Cordia dichotoma, Jacaranda mimosefolia, Kigelia pinnata, Emblica officinalis , several species of Ficus, Morus and Phoenix are doing well in the area. The natural flora has been modified in another way. Refer Bhandari, M.M. (1978): Flora of Indian Desert. Scien- tific Publishers, Jodhpur. Blatter, E. & Hallberg, F. (1 9 1 8 — 21): The Flora of the Indian Desert (Jodhpur and Jaisalmer)J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 26: 218-246, 525-551 ,811-818, 968-987; 27: 40-47, 270- 279, 509-519. Bor, N.L. (1960): The Grasses of Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan, pergamon Press. London. Oxrford. New York. Paris. Dhillon, K.B.S. & Bajwa, P.S. (1969): A contribution to the Botany of Ganganagar District, North Rajasthan. Bull. bot. Surv. India. 1 1 : 234-244. Dhillon, K.B.S. & Bhandari, M.M. (1974): Some plant 46. PNEUMATOPTERIS NUDATA (ROXB.; (With eleven Many of the common species of the unirrigated desert which originally belong to this area have disappeared obviously due to protracted irrigation, most probably due to losing competition against the new extrants. Though irrigation has effected the water contents and texture of the soil substantially, not all the changes are for the worse and the floristic richness can be attributed to irrigation alone. With the availability of irrigation, large tracts are now under cultivation and wastelands have become scarce. Wild species can grow only as crop weeds which are regularly removed by the farmers from their fields or on the sides of the roads and canals. This reduction in the realm of wild plants has obviously contributed substan- tially to the reduction in the number of wild species. However, whatever might be the factors responsible for the change of the natural flora, they are all consequent to the introduction of irrigation. Acknowledgements Our thanks to Principal, SGN Khalsa College, Srigan- ganagar for providing facilities; to S. Kamail Singh, Ad- vocate for encouragement and to the UGC for finance. B.P. SINGH January 15, 1989. K.B.S. DHILLON iNCES records new to Rajasthan from the district of GanganagarJ. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 70: 577-582. Puri, G.S., Jain, S.K. Mukarjee, S.K., Sarup, S. & Kot- wal, N.N. (1964): Flora of Rajasthan, West of Aravallis.Rec.RoL Surv. India 19(1): 1-159. Sharma, S. & Tiagi, B. (1979): Flora of North — East Rajasthan. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana. Singh, B.P. & Brar, N.S. (1980): Note on the occurrence of Ophioglossum vulgatum L. in Rajasthan State./. Indian bot. Soc. 59: 38. (1984): A note on the occurrence of Ophioglossum vul- gatumL. in Rajasthan State. J. Indian bot. Soc. 59: 38. ) PUNETHA ET KHOLIA COMB. NOV. text-figures ) Introduction observed that at least in the fresh specimens of Pneumatopteris nudata ( Pronephrium nudatum (Roxb.) During our studies on the taxonomy of fems of Holtt.) the aerophores at the base of basal pair of pinnae Pithoragarh district of Kumaon (N.W. Himalayas), we are quite distinct and at least the lowest pair of pinnae is 476 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 86 Fig. 1 . Pneumatopteris nudata, habit; Fig.2. P. nudata var. minor, isotype. much reduced, hairs are usually absent on the surface of rhizome scales and rhizome scales are narrower than the rhizome scales of Pronephriurn. A specimen of this fern With our comments was sent to Prof. R.E. Holttum (Ke^/), who readily agreed for its transfer to Pneumatopteris Some specimens of this fern differ markedly from the typical P. nudata in having relatively small fronds, pinnae narrow, base cuneate, apex narrowely acuminate, basal one or two pairs slightly reduced, veins to 15 pairs. When a specimen of this fern was sent to Prof. Holttum, he replied that there are no Kew specimens with such narrow- ly acuminate pinnae as those found in this fem and he suggested that we describe it as a new variety (var minor) of P. nudata. Nakai (Bot. Mag. Tokyo, 47:179. 1933) erected anew thelypteroid fem genus Pneumatopteris to accommodate (Asp idium callosum Bl. ferns with free veins, basal pinnae reduced, swollen or normal aerophores present at the base of the lower pinnae. Holttum (1973) redefined the genus and included within it the specimens in which 1 . basal pair of pinnae are reduced, 2. aerophores are present at the base of lower pinnae and 3. margins of rhizome scales are hairy (hairs on surface of rhizome scales are usually absent). Although Holttum (1973) gave a detailed taxonomic ac- count of this genus, he described the Roxburgh’s fem Polypodium nudatum as Pronephriurn nudatum (1972) and was followed by other workers (Baishya & Rao 1982 Bir etal. 1983,Khullama/. 1983. Presence of aerophores at the base of basal pairs of pinnae in this fem was noticed by Beddome (1883, p. 175) but this character was over- looked by subsequent taxonomists. Taxonomic Account Pneumatopteris nudata (Roxb.) comb. nov. Polypodium nudatum Roxb., Calc. Joum. Nat. Hist., 4. 491. 1844. Pronephriurn nudatum (Roxb.) Holtt., Blumea, 20: 111. 1972; Dhir, Bibl. Pterid., 1: 105. 1979; Dhir, Bibl. Pterid., Z: 1981; Baishya & Rao, Ferns and Fem — allies of Meghalaya State, 85. 1982; Bir etal, Pteridophytic Flora of Garhwal Himalaya, 38. 1983; Khullar etal.. PolypodiummultilineatumYNdXt. ex Hook., Sp. Fil.,5: 1 1 . 1883. Nephrodium moulmeinese Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India, 275. 1883. Rhizome wide creeping, scaly at apex; scales lanceo- late, margins slightly hairy, surface smooth, apex acuminate; stipe erect, 2-3 cm distant on rhizome, 30-60 cm long, scaly at base, hairy above, scales rhizomatous, hairs acicular, hyaline; lamina ovate, coriaceous, once pinnate, 40-60 x 25-40 cm, pinnae oblong lanceolate, broad, 15-25 x 2.5-4 cm, lowest pair reduced, base broad, apex acute, margins slightly dentate, hairy, hairs on veins, sinus and rachis; swollen aerophores present at the base of pinnae; veins 16-20 pairs, anastomosing and form an excurrent vein to sinus; sori near the excurrent vein or at the junction of veins and excurrent vein, indusiate; in- dusium reniform, deciduous; sporangia globose, smooth (not setose) with elongated glands; spores brown, ovate perisporiate, finely spinulose, 35 x 28 mm (Figs. I, 3 — 5). Fairly common throughout the region along hill streams between 600-1200 m. Mention is to be made of Pangtey et al. (1986) regard- ing its occurrence in Nainital; they believe that they col- lected this fem for the first time from Nainital. However, as early as 1890, Hope (1904, p. 83) collected this fem (described under the name Polypodium multilineatum Wall.) from Gola valley (2500’) in Nainital. Specimens examined: K; Bot. Pith. 87211, 87212, 88211,88212. Pneumatopteris nudata (Roxb.) Punetha et Kholia var. minor Punetha et Kholia var. nov. A varietate typica speciei differt: frondibus minoribus, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES All Figs. 3-11. 3-5. P. nudata , 3. a lateral pinna; 4. venation; 5. spore; 6-11. P. nudata var. minor , 6. a lateral pinna; 7. vena- tion; 8. spore; 9. rhizome scale; 10. stipe scale; 11. rachis scale. pinnis angustioribus basi cuneatis et apice acuminatis, pinnis infimis 1 — 2 jugatis leviterredactis, venis usque 15 jugatis (Figs. 2, 6-11). A rare fern, only once collected from Hachila village (Didihat 800 m). Specimens examined: K-Holotype; Bot. Pith. 88201 — Isotype Acknowledgements References Baishya, A.K. & Rao, R.R. (1982): Ferns and Fern — al- Beddome, R.H. (1883): A Handbook to the Ferns of lies of Meghalaya State, India. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur. British India, Ceylon and Malay Peninsula. Today and Tomorrow We take this opportunity to thank Prof. R.E. Holttum (Kew) for determining the identity of specimens, for rendering latin diagnosis of the new variety, for sugges- tions and encouragement. U.G.C., New Delhi is acknow- ledged for financial help. N. PUNETHA November 29, 1988. B.S. KHOLIA 478 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 Printers and Publishers, New Delhi. Bir, S.S., Satua, C.K. Vasudeva, S.M. & Goyal, P. (1983): Pteridophytic Flora of Garhwal Himalaya. Jugal Kishorc & Co., Dehradun. Holttum, R.E. (1972): Studies in the family Thelyp- teridaceae — IV. The genus PronephriumVxc^l.Blumea. 20: 128- 150. (1973): Studies in the family Thclypteridacea — V. The genus PneurnatopterisNakai.Blu.mea. 21: 293- 325. Hope.C.W. (1904): The ferns of North — Western India J. Bombay nat. /lust. Soc., 15: 78-1 1 1 . Kiiijllar, S.P., Sharma, S.S. & SINGH, P. (1983): The thclypteridaceae of West Himalaya. Nova Hedwigia. 38: 617- 667. Pangtey, Y.P.S., Rawat, G.S. & Samant, S.S. (1986): Addition to the pteridophytic flora of Nainital. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 83: 472-473. 47. SOME RARE, ENDANGERED AND THREATENED PLANT SPECIES FROM RATNAGIRI DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA While going through the Red Data Book of Indian Plants (RDBIP) vol. I, edited by M.P. Nayar and A.R.K. Sastry (1987), we noticed that ten species of flowering plants which have been collected by us from Ratnagiri district are cited in the book. The present communication is to supplement the data given in the book about these species. These data were collected by us during various field trips in Ratnagiri district. For each plant, the name of the species is followed by the family name, the page number of the species in the RDBIP vol. I and, in quotation marks, the Category used to indicate the degree of threat in the RDBIP. Specimen num- bers of our collections are given. All specimens arc at Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay. 1. Aponogeton satarensis Sundara. et al. Aponogetonaceae 41. “Vulnerable”. The species had so far been reported only from the Mavashi plateau in Satara district, Maharashtra. Attempts to find it on the Panchagani plateau were not successful. We have collected the species from the plateau of Gothane village, Sangamcshwar taluka, on the crest (alt. 1,000 m) of the Western Ghats. The plants are found only in a small area of the plateau, where a few ems of water accumulates during the monsoon. Live plants continued to flower in Bombay but the tubers did not grow the next year. Since the species is difficult to cultivate, the best conservation measure would be to protect its habitat. The immediate danger to the species at Gothane may be a proposed dam which may inundate the site. Mistry 1006. 2. Cryptocoryne cognatoides Blatt. & McC. Araceae 43. “Vulnerable”. The plant has been found once in the same locality as Aponogeton satarensis but it grows in marshy soil on edges of ponds and streams. Mistry 1674. 3. Ceropegia huberi AnsariAsclepiadacea 58. ‘ ‘Vulnerable”. Collected only from the type locality at the top of Amba Ghat on grassy road embankments which are prone to landslides. Mistry 1266. 4. Ceropegia oculata Hook.f. Asclepiadaceae 62. “Rare”. Collected once from the hill — top at Miry a near Ratnagiri, a botanically interesting locality having a reputation for medicinal plants. Mistry 1 156. 5. Ceropegia sahyadrica Ansari & Kulkarni 69. “Rare”. It is a frequent plant in August — September in the same locality as Aponogeton satarensis , but it is more abundant towards the Western edge of the plateau where the soil layer is thicker. Mistry 1191. All the above species of Ceropegia have edible tubers, which nourish both man and animals; this is a major threat to their survival in the wild. Perhaps cultivation is the best conservation measure for the Ceropegia species of the District. 6. Dipcadi concanense (Dalz.) Baker Liliaceae 175. “Possibly extinct in the wild; known only from two gatherings; not seen since 1861, though the region has been repeatedly exlored”. The species has now been- found after 123 years, growing in a fenced, fallow plot of rocky land in Ratnagiri city. The plant is noticeable only when flowering, otherwise it is inconspicuous among grasses. Unless quick measures arc taken to protect the samll plot from building activities it is likely to be lost in the near future. Cultivation may be the best conservation measure. Flowers and fruits in August — Mistry 1068. 7. Iphigcnia magnifiea Ansari & Rolla Rao.Liliaceae 183 “Vulnerable”. Collected from the borders of rice fields at Phurus on the Khed — Dapoli road and at Mirya near Ratnagiri. Flowers and fruits in August. Mistry 196 & 1 155. 8. Abutilon ranadei Woodr. & Stapf Malvaceae 198 “Endangered or Presumed Extinct. First described in 1 894, next reported in 1 901 as a very rare plant; no report since then.” This is the first report in 85 years. A single plant was found on forested slopes at the type locality — MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 479 Amba Ghat. The species is in great danger of extinction, as is the case of Ceropegia huberi in the same area. The habitat is on the verge of destruction, being on the major highway between the cities of Kolhapur and Ratnagiri, with the forest unprotected. Almeida 1375. 9. Bhidea burnsiana BorPoaceae-290 4 ‘Rare”. This species is by no means rare in the district if one has an eye for grasses. M.R. Almeida has collected the species daily on several consecutive field — days from Ratnagiri city and its surroundings. It grows on bare laterite flats, along with a less common and probably more threatened associate D anthonidium gammiei (Bhide) C.E. Hubbard. In Ratnagiri district, at least, the species is not in immediate danger — it has survived the expansion of the city and was even found growing near the Police Station in the heart of the city. It may be pointed out here that another, rarer species of Bhidea exists (unless it has become extinct in the last 45 years) in India, undcscribed since 1941 when Bor noticed it with D anthonidium gammiei (Bhide) C.E. Hub- bard specimens sent to Kew from Karnataka by C. Mc- Cann, (see Kew Bull. 1948:44. 1949). Almeida 448, 698A, 914; Mistry 466B. 10. Dimeria woodrowii Stapf Poaceae298. “Rare”. An occasional species on bare laterite flats especially near the sea as at Mirya, Mirjole and Shirgaon near Ratnagiri city. Like Bhidea brunsiana the species is not in immediate danger since it survives on land which is already so degraded that nothing except short grasses and herbs can grow on it Almeida 470A, 588B & 916. We wish to thank the following for help given in preparing this paper: Mr M.R. Almedia of Alchemie Research Centre, Thane for providing some specimens and helping in field work and identification. Dr N.P. Singh and Ms. U.R. Deshpande of BSI, Pune for providing literature and as- sistance at BSI. M.K. MISTRY December 9, 1988. S.M. ALMEDIA 48. CYRTOMIUM HOOKERIANUM (PRESL) C. CHR. (ASPIDIACEAE) — A NEW RECORD FOR WESTERN HIMALAYAS During an extensive plant collection in Kumaun region of Western Himalayas, we collected plants of Cyntomium hookerianum (Presl) C. Chr. from Gwaldam. This species has not been reported from Western Himalaya being known so far from nepal, Bhutan, Khasia hills, Meghalaya, Nagaland, China, Tonkin, Japan, Taiwan and Australia. The present collection extends its distributional ranges further west to Kumaun Himalaya, and is an im- portant addition to the fern flora of North — Western Himalaya. The voucher specimens are lodged in the Her- barium of Department of Botany, Kumaun University Campus, Almora. Cyrtomium hookerianum (Presl) C. Chr., Ind. Fil. Suppl. 1, 101, 1913; Jamir&Rao, Ferns of Nagaland, 334, 1988; Dixit, Cens. Indian Pterido. Scr. 4, 1984.La.s7mz hookeriana Presl, Tent. Pterid., 77, 1836. Aspedium caducum Wall, ex Hook. etGrev., Icon. Fil. 1.171, 1829 (non HBK, 1815 ).Cyrtomium caducum (Wall, ex Hook. etGrev.) Moore, Ind. Fil. 276, 1861; Bedd., Handb. Ferns Brit. India, 21 1 , 1 883 . Phanerophlebia hookeriana (Presl) Copel., Gen. Fil., 3, 1947. Rhizome stout, short, erect with spreading wiry roots. Stipe upto 30 cm long, stout, covered wiih dark brown, lanceolate, acuminate scales (upto 30 mm at base and 6a mm at middle and onwards). Lamina 35-45 x 15 x 2 cm, simple pinnate, pinnatifid at apex; lateral pinnae upto 27 pairs, slightly oblique to the rachis, shortly petiolate; largest pinnae upto 15 x 1. 5-2.5 cm, petiolate, falcate, cuneate at the base, acuminate at the apex, margin toothed, texture coriaceous, glabrous above and scaly beneath (scales upto 1 .5 mm long); rachis and costules sparsely covered with small brown scales; veins free, much forked. Sori globose, scattered; indusium peltate with slightly lobed margin; sporangia stalked; spores not matured. Ecology: Rare, growing along the banks of perennial streams in dense forests at an altitude about 2000 m. Specimens examined: Kumaun Himalaya, District Al- mora, Gwaldam (2000 m), P.C. Pande, 17057. Ac KNO W LEDGEMENTS We are grateful to Dr S.P. Khullar, Punjab University, Chandigarh for sending relevant literature. Financial as- sistance from CSIR, New Delhi is thankfully acknow- ledged. April 15, 1989. P.C. PANDE H.C. PANDE 480 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 49. CARALLUMA NI LAG IRIAN A KUMARI AND SUBBA RAO (ASCLEPLADACEAE) — A NEW RECORD FROM KARNATAKA Caralluma nilagiriana was reported as a new species for India by Kumari and Subba Rao (1976) based on the specimens collected on way from Anaikatti and Ebanad in Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu, in rocky areas at 900 m altitude. They considered this species as allied to C. trun- cate— coronata but differentiated from it on the basis of the characters such as non — succulent roots, deltoid leaves, pellucid glands on the external parts of corolla and others. The present collection was made from a lateritic hilly area in GKVK campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, at an altitude of 800 m. This species is likely to escape attention as the plants are ephemeral and appear only in a small patch of area among bushes partially exposed to sunlight. When a closer observation is made the plant appears striking with its small stature, erect branched stem up to 10 cm height, 6-9 dark purplish flowers in terminal umbel quite large to the size of the plant. Caralluma nilagiriana appears to multiply chiefly by root suckers and hence they occur in patches. The flowers open after 9.00 in the morning and remain open until next day and then fall. Fruits were not observed on any plant. In all other characters the plants resemble Caralluma nilagiriana described by Kumari and Subba Rap (1976). Thus, the present report has shown that this taxon is not endemic to Nilgiri District but also occurs elsewhere. Coll.: V. Bhaskar and C.G. Kushalappa, 796, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore North, Karnataka, 2 September 1988, alt. 800 m. Specimens are deposited at Herbarium, Depart- ment of Farm Forestry, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore. V. BHASKAR December 10, 1988. C.G. KUSHALAPPA References Kumari, G.R. & Subba Rao, G.V. (1976): A new species Soc.73: 194-196. of Caralluma (Asclepiadaceae) from India. J. Bombay nai. Hist. 50. TWO NEW RECORDS OF ASCLEPIADACEAE FROM MAHARASHTRA (With a plate and twelve text-figures ) During the course of exploration of rare, endangered and endemic plant species of Maharashtra, the following two interesting plants of Asclepiadaceae were collected from Kolhapur and Satara districts of the State. Brachys- telma edulis Coll, and Helmsl. which is originally known from upper Burma and Siam (Thailand) is collected from Kolhapur district (Yadav-3601) and forms a new record for India. Ceropegia juncea Roxb. has been collected from Satara district (Yadav — 4020) and forms anew record for Maharashtra State. As these two species form new reoerds from Maharashtra, descriptions with plate and figure are presented here. 1) Brachystelma edulis Coll, and Helmsl. in Joum. Linn. Soc. 28:89, t. 14,1890. An erect perennial dwarf herb, 5-12 cm in height with subglobose or depressed tuberous root, tubers 2-10 cm in diameter. Stem terete, 2-3 mm in diameter, branched or unbranched, covered with short downwardly pointed hairs. Leaves sessile or subsessile, linear to linear — lan- ceolate to narrowly elliptic, 3-8 x 0.4-1 cm, acute, mar- gins ciliate. Flowers 1-2 on lateral side of scaly or foliaceous leaves, bracteate, small; pedicel 3-8 mm, puberulous, bract subulate, 1-2 mm. Calyx 5-partite, sepals 1.3-1 .5 x 0.4-0.5 mm perberulous. Corolla 0.6-1. 2 cm long, straight, divided almost to the base, dark purple and variously varigated on inner side, pale-green-purple outside, corolla tube short c. 1 .5 mm, corolla lobes, broad at base tapering and filiform at apex, connate and twisted at tips, usually glabrous or sparsely hairy on inner side. Corona biseriate, 2-2.5 mm in diameter, outer corona cupular of 5 — bifid lobes, lobes glabrous outside, hairy on margins and inner side or rarely entirely hairy; inner corona of 5 dark purple procumbent processes which bent upon stigma, usually glabrous or sparsely hairy, each process usually trifid at apex with 2 small lateral lobes and one large middle lobe procumbent on stigma. Pollinia erect, minute, yellow attached to brown carriers by short caudicles. Pistil 1-2 mm long, style indistinct, stigma pentangular and fleshy. Follicles usually in pairs; 5-11 x 0.2- 0.3 cm, horn — shaped, tapering at apex. Seeds 8-12 J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 86 Yadav et al: Asclepiadaceae from Maharashtra MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 481 Figs. 1-12. Brachystelma edulis Coll. & Helmsl. 1. Plant; 2 & 3. Flowering buds; 4 & 5. Open flowers; 6. Follicle; 7. Seed with coma; 8. Pistil; 9. Plan view of flower; 10. Side view of corona; 11. Plan view of corona; 12. Pollinia. 482 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 86 x 2-3 mm, elongated, margined, coma 1-1.5 cm long, white. Note: The species grows on borders of slopes on hillocks and in grasslands. Flowering of the species is very peculiar. After first showers of premonsoon in mid — May, the plants sprout out and initially produce scaly leaves. On lateral side of each scaly leaf 1 or 2 flowers are produced, usually one on each side of scaly leaf. After flowering and fruiting, the plants produce foliaceous leaves. Rarely flowers, fruits and foliaceous leaves are produced simul- taneously. Main flowering season is May to June. Then after vegetative growth is continued upto Augusl and then the leaves and above ground parts of stem die off. 2) CeropegiajunceaRoxb.,Pl.Corom. 1: 12, 1. 10, 1795. Twining orprostrate, glabrous, fleshy, perennial herbs, when prostrate rooting at nodes, tubers small with many branched roots. Stem with distinct nodes and intemodes; intemodes 5-12 cm long and 3-5 mm in diameter, thick, fleshy, green, glabrous. Leaves scalelike, c. 1 cm x 2 mm or absent. Cymes pedunculate, usually 2-3 flowered. Pedicels 6-7 mm long, thick. Calyx 5 partite, sepals 3-4 mm long. Corolla 3. 5-4.5 cm long, corolla tube inflated at base, funnel shaped above the middle, slightly curved, c. 2.5 cm long, variegated with purple outside, dark purple inside, corolla lobes 2 cm long, greenish - yellow, adher- ing at tip. Outer corona of 5 bidentate - deltoid ciliate lobes, c. 4 mm in diameter; inner corona of linear, erect, hooked lobes, lobes c. 3.5 mm long. Follicle in pairs, c. 4 cm long. Note: Very rare plant in Maharashtra and found grow- ing on hilly slopes. The branches coming in contact with soil produce roots at nodes and form small tubers. We are thankful to Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for confirming the identification of Brachystelma edulis. Coll. & Helmsl. S.R. YADAV C.B. SALUNKHE January 27, 1989. G.B. DIXIT 51. DISPERSAL OF WILD LIME ATALANTIA MONOPHYLLA (L.) CORK. SERR. (RUTACEAE) SEEDS BY SHORTNOSED FRUIT BAT CYNOPTERUS SPHINX VAHL IN POINT CALIMERE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, SOUTH INDIA. Van der Pijl (1982) while discussing the various prin- ciples involved in the dispersal of higher plants, men- tioned that citrus fruits (hesperidia) deviate from the omithochorous type by possessing an indehiscent, repel- lent, tough pericarp and by the large seeds, which separate easily from the sweet pulp when pecked at. He further comments that this type of fruit is fit for dispersal by monkeys, but there is no data available on the dispersal of these seeds in the natural environment. However, Ridley (1930) cited data from Jamaica, where certain birds such as Icterus leucopteryx and T urtur leucopteryx feed and disperse the seeds of cultivated oran- ges. Also instances of cultivated citrus fruits damaged by birds for the sake of seeds is reported from Northern Australia (Van der Pijl 1982) and Pakistan (Shafi et al. 1986). At Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary during a two year study on the seed dispersal by fruit-eating birds and mammals, I found that the fruits of Atalantia monophylla (citrus type) were eaten and dispersed by Shortnosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx Vahl (Megachiroptera). Atalantia monophylla (L.) Corr. Serr. (Rutaceae) is an evergreen small thorny tree, distributed in the penin- sular India, Sri Lanka and Khasia hills (Mathew 1982). The fruit (hesperidia) is a green globose berry with thick rind and bitter taste; 2 cm di am.; 1-5 celled; cells 1 seeded; seeds 1.3 x 1 cm diam. This species is common in Point Calimere Sanctuary and its Peak fruiting was observed in October and November. Shortnosed Fruit Bat is a commonly noticeable small at at Point Calimere Widlife Sanctuary . It visits the fruiting trees, plucks the fruits, carries them in its mouth, flies to a nearby tree and eats at leisure. The fruits are chewed and the seeds are spat out along with the uneaten parts. The spat out seeds found under the feeding roosts were col- lected twice in a week. Totally 309 samples were collected from January 1987 to December 1987. Seeds of atalantia monophylla were found in 50.5% of the samples collected. In December 1987 four samples comprising 46 A. monophylla seeds were left in situ to deter- mine whether they will germinate or not. During January ’88, immediately after the monsoon rains, 29 seedlings were found growing in the marked sites. From this obser- vation it is evident that the A. monophylla fruits are eaten and dispersed by Shortnosed Fruit Bat. This note forms the first record of citrus type fruit dispersel by a suitable disperser, mammal in the natural environment. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 483 Acknowledgements My sincere thanks are due to my research guide. Prof. P.V. Bole, President, Bombay Natural History Society for Refer Mathew, K.M. (1982): The flora of the Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Rapinat Herbarium publications, Tiruchy. Parti, P. 200, 201. PiJI, Van Der (1982): Principles of dispersal in higher plants. Springer — Verlag, New York. 214 pp. his guidance and Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator, of the same institution for his encouragement. March 31, 1989. P. BALASUBRAMANIAN E N C E S Ridley, II.N. (1930): The dispersal of plants throughout the World. Reeve & Co., Ltd. Ashford. 744 pp. Shah, M.M., Khan, A.A. & Hussain, I. (1986): Parakeet, Psittacula Krameri (Scopoli) damage to citrus fruits in Punjab, Pakistan. J. Bombay nat. IList. Soc. 83: 438 — 444. ERRATA VOLUME 86 (1) : APRIL 1989 Notes on the status and distribution of some birds in Sri Lanka For migrant Read vagrant VOLUME 86(3) : DECEMBER 1989 105th Annual Report and Accounts To list of office bearers Add : Vice President Mr. K. T. Sataravala Bombay Natural History Society Minutes of the AGM held on 22 — 11 — 1988 The Annual General Meeting of the Bombay Natural 1988 at 6.00 p.m. at Hombill House, when the follow- History Society was held on Tuesday, the 22nd November ing were present: 1. Prof. P V Bole (In the Chair) 19. Mr G Bromilow 37. Mr K P Karamchandani 2. Mrs D S Variava 20. Ms Usha Shah 38. Mrs P Lalkaka 3. Mr S S Nadodwalla 21. Dr A N D Nanavati 39. MsSWorah 4. Mr Bharat Bhushan 22. Mr Promode Kant 40. Mr Owen Joseph Fonseca 5. Mr D B Jamdade 23. Mr J C Daniel 41. Mr S G Bhatkal 6. Mr S Krishnan 24. Mr S Solomonraj 42. Mr S Mistry 7. Mr Secunder A Padsha 25. Dr C V Kulkami 43. Dr Meena Haribal 8. Mr S FTarapore 26. Mr N D Sethna 44. Mr S R Mehta 9. Mr D J Ugaonkar 27. Dr Asad Rahmani 45. Mr SDN Gandhi 10. Mr M S Behramfram 28. Mr M R Almeida 46. Ms Archna Mehrotra 11. Mr Mukesh Dialani 29. Mr Mihir Devare 47. Mr Carl D’Silva 12. Mr Sunil R Zaveri 30. Mr Nitin Jamdar 48. Ms Iyer Shashi Rekha 13. Dr Pratap Saraiya 31. Dr Shashi Menon 49. Mr Y U Bulsara 14. Ms Heta Pandit 32. Mr S P Kamath 50. Mr Sangeet Sharma 15. Mr Debt Goenka 33. Mr Ulhas Rane 51. Mr S D Swatantra 16. Mr ND Mulla 34. Mr Shakunt lari 52. Mr R K Ojha 17. Mr Kisan Mehta 35. Mr Ravi Sankaran 18. Prof. Parvish Pandya 36. Mr R S Moral Agenda Item 1: The Chairman proposed that the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 18th December 1987 and the Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meet- ing held on 26th March 1988, which had been circulated in draft form to the members who had attended the meeting and thereafter finalised by Chairman, be received. Mr Mulla pointed out that his suggestion that the results of the Referendum on the representation of the Central and State Governments on the Executive Commit- tee should be circulated to all members of the Society had not been incorporated. It was resolved unanimously that this would be done. The minutes were accepted with the above modification. Agenda Item 2: The Honorary Secretary’s Report: The Honorary Secretary’s report which was available was taken as read. The Honorary Secretary further stated that the Govern- ment of India have now sanctioned the organisation of a Centre for Ornithology and that arrangements are being made to register a separate Society under the auspices of the BNHS for the management of the 100% government furided centre which will be named after Dr Salim Ali. The members expressed appreciation at the fulfilment of Dr Salim Ali’s desire. In the discussion the report, Mr. Mulla pointed out discrepancies of time — lag in the publication of certain articles in the Journal. The Chairman said the matter would be looked into and explanation, if any, provided. It was pointed out by Mr. Debi Goenka that there was no mention of the Reference Collection nor of the Hebarium in the Honorary Secretary’s report. The Honorary Secretary expressed regret for this oversight. Mrs D S Variava pointed out that in future reports the Chairpersons of the various sub — committees would be reporting on the activities of their respective sub — com- mittees which would be incorporated in the Honorary Secretary ’ s report. The Honorary Secretary’s Report was then accepted. Agenda Item 3: Accounts: The Honorary Tresurer gave a resume of the financial situation of the Society as a corallary to the report he had already submitted. Inquiries regarding utilization of certain funds and investments were made together with suggestions. Ex- planation of queries were given. Suggestion of other per- missible investments will be looked into by the Society, particularly with ref. to UTI investments under Trust Security act, as suggested by Mr. Debi Goenka. Mr. S A Padsha suggested that the percentage set apart for the Society from amounts collected for field trips should be indicated to members. The Hon. Treasurer stated that he would consider the suggestion. The Annual Accounts for 1987 were then approved. Agenda Item 4: Appointment of Auditors: Messrs Habib and Co. Auditors, were re — appointed for the en- suing year, at a remuneration to be fixed by the Executive Committee. Agenda Item 5: Any other business: Mr Mulla an- nounced that he would send a requisition duly signed by several members for holding an E.G.M. to discuss the conduct of the last referendum. The meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chair. INDEX OF AUTHORS, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Almeida, S.M. Blatter Herbarium, St Xavier’s College, Bombay 400 001 478 Avasthi, Rajendra Kumar Dept, of Zoology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. 468 Balasubramanian, P. BNHS Pt. Calimere Ecology Project, Pt. Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, Kodikkarai, Thanjavur Dist., Tamil Nadu 614 807 437,450,482 Bapat, N.N. Pipla Street, Junavas, Madhapur, Bhuj, Kutch. 443,445 Barman, R.P. Zoological Survey of India, 27, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Spirit Building, Calcutta 700 016. 463 Bharos, Arun M.K. M-532 Padmanabhpur, Durg, Madhya Pradesh. 462 Bharucha, E.K. “Saken” Valentina Society, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, Pune 41 1001. 450 Bhaskar, V. Dept, of Farm Forestry, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Cartipus, Bangalore 560 065 480 Biswas, Biswamoy Zoological Survey of India, Indian Museum, Calcutta 700 016. 448 Choudhury, Anwaruddin Near Gate No. 1 of Nehru Stadium, Islampur Road, Guwahati 781 007 436 Cox, Jack H. 2919 Colony Road, Charlotte, NC, USA 28211 Present address: P.O. Box 969, Jayapure 990 01, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. 452 Davidar, Peter David Nagar, Padappai (Via) Madras, Tamil Nadu 601 301 437 Devi, Uma C. Dept, of Zoology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003. 467 Dhillon, K.B.S. Dept, of Botany, SGN Khalsa College, Sriganganagar, Rajasthan. 473 Dixit, G.B. Dept, of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004. 480 Duttagupta, B. Division of Herpetology, Zoological Survey of India, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Calcutta 700 016. 462 George, N.J. Dept, of Zoology, University of Calicut, P.O. Calicut University, Kerala 673 635 436 Haque, Md. Nayerul BNHS Ecological Research Centre, Bharatpur 321 001 435 Harrap, S.C. 177 Antrobus Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, B21 9NU U.K. 460 Himmatsinhji, M.K. Jubilee Ground, Bhuj, Kutch 443,445 Joshi, Vijay 10, Pranav Society, 1000/6-C, Navi Peth, Pune 41 1 030. 446 Khachar, Satyajit Darbargadh, Jasdan, Gujarat 360 050. 453 Khachar, Shivrajkumar Darbargadh, Jasdan, Gujarat 360 050 (Deceased). 446,448 Kholia, B.S. Dept, of Botany, Govt P.G. College, Pithoragarh 262 501. 475 Kulshreshtha, Manoj 41, Panchwati, Udaipur, Rajasthan 313 001 456 Kushalappa, C.G. Dept, of Farm Forestry, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore 560 065. 480 Manakadan, Ranjit Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. 447 Mandal, Ajay Kumar Zoological Survey of India, 535 New Alipore Road, ‘M’ Block, Calcutta 700 053 435 Manohar, Ram B. Dept, of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302 004 461 Mistry, M.K. Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay 400 001. 478 Mundkur, Taej Dept, of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat 360 005 440,446 Namassivayan, L. 13A369, Kammath Lane, Kozhikode, Kerala 673 002. 447,458 Narayan, E. Dept, of Microbiology, JIPMER, Pondicherry 605 006 445 Navarro, A. St Xavier’s High School, Bombay 400 001. 451 Pande, H.C. Dept, of Botany, Kumaun University Campus, Almora 263 601. 479 Pande, P.C. Dept, of Botany, Kumaun University Campus, Almora 263 601. 479 Patil, G.M. Dept, of Sericulture, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore 560 065 472 Pravez, Rishad Dept, of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat 360 005 440 Punetha, N. Dept, of Botany, Govt. P.G. College, Pithoragarh 262 501 475 Rahmani, Asad R. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. 447 Rajan, S. Alagar BNHS Avifauna Project, Pt. Calimere Tanjavur Dist., Tamil Nadu 614 807. 450 Rajasekaran, M. Dept, of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302 004. 461 Raju, U.V. Bairagi A.P. Natural History Society, Kingfisher House, Near A.U. Post Office, Visakhapatnam 530 003. 449 Raju, K.S.R. Krishna A.P. Natural History Society, Kingfisher House, Near A.U. Post Office, Visakhapatnam 530 003. 449 Ranade, Sunil 10, Pranav Society, 1000/6-C, Navi Peth, Pune 411 030 446 Ranjitsinh Ministry of Environment & Forests, Kota House Hutments, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi 110 011 435 Reddy, Prasad N. A.V. Dept, of Environmental Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003. 467 Redman, N.J. 14, Sandiway Place, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 1HT U.K. 460 Salunkhe, C.B. Dept, of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004. 480 Sankaran, Ravi Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. 451 Sant, Niranjan 10, Pranav Society, 1000/6-C, Navi Peth, Pune 41 1 030 446 Santharam, V. No. 68 (I floor), Santhome High Road, Madras 600 028. 452 Sanyal, D.P. Division of Herpetology, Zoological Survey of India, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Calcutta 700 016. 462 Savanurmath, C J. Dept, of Zoology, Kamatak University, Dharwad 580 003. 472 Shafee, Adam S. Dept, of Zoology, Vaish College, Rohtak 468 Sharma, Satish Kumar Van Chetana Kendra, Gulab Bagh, Udaipur, Rajasthan 313 001. 453,455,456 Shrestha, Mukti N. Dept, of National Parks & Wildlife Conservation, Central Zoo, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, Nepal. 438 Singh, B.P. Dept, of Botany, SGN Khalsa College, Sriganganagar, Rajasthan. 473 Singh, Ravinder 41, Panchwati, Udaipur, Rajasthan 313 001. 456 Smetacek, Peter The Retreat, Bhimtal, Nainital, Uttar Pradesh. 471 Sodhi, Navjot S. Dept, of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160 014. Present Address: Dept, of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N OWO, Canada. 440 Talukdar, S.K. Division of Herpetology, Zoological Survey of India, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Calcutta 700 016. 462 Tehsin, Raza 41, Panchwati, Udaipur, Rajasthan 313 001. 449,456 Thomas, Shaju Dept, of Zoology, Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha, Kerala 686 661 438 Unnithan, S. Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. 451 Uthaman, R.K. Kerala Natural History Society, 13/369, Kammath Lane, Kozhikode, Kerala 673 002. 458 Varu, S.N. Pipla Street, Junavas, Madhapur, Bhuj, Kutch 443 Venugopalan, R. Kerala Natural History Society, 13/369, Kammath Lane, Kozhikode, Kerala 673 002. 447,458 Watve, Milind 10, Pranav Society, 1000/6-C, Navi Peth, Pune 411 030 446 Yadav, S.R. Dept, of Botany, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004. 480 105TH ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 1988-89 Patron President Vice Presidents Hon. Secretary Hon. Treasurer Curator Mr Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India Prof. PV Bole Mr Humayun Abdulali; Mrs. D S Variava Dr A N D Nanavati Dr Pratap R Saraiya Mr J C Daniel Executive Committee Mr M R Almeida; Dr. Erach K Bharucha; Dr B F Chhapgar Mr Cyrus J Guzder; Dr (Ms) Meena Haribal; Mr K Karamchandani Mr Kisan Mehta; Prof. Parvish Pandya; Mr Ulhas Rane; Mr D I Solanki The Secretary, Dept, of Education and Social Welfare, Govt, of Maharashtra Auditors MNs Habib and Company, Chartered Accountants, Bombay BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY Registered Office: Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400 023. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE 15 MONTH PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 1989 105TH “ANNUAL” REPORT MEMBERSHIP The Membership of the Bombay Natural His- tory Society (BNHS) remained more or less static and showed only a marginal increase in 1988 over 1987 as shown below: A? on 3 1st December Type of membership 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Ordinary Members 1762 1764 1680 1960 2008 Corporate Members 132 152 138 81 83 Life Members 562 639 737 986 1057 Compound Corporate Members 107 108 115 115 115 Student Members 192 164 141 190 206 Honorary Members 3 3 3 3 3 Vice Patrons 6 6 6 6 6 Centenary Life Members 3 3 3 3 3 It is hoped that with the increase in members’ activities generated by the various Sub-Committees constituted by the Executive Committee, member- ship will increase considerably in the coming months. The strength and independence of an or- ganisation like the BNHS depends on its ability to attract and increase its membership. FIELD PROGRAMMES Membership and Programmes Sub-Committee Chairperson : Dr (Ms) M. Haribal Convenor : Mr Naresh Chaturvedi Members : Mr Parvish Pandya Dr A. Kothari Mr Kisan Mehta Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary ^ Dr Paratap Saraiya, Hon.Treasurer I Ex-officio Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator J With the assistance of many members who volunteered their services for guiding members in field outings and other programmes, the Program- mes Sub-Committee could undertake a large num- ber of field activities as described below: During the year under review, members in the Bombay area were taken on nature walks to areas of natural-history interest such as Mamabanja, Chinchoti falls, Kukoba hills, Uran, Jambulwadi, , Kamala Bird Sanctuary, Kehim Sea Shore etc. The seashore outings were particularly well attended. Besides weekend camps were organised at Gaurapur, Jaikwadi, Castle Roack, Prabalgad, Sawantwadi, Malshejghat, Suriamal, Nandur Madhmeshwar and Palgar. We are examining the feasibility of arranging field programmes in other parts of the country for members of the BNHS. Three major field camps were held during the year. The first was a high altitude camp in Sikkim State which enabled members not only to trek but also to watch the birds and study the rich butterfly and other fauna and flora of the eastern Himalayas. The camp was for 1 1 days and 3 batches of members trekked from 3000 ft to 13,000 ft. The second camp was held in the Manas Sanctuary in Assam, one of the best sancturies in India and a world heritage site which holds several endangered species, including the hispid hare and Pygmy hog. The third camp was held at Rantham- bore Sanctuary in Rajasthan, a Tiger Project area as is Manas. The members in 3 batches stayed for 5 days and 4 nights to look at the tiger and other interesting fauna and flora and observe problems of management of the protected area. The other programmes at Bombay included film shows and lectures by guest lectures and BNHS members and Research Staff. Exhibitions of photographs on wildlife and of stamps were also held. PUBLICATIONS Publication Sub-Committee Chairperson : Mr C.J. Guzder Convenor : Mr J.C. Daniel Member : Dr B. Chhapgar Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary j Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer J Ex-officio The Publications Sub-Committee undertook the task of reorganisation of the publication struc- ture of the BNHS Journal and the results can be seen in the coming year. The Sub-Committee also propose to reorganise the processing and manage- ment of the publications of the BNHS. 2 In 1987, the Honorary Treasurer, with the ap- proval of the Executive Committee, negotiated an arrangement for the worldwide distribution of the Society’s publications by the Oxford University Press. Under this arrangement, except for sale to members at concessional rates by the Society, all other sales are being handled by the OUP. This arrangement has proved to be highly advantageous to the Society and has resulted in the reprinting, within a short period, of most of the popular publi- cations of the Society. Journal: 265 notes and articles were received from members and others for publication in the Journal during the year. From among these and notes and articles received earlier, 157 were accepted for pub- lication. During the year, 4 issues of the Journal i.e., vol. 84(2&3) and vol. 85(1&2) were published. The 956 pages of these Journals held 247 articles and notes. Hornbill: The two issues of the first two quarters of the magazine were published in the usui format. The remaining issues were combined into one as the Salim Ali special issue of the ‘Hornbill’. The Hornbill continues to be popular and to attract mem- bers. Under the revised rules, this magazine is sent free to all members of the BNHS while the Journal now requires a separate subscription. NATURE EDUCATION SCHEME Nature Education Sub-Committee Chairperson : Mr U. Rane Convenor : Mrs S. Grubh Members : Ms M. Haribal Mr S.A. Hussain (ODA) Dr Arun Joshi Ms Heta Pandit Mr Parvish Pandya Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary ) Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer Ex-officio Mr J.C.Daniel, Curator J The regular activities like field trips, slide shows, camps, competitions etc. involving schools and colleges in Bombay were continued during the year. 20 programmes of slide/film shows and talks were conducted for schools, colleges and nature clubs in Bombay. These included Municipal schools and teachers’ colleges. 41 field trips were organised for schools and colleges at Borivli National Park and Tansa Sanctuary. Additionally, 17 study visits were organised for schools to the Natural History Section of the Prince of Wales Museum, Jijamata Udyan and Taraporewala Aquarium. A quiz programme for schools and junior colleges was or- ganised on World Forestry Day. A vacation camp for children was organised in co-ordination with R.C.F. club. The Nature Education Sub-Committee mem- bers carried out various educational programmes for the BNHS members, college students and rural children. These included slide shows, film shows, exhibitions, nature trails, competitions in photog- raphy, basic courses in natural history subjects, na- ture orientation camps for members and armed for- ces personnel, awareness programmes on free con- servation and publicity through newspapers, radio and television. A teachers’ camp was organised at Bharatpur. The special features of the programmes con- ducted in the year 1988 were: 1 . Involvement of more voluntary organisations in our rural programmes. 2. Active involvement of the BNHS staff and mem- bers in the nature education activities. 3. Beginning of nature education courses for amateurs. 4. Extension of nature education activities to Kar- nataka and Gujarat with the help of our members in these states. 5. Conservation workshop at Kota for army of- ficers. This is likely to be an annual feature, in future. 6. A unique syllabus is being prepared for tribal children (who do not get the facilities like schools, books etc.) to orient them towards na- ture conservation with a scientific approach. This experiment is being carried out at Murbad, in Thane district in co-ordination with Lokvid- nyan Chalwal and Shramik Mukti Sanghatana. 7. Compilation of educational literature on natural history in English and Marathi. 8. An Orientation Camp for selected teachers from Bombay at Bharatpur wasorganised. 3 COLLECTIONS Collections Sub-Committee Chairperson : MrH. Abdulali Convenor : Mr N. Chaturvedi Members : Dr M. Almeida Dr B. Chhapgar Ms M. Haribal Mr N. Jamdar Staff in chaise of different collections Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary ) Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer | Ex-officio Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator ) The BNHS presently holds a reference or study collection of 18000 + mammals, 26,000 + birds, 7,000 + reptiles and amphibians and over 50,000 insects, a collection of birds, a collection of birds eggs and a small collection of shells. The purpose of the collection is to assist in taxonomic studies. Mammals: Assistance was given to Ms Chandran who had planned an ecological study of Indian rodents. Another scholar, Mr Sundaraj, collected data on eye measurements. Dr Allan Rodgers of the Wildlife Institute studied skulls of Cervidae and Bovidae in the collection. Hair samples from the collections were sent to Dr Johnsingh to help in the identifica- tion of hairs in scats. Otter specimens were studied and a key was prepared for their identification. A presentation on Otter identification was given at the Otter Symposium held at Bangalore. The work of computerising the data of the mammal collection was begun. Birds: The systematic cataloguing of the collections by Mr Humayun Abdulali was continued during the year. Under this programme, specimens of Zoothera and Turdus were sent to the British Museum for opinion. Specimens were also given on loan to various workers for studies. 47 specimens of birds collected from Arunachal Pradesh in October 1988 and 28 specimens from Mandapam and Point Calimere bird ringing camps were added to the collections. Reptiles: Collection of amphibians made by the Oxford University Students Expedition to the Srivilliputur Hills, Tamil Nadu, was identified. Similarly, specimens received from Dr S.K. Dey, collected by him from Sikkim were also worked out. A small collection received from Dharwad (Dr Kanmandi) and Kerala (Dr M I Andrew) were identified and returned. Specimens of the Cobra Naja naja were sent to Dr R S Thorpe, Department of Zoology Aberdeen, U K for study. Insects: A small collection of Butterflies received from the Oxford University Students Expedition was identified. Information on Mantis found in Maharashtra was given to a research worker from Pune. 40 butterflies collected from Parambikuiam area and Kashmir were added to the collections. Besides students and staff of colleges and re- search institutions, several BNHS members from Bombay and outside visited the collections for ref- erence, research and identification of specimens. Herbarium: Specimens donated by Hindustan Ciba-Geigy were added to the collection. Over 212 specimens received from members and staff were identified. A survey trip was made to the Surat Dangs with a member-researcher and plant specimens were col- lected and identified. During the year 86, field trips were made to the BNHS land at Goregaon and plants of 153 quadrats of 10 x 10 m were identified and studied. The data has been entered in the computer and will be analyzed. NATURAL HISTORY STUDIES Natural History Studies Sub-Committee Chairperson Convenor Members Dr E. Bharucha Mr S.A. Hussain Mr M. Almeida Mr Bharat Bhushan Prof P V. Bole Dr B. Chhapgar Mr Rishad Naoroji Mr Ulhas Rane Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary ' Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator J Ex-officio A Sub-Committee was set up this year with the objective of encouraging studies in various fields of Natural History by members and students. The com- mittee was assigned the following funds with specific objectives. 4 Name of the Fund Objectives 1. Salim Ali Loke Wan Tho Ornithological Re- search Fund 2. Pirojsha Godrej Field work Fund 3. Sir Dorab Tata Trust Field work Fund 4. W. Boolchand Trust Fund 5. Plant Studies Fund It was decided as a preliminary exercise to identify members interested in various aspects of natural history by setting up study groups for mem- bers in Botany, Forest Ecology, General Ecology, Ornithology, Mammals Herpetology, Insects and Archnids, Aquatic Fauna and Geology to build up a suitable data bank for this purpose. But the response to the announcement made in the Hombill about the study groups was negligible. Some of the activities of the Sub-Committee funded and generated during the year were: 1. ICBP Membership: The BNHS was made a subscribing member by providing funds towards subscriptions to the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP). It was felt that it would be advantageous to BNHS to become a member of ICBP and initiate moves to set up an ICBP Indian National Section under the leadership of BNHS and with the collaboration of other NGO’s. 2. Waterfowl and Wetlands Newsletter: The BNHS, in association with the Interna- tional Wetlands and Waterfowl Research Bureau, conducted the Asian midwinter waterfowl counts in India. Over three hundred birdwatchers, most of them BNHS members, participated in the count. The results of the counts were compiled in a newsletter “Wetlands and Waterfowl”, partly funded by the To provide an opportunity, through grant of fellowships or otherwise to undertake study and research on problems of Field Ornithology To provide assistance for research and training on environmental ecology. To promote field work and research in Natural History. To provide scholarships for the study of Ecology & Ornithology. To provide for research and conservation of floristic elements and studies on inter-relation- ship between plants and animals. NHS Sub- Committee. The newsletter was dis- tributed to all the participants as well as key person- nel in India and abroad. 3. Photographic record of BNHS land in Goregaon: The BNHS collection staff have been carrying out Natural History Studies in the land alloted to BNHS at Goregoan. A support grant was given to keep a photographic record of the flora and fauna of the area at different times of the year and record their natural cycle. 4. Other studies — M. Phil thesis: a] Two students of the AVC college, Mayavaram were awarded support grant so as to enable them to write up their respective M. Phil thesis. The students had worked at the Keoladeo National Park. b] One student Mr. Maranko under the aegis of the BNHS field project had studied the wintering behaviour of the Siberian Crane. c] Another student, Mr Neduraman, studied the habitat utilisation of the Siberian crane at Keoladeo National Park. 5. Scholarship: A scholarship was awarded to Ms Mehrab 5 Johnson, of Osmania University, for the study on feeding and breeding biology of openbilled stork under the guidance of Prof. J V Ramana Rao. The field work is being carried out at Kolluru lake, Krishna Dist. and Puniakhesturan, East Godavari dist. Andhra Pradesh. 6. ICBP Asian Section Conference at Bangkok in April 1989: Two of the BNHS scientists, Mr S.A. Hussain and Dr A.R. Rahmani were offered grants for attend- ing the above conference for exchange of informa- tion on conservation and for establishing com- munication among the bird conservation organisa- tions of Asia. At the conference, Mr Hussain read out the National status paper prepared by Mr Daniel as well as his own paper entitled “Bird Migration in Asia - a case for regional cooperation” while Dr Rahmani presented a paper on “Bustard Conserva- tion in India”. Mr Hussain was elected as one of the two Vice-Chairmen for the ICBP Asian section for the next four years. THE SALIM ALI NATURE CONSERVATION FUND (SANCF) SANCF Sub-Committee Chairperson : Mrs D.S. Variava Convenor : Mr Bharat Bhushan Members : Dr E. Bharucha Mr D. Solanki Mr S.A. Hussain Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hem. Secretary > Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator, Ex-officio J Ex-officio The Sub-committe continued to initiate as well as support activities of conservation interest from SANCF. Major undertaken projects during the year were: 1 . A survey of the status of the Blacknecked Crane in Bhutan by Mr Prakash Gole and Col. Chacko. Mr Gole has presented the recommendations to the Royal Government of Bhutan. 2. A survey of the status of the Malabar Civet in the Elayur and Beypore areas of Kerala by Mr N.J. George of Calicut University. Mr George had earlier rediscovered the Malabar Civet after nearly fifty years. 3. A survey of the status of the Dugong in the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu by Dr Helene Marsh. The preliminary report has been received. The Tamil Nadu Forest Department have initiated follow-up action on the recommendations made in the report. 4. The Mangroves of the Krishna estuary in Andhra Pradesh were surveyed by Mr. Narendra Prasad. The recommendations have been followed up with the Andra Pradesh Forest Department and the area has since been declared as a sanctuary. 5. An aerial survey of the Surat Dangs in Gujarat by Dr E Bharucha was partially supported as part of other ecological studies of the Surat Dangs. 6. On the basis of a request for studies by the local NGO, Honavar Taluka Parisara Kuta, financial support was extended to Mr. Nitin Jamdar to conduct a short survey of the Sharavati Valley in Karnataka. 7. Wild Buffalo survey in Madhya Pradesh - SANCF sponsored a short survey with funds provided by the Department of Environment, Government of India, to ru;ord status of the Wild Buffalo populations in the Bastar and Raipur districts of Madhya Pradesh. In addition, SANCF extended financial sup- port for a) preparing an exhibition at Bombay on the “Save Sahyadris March”; b) organised a painting competition; and a quiz competition for students; and c) organising a nature discovery room for stu- dents at the BNHS. A Conservation Officer was appointed during the year. PROJECTS Projects Sub-Committee Chairperson : Prof P.V. Bole Convenor : Dr R.B. Grubh Members : Mr H. Abdullali Mr M. Almeida Dr E. Bharucha Mr. Karamchandani Senior Scientists incharge of major projects. Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary ^ Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer | Ex-officio Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator J During the year 1988 the BNHS handled six t major field ecological research projects. These were: 6 1. Bharatpur (Keoladeo) Ecology Project (Funded by USFWS) 2. Bird Migration Project (Funded by USFWS) 3. Elephant Ecology project (Funded by USFWS) 4. Endangered Birds Project (Funded by USFWS) 5. Pt. Calimere Ecology Project (Funded by USFWS) 6. Bird Hazard to Aircraft Project (Funded by GOI) 1. Bharatpur Ecology Project It is an extension of the original Bharatpur Hydrobiology project and the expected data of com- pletion is April 1990. During the year, the 15 re- search staff headed by Dr V S Vijayan continued to collect data on various ecological parameters governing the Bharatpur wetland ecological system. The parameters included limnological aspects, vegetation, macro-invertebrates, fishes, herpetol- ogy, ornithology and mammalogy. The number of fish species recorded within the Keoladeo National Park rose to 42. Two more amphibian species were collected. The population of aquatic birds was higher than during the previous year. The wintering population of the Siberian Crane did not settle down inside the park because of the drought. 2. Bird Migration Project This is another extension project of the original project, ‘Movement and population of In- dian Avifauna. The expected date of completion is September 1992. Mr Hussain, the Project Scientist, and his team of five research staff handled the field programme as well as entering of banding data into the computer. Bird banding was conducted at Shiv- puri, Karera (MP), Khabar Tal (Bihar), Hingolgadh (Gujarat), Point Calimere and Mandapam (TN). A total of 2224 water birds of 32 species were ringed during the year. Random netting was done at certain sites in order to assess the species composition of terrestrial birds. 3. Elephant Ecology Project This project is an offshoot of the original ‘Endangered Species’ Project and is expected to continue until September 1992. The work is carried out by four research staff under the guidance of Mr J C Daniel. The major studies carried out during the year are i) feeding ecology of the elephants, ii) population dynamics, behaviour and conservation problems, and iii) migration of peripheral elephant population. The first two studies were carried out at the Elephant Project Field Station at Mudumalai (TN). The third study was initiated mainly to under- stand the possible reasons for the unpredictable movements of elephants in the existing degraded forests and even straying out into cultivation fields resulting in lethal encounters with man. The areas covered were Hosur and Dhar- mapuri Forest devisions of Tamil Nadu, Chitoor division of Andhra Pradesh and Kanakapura division of Karnataka. The studies conducted at Mudumalai as well as on the peripheral populations of the elephants have given additional insight into the conservation and management problems of elephants. Additional studies were planned for elephants of Dalma in Bihar. 4. Endangered Birds Project The ‘Endangered Birds’ project has so far completed an ecological study of the Great Indian Bustard and rediscovery of the Jerdon’s courser. Two more species taken up under the Project for detailed study are the lesser florican and the Bengal florican. The second and final phase of this project is ending in September 1989. Dr A R Rahmani and three research staff form the team. 5. Point Calimere Ecology Project Commenced in 1987, the Project aims at un- derstanding the functioning of this complex ecologi- cal system with a view to offering management solutions to the forest department. Dr Y.N. Rao (Project head) and his four colleagues collected field data on the i) phyto sociology of the grazing lands, ii) plant animal interactions, iii) ecology of a few dominant bird species, and iv) ecology of the black- buck. Additional aspects are to be taken up during 1989 in order to understand the dynamics of this ecological system. 6. Bird Hazard to Aircraft Project At the request of the Government of India, the BNHS undertook to make an ecological study of 22 7 Indian aerodromes. The field work commenced in 1980 and concluded in 1988. During the last year, field work was limited to follow up observations at a couple of aerodromes with the help of one field staff. The GOI has now financed the BNHS to set up a Bird Hazard Research Cell to help identify bird remnants and to offer advice on bird hazard reduc- tion. The final report of the study is under prepara- tion. UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT During the year the department affiliated to the University of Bombay since 1957 continued to con- tribute to the Scientific Study of Natural History. Mr Vibhu Prakash submitted his thesis for the Ph.D degree in field ornithology, on “The General Ecol- ogy of raptors in Keoladeo National park” under the guidance of Mr J C Daniel. Mr Manek Mistry submitted his thesis for Ph.D degree in Botany, on “Contributions to the flora of Ratnagiri dist. in Maharahstra” under the guidance of Prof. P V Bole. The following students are registered for M.Sc and Ph.D degrees through the BNHS. Name of Student Subject of Study Guide from BNHS Mr S. Alagar Rajan M.Sc. Zoology Ecology of Spotted and Ring Dove Dr R.B. Grubh Mr Gurmeet Singh Ecology of Bank Myna Dr R.B. Grubh Mr Ramachandran Ecology of the Jacanas Dr V.S. Vijayan Mr Ravi Sankaran The Ecology of the Mr J.C. Daniel Mr U. Sridharan Lesser Florican Ph.D Zoology Ecology of the resident ducks of Mr J.C. Daniel Mr G. Narayan Keoladeo National Park The Ecology of the Bengal Florican Mr J.C. Daniel Mr S.M.Satheesan Birds of Prey Mr J.C. Daniel Mr Sunderamoorthy The Ecology of terrestrial Birds of Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur Mr J.C. Daniel Mr V. Natarajan Ecology of the Crow-pheasant Mr J.C. Daniel Mr P. Balasubramanian Ph.D Botany Plant-animal Interactions Prof. P.V. Bole LIBRARY Library Sub-Committee Chairperson Convenor Members Dr B. Chhapgar Mr Isaac Kehimkar Mr M. Almeida Mr Kisan Mehta Mr Kiran Srivastav Dr A.N.D. Nanavati, Hon. Secretary Dr Pratap Saraiya, Hon. Treasurer Mr J.C. Daniel, Curator J Ex-Officio The library continued to be a much used mem- ber facility. In 1988, 132 books were added to the library out of which 30 were purchased for the projects and 7 for the library. 12 books were sent by publishers for favour of publishing reviews in the Journal and 14 were received as complimentary copies from authors and publishers. Out of the 69 books received as donation, 29 books were donated by Mr. M. Hidayatullah, the Society’s former Presi- dent, and 20 books were donated by Mr A B Vakil. The Govt, of India extended financial support for the purchase of a photocopier. It is now possible to attend to requests from members for reprints of articles etc. promptly. The air-conditioning of the library with finan- 8 cial assistance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, is in progress. With this, the preservation of valuable books and manuscripts in the library is now assured. CONSERVATION The Society was consulted by the Govt, of India and other organisations and by members of the Society on various matters of conservation interest. The Society’s representatives on various conserva- tion committees and organisations offer ther exper- tise available at the Society. The proposal to construct major dams on the Narmada River and the clearance of the proposal by the Government of India for funding was a cause for acute concern. The Committee consulted other like minded organisations and persons on a possible positive approach to prevent environmental damage. SALIM ALI CENTRE FOR ORNITHOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY We are glad to report that the proposal has been re- activated and the scope of the Centre enhanced by the addition of “Natural History” to its terms of reference. Negotiations have been finalised and the sanction order has been received and funds released for preliminary expenses. We should be registering the new society and commencing operations in 1989. DONATIONS We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests for a grant to purchase an Atomic Ab- sorption Spectrophotometer for the Bharatpur Field Project and a photo copier for the Library. We are grateful to the many organisations and persons for donations to the Society. 1. General Donations Received from Members 27,315 2. Charles McCann Vertebrate Zoology Field Work Fund Mr S Chaudhury 750 3. Dr Salim Ali Memorial Fund Mrs Kumud N Pandit 100 M/s Row Dayal Trust 500 Mr George Jonkel 2,000 Col. Guru Ratam Singh 1,000 M/s Tata Chemical Terminal 10,000 Ms Rajeshree Gokhaldas 5,000 Total 18,600 4. Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund M/s Cheng Kim Loke Foundation 4,00,000 M/s Cheng Kim Loke Foundation 35,000 Lady Peng McNiece C/o 2,00,000 Total 6,35,000 5. Donations for Dang Forest Survey & Hornbill Newsletter Seth Purshotamdas Thakurdas Divaliba Charitable Trust For Dang Survey 30,000 For Hombill Newsletter 25,000 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Executive Committee acknowledges with Ministry of Defence of Goverment of India, the US thanks the assistance given to BNHS by the Depart- Fish & Wildlife Service, the Government of ment of Environment, Forests and Wildlife and the . Maharashtra, and the Charity Commissioner, Bom- 9 bay. It also thanks the various donors, the members tion in the various activities of the BNHS. and staff of the BNHS for their unstinting coopera- A.N.D.Nanavati, M.D. Honorary Secretary HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE 15 MONTH PERIOD ENDING 31 MARCH 1989 1) The “Annual” Accounts for 1988-1989 relate to an extended period of 15 months and this has to be kept in mind when comparing the results with those of the previous year (1987). However, it must be noted that income by way of dividends. Grant from the Govt, of Maharashtra, and from sales of books, calendars and greeting cards is on an annual or six-monthly basis, and so these receipts did not increase corresponding to the 15-month period. Taking all aspects into account, the results of 1988- 1989 may be considered encouraging. 2) During the period, the total funds owned by the Society went up by about Rs 21.98 lakhs, as fol- lows: (i) Increase in Life Membership Fund Rs. 2.78 lakhs (ii) Increase in Corpus Funds (Schedule A) Rs. 6.65 lakhs (iii) Increase in Other Funds (Schedule B) Rs. 11.22 lakhs (iv) Excess of income over expenditure Rs 1.33 lakhs The increase of Rs 12.55 lakhs under items (iii) and (iv) may be considered a fair measure of the working of 1988-1989. The corresponding figure for the previous year was Rs 5.5 lakhs. 3) Income from the following items showed sig- nificant increases: interest, dividends, administra- tive fees and sales of books. At the same time, there were large increases in the expenses on Estab- lishment (45%), the Journal and the Hombill. There was also a decrease in the surplus from sales of greeting cards, which was partly offset by an im- provement in the sales of nature calendars. 4) The five research Projects funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bird Hazard Project funded by the Govt of India, have played vital role in building up the Society’s resources of men, materials and money. It will be seen that administra- tive fees for handling Project funds make a large contribution to our annual revenues. However, the Accounts do not give an indication of the assets given on loan for these Projects, such as computer systems, laboratory equipments, vehicles and so on. The original costs of these assets, many of which may be donated to the Society on the conclusion of the Projects, add up to about Rs 28 lakhs. 5) While the results of 1988-1989 show an improve- ment, there is little scope for complacency in regard to the finances of the Society. Establishment costs and expenses in regard to our traditional activities continue to rise inexorably due to inflation. It is also necessary to strengthen our administration and cer- tain new posts have been created for that purpose. This, however, is a move that should, in due course, more than pay for itself by improved efficiency in operations. Further, as the current research Projects come to an end, new Projects will have to be developed if receipts by way of administrative char- ges are to be maintained at present levels. 6) In the final analysis, the real challenge is to build up our own financial resources in order to progres- sively increase our regular income and also to meet the growing requirements of working capital. 14 October 1989 Pratap Saraiya Bombay Honorary Treasurer 10 AUDITOR’S REPORT Re: BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY [ Registration No.F -244 (Bom)] We have audited the attached Balance Sheet of the Society as at 31st March, 1989 and also the annexed Income & Expenditure Account for the financial year ended on that date and report that in our opinion and to the best of information and explanation given to us: (a) the accounts are maintained regularly and in accordance with the provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 subject to the observation that as per past practice separate Receipts & Payments Accounts has been drawn for the Nature Education Scheme, and the same has not been incorporated in the accounts of the Society. We also observe that during the year the Society did not receive the annual grant from the Govt, of Maharashtra for the year 1988-89 towards establishment and building maintenance and for the publication of the Journal (educational activity) and no sanction letters too having been received, the said grants could not be recognised as income. The relevant expenses have therefore been charged to Income & Expenditure account, (b) the receipts and disbursements have been properly and correctly shown in the accounts, (c) the cash balance and the vouchers in the custody of the accountant on the date of audit were in agreement with the books of accounts, (d) the books, deeds, accounts, vouchers and/or other documents or records required by us were produced to us, (e) the register of movable and immovable properties is properly maintained and the changes therein have been communicated to the Regional Office, (f) the accountant appeared before us and furnished the necessary information required by us, (g) we are not aware of any property or funds of the Society having been applied for any objects or purpose other than the objects of the Society, (h) the following items were outstanding for more than one year: (i) Due towards supplies and services Rs. 3,193.00 (ii) Income tax Recoverable Rs. 840.00 (iii) Loan to staff (since recovered) Rs. 800.00 We may add that the outstanding against supplies and services interalia include certain items, which are outstanding since 1986. We have been assured that the outstanding balances are considered good and realisable. We may nonetheless suggest that effective measures be taken to realise the outstanding. During the financial year under report a sum of Rs. 1,067. 07 representing dues considered irrecoverable has been written off, (i) during the financial year there were no repairs or construction carried out to the property in the occupation of the Society involving expenditure exceeding Rs.5,000, (j) we are not aware of any money of the Society having been invested in contravention of Sec. 35 of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950, (k) we are not aware of any immovable property of the Society, therefore, the question of alienation of any property contrary to the provisions of Sec. 36 of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 does not arise, (l) (i) in regard to the expenses charged to various grants and funds, we have relied on the information given to us and the authentication of the Hon.Secretary and Hon.Treasurer that the expenses so charged relate to these grants and have been spent on the specific objects for which the grants were received. While checking the statement of accounts in regard to the expenditure incurred at various camps, we have relied on the authorisation by the Hon.Secretary and Hon.Treasurer as to the reasonableness of the expenditure, (ii) the income towards membership subscription is being accounted on realisation basis, 11 (iii) the subscriptions received in foreign currency, we observe, are deposited in an account maintained with Grindlays Bank Pic., London Branch. The said receipts and disbursements made therefrom have been accounted at the exchange rate prevailing at the date of the Balance Sheet The closing balance has been translated at the current exchange rate, at the date of the Balance Sheet and the difference in exchange amounting to Rs.6, 168.62 has been credited to Income & Expenditure account, (iv) we suggest the following items of disbursement effected, provisions made, administrative charges levied and amount written off be confirmed and ratified at the next meeting of the Executive Committee : A. Disbursement from: Rs. (i) Interest on Col. Burtons Nature Conservation Fund 24.38 (ii) Chas McCann Vertebrate ZoologyField Work Fund. 613.20 (iii) Interest on Salim Ali/Loke Wan Tho Ornithology Research Fund Investment 28,557.62 (iv) Interest on Salim Ali Nature Conser-vation Fund Investment 1,80,961 .37 (v) Interst on Pirojsha Godrej FoundationField Work Fund Investment 9,761 .70 (vi) Dorabjee Tata Trust Field Work Fund 3,000.00 (vii) Plant Study Fund 11,618.05 (viii) Field Study and Schlolarship Fund from Watanmal Boolchand Charitable Trust 5,824.00 (xi) Grant from Government of Maharashtra for 1987-88 towards establishment,Building Maintenance and Educational Activity, (i.e. Journal Printing exp.) 2,15,000.00 (x) Govt, of India A.R.D.B . Grant for Bird Hazard Research Cell 87,044.74 (xi) Govt, of India A.R.D.B. Grant for ecological reliance of Whitebacked Vulture 40,808.05 (xii) R.G. Saraiya Research Grant 25,000.00 (xiii) Chako Fund 1 0,000.00 (xiv) Grant from U.S. Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service for : (a) Study of Lesser Bustard (Florican) 6,82,789.10 (b) Ecology of Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur 24,04,695.30 (c) Ecology of Point Calimere Sanctuary 7,04,155.63 (d) Ecology of Indian Elephants 11,98,647.06 (e) Study of Migration Pattern of Indian Birds and Avifauna Migration Data Bank 13,40,131.19 (f) For the project on the habitat and population dynamics of Wolves and Blackbucks 1,40,747.00 (xv) Grant Indian National Science Academy for the publication of Journal 5,000.00 (xvi) Grant Chief Wildlife Warden, Jammu & Kashmir for the project on Survey of Blacknecked Crane 5,526.90 (xvii) Grant Govt, of India (DST) towards Dr. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History 4,712.00 B. Appropriations: (i) Govt. Publication Fund, sale proceeds of publication 3,48,206.37 (ii) Fixed Assets Fund towards depreciation on Fixed Assets 5 1 ,892.52 (iii) Amount written off 1 ,067 .07 (iv) Administrative fees charged to various Grants/Funds for handling the projects, etc 8,93,760.61 (v) Addition to fixed assets (other than those charged to various projects) 1,15,830.00 12 (m) so far as is ascertainable from the books of accounts and according to the information and explanation furnished to us by the accountant and the Hon. Secretary, there were no cases of irregular, illegal or improper expenditure or failure to recover the monies or other properties belonging to the Society or loss or waste of money or other property of the Society, subject to the observation made in para (h) hereinabove, (n) provision of Sec. 31- A and Rule 16- A of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 have been complied with. II. (a) the maximum and minimum number of Executive Committee members is maintained having regard to the provision contained in the rules and regulations, (b) there is no specific provisions in the rules and regulations of the Society regarding the holding of the meetings of the Executive Committee, (c) the minute book recording the proceedings of the meetings is maintained, (d) no member of the Executive Committee has any interest in the investment of the Society, (e) no member of the Executive Committee is a debtor or a creditor of the Society. Bombay Dated: 15 September 1989 CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS 13 00 PC On co 00 04 CO 04 £ 1 si £ 2-“ Ill S o 04 ’tJ > o -| '1 8 so P os -2 "+-1 j a « § £ S CS 0|_| <4-1 Tt o O g "O h s II § VO <4-1 o 0 3 c3 > O O' Q ON a 3 «/> 8-S <2 D li HQ go i-j o^ co u 0* P4 I & i-H pH S 00 0 t— 4 CO Tf in CO 04 ON r-H vd 04 Tf VO ON 00 O; O' VO t-H O'* in 04* O'* t—4 VO 1—H «n O* 04* O'* vn <- * H- H! £ I H S 4> M CU P oS w jj Q S Q co .5 tu 1 §• 13 5 ^ Q 3 BD •-1 .s § p ■a o 2 ® Tj- ON O O vt in o o t d ^ on vo in M cn o .2 OX) § « r- vo O ON ON 00 CN 00 p CO o' OO CN vO O VO vO co in vn r- o o r» o tp VO oo tp On Tt o o Tf o Tt CO CN i-I ON Tt p in VO CO oo r- . cn r- OO T-t © On VO 00 tj- r- »n cn o •^t Tt »n' O • -n 1 oo' r~' CN ON oo' vn' ON T-H r— 1 CO 5 rH CO ON v—H CN o . — . co' a3 w C 73 o Q g ex -P .5 •5 OX) * g SJS 8 & 0:3 I I H H «g a § s ex 'p S’ o ti o t ■§ vn r- o On r- Ov CN oo vn CO t-" CO 00 CO ON CN in cp »n VO CN vo' oo *— < CO CN r-H a> | 'S p s CQ 15 Q> O PQ "O- ■O' VO o CS NO VO VO 3 NO r-~ 00 CO On VO o CS oo d r-' o NO i-H CS co o CO 00 CO CS r- 00 o o 8 ON 1-H CO VO T— • vo CO h p**“ o' oC a On s no' co' vo' Os CO 00 WO cs vo Os 00 1-H cs' co' U* n3 sg s I1 £ § § « | § s “ x ■gfj § 1 •s § §* •S -g •fi a 8 S3 -S ° O £ g.1 w O S | ■S) ex S' M 1 I ex *3 « a 1 B C/5 O c a 00 *_, rlii r ! o § 8 ffi 60 4> 3 -s i ^ ^ w 0) £ a I a Sin I X .2 w IS Vh CS s & as a -a ^ a 15 ^ 8 2 EC j5 co o .2 2,5 o c a § a I £ -a 6 1 -8 1 05 " z u £ 2 1 !»« 00 U S 0 a 60 1 « o > o a 60 P o cS 16 2 3 O n •s > g ^ ^ -S ■ co fa fa CP X is w S o u § s . 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I" TO S3 to £ < 0c$ 60 P 2 « I I I 42 4< 8| tM 2 II |Z (2 i _ ,c I I 3 00 CO >n ,^t 2ioOiM«'35 SCHEDULE ‘C’ (Cont..) 23 111 1 8 8^.5 § I S3 B* 8 ng O H > 2 U ^ « o C « g.-S-S-a 8 * iS g's al(S 8 f -g § g* I § s^e I? g.s a I § & <. 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H. Prater, 4th edition (reprint). 28 plates in colour by Paul Barruel and many other monochrome illustrations. (Price to members Rs. 90) The Ecology of the Lesser Bandicoot Rat in Calcutta, by James Juan Spillett The Book of Indian Birds, by S&lim Ali. 11th (revised) edition. 74 coloured and many monochrome plates. ( Price to members Rs . 90) A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, by S&lim Ali & S Dillon Ripley (Price to members Rs. 155) A Synopsis of the Birds of India and Pakistan, by S. Dillon Ripley II. An up-to- date checklist of all the birds resident and migrant, including those of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, 2nd edition. .Price to members Rs. 90) Checklist of the Birds of Maharashtra, by Humayun Abdulali, 2nd edition. Rs. 5 Checklist of the Birds of Delhi, Agra and Bharatpur, by Humayun Abdulali & J. D. Panday. Rs. 5 The Book of Indian Reptiles, by J. C. Daniel ((Price to members Rs. 90) Some Beautiful Indian Climbers and Shrubs, by Bor and Raizada. With many coloured and monochrome plates, 2nd edition. (Price to members Rs. 120) Grasses of Western India, by Toby & Patricia Hodd. With 64 monochrome plates. (Price to members Rs. 37.50) Encyclopedia of Mian Natural History, Edited by R. E. Hawkins (Price to members Rs. 225) A Century of Natural History, Edited by J. C. Daniel (Price to members Rs. 145) TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP Entrance Fees : Ordinary and Life Members Student Members Subscription : (a) Ordinary individual Members ( b ) Ordinary Corporate Members (c) Ordinary Members resident outside India Life Members Life members resident outside India Student Members (without Journal) Annual subscription to Journal for non-members Annual subscription to Journal for members Members residing outside India should pay their subscription by means of orders on their Bankers to pay the amount of the subscription to the Society in Bombay on the 1st January in each year. If this cannot be done, then the sum of £ 30 (£15 fees, £ 15 as sub- scription for Journal) should be paid annually to the Society’s London Bankers — The Grindlays Bank Ltd., 13, St. James’s Sq., London SWIY 4LF. Account No. 1101091. The subscription of members elected in January, February and March covers the period from the date of their election to the end of March of the following year. ISSN 0006-6982 CONTENTS HITHERTO UNREPORTED NEST SITE OF LESSER FLAMINGO Phoeniconaias minor IN THE LITTLE RANN of KUTCH, gujarat ( With a plate and a text- figure ) By Taej Mundkur, Rishad Pravez, Shivrajkumar Khachar and R. M. Naik a study of Voranus flavescens (hardwicke & gray) (sauria: varanidae) ( With ten text-figures ) By Walter Auffenberg, Hafizur Rahman. Fehmida Iffat and Zahida Perveen ............ intrusion of a rhesus Macaca mulatto pair into a langur Presbytis entellus group (With two text-figures ) By Reena Mathur and A. Lobo * anthecology and evolutionary considerations of Leonotis nepetaefolia r. br. By A. J. Solomon Raju and C. Subba Reddi satpura hypothesis and the distribution of laughing thrushes Garrulax lesson of india (With two maps and a text- figure) By Md. Anwarul Islam advantages of commensalism in U labor us ferokus bradoo (araneae: uloboridae) (With three plates containing six figures ) By B L. Bradoo ...... ... . . ........ observations ON the biology of the praying mantis Creobater urbana fabr. (orthoptera: mantidae) By R. X Ranjit Daniels, Malati Hegde and C. Vinutha •• ecological aspects of the life-history of the HIMALAYAN newt Tylototriton verrucosus (ANDERSON) WITH REFERENCE TO CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT (With tWO plates ) By Tej Kumar Shrestha • * the greenbilled or ceylon coucAL Centropus chlororhynchus blyth — sri lanka’s rarest endemic SPECIES By Thilo Hoffmann * FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE POISON APPARATUS AND HISTOLOGY OF THE VENOM GLANDS OF THREE INDIAN spiders (With three plates and seven text-figures) By Ridling Margaret Waller and G. J. Phanuel FLOWERING PHENOLOGY OF THE MANGROVES FROM THE WEST COAST OF MAHARASHTRA By N. G. Mulik and L. J. Bhosale • STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE KING VULTURE Sarcogyps calvilS (SCOPOLl) IN GUJARAT: RESULTS OF A RECENT enquiry (With a text-figure) By Shivrajkumar Khachar and Taej Mundkur spawning in the frog Microhyla ornata (dum. & bibr.) (With eight figures in two plates) By A. D. Padhye and H. V. Ghate ROLLAPADU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD (With two maps and a text-figure) By Ranjit Manakadan and Asad Raff Rahmani STATUS, DISTRIBUTION AND GENERAL ECOLOGY OF THE INDIAN PYTHON Python molurus moluruS LINN. IN KEOLADEO NATIONAL PARK, BHARATPUR, RAJASTHAN (With a plate and tWO text.figures) By S. Bhupathy and V. S. Vijayan ......... — POPULATION DYNAMICS OF ASSASSIN BUGS FROM PENINSULAR INDIA ( INSECTA-HETEROPTERA-REDU- viidae) (With four text- figures) By Dunston P. Ambrose and David Livingstone FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF THE MALABAR WOODSHRIKE Tephrodomis virgatUS Sylvkola JERDON AT THEK- KADY, KERALA By Lalitha Vijayan *. MATERIAL FOR THE FLORA OF MAHABALESHWAR-8 (PTERIDOPHYTES) By P. V. Bole and M. R. Almeida NEW DESCRIPTIONS • • REVIEWS • .. . • . • . . MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ? r Printed by Bro. Paulinus at St. Francis Industrial Training Institute, Borivli, Bombay 400 103 and published by J. C. Daniel for Bombay Natural History Society, Hombill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay 400023. 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