Common lascar

Distribution

Continental India, from the Himalayas to the Western Ghats; Assam; Burma; Tenasserim, extending into the Malayan sub-region.

Reproduction

"Has two forms. In the first the head is large and roughly triangular, the segments of the body increase to the fourth and then diminish gradually, and the third, fourth, sixth, and twelfth have each two obtuse dorsal points. The fore part from the fourth segment is generally inclined downwards at an angle with the rest of the body and is with the underpays of a dark greenish-brown colour. The rest is just that shade of greenish-grey which the leaves assume when withered, and is crossed by diagonal dark bands exactly representing the spaces between the leaflets as a painter would paint them – a most perfect disguise. The second form of the larva differs in having the head furcate, while the dorsal points are replaced by long spine-like processes. The figure will give a better idea of the difference than any description... The butterfly resulting from the larva with spines has a light male-mark; that resulting from the other a dark male-mark... The two forms of larva are never found together; the smooth type of caterpillar is often found in quantities on one bush... the smooth caterpillar feeds on "Acacia" and "Albizzia", the spined one has never been found on any plant but "Acacia"."