. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 595 Ecol. Limn. Eco-conserv. II: 87-106. Province (Jammu and Kashmir State) India. Rec. Adv. Nath, Surendra (1994): The ichthyogeography of Jammu Fish Ecol. Limn. Eco-conserv. Ill: 103-120. 22. NEOCONOCEPHALUS SPP. A LONG HORNED GRASSHOPPER (TETTIGONIIDAE: ORTHOPTERA) FEED ON SMALL BLACK ANT On 1st, September 1995 I was in the garden And hence the above mentioned feeding behaviour collecting insect pests of a bean vegetable. It was is unusual. around 4.30 p.m., that I found a long horned During my study on insect pests of bean, grasshopper Neoconocephalus spp., family predatory behaviour of the the long horned Tettigoniidae, descriptive and pictographic grasshopper on antshasnotbeen observed. However, identification from Imms (1965), lifting onehind leg, the aboveobservation indicatesthatunder compelling on whose tarsus a black ant was biting. The reason circumstances, a long horned grasshopper can feed for thebiting could notbe known. The hopperjerked on small black ants. This behaviour needs further its leg up and down due to the pain ofthe bite, tried observation. to free itselffrom the ant, but could not. Suddenly it brought the tarsal portion of the hind leg on which October 12, 1995 DAYANAND HARIT the ant wasbiting, below its body to the mouth. The Head, Department ofZoology, hopper caught the ant with its mandibles and ate it Government ofKolasib College, up completely within a moment. Post Box No. 16, M.S. Mani (1982) states that Tettigoniids are Kolasib-796 081, mostly diurnal forms that are usually herbivorous. Mizoram, India References Imms. A.D. (1965): AGeneralTextBookofEntomology,The Mani, M.S. (1982): General Entomology. Oxford and English Language Book Society and Chapman Hall ibh Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. 3rd rev. Ltd. Repr. 1973. 1990. 23. ARE ANTS SECONDARY DISPERSERS OF FIG SEEDS IN INDIAN FORESTS? Apart from vertebrates, which are major While studying several aspects of fig ecology dispersers of seeds, several invertebrates are also (Athreya 1993) in Kanan SholaNational Park, Indira known to assist in thedispersal. Beetles, earthworms, Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, I came snails and ants are known to disperse seeds which across several indications that thesecondary dispersal may even lead to the rearrangement of the seed of Ficus seeds by ants may occur even in Indian shadow (Beattie and Culver 1982, Roberts and forests. The vegetation of this area is dominated by Heithaus 1986). Studies have shown that fig seeds the west-coast tropical evergreen forest type of areregularly subjected to secondarydispersal by ants Champion and Seth (1968) with Hopea parviflora which harvest the lipid-containing exocarp (elai- and Messua ferrea being the characteristic tree some) ofthe small fig seeds (Roberts and Heithaus species. Ficus trees are quite common within the 1986, Kaufmann et al. 1991). Despite the richness National Park, especially in relatively open areas of Ficus species in the Indian subcontinent, (unpubl. data). information on this aspect of its seed dispersal is I came across armies ofants carrying away fig lacking. seeds from fallen fruits and droppings of frugivores 596 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 93 (1996) from under trees of F. microcarpa and F. drupacea be responsible for Ficus seedlings taking root in (both strangler figs). This was also noticed for the crevices in vertical surfaces (Kaufmann etal. 1991). fig seeds which formed a major fraction of the This system ofsecondarydispersal offig seeds copious droppings ofGreatPied Hornbills (Buceros by ants has not been studied in any Indian forest. bicornis) below their nest-holes. Although this note is of a qualitative nature, a I also split open someripe figs ofF. exasperata detailed study of this aspect may throw some light (free-living Ficus) andF. drupacea and placed them on theimportance oftheroleplayedby invertebrates at my camp site. The same evening I saw ants in affecting the seed shadow of figs, especially carrying away the seeds from all the figs, although strangler figs, which require specific microhabitats the seeds ofF. exasperataseemed to be less popular. for successful germination (Putz and Holbrook However, both species offigs were devoid of seeds 1986). by the next morning. It has been said elsewhere that the lipid- June 4, 1996 VEDYA R. ATHREYA containing exocarp is not affected by the passage NCRA Post Bag 3, , through the vertebrate gut and is still harvested by Ganesh Khind, the ants (Kaufmann et al 1991). Ants are known to Pune 411 007. Refi ENCES Athreya, V.R. (1993): Fruiting strangler figs (genus Ficus, Kaufmann, S., D.B. Mckey, M. Hossaert-Mckey, & C.C. subgenus Urostigma and temporal variation in Horvitz (1991): Adaptations for a two-phase seed ) visitation of their avian frugivores in a tropical dispersal system involving vertebrates and ants in a evergreen forest in the Western Ghats, India. M.S. hemiepiphyticfig Ficusmicrocarpa: Moraceae).Am. (. thesis, Salim Ali School of Ecology, Pondicherry J. ofBot. 78: 971-977. University, Pondicherry, India. Putz, F.E. & N.M. Holbrook (1986): Notes on the natural Beattie, A.J. & D.C. Culver (1982): Inhumation: how ants history of hemiepiphytes. Selbyana 9: 61-69. & and otherinvertebrates help seeds. Nature. 297: 627. Roberts, J.T. E.R. Hetihaus (1986): Ants rearrange the & Champion, H.G. S.K. Seth (1968): Forest Types ofIndia. vertebrate-generated seed shadowofaneotropical fig Govt, ofIndia, Delhi. tree. Ecology. 67: 1046-1051. THE SPOT PUFFIN BUTTERFLY APPIAS LALAGE LALAGE DOUBLEDAY 24. (PIERIDAE) A RARE RECORD FOR SOUTH INDIA - m The butterfly Appias lalage lalage has been atan elevation of1200 above msl onDecember, 3, recorded in the United Provinces, Mussooree to 1995. The butterfly was mudpuddling at noon near a Burma, Tavoy (Talbot 1939). Its range is also small stream flowing through a coffee plantation. mentioned from Simla to Burma and Assam by It appears to be one of the few records ofthe Wynter-Blyth (1957). D’Abrera (1982) states its Spot Puffin from South India and may be the first range as Assam to upper Burma and Antram (1924) record from Kerala. This shows that this butterfly noted it as a rare species recorded from the though rare, does exist in the Western Ghats apart Himalayas, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam. The only from its known range. The specimen is now in the record found from SouthIndiawas attheNetterikkal Gudampara Biopark Project collection. region of the Kalakkad forest, Tiruneveli District, Tamil Nadu (Satyamurti 1966). April 4, 1996 NALINI. S A single male specimen ofthe wet season form BORIS LOMOV with a wingspan of 76mm was taken in Gudampara Gudampara Biopark Project , Estate, Santhanparapanchayat,IdukkiDistrict, Kerala Puthady P.O Idukki Dist. 685 619, Kerala. .,