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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 151 . phibian fauna ofIndia, gave the distribution to be indicate. We also agree with Inger and Dutta Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. (1986), that the actual distribution of many Sekar (1991) appended that Microhyla rubra is species of amphibians of our country is poorly also found in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. known. We reportM. rubra from Sangli, Maharashtra. Acknowledgements The specimen is in the collection of Western Regional Station, Zoological SurveyofIndia,Pune. We thank Dr G.M. Yazdani, Officer-in- (SpecimenNo. A/257; Dateofcollection: 12.9.79; charge, Zoological Survey ofIndia, W.R.S. Pune, : collectedby DrA.S.Mahabal; Locality Wasumbe and to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, : : Tank, Vita, Sangli, Maharashtra; Det. by M.S. for providing facilities. Ravichandran; snout to vent length : 17 mm). KAMBLE Small size and fossorial habits (evident from October 31, 1992 S.S. enlarged metatarsal tubercle) are probably respon- Zoological Survey ofIndia, Western RegionalStation, siblefortheinadequacyofourknowledgeregarding Pune 411 005. the distribution ofthisfrog. We concurwithDaniel H.V. GHATE (1963) whohadpointedoutthatthespeciesislikely Department ofZoology, to be more widespread than the collection records Modern College, Pune 411 005. ReferENCES Boulenger, G.A. (1980): The fauna of British India, Inger, R.F. & S.K. Dutta (1986): An overview of the Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor and Francis, Lon- Amphibian Fauna of India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. don. Soc., 83 (Supplement): 135-146. Daniel, J.C. (1963): Field guide to the Amphibians of Sekar, A.G. (1991): Distribution of the Amphibian Western India, Part II. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., Fauna of India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 88: 60: 690- 702. 125-127. 24. EFFECT OF SEWAGE WATER ON DIFFERENT SPECIES OF AMPHIBIANS To study the effect of sewage water on four they are unable to come out unless the tanks species of amphibians, namely Rana breviceps R. overflow. , cyanophlyctis R. tigerina and Bufo andersoni the Observations were made in seven sewage , present study was conducted at the World Forestry water tanks and two fresh water tanks (i.e. con- Arboretum, Jaipur from July 1991 to November trol) at about 7 a.m. daily to count the am- 1991. phibians which died during the preceding 24 Many cemented tanks have been con- hours. As many as 20 to 25 dayspermonth were structed at different corners in the Arboretum covered for five months. All the dead am- for irrigation and water storage. The domestic phibians obtained from the tanks were buried sewage water of Jawaharnagar, a suburb of daily to clear the tanks for the next day. Data Jaipur city, is first pumped into most of the on the dead amphibians are given in Table 1. cemented tanks and then used for irrigation. Asampleofsewagewatertakenfromthemain Only two tanks are used to store fresh water storage tank on 15th Nov. 1991 was sent to obtained from a tube-well. laboratory for chemical analysis. Details of During the rainy season, after the first heavy analysis report aregiven below: shower (i.e. first fortnight of July) amphibians (1) pH : 6.90 become active and they move towards water- (2) Total suspended solids mg/L 250 bodies for breeding. Many of them purposely or (3) Total dissolved solids mg/L : 931 accidentally stumbleinto the tanks. Itwas noticed (4) B O D (5 days 20°C) mg/L : 224 that when they fall in the vertical walled tanks. (5) C O D mg/L 504 152 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURALHIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 91 (1994) Table 1 DEATH OF AMPHIBIANS IN TANKS Months No. ofdead amphibians in tanks Rana Rana Rana Bufo breviceps cyanophlyctis tigerina andersoni sewage fresh sewage fresh sew. fre. sewage fresh water water water water wat. wat. water water Jul.-Aug. 5 - - - - - 12 - Sep.-Nov. 31 — — — — — 47 — (6) Sulphate (as SO4) mg/L 136 sewage water. During July and August the con- (7) Chloride (as Cl) mg/L 234 centration of salts in sewage water becomes low (8) % Sodium : 57.76 due to dilution caused by rainwater. But after the rains are over there is little dilution and R. It can be concluded from Table 1 and the breviceps and B. andersoni start to die. wateranalysisreportthatsewagewaterisharmful toRanabreyicepsandBufo andersoni. Both these species are not as aquatic as Rana tigerina andR. March 27, 1993 SATISH KUMAR SHARMA cyanophlyctis but they survived well in the fresh Range Forest Officer, AravalliAfforestation water tanks. Perhaps R. breviceps and B. ander- Programme, Jhadol(F.), soni are more prone to exosmosis caused by Dist. Udaipur313 702, Rajasthan. 25. NEW ADULT MALE ATTRAC NTS OF DANAID BUTTERFLIES Earlier Amladi (1975) and Chaturvedi and coiled its proboscis and was rubbing it on the Satheesan (1979) had reported adult Danaid but- hispid stem. When disturbed it flew around and terflies visiting Heliotropium indicum and returned to the same branch. Till September end Crotalaria retusa for pyrrolizidine alkaloids and main visitors to Trichodesma plants were Monocrotolene respectively. While working on Euploea*s. Later Danaus genutia, Danaus butterflies ofBorivliNational Park, Icame across chrysippus, and Tirumala limniacewere also seen two plants, Trichodesma indicum R. Br. and visiting these plants and rubbing their proboscis Paracaryum coelestinum Benth. belonging to the on the hairy stems. In all cases butterflies in- family Boraginaceae attracting males of a few variably settled near the apical region of the species of butterflies. plant. Individuals of two or three species were Trichodesma is an annual herb, much also seen on the same plant at a time. The time branched, hispid, 45-50 cm tall and bears pale spentby these butterflies on aplant at atime. The violet blue flowers. Though it emerges during time spent by these butterflies on a plant varied mid June and grows till December. The but- from a few seconds to 8 minutes. terflies, namely Euploea core and Euploea klugii According to Miller and Morris (1988) some visit this plant from late August to October. On Trichodesmaspeciesare,liketheheliotropes,known 23rd August I saw a Euploea core hovering to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Apparently this arounda Trichodesmaplant and alighting nearthe maybethereasonwhymalesoftheDanaidbutterflies top of the plant rather than on the flowers. A visitedthisplanttoobtain animportantprecursorfor closer look revealed that the butterfly had un- themalepheromone.