282 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



._ - — ■ — 



Papilio agamemnon. — Nos. I, 2, and 3 were found on the upper 

 side of leaves of Guatteria longifolia* at the Ladies' Gymkhana on 

 28th July. They were then barely f inch long, and of a smoky 

 gray colour, slender at the tail end, but thickening so rapidly to- 

 wards the head as to have a bulbous appearance. The body was 

 smooth, but furnished with eight short tentacles, two by the eyes, 

 our at the thickest part of the body, and two at the tail. Besides 

 these, were two retractile tentacles of a paler yellowish colour in the 

 front of the head, generally invisible, but shot out whenever the 

 caterpillar was annoyed or alarmed, as, for instance, when blown 

 upon. The use of these seems to be to startle birds and other 

 enemies, and deter them from an intended attack, by the appearance 

 of a sting. But in reality these tentacles are as soft and innocuous 

 as the others. f On 29th July these caterpillarB changed their 

 skins, and immediately ate their cast skins. This perfection of can- 

 nibalism seems not uncommon among caterpillars till the second or 

 third change of skin, after which they abandon their carnivorous, or 

 rather cutivorous habits, and adhere to a strictly vegetable diet. 

 The subjects of this memoir grew rapidly till they were about H 

 inch long, their colour changing gradually meanwhile to that of the 

 leaves on which they fed. % By 3rd August all three were com- 

 pletely clad in bright green. No. 1 assumed the chrysalis form on 

 5th August, No. 2 on 6th, and No. 3 on 10th. The chrysalises 

 were of the same green colour as the caterpillars, and attached in a 

 nearly upright position by the tail end to the stalks or undersides of 

 the leaves. The imago appeared of No. 1 on 18th August, of 

 No. 2 on 19th, and of No. 3 on 20th. The last was therefore three 

 days less in statu pujpillari than the others, but the imago seemed as 

 well developed in all respects. 



* Native name, Asok. 



f WeiBmann, in his Studies in the Theory of Descent, has noticed the "terrifying 

 nttitudea" assumed by certain caterpillars as a protection from the attacks of inscc 

 tivorons enemies. The retractile tentacles of the larva of P. agamemnon can hardly 

 bo intended for use as antennae, or they would be permanently protruded, like the 

 front pair of tentacles of the larva of Euplce core described below. 



J For a very interesting account of the colours of caterpillars, and their relations 

 to the food plant and surroundings of the insects, see Weismann's Studies, cited above, 

 translated by Meldola, and the translator's notes. The subject has been excellently 

 investigated by Mr. Poulton in a series of papers of great interest contributed to the 

 Tra,nsactiotis of the Entomological Society in 1885-6-7, The British Association Reports, 

 1867, and the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1887- 





