510 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII. 



accuse them of not having keen eyes, so why should those of a tiger or panthei 

 be condemned for not seeing you under similar circumstances. They, I dare say, 

 see you alright, if they look up at all, but do not connect the conglomera- 

 tion of leaves, sticks and the bulky form behind, lying or sitting in a confused 

 heap, with a man or danger. 



C. H. DONALD, f.z.s. 

 Bhadarwa, Kashmir State, 31s< July 1907. 



No. XXIII— CANNIBALISM OF A CATERPILLAR. 



I believe that prior to the discovery by Mr. F. P. Dodd in Queensland, of 

 the carnivorous tendencies of the larva of Liplxyra brassolls (vide " Entomolo- 

 gist " xxxv, 1902, p. 153 and Fauna of British India/Butterflies, Vol. II., p. 453) 

 no case of flesh-eating and much less of cannibalism among Lepidoptera was 

 known. If this is correct, the record of an instance of this nature by a larva 

 of Papilio aristolochice cannot fail to be of interest. 



As I first took the larvae partly because they were feeding on Aristolochia 

 elegans (an exotic in India) instead of on A. iniica, its normal host plant, but 

 mainly to note the dates and duration of the several instars, I enter here the 

 observations as they are recorded. 



Two larvae, more than half grown, were secured on the 7th August 1907, 

 and another only §" long on the 10th August. Of the first couple one pupated 

 on the 17th and the other on the 18th. Both pupae and the larva were kept 

 in the same glass-topped box. 



On the 25th August on inspecting the box only one pupa and the larva, now 

 nearly full grown, were to be found. At first I suspected ants had got at the 

 box, but none were about, and the second pupa was untouched though the 

 two were close together ; moreover, there did not seem any possibility of 

 ants getting into the box which was verified by the fact that later I 

 kept some very small ants in the same box and they were unable to find a 

 way out. 



On removing all the Aristolochia leaves from the box.no alien insect was 

 found, but I discovered 3 pieces of the chitinous pupal case. My suspicions 

 were consequently diverted to the remaining caterpillar, which I then left with 

 the second pupa in the otherwise empty box, even placing it in contact with 

 the latter. It remained practically motionless for about half an hour, then 

 after investigating the pupa moved away. 



I frequently inspected the box and its contents during the rest of 

 the morning, but the caterpillar remained aloof and the pupa was 

 unmolested. At about midday I removed the caterpillar to another box 

 and placed with it the remnants of the destroyed pupa and soon after 

 was it positively eating the remains which it devoured completely. At 

 a little past one o'clock I replaced the same leaves which had been removed 

 from the original box and very soon the caterpillar was feeding off them, 

 so that it cannot be said that the pupa was eaten owing to a lack of proper 

 food. It may be mentioned that a day before the disappearance of the pupa 

 I noticed the caterpillar close alongside it and distinctly heard the rustling 



