592 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII 



drawn in, and which bear at the tips a bristle-like crown. De Niceville 1 

 is of opinion "that they were originally developed in the larva? to 

 drive away their enemies, probably Ichneumon-flies, much as the 

 tentacula behind the heads of Papilio larvae are used." Whether 

 these extensile organs occur only in connection with the transverse 

 slit, we cannot say at present. According to Viehmeyer, the cater- 

 pillars he observed always showed both or neither tokens, and only 

 with some larva of the genus Thecla he was unable to come to a 

 definite decision. DeNiceville describes the larva of Cvretis thetis, 

 Drury ( a Bombay butterfly ), in the following way: " The twelfth 

 segment bears two most extraordinary structures which consist of two 

 diverging cylindrical rigid pillars, arising from the subdorsal region 

 of a palo green colour. When the insect is touched or alarmed from 

 each pillar is everted a deep maroon tentacle as long as the rigid 

 pillar, bearing at its end long party-coloured hairs, the basal third of 

 each hair being black, the upper two-thirds white. The maroon 

 tentacle with its long hairs spread out like a circular fan or rosette 

 is whirled round with great rapidity in a plane parallel to the body, 

 its use being almost certainly to frighten away its enemies, as this 

 larva, as far as I am aware, is not attended by protecting ants, and 

 lacks the honey-gland on the eleventh segment." 



With regard to the distribution of these queer organs Brant is of 

 opinion that whole groups of catterpi liars of the family Lyccenidce 

 are specified by the presence of slit and tentacles. This view, however, 

 seems to be erroneous. Those marks are most frequently found in 

 the group Lyccena, but even here we come across species in which 

 they are wanting. The observations of Esper, Petzhold, Guenee, 

 Moore, 2 Edwards, 3 DeNiceville, 4 etc., show that those tokens 

 occur in the most diverse groups of the Lyccenidce. Some interest- 

 ing accounts on the subject have been written by Mr. W. Doherty 5 

 and Mrs. Wylly 6 . 



1 DeNiceville, L. The Butterflies of India, Burmah and Ceylon, Vol. Ill, p. 288. 



2 Moore, Lepidoptera of Ceylon, Vol. 1, 1881. 



3 Edwards, W. H.,The Canadian Entomologist, Vol. X, 1878, and in " Butterflies of North 



America." 



4 DeNice'ville, L., Butterflies of India, 3 vols. 



5 Journal. A. S. B., Vol. LV, pt. 2, p. 112, 1886. 



6 Journal, Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. Ill, p. 164, 1888. 



