8 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



replied that he saw, last spring, a small green larva on the blossoms of 

 Cimicifuga racemosa and a black ant attending it. " The ant directed 

 strokes of its antennae upon the tail of the larva incessantly ; larva moved 

 a little ; ant ran up and down and up other stems and returned ; strokes 

 renewed upon the tail ; larva moves its head ; strokes directed toward the 

 head ; larva moves round the stem ; ant off, and in a moment returns, with 

 strokes." He observed this proceeding from 10 a. m. to 12 m., and 

 adds : " I am at a loss to explain these strange manipulations. My first 

 idea was that the ant was seeking to tempt the larva to loosen its hold 

 upon the plant and then seize it for food. But I soon found that the 

 purpose was at least friendly." The plant, it will be noticed, is the same 

 as that fed on by pseiedargiolus in Virginia. 



It is clear, therefore, that the larvae of several species of Lycaenahzve one 

 or more special excreting organs, and that one species at least is regularly 

 attended by formicidians for the sake of the excreted fluid. And it is proba- 

 ble that the quantity of this and perhaps its attractiveness depends on the 

 nature of the food plant. Also that all the organs are generally concealed'. I 

 was not able to distinguish them upon any living larva even after my attention 

 was called to them, though I saw the mark on nth segment, which proved 

 to be one of the openings. I took those on r2th segment for stigmata, 

 which they resembled. But in one larva now in alcohol I find the two 

 tubes partly protruding and easily to be seen with the naked eye. And as 

 the ants were eagerly licking the surface in the vicinity of these organs, as 

 well as just at them, the fluid may escape without their protrusion and 

 overflow the surface. That either of these organs is used for defence is 

 not shown by any evidence, and, as M. Guenee' intimates, the probability 

 is all the other way. The secretion is attractive, not repulsive like that 

 which poisons the air from the tentacles by the head of Papilio* Whether 



* In the paper " On the Classification," &c, Mr. Scudder supports his argument 

 for degradation of Papilio by this discovery of M. ( kienee. Mr. Wallace had claimed, 

 and properly, that the possession of such a peculiar structure as the scent organ of 

 Papilio larva, with tentacle, muscular apparatus, &c, for frightening away its enemies, is 

 a mark of high development, and that its presence in one group and absence in every 

 other is a proof of a very ancient origin and of very long-continued modification, Nat. 

 Select. Am. Ed., 135. Mr. Scudder thus disposes of the whole matter : "Extensive 

 fleshy organs do occur in other groups. Guenee discovered them on the abdominal seg- 

 ments of certain blues,' &c. . . . " yet nobody on that account claims for them a 

 high rank." 



