NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXVI. 1919. 307 



larvae less destructive to the few that do exist, under conditions which this 

 butterfly evidently regards as ideal, it might become a very common species 

 hereabouts. Too often, however, have my choice hunting-grounds in this case 

 been despoiled by the natives, who now and again have fits of tidiness, and, 

 regarding everything growing in proximity to their huts and gardens as " matto," 

 cut it down and burn it. 



The egg of belns is small and light yellow like the previous species, and its 

 larva plain black. Even in the fourth instar it is still very dark, a glossy black 

 maroon in colour with no markings whatever, and possessing notably short 

 tubercles. In the fifth instar a remarkable change takes place, the tubercles, 

 though slender, becoming a prominent feature in their full development, with 

 extensions like the horns of a snail on the sides of segment 2. It commences 

 this stage with a vinous maroon ground-colour, a series of regular black marks 

 on the dorsal area and a number of black lines obliquely adorning the sides 

 After about three days, and while stUl feeding, these colours change like a piece 

 of fruit approaching maturity, the general tone gradually warming to a strong 

 cadmium or Indian yellow fully 24 hours before the larva leaves its food-plant 

 to prepare for pupation. While the head and hard plate on segment 2 remain 

 as black as polished ebony, the black adornment of the body becomes lustrous 

 and ruddy in character. Throughout this final instar the larva is possessed of 

 a silky gloss, which with advancing growth and the clarification of the colour- 

 design makes it a strildng and handsome object. It was in this condition that 

 I obtained my first set of 11 full-grown larvae, revelling in hot sunshine on the 

 top of a thick bushy plant of A. huberiana ; and subsequent experience with 

 the larva of this species demonstrates the need of the sun-bath, for I lost nearly 

 aU when sleeved out on perfectly healthy plants, selected for safety in sheltered 

 and, consequently, sunless positions. The pupa is brown, touched with reddish 

 cadmium dorsally, and the thoracic hump is very tall, like a hood projected 

 forwards. I once took it on the plant in nature, coloured grey-green and lemon. 



The butterfly is more blue-black in comparison with the bronze colour of 

 lycidas and varies but little in itself. The fine up-river variety with broad yellow 

 patches on the forewing, answering to an occasional form of the female of 

 androgens, does not seem to occur in Para. 



P. lycidas (pi. iii. fig. 8). 



A rare species locally, the butterfly having only once been caught on the 

 Ilha das On9as, and bred on some three or four occasions from larvae found 

 generally in couples, feeding on A. huberiana in four other localities close to 

 Para : Curro, Sacramento, Utinga, and Canudos. In the last-named place I 

 once found a healthy, full-fed larva and 6 pupae spun up on a single bush ; but 

 5 of these produced hymenopterous parasites, small yellow wasps with broad 

 legs, which emerged from separate holes, about 5 or 6 from each pupa. 



The larva, considering its close alliance, is extraordinarily diflerent from 

 the former species. When young it is yellow with dark tubercles and skin-marks. 

 In the last instar it is pale grey and rather glossy, with dark maroon dorsal 

 tubercles, except those on segments 3, 5, 8, and 13, which are distinctly longer 

 than the rest and of a pale pink colour. Those on segments 6 and 7 are small, 

 the pair of lateral tubercles on segment 2 behind the head are long, dark at 



