THE 



GARDENS' BULLETIN, 



5TKAIT5 5ETTLEnENT5. 



Vol. II. Issued duly 4th, 1918 No. I 



CATOCHRYSOPS PANDAVA. 

 A BUTTERFLY DESTRUCTIVE TO CYCADS. 



C'atochri/so[JS [laniJara, Hprsf., is a beautiful little butterfly 

 when seen with its silk}' lavender blue wings expanded; but it is 

 very destructive' in a garden to Cycads: for the caterpillar is a 

 (jounnet and feeds on the youngest leaves, utterly destroying them, 

 so that the plant is left untidy for the months Avliicli pass until it 

 can produce a fresh crop. How untidy it can be, is seen in the 

 accompanying plate. Cycads which had been attacked by the 

 insect and had no young leaves left, produced in the Botanic Gardens 

 a new crop at the end of three months, often only to be attacked 

 again. 



The butterfly is 3(J — ;35 nmi. from tip to tip of its upper wings. 

 The wings are silky lavender blue above shading slightly towards 

 black, then bordered with a narrow line of black, outside a very 

 narrow white line, with a black dot just inside the border on the 

 lower wings and a fine slightly twisted black tail from the edge 

 against it, this tail just ti]:)])ed with Avhite. Below the wings are 

 dove grey with darker white-l)ordered wave markings and eyes 

 chiefly in the outer half, and with a black eye marking against an 

 orange patch at the hinder angle of the hinder wings. The body 

 is steel grey below, and "wdth the wings closed the insect at rest is 

 well hidden by the pattern. The female insect is duller in colour 

 above than the male esijccially by having much more black suffused 

 through the l)lue on tlie upper surface of tlie wings : otherwise its 

 colours are similar. 



A female insect hiving eggs, walks about the backs of the still 

 curled pinnae of the C'ycad leaves, moving the ti]) of her body up 

 and down and at eacli light touch attaclics a siiiglo egg to the 

 surface of the plant. 



These eggs are beautiful objects; they are depressed, and there 

 is a. slight pit at the unattached pole with round it rings of minute 

 warts con]iected togetJier 1)y a sliglit webl)ing, the meshes increasing 

 ill size to the equator. Tliree or four days after the itgg has been 



