288 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



apparently stroking and caressing the larvae in order 

 to obtain the sweet fluid which they secrete. The 

 caterpillars are gregarious. Food plant: black 

 wattle {Acacia decurrens). 



Pupa is a shining dark brown or black structure 

 attached by tail and suspended by a girdle. They 

 are in clusters, and sometimes so close as to be 

 overlapping. Ants are in attendance, as in the case 

 of the larvae. 



