GLANDS OF PIEPID LARV.E. 



258 



were both common ; A. pmicti(ieru)ii and A. aethiojis very local, but 

 common, were found. From Lotus major the very distinct A. ebeniinn 

 was taken freely ; also more rarely off L. cornicnlattis. A. jilirostre 

 was common on Medica;/o liipulina : wherever the medick grew it 

 seemed to harbour the beetle. A. striatwn, A. ononis, A. ervi, and A. 

 spencei were all common ; A. lorau- was decidedly rare, only two 

 specimens being taken. A. unicolor and A. ijijllenhali were both 

 common on Ticia cracca ; this southern record for A. m/Uenhali is 

 interesting. Sweeping melilot produced A. ineliloti ; the plant is 

 common in numerous places around Ditchling, but the beetle is 

 singularly restricted in its distribution. A. scutellare, A. liverscerian, 

 A. loll, A. seniciiliDii, and A. tenne were all found on their customary 

 foodplants; A. Uverscerum was very scarce, only about half-a-dozen to a 

 field of sainfoin. A. puhescens was rare ; a few examples taken by 

 sweeping long grass. A. marchicnin, A. violaceiint, A. In/dmlapatJti, 

 and A. huinile were frequently taken ; A. iiiarchicum seems to hke 

 chalk downs as much as " sandy places." Although many of the 

 above-mentioned records are of common, or moderately common, 

 species, I yet think this note justified on the score of quantity alone 

 (if not on that of quality) of the species mentioned. 



Glands of Pierid Larvae. 



By J. W. HARRISON, B.bc. 



I have been rearing large broods of Pieiis rapae and Fieris tiiannii 

 larvae. In handling them I noted that they often threw back their 

 heads in a manner suggestive of Odontosia camelina. As I had lately 

 discovered that O. camelina did this in order to throw out eversible 

 glands similar to those found in L'erura vinula, I thought that this act 

 of the Pieris might be for a similar reason, and I was not disappointed 

 for I was successful in seeing the glands protruded in a full-grown 

 larva of P. mannii. 



The glands are protruded from the underside of the neck. They are 

 greatly different from those seen in Odantosia camelina, Notodanta ziczac, 

 etc., for these bifurcate glands take their origin in a single transverse slit. 

 On the contrary the glands in P. mannii, when not protruded, are visible 

 externally as two small sucker-like marks, one on each side of the neck. 

 The glands themselves, instead of being forked, like those of the 

 Notodontids, are globular, and, as noted before, are not connected at the 

 base. In appearance they remind one of a gooseberry, or, better still, a seed 

 of Galium aparine. They are green in colour and rugged. This rugged- 

 ness is caused by the large number of minute points which cover them. 

 Although described as globular they are slightly curved inward and 

 downward at the tips. In size they have a diameter equal to half the 

 breadth of the neck. I could detect no liquid or scent thrown out, 

 but it does not follow that no scent was produced, for the senses of 

 insects are not these of human beings. 



[Mr. Harrison has struck here a very interesting line of observation. 

 The glands are the well-known " chin-glands" of Buckler, Chapman, 

 etc. Some years ago we dealt with these peculiar eversible glands 

 (Xat. Hist. Brit. Lep., i., p. 34 ; viii., pp. 18, 22) and pointed out, among 

 other details, the peculiar fact that they seemed to be confined to the super- 

 families of our Noctuo-Papilionid stirps. They are common to 



