54 LÉPIDOPTÉROLOGIE COMPARÉE 



quickly; in the swallowing process perhaps there is strong suction, 

 for I never perceived any liquid on ihe glass of my boxes, as one 

 might suppose would escape from the distended grub when being 

 devoured. Owing to a great storm, I lost D"" Chapman's remarks 

 upon the Caterpillar and do not recollect what he said about its 

 mouth parts. 



Though having seen the Q depositing ova during a sunny 

 afternoon of a Queensland winter and also on a sunny afternoon 

 during summer at Port Darwin (N. W. Australia) I never observed 

 a cf flying unless disturbed from its resting place, then it would 

 quickly settle again, and examples bred in my room, never once 

 attempted flight even after being out for 4 hours (Emergence 

 generally took place between 9 and lia, m.) when I would catch 

 and bottle them. It is quite likely that the insect, the Q partly 

 and cf wholly is crepuscular in its habits as I believe has been 

 supposed. Quite recently; hère at Kuranda, where there are not 

 many green ants, my sons, one evening, called me to see a strange' 

 butterlly flying rapidly backwards and forwards over some of 

 the garden shrubs, an unsuccessful stroke with a net was made 

 at it, when it flew off with great swiftness, we thought it may 

 hâve been a cf of brassohs. One hot day, about noon, at Port 

 Darwin, we observed a cf at rest under a leaf, and caught it with 

 ease. We there bred several spécimens of both sexes, and captu- 

 red a few cfcf, the latter having always been frightened from 

 their resting places. Owing to the vast numbers of nests of the 

 ants at P. Darwin, we met with little success in finding larv^ and 

 pup^ in the nests we pulled to pièces for examination. 



As the butterfl.ies frequently became greasy, soon after setting, 

 I resorted to evisceration, and noticing the absence of anything 

 in the nature of food in the bodies (Except a quantity of vaseline- 

 like grease) it occurred to me to examine the mouth parts of the 

 msect, with the resuit that I could not detect any indication of 

 a proboscis, even though I broke away the palps for better exa- 

 mination; therefore it is évident that another of this butterfly's 

 p<"culiarities is that it passes a foodless existence. 



