LYCAENIDZE. 7 
I have often examined the eggs of several species of Zycenide under the microscope, 
and realized what beautiful objects they are ; but in a very few cases only have I made 
detailed descriptions of them, and my investigations in this direction are insufficient to enable 
me to form groups based on the structure of the egg. 
Mr. Scudder states that “tiarate or echinoid eggs are confined to and include all of the 
Lycenide, but in one genus, Heodes,* the base of the egg is broadened to such an extent that 
it is only by sufferance that it can be classed here ; it is rather demi-echinoid ; the surface of - 
tiarate eggs is nearly always broken up into cells of varying size separated by distinct 
heavy walls, which are sometimes of uniform height throughout, at others produced at the 
angles into tubercles presenting, on close examination, a very different effect.” (Butt. of the 
East. U.S., p. 3.) “The tiarate eggs are very beautiful objects, often reminding one of a 
miniature sea-urchin without spines, and are characteristic of the Zycenide, though some 
of them incline towards the hemispherical form, and all, without exception, are reticulate. 
In these the surface is never ribbed, but generally covered with a heavy network of deep 
pits, whose bounding walls are rather coarse and rough. The eggs of the Parnassians [a genus 
of the Pagilioning] resemble them closely.” (l.c., p. 191.) Healso notes that the Zycenide, 
alone amongst butterflies, as far as is known, sometimes pass the winter in the egg state, 
the eggs being laid, not on the leaves or very young shoots, as is usually the case in butterflies, 
but on the stem of their food-plant or in some crevice in the bark. 
Mr. Trimen (South-African Butterflies, vol. ii, p. 10) describes the larvee of the Zyce- 
nide as follows: “Shaped like wood-lice [vunisciform] for the most part, are extremely 
sluggish, and look in many cases more like a Coccus or some vegetable excrescence than 
caterpillars. Some of them are smooth, many clothed with a short down, some with fascicles 
of short bristles or regularly-disposed tubercles, and a few hairy generally, Several are 
regularly corrugated dorsally, and others prominently humped in one or two places.” The 
larva of the genus Sfalgts, Moore, is most aberrant, being furnished with long irregular diver- 
gent processes or tubercles ; while the genus Rathinda, Moore, has a very similar larva, 
but the tubercles appear to be arranged more regularly, while some are much shorter than 
others. The genus Czretis, Hiibner, has alarva quite sw generis ; it is anteriorly somewhat 
humped, and the twelfth segment is furnished with two long upright hollow cylindrical pro- 
cesses or “pillars,” from which, at the will of the animal, can be thrust forth long tentacles, 
of which more will be said further on. Some larve of Zycenide are scutate, being fur- 
nished with a hard flattened shield on the dorsal region of the three last segments, which 
is used by the larve to plug up the holes in the fruits on the interior of which they live. 
Doubtless, hereafter other curious forms of larvze of this family will be found; up to the 
present the transformations of comparatively few species are known. The majority of them 
feed on the young leaves, buds, and flowers of trees, bushes, and low-growing plants ; three 
genera—-Lampides, Virachola and Deudorix—of Indian Luvcenide, however, feed on the interior 
of fruits of several different kinds ; lastly some feed upon the seed-pods of leguminous 
plants; these latter larvz have very long necks, so that they can reach far into the interior of 
the pods with their mouths and thus scoop out the contents, while the greater portion of their 
body remains outside. 
Some species of Zycenide larve are furnished with certain organs which are found 
in no other larve of Lepidoptera as far as Iam aware. These organs are certainly not found 
in all Lycenide larvee, but why some species should be so furnished, while others are 
not, I can offer no confident opinion. I have, however, a theory that these organs 
exist for the protection of the larvae, and that, where they are absent, other means of pro- 
tection exist. In the genus Cwre¢is, Hiibner, I have found that the larve are furnished with 
one set of organs mentioned above, which are extremely large and well-developed, being 
* The species that Mr. Scudder includes under this genus have hitherto always been considered to belong 
to the genus CArysofhanus, Hiibner, 
