igi8.] C. A. Paiva : The Indian Glow-worm. 21 



itself into its shell it sat on the shell with its head towards the 

 opening and waited till the animal emerged in order to find out what 

 was on top of it. The moment the snail appeared the larva made 

 a sudden grab at its body and if it succeeded in obtaining a firm 

 grip it allowed its head to be dragged in by the snail until it could 

 go no further, then it commenced its meal, at first coiling itself 

 round the shell and then lying on one side with the shell between 

 its legs. It moved its mandibles sideways continuously while 

 it fed. This operation lasted till there was nothing left of the 

 snail and sometimes occupied a couple of hours Often when a snail 

 was on the move it was attacked by the larva, but either out 

 of self-defence or from the result of a bite withdrew itself into its 

 shell and secreted a quantity of frothy matter, which the larva 

 invariably sucked up. This, however, did not pievent the larva 

 from continuing its attack, for as soon as it cleared this frothy 

 secretion it inserted its head into the shell, seized the snail, and 

 gradually devoured it. Occasionally it threw out some part of the 

 snail's body, and in one instance I saw it come back to the 

 spot where it had thrown out some refuse, as it were, and eat 

 up what it had a moment ago apparently rejected. 



The number of small snails [Macrochlamys indica) usually de- 

 voured in one night was about four, but on one or two occasions I 

 found two empty shells of a small-sized Achatina fulica besides 

 four smaller shells. It is doubtless the case that these creatures 

 spend the whole night either eating or searching for food, for 

 at half past four one morning I saw the larva walking about 

 the cage with its luminous organ glowing very brightly as if 

 it were looking for food. It may also have been possible that it 

 was looking for a place of repose for the day 



On the 17th August at about 8.30 p.m. after I had put out all 

 the lights I approached the cage stealthily, with a candle which I 

 lit quickly. I found the larva standing with its fore legs resting 

 on the side of a watch-glass containing water Its head was exten- 

 ded up to the water's edge and its mandibles and palps were being 

 moved rapidly to and fro in the water. This went on for some time 

 and though I placed the lighted candle inside the cage in order to 

 watch it more closely, the larva did not seem to be afifected. It oc- 

 casionally thrust its head further into the water, moving it from side 

 to side all the time. The manner in which the larva cleaned itself 

 was very interesting. It usually rested its fore-legs on the receptacle 

 containing water and protruded its head to its fullest extent 

 into the water and moved its mandibles and palps rapidly to 

 and fro. After some time it left the water and walked away a short 

 distance where it lay on its side and rolled itself up. It appeared 

 as if it were preparing to sleep after having had a drink of water. 

 But this was not the case. It had been busy with its toilet. 

 Having completed washing its mouth-parts in the water it 

 now laid down to clean its body. It extended the filamentous 

 appendage at the posterior end of its body, consisting of a number 

 of soft, slender, retractile, sticky-looking objects which form 



