igiS,] C. A. Paiva: The Indian Glow-ivorm. 23- 



the 25th it could not be seen at all. On the 26th some earth was 

 removed by me causing an opening through which it could be seen 

 lying perfectly still on its side. In order not to disturb it I placed 

 a small stone on top of the opening. On the 27th I touched 

 the larva with a match stick, which it seemed to resent as it 

 moved and glowed. The opening was left uncovered from 5 

 to 8.30 P.M. during which time it glowed continuously. Nothing 

 took place on the 28th and 29th. On the morning of the 30th the 

 doors of the room were all closed and the room was in perfect 

 darkness. I removed the stone which covered the opening and a 

 faint glow was visible, which gradually died away. Noise of any 

 kind, even talking, caused it to glow, though very slightly. 

 In the evening I introduced another similau larva into the cage. 

 This larva was sent by the Deputy Commissioner of Angul, Orissa. 

 It appeared much larger than the other which had hidden itself 

 in a "dug-out." The Angul larva behaved in exactly the same 

 manner as the one from Rambha, devouring snails every night, 

 having no regard to size or species. Nothing of special interest 

 happened till the 5th September, when I noticed an empty shell of 

 Macrochlawys stuck at the entrance of the " dug-out" in which the 

 Rambha larva was. I removed the shell and found that the larva 

 had changed its position and appeared to occupy more room than 

 it had done during the past week or two inside its "dug-out." It 

 also appeared as if it had eaten the snail, the shell of which was at 

 the opening. Up to 6th September the two larvae were in 

 one cage. On this day after dusk the larva from Angul walked 

 about the cage and in its wanderings it came across the en- 

 trance to the "dugout" of the other larva. It stopped a 

 while at the entrance, peered into the "dug-out"' and on seeing a 

 light inside, it remained quite still with the anterior portion 

 of its body almost covering the opening. The larva in the " dug- 

 out " glowed all the time, sometimes more brightly than at 

 others. This, however, did not scare away the Angul larva, which , 

 after a while, began to make its way into the "dug-out." Pre- 

 suming that this would terminate in one larva eating the other, 

 I pulled the Angul larva away. The other larva had in the 

 meantime protected itself from attack by turning its dorsal surface 

 towards the opening of the "dug-out," thus offering a hard 

 surface to the Angul larva in case of attack, and also barring 

 the entrance to the ' ' dug-out.'' Once pulled away the Angul larva 

 did not further attempt to enter the abode of the other larva 

 although the opening was left open all night. iVs an alternative it 

 seized a medium-sized Achat ina fuhca, this being the second 

 specimen of that species which it had eaten during the 6th. 

 On the 7th September the Angul larva was placed in a separate 

 cage. On the evening of the 8th I found the hole, in which the Ram- 

 bha larva had been, empty. It (the larva) had changed its skin, 

 which I afterwards discovered, was its last but one moult, and now 

 appeared much larger. On leaving its " dug-out" it went forth in 

 search of food. I had left a medium-sized Achatina in the 



