THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XLL] MAY, 1908. [No. 540 



ON THE EGG AND FIRST-STAGE LARVA OF 

 PAPILIO HOMERUS, Fabr. 



By T. a. Chapman, F.E.S. 



(Plates III.-V.) 



The egg and young larva of this butterfly are described by 

 Gosse in the Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond. for 1879, p. Iv, and the full- 

 grown larva and pupa in the ' Transactions ' for 1894, p. 409, 

 but no figures at any larval stage are, so far as I know, 

 available. 



It is, therefore, with some satisfaction that I am able to give 

 a figure of the newly-hatched larva from stereoscopic photo- 

 graphs by Mr. A. E. Tonge, F.E.S. This larva is not so 

 eccentric as a young Papilio as it was regarded by Gosse. The 

 full-grown larva, like that of most Papilios, is without hairs or 

 spines ; Gosse's remarks were no doubt due to expecting the 

 newly-hatched and full-grown larva to be similar. 



This young larva would be very remarkable were it that of a 

 Papilio larva in the last stage. Though it is, so far as I know, 

 very unusual in the high pillars on which the bristles are 

 mounted, it is not essentially very different from the first-stage 

 larva of, say, cresphontes, as figured by Scudder. 



Mr. G. R. Baldock, F.E.S., handed me some eggs of Papilio 

 homenis ; they were found in the envelope with a female 

 P. homerus in paper, attached to the end of the abdomen. The 

 datum on the envelope was June 7th, Mooretown, Jamaica. 

 Several of the eggs contained dead larvas, which had eaten holes 

 in the shells, but had not succeeded in escaping. There was one 

 larva dead and shrivelled that was free. 



The eggs were more or less fastened together and smeared 

 with a glutinous substance, most abundant about the base of the 

 egg. I imagine that if the eggs had been laid naturally it would 



ENTOM. — may, 1908. I 



