146 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



By the observations I previously carried out in connection 

 with the relations existing between this larva and ants (recorded 

 in vol. xxxvi. pp. 58-9), and not being able to discover any proof 

 showing that they passed their last stage in ants' nests, also 

 from the site chosen by the larva for pupation, it appeared likely 

 that the larva fed on either the blossom or the tender shoots of 

 the younger furze bushes ; and this idea was strengthened not 

 only by the position of the pupa, but also by the usual habit of 

 the butterfly in selecting the flower-heads of thyme growing up 

 through the young furze, especially those freshly grown after 

 being burnt down, which are shorter, dense, and of tender 

 growth, to deposit their eggs upon. Therefore, upon arrival at 

 the locality where we previously (last July) watched the females 

 depositing, we set steadily and systematically at work in closely 

 examining every particle of growth and surface of the ground. 

 This occupied the whole of the first day and half of the next ; 

 the intervening night was spent in making a careful search by 

 lamp- light. As this all proved fruitless, we then determined on 

 searching all the most likely-looking ants' nests ; first one, then 

 another, was carefully dug up and searched without any satis- 

 factory result; but, knowing the object of our investigation must 

 be somewhere in the immediate vicinity, we continued our task, 

 when at length, upon shaking part of the crown of the nest over 

 a cloth, a goodly- sized, plump, cream-coloured, grub-like larva 

 fell out, which I instantly identified as a full-grown avion larva. 

 On closer examination, I noticed that the disc on the first 

 segment appeared exactly of the same size as in the larva after 

 the third moult and before hybernating, and that its head was 

 so disproportionately small for the size of its body, that I at 

 once concluded it had not passed through another moult, but 

 could not decide upon this for certain until microscopically 

 examining all detail later on. To our surprise, in the same 

 small portion of ants' nest, we found three more avion larvse. 

 Three were almost similar in size, about y% in., and one a good 

 deal smaller, measuring only f in. long. These four larvse were 

 only just beneath the surface among the roots of the little plants 

 of grass growing with the thyme ; the soil surrounding them was 

 loose and friable, worked up by the ants. There were, in com- 

 pany with the avion, ants and their larvae and pupaB. 



Upon the success of finding four larvae together in the space 

 of about three inches square, we felt almost sure of finding more; 

 but although we devoted another hour or two that evening and 

 part of the next day in examining a great number of ants' nests, 

 we were unable to find any more, which appears remarkable, 

 especially after finding four in one nest. Considering the large 

 quantity of nests examined, I doubt if future searching will prove 

 a very successful undertaking. 



Description of larva : The fully-grown larva, after third and 



