20 Mr. F. Muir and Dr. D. Sharp on 



1. The larva is naked Baslpta. 



2. The larva carries the old skius. 



(a) The excrement is attached to the old skins, and forms a 



solid pad Gassida, Laccoptcra. 



(b) The excrement does not fonii a solid pad, but is carried 



either in the form of long filaments or is not used 

 at all Aspidomorpha. 



The four species of Asjndomorjjha fall into three divisions, 

 viz, : 



1. The larva carries long filaments of excrement attached to 



each one of the old skins it hears A.iigri)ia. 



2. The larva carries long filaments attached only to the earliest 



of the old skins A. lecta. 



3. There areno filaments of excrement. A.pundkodtainidconjinis. 



We are not yet able to explain these variations, as 

 comparative observations on the formation of the filaments 

 and on the structures by which they are formed are want- 

 ing, except for the brief remark made on a previous page 

 as to a difference in the length of the anal tubes of two 

 species of As-pidomorpha. 



Comparative observations on the movements and actions 

 of these different kinds of larvse are also wanting, so that 

 it is too early to consider the uses to which their peculiar 

 clothing and armature are put. Two opinions on this 

 subject have already been expressed. Candeze considers 

 that the apparatus protects the larvoB against enemies, while 

 "Weise denies this, and says the larva Cassida is protected 

 by its clothing against drought. 



Mr. Muir's observations on A. ^uncticosta show that the 

 larva is " very heavily parasitized." He has bred a species 

 of the genus Clialcis, as well as other ChalcididcV from it. 

 Broods produced at certain seasons are more affected by 

 the parasites than those produced at other seasons ; a 

 phenomenon that is well known in parasitology. In the 

 case of Cassida and Laccoptcra — the pad-bearing forms — 

 the larvse feed on the upper^surface of the leaf, and thus 

 afford some slight grounds for the " protection against 

 drought " theory. 



As we have already previously said, we have made no 

 observations as to the composition or chemical characters 

 of what we have called the colleterial fluid. It is probably 

 not true chitin, though it possesses the property of drying 



