454 Mr. W. A. Lamborn on the 
the gradual dwindling in their numbers. I have found the 
larvae a little larger each time I have inspected them, and 
to-night I found a fresh pupa with the cuticle of the larva 
still adherent to its base. 
“ Presuming that these larvae are the same that I re- 
stored to ants’ nests weeks ago—and I think they are— 
they have taken far longer to attain full growth than in my 
experience is usual with Lycaenid larvae. 
‘““T have examined a great number of nests of Oecophylla 
without finding more of these or any other larvae, and I 
frequently looked into nests last year and during my first 
year on the West Coast, for the purpose of watching the 
ants, and I did not find larvae, so that I am not disposed to 
accept the statement that Lepidopterous larvae are very 
commonly found in the nests of these ants in this country. 
I am inclined to think that one would find a greater variety 
in the nests of the black tree-ants (Cremastogaster buchnerv), 
for I have now frequently seen Lycaenids ovipositing on the 
bark of trees frequented by these ants, and more than once 
in the actual stream of ants going up and down the trunk. 
I have also frequently found Lycaenid pupae and pupa- 
cases in the immediate vicinity of their black carton 
nests (pp. 456-7). 
“T really must try and look through some of these nests. 
The difficulty is that they are so hard that one would 
require a hammer and chisel to make any impression on 
them, and the ants are excessively numerous and bite 
savagely. 
“ By the way, the Lycaenid larvae were mostly in one 
large nest of Oecophylla, and I subsequently collected a few 
in little outlying dependencies of the same nest. Should 
the butterfly turn out to be one of the rarer species, surely 
it would be an argument against their common occurrence 
in nests, for, in such a position, the mortality should not be 
high.” 
“June 24, 1912. I am sending the first of the Oeco- 
phylla Lycaenids. Some of the other pupae do not look 
very healthy, but I am sure to get a few more imagines. 
I forget if | mentioned that I had found one small pale 
green Lycaenid larva of the same type as these others in a 
nest of Oecophylla. I have since found 3 other larvae of some 
kind, so small that I am not even able to pronounce whether 
they are Lepidopterous or not. They are pale green in 
colour, so that I am not confusing them with the larvae of 
