on some Carnivorous Insects. 343 



noticed too that the earliest eggs in the experiment — the 

 laid eggs of A. caldarena — had, earUer, also been placarded 

 in the same way. I then laid down, in three pieces each, 

 the abdomen and thorax of the Acraea. These were seized 

 by quite a number of ants, as was a whole, wingless, dead 

 A. caldarena, but were not carried far, each being abandoned 

 after a trip of a few inches. They were not placarded, at 

 any rate to any noticeable extent. In the general bustle 

 the earlier caldarena and acara eggs became uncovered, 

 and they and at any rate the larger of the remaining 

 eggs came in for a good deal of additional attention, 

 and the remaining green ethalion egg was quickly carried 

 off, as also one of the yellow ones. One hippocoon egg 

 disappeared now or earlier, but may of course simply have 

 become hidden by loose earth ; the other remained un- 

 taken throughout and eventually fell into some debris in 

 a rut, and I was unable to recover it. I saw none of the 

 small Nymphahne eggs taken, and was able to find more 

 than half of them at the end. I added a P. demodocus 

 and a hippocoon egg during the bustle, and these were after 

 much delay taken, and an egg of either Char axes hrutus or 

 C. cithaeron, which was visited by many ants, and though 

 a relatively large and conspicuous object and brimming 

 over with liquid was each time merely tried and left. A 

 green C. ethalion which I added to it was taken practically 

 at once, and eventually the larger Charaxes egg found a 

 carrier too. The uncovered Acraea eggs found many 

 visitors but never a carrier, and on my visiting the ants 

 again the last thing in the evening remained uneaten and 

 had been partly earthed up again. 



Before discontinuing the experiment I had added one 

 or two small, black orange-Aphides by themselves, and, 

 in a mass on the twig on which I found them, a large 

 number of others. They attracted a great deal of atten- 

 tion, but I was unable definitely to see that the ants 

 " milked " them at all, as do some of our other ants, but 

 a few of the usual warning earth-crumbs were placed on 

 them. 



May 2nd. — During the morning, again going to yester- 

 day's side-column, I placed by it several eggs of ^. caldarena 

 and A. acara. They were subjected to a great deal of 

 inspection, and finally earthed and neglected. A Danaida 

 chrysippus egg which I placed right in the ants' path was 

 inspected by very numerous ants but always at once 



