( 49 ) 



at Kew as Costus afer, Ker.-Gawl (Scitamineae), a specimen 

 being sent home in the first consignment of plants." 



The flower-head was sent to Kew and determined as C. afer, 

 sens. I at. 



The next letter (Oct. 3rd, 1911) gave an account of Mr. 

 Lamborn's attempt — in all probability a successful one — to 

 breed Oboronia s from a known parent — 



"I believe the Oboronias now sent to be the offspring of 

 the female whose remains are packed with them. She was 

 eaten by the ants. With a view to obtaining a family of 

 them I selected a good head of the food-plant in our clearing 

 at Oni, and cleared it of all ants and their debris, removing at 

 the same time all dead matter. I went over it again the next 

 day, and the following morning I pushed it through a hole in 

 the floor of a box, closing up all the space round it with 

 cotton-wool. I then put the Oboronia female inside and 

 covered the box with muslin in front. In the course of a 

 couple of days the ants got in and formed a nest composed of 

 sawdust, etc., over the flowering head. The butterfly died 

 and was mostly eaten up by the ants. I was not able to look 

 for eggs or larvae, but when I did pick the flowering head to 

 pieces I found a few pupae which I feel confident must have 

 been the progeny of that insect." 



[ciii 



The following observations, recorded in the same letter, 

 show that all ants are not equally benevolent in their treat- 

 ment of the Oboronias — ■ 



" On Oct. 5th I obtained a half-grown larva of Oboronia 

 punctata and placed it on a stem on which ' tree driver ' 

 ants [evidently Oecophylla sma/ragdina, F., race longinoda, 

 Latr.] were running up and down. The first driver that 

 came along investigated it hurriedly with his antennae and 

 then gripped its anal extremity in his jaws and held on. 

 More ants came down. Some passed on without noticing the 

 larva, others just touched it with their antennae and then 

 went on. Seven or eight thus passed it by, and the next ant 

 stood over its hind extremity and discovered on the dorsal 

 aspect of, I think, the second segment some material which it 

 ate. I actually saw it take up the semi-solid material and 



