Ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland. 587 
moments attending to her legs and antennae, finally 
running off a much happier creature; whilst one ant is 
being attended to, another may stand by to take her turn 
when number one departs. 
The larvae crawl with a fairly brisk and slightly undu- 
lating motion. They are not nervous or irritable, and 
will wander about the hand without caring if they are 
touched or stroked; the head may be drawn in for a brief 
moment, but the journey is continued, and very often the 
forward segments are uplifted and the head turned about 
in an inquiring manner. Quite as a matter of course one 
will mount another and be carried about, and stay there 
by the hour, even should the other be engaged i in spinning, 
the spinner apparently not concerned or “inconvenienced 
in the least. Sometimes one cocoon is spun upon another, 
even out on the trees; amongst exhibits there are several 
of these. 
When the period for pupation arrives the caterpillars 
move out of the nests in the early morning with the ants, 
and travel along with them to the nearest trees which 
they are in the habit of ascending, then seeking out a 
crevice to get into, or a fragment of bark to creep under, 
they commence their cocoons, small parties of ants taking 
an interest in the process, their presence probably due to 
a desire to receive a last taste of the larval liquid, for 
before the roof of the cocoon is far advanced some larvae 
emit a little of this, which wets the threads above—this, 
by keeping the ants in attendance, doubtless is a provision 
against the attacks of ichneumons. There are usually 
several ants about a cocoon if the moth has not emerged. 
The cocoon has a wide “ frog-mouthed ” slit, like those of 
the two following species and the Fulgorid insect. Asa rule 
it is pale salmon pink in colour, and its construction is an 
undertaking of many hours—often after four hours of work 
the larva is not quite hidden, though it works rapidly; 
the walls are gone over repeatedly and are made tough 
and strong ere the roof is commenced, then for long after 
the larva can be discerned through the gradually thicken- 
ing top. Owing to the presence of the ants few larvae 
are parasitised whilst spinning, but a dark wasp-like 
ichneumon succeeds in victimising them now and then, 
only one fly coming from a cocoon; to escape it bites 
through the top of the cocoon, that being the weakest 
part. Though a larva may wander from the ant path and 
