34.04 Mire OU en i, rer Five Years’ Observations 
ordinary, but I have taken great care in the matter and 
I do think my interpretation of what I saw is fairly reason- 
able. Let me first explain the conditions. Two trees of 
the same species (which probably belongs to the Apocy- 
naceae) had grown up together, but, in partially clearing 
the land, one was cut down to within a foot or two of its 
base, and the other was left. From the stump of the one 
cut down a large number of sucker shoots have sprung, 
the tips of which are just about 6 feet from the ground. 
The ends of the lateral branches are nearly all being 
sucked by Coccids, all of which are ant-attended. Both 
the big tree and the stump are wholly over-run by ants, 
though their main habitat is in the big tree and in another 
of the same species about 6 feet away. They do not 
have a carton nest, but appear to live in holes in dead 
branches, though this I have yet to verify. There is a 
constant stream of ants up and down the trunks of both 
the big tree and the stump too. About a week ago, on 
Thursday evening, Feb. 22nd, to be exact, I was trying 
to find out what the larvae might feed on, suspecting the 
Coccids as their prey, for pupae are very commonly found 
near them—often indeed on a leaf of the twig they are 
sucking. Suddenly I noticed one of the butterflies alight 
on a twig, as I thought, perhaps to oviposit. It remained 
for a few seconds and then flew off, circling rapidly round 
the stump, soon to alight again. It lit on a branch with 
ants and Coccids on it, and I felt sure I was to see what 
I’ve not so far been lucky enough to witness—a Lycaenid 
ovipositing. I suppose my anxiety to see this prevented 
me “tumbling” to what really was doing. The butterfly 
lit just at the tip of the branch, the Coccids being about 
an inch behind that. It proceeded to walk backwards 
rather slowly and deliberately, the abdomen inclined 
upwards at a fairly steep angle to the thorax, and the 
Wings opening and closing fairly rapidly—though not by 
any means nervously or excitedly—and gently beating the 
twig. The ants retreated backwards, making hardly any 
resistance at all, though some dodged to the underside of 
the twig and ran forwards. The butterfly having gone 
back about three inches then suddenly dropped the abdomen 
so that it rested on the twig and ran rapidly forward, the 
tip of the abdomen brushing the twig as it did so. The 
backward manceuyre was repeated, this time on the under- 
side of the twig, the wings then hanging downwards, the 
