390 * Mro C.-0. Far@farson’s Five Years’ Observations 
see a few trustful Membracids. callously devoured, but 
failed to see the murder done. Then I went the round of 
other interesting trees and so home. In the evening | 
went back, having read up Megalopalpus about six times 
| Trans. Ent. Soc., 1913, p. 458]. After sitting for the 
best part of an hour with about twenty or more ants in 
most hostile association with each of my hands, one holding 
the branch and the other the shrub, I came to one or two 
conclusions. 
In the first place, I failed entirely to find out what the 
adult Membracid gives to the ants, and, as far as this 
afternoon’s work goes, [ am inclined to believe that they 
give nothing at all. The species, whatever it is, is rather 
tame, and I had no difficulty in watching both them and 
the ants. 
Secondly, the particular larvae that I watched this after- 
noon made no attempt to eat the Membracids. The adults 
wouldn't wait, I imagine, to be eaten, but the relation of 
the Lycaenid larva to the Membracid, was with the larval 
stage of the latter, and that I saw as clearly as possible. 
The Lycaenid larva is very sluggish in its movements 
and hardly moved an inch from where it was when I came, 
all the time [ remained. Whenever a Membracid larva 
came near it got busy and so did the ants. They all got 
busy in the same quarter, which was the upturned, retroussé 
end of the abdomen from which at fairly rapid intervals a 
short process was thrust out, on the top of which a clear 
droplet was simultaneously visible and instantaneously 
mopped up by the most enterprising of the suitors, which 
was generally the Lycaenid, in virtue of its superior size. 
Along with one or two ants it tickled with its anterior true 
legs the business end of the Membracid, but by “ lolling ” 
(in contrast with the extremely active habits of the ants), 
in a gross and unmannerly way, right over the orifice, it 
hardly gave the ants a chance. When an ant did get there 
first it generally shared, by regurgitation, the good thing 
with a fellow, and I am inclined to think on one or two 
occasions with the less gracious Lycaenid. But they 
showed no ill feeling if the latter got there first, and though 
all the time they kept biting me with great vigour—though 
the bite is little more than a fairly sharp prickling sensa- 
tion—they showed no disposition to attack the Lycaenid. 
That is as far as I have got with this particular larva. I 
saw a mature 9 Membracid ovipositing exactly in the 
