64 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA: 



the eggs on the Swainsona, one of the most useful of 

 flowering plants for the garden. 



The eggs of this species are deposited on or near to 

 the plant attacked, and, when hatched, the singular 

 looking grubs soon commence the work of destruction. 



Our plate (Fig. l) shows the manner of attack, and 

 the grubs at work on French beans, peas being served 

 in a much similar manner. There is more than one 

 brood of this butterfly, and according to Messrs. Anderson 

 and Spry, the spring, or September, brood produces 

 much finer specimens than those of the summer and the 

 autumn. The larva of this butterfly is shaped some- 

 what in the form of a wood-louse, and is a very remarkable 

 creature. It is a singular fact concerning members of 

 this group (Lyccenidce) that they have a great attraction 

 for ants, and the late L. de Niceville, of Calcutta, explains 

 that those species attended by the ants have, on the 

 eleventh segment, a gland which gives out a liquid 

 exceedingly prized by the ants ; and in consequence they 

 guard and tend the larvae in much the same way as 

 they do various Aphida and Coccidce. This attendance 

 by ants is a very singular proceeding, and many times 

 I have been asked whether the ants were killing the 

 grubs, or simply tending them for their own use. 



This family is fairly largely represented in Australia, 

 especially in the more tropical parts of it, where certain 

 genera, such as Danis, Miletus, Arhopala, and others, 

 furnish some of the most exquisitely colored of all 

 Australian butterflies. In Victoria, too, there are many 

 representatives of the family, some of the kinds being 

 both rare and of extreme beauty and delicacy. 



Prevention and Remedies. 



Immediately the bean shows signs of shape, and if the 

 butterfly season be at hand, spray the rows with a 

 preparation of quassia chips ; this rendering the plants 

 disagreeable to the insects, which have come for the 

 purpose of egg-laying and rearing an early brood. This 



