THE EARLIER STAGES OF LYC.ENA ARION. 59 



only exist during the first three stages. I supplied this larva 

 with an ant's cocoon with one end removed ; it at once began 

 eating it. I then placed them under the low power of the 

 microscope to carefully watch the proceedings, which were in- 

 teresting. I watched it feeding on the jelly-like substance of 

 the pupa, as well as the cocoon, which it ate in the same manner 

 as it would a leaf, by biting the edge. It fed for several minutes. 

 This seemed so far satisfactory, as I thought I had found the 

 right food for the larvae in their subsequent stages, but this 

 proved not to be the case. Having found a dead ario7i larva, I 

 placed it in a box with some ants, which immediately seized hold 

 of it, apparently intending to kill it. I then put a live larva in 

 another box with four ants {F.flava), and expected them to treat 

 it in the same way, but was surprised to find them act quite the 

 reverse ; they all immediately ran to it, and, waving their 

 antennae over and upon it, at the same time closed their jaws, 

 and then apparently smelt and licked it, and seemed particularly 

 attracted to the hinder part of its back, about the tenth segment. 

 First one and then another of the ants would would run over the 

 larva, and then stop to lick that part of its back. I then noticed 

 a tiny bead of moisture appear, and one of the ants touched it 

 with its mouth, which instantly caused the bead to disappear. I 

 afterwards placed both larva and ants under the microscope, 

 which at once revealed the cause of attraction, for there on the 

 tenth segment I found a small elongated transverse gland on the 

 dorsal surface. I then examined with the microscope another 

 larva in the same stage while it was feeding, during which opera- 

 tion the gland is kept throbbing ; so I placed the ants close to it, 

 and soon saw them run over it (of course, under the microscope 

 only a foot or part of an ant would appear in the field). Directly 

 a foot touched the gland, or very near it, it immediately 

 throbbed more violently, and swelled up. It then ejected a 

 globule of clear white liquid. At the same instant the head of 

 an ant appeared, and licked up the drop. In a few seconds a 

 foot again touched the gland, and another bead of liquid oozed 

 out, which was at once again licked up by an ant. An inter- 

 esting fact is that the larva unheeded the ants running over and 

 around it while it kept feeding; but the gland is apparently 

 extremely sensitive to the touch of an ant's foot. Although I 

 have several times touched the glands of several larvae with the 

 point of a very fine sable-hair brush, they would at once wince and 

 contract, but on no account could I induce the exudation of the 

 liquid ; but directly an ant's foot, or the claws of the foot, touched 

 it a bead would appear, and at once be imbibed by the ants. 

 Although the larva was kept in a box with numerous ants, both 

 workers and winged females, together with their pupae, the ants 

 one and all acted precisely similarly ; not one attempted to bite 



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