A MYRMECOPHILOUS LYC/£NID CHRYSALIS FROM THE 

 PHILIPPINES. 



By H. VlEHJIEXEE. 



(Dresden, Germany.) 

 [Translated by W. Schultze.] 



At the beginning of the j-ear 1908, Mr. W. Schultze, of Manila, sent 

 me a very interesting lepidopterous chrysalis, together with some ants, 

 for which I here wish to express by thanks. Concerning the locality the 

 following information is taken from his letter : 



"One of my friends (Mr. H. JI. Curran) had a large, old tree in Santa Maria, 

 Laguna Province, cut doivn in order to obtain certain epiphytic plants. As the 

 tree lay on the ground, he observed that ants had built an earthen nest among the 

 roots of one of the epiphytes, and that the nest had been broken by the fall of 

 the tree. His interest was further aroused when he noticed that the furious 

 ants had grouped themselves around certain objects within special cells fastened 

 to the bark of the tree as if to defend these objects.His astonislunent was great 

 when he found that the immovable objects were lepidopterous chrysalids. He 

 counted about sixteen specimens. In using a forceps for their extraction from 

 the nest he crushed three, after which he succeeded in loosening six more with 

 his hands. These he placed in a glass bottle and brought them, four days later, 

 to the laboratory." 



So much for the facts. Unfortunately, no butterflies emerged from 

 the chrysalids, although they were in an advanced stage of development. 



We are in all probability dealing with a species of the genus Arhopala. 

 The ants were Cam-ponotus quadrisectus Smith (det. Forel). First of 

 all, so far as the particular nest design of Camponotiis is concerned, one 

 is strikingly reminded of the hanging nests or "ant gardens" which E. 

 TJle observed in the Amazon region.^ In our case, what he says about 

 Camponotus femoratus Fabr., would appear to best apply to the question 

 namely :" 



"The nests of these ants are often built high up in the trees, though they are 

 found just as abundant in shrubs more or less close to the ground. The primary 



^ Ameisengarten im Amazonengebiet. In Engler's hoi. Jahrb. (1902), 30, No. 

 68, 45-52. 



- Blumengarten der Ameisen am Amazonenstrome. In Karsten u. Sehenck, 

 Vegetationsbilder, 3te Eeihe, Heft I, Taf. 1-6. 



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