CoLENSo. — On Danais berenice. 277 



the letter wliicli accompauied tliem, Mr. Huntley says : — "I soud you some 

 caterpillars gathered from ' cotton plants ' in a neighbouring garden, grown 

 from seed sown about two years ago. My attention was first drawn to 

 them yesterday by a lady in the garden, she having gathered at least forty 

 of them on her cherished row of ' cotton plants.' The most extraordinary 

 thing seems to be that, although they made a large quantity of vegetable 

 dehris (more than a silk- worm), the leaves of the ' cotton plants ' shovv^ no 

 signs of having been eaten ; and, further, there is nothing in the neighbour- 

 hood of the said plants upon which the caterpillars could possibly feed. 

 These I send you I gathered myself from the plants — breaking off the twigs 

 on which the caterpillars were clinging without disturbing them. I send, 

 also with them the important loarts of the plant from which they were 

 gathered. I shall be glad to know whether the caterpillars will eat what is 

 in the box." 



Unfortunately, when I received the box on the following day, the 26th, 

 there was scarcely a vestige of vegetable matter remainmg in it, save the 

 woody fibrous parts of the small branches or twigs, and the ends (petioles) 

 of a few hard leaf stalks, with a very small bit of a green capsule having 

 the remains of soft spines, somewhat resembling that of a young one of 

 Datura stramonium ; and also a large amount of " vegetable debris " (fseces). 

 Of the four larvae, however, three were alive and very active, apparently 

 ravenously hungry. I immediately procured them leaves of various plants, 

 both indigenous and exotiG^viz., sow thistle (Sonchus oleraceus), ngaio 

 (Myojyorum Icetum), Cape gooseberry fPhysalisj, Arthro]:) odium cirrhatum, 

 Dodoncea viscosa, Entelea arhorescens, Coprosma lacida, Veronica (s^^ecies), 

 Acacia (species). Geranium, voses, laurustinus, laburnum, flowering currant, 

 Cordyline, and of clovers and grasses ; but nothing I offered suited them — 

 they would not eat. 



These larvae appeared to be of gregarious habit ; two of them were 

 much larger than then- companion, the thh'd, being about two inches long, 

 and of pretty uniform thickness throughout, each having six fore-legs (ver^) 

 and eight hind ones ; the body smooth, transversely and alternately striped 

 or banded with bright yeUow lilac and wJiite, each having in all eleven yellow 

 stripes, while on each side of the yellow stripe was (1) white, (2) narrow 

 lilac line, (3) white, (4) broad lilac band nearly a line in width, (5) white, 

 (6) narrow lilac line, (7) white, (8) yellow ; so that between each of the 

 eleven yellow transverse bands, were seven other bands and lines of lilac 

 and white, which were clearly distinguishable when the animal stretched 

 itself out in crawling ; the feet and beUy of the larvae were of a dark-blue 

 almost a blue-blackish colour ; the head was regularly striped across with 

 lilac and white ; it had two antennae or horns near its anterior end, which 

 were also bluish-blaok and nine lines long, cyhndrical, soft and flexible ; it 



