4 Major A. Alcock — Exhihilion of some insects. [Jan. 



Mr. tie Nieoville, who lias made some observations on this subject 

 {vide Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. Vol. Ill, 1888, pp. 164-168), consi- 

 ders tliat tlie use of these brushes is to sweep away Ichneumon flies and 

 parasitic Dlptera. They are certainly capable of doing this very effec- 

 tually, but I think they would also scare bigger eneitnes. 



The second exhibit includes enlarged drawings of the well-known 

 larvae of the Papilionio butterfly Pnpilio pammon, whicli w^as common 

 in my garden, at the close of last rainy-season, on shrubs of the Orange 

 order. 



In its early stages the larva of this butterfly is dull tureen smeared 

 with white, and miglit easily be mistaken for a bird's-dropping. 



As it grows older the markings become well defined, and the animal 

 is an undoubted caterpillar, though two large eyelike markings on the 

 second segment behind the head give it an ugly look. 



But, like the caterpillar of Curetis thefys, it does not trust solely to 

 its looks to deceive or frighten its enemies ; but it has also the power, 

 when it is irritated, of shooting out, from the crevice between the back 

 of the head and the first thoracic segment, a pair of very alarming 

 bright-red horns. 



The effect is so startling, even to a man accustomed to handle ani- 

 mals of all sorts, that one can easily imagine that it would effectually 

 scare a bird. 



The third exhibit includes enlarged draAvings of the well-known 

 caterpillar of the Notodontid moth, Stauropus alternns. These cater- 

 pillars, which can be found in Calcutta and its vicinity in the rainy 

 season, are as extraordinary in look as they are in behaviour. When 

 touched, they turn the hinder end of the body over on to the back, in 

 the manner of an enraged scorpion, and then begin to tremble as if 

 agitated by tlie most uncontrollable emotion. There are certain parti- 

 cularly irascible ants that behave somewhat in the same way, and there 

 can be little doubt that the suggestion, which has been made, that the 

 attitude of the alarmed Stauropns caterpillar may be mistaken bj^ its 

 enemies for the offensive posture of an ant of enormous dimensions, is 

 somewhere near the truth. 



The insects that accompany these drawings are common enough, 

 during the monsoon, in Calcutta, and I recommend them to your further 

 notice. No observer can watch their behaviour without admiration. 

 Of their power to terrify creatures like birds, wliose high aesthetic and 

 emotional development cannot but be accompanied by at least the germs 

 of superstition, there can be no uncertainty. 



Mr. de Niceville, in criticizing these remarks, considered that 

 although perhaps the "scares" might frighten birds, their most 



