166 BOMBAY NATUTRAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
1867. Mr. Moore, in Vol. I. of his ‘Lepidoptera of Ceylon,” pub- 
lished in 1881, quotes a note by Dr. Thwaites, who observed that cer- 
sain formicidians attended the larvee of some Lyczenids ; the species are 
not stated. Again, in 1886, Mr. W. Doherty records certain obser- 
vations of his on the same subject. But Mr. W. H. Edwards 
has given in “ The Canadian Kntomologist,” Vol. X., p. 1, et seq., the 
fullest account I have seen of these organs and their use, and I have 
copied (Plate No. 27) a woodcut of the posterior segments very 
much enlarged of the larva of Lycena pseudargtolus, Boisduval and 
Leconte, a North American butterfly, which he gave to ‘illustrate 
his remarks. In Calcutta I have found that the larvee of over a 
dozen Lyceenide are affected by ants. I collected specimens of the 
latter, and have had them identified by Dr. Forel of Geneva, a 
great authority on ants. I now give the observations of a valued 
correspondent (Mrs. Wylly) onthe same subject, and hope that others 
will follow up the matter, as there is still much to be learnt as to 
what species of Lycanide are affected by ants, what ants perform 
> and guardiansto the larvee, and what larvee 
the offices of “ milkers’ 
possess these special organs. 
That ants attend Aphides (plant-lice), many Homopterons, 
Josside, &c., in much the same way and for the same purpose, is 
well known, and it seems unnecessary to make any special reference 
to the fact beyond just mentioning it. This is what my correspon- 
dent has to say on the subject :— 
“The larvee of Tarucus theophrastus, Fabricius, are cultivated and 
protected by the large common black ants of Indian gardens and 
houses. ‘The caterpillar, which varies in colour from light pure 
green to a dark reddish tint [this is a common variation in Lyceenid 
larvec| is about three-quarters of an inch long, louse-like in shape, 
and slow in movement, and it feeds on the Zizyphus jujuba, a small 
thorny bush of the jungles, with an edible astringent yellowish fruit, 
the “ Byr-coolie” of the natives. Some Lyccenide larve have the 
power of protruding and retracting at will two small fleshy tentacles 
or horns, each tufted with a brush of fine hairs, from the upper sur- 
face of the tailsegments, Between [on thenext segment anteriorly] 
these tentacles is a small slit, from which they exude a small drop of 
a juice of some sort eagerly sought by the ants, and which they can 
generally procure by stroking the larvee gently with their antenne. 
The ants set up what appears to be merely a temporary nest at 
the foot of the tree, the better to carry on their operations. Just 
