34 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



pubescent-green or brown, with a very small pretractile head. On 

 each side of the 8th abdominal segment above, there is a short pro- 

 tuberance, from which can, in most cases, e.g., Tarueus theophrastus, be 

 extended a brush of hairs, and apparently absent in Azanns ubaldus. 

 This is, I have no doubt, a scent-gland, and may be intended to 

 attract the notice of the purblind ants. On the dorsal line of the 

 preceding segment, there is another short tubercle exuding a viscid 

 juice. It exists in all the Lycaenidae known to me, whether they are 

 maintained by ants or not, and from it issues a gummy thread, by the 

 aid of which, I believe, the caterpillars sometimes swing themselves 

 from branch to branch, or attach themselves to leaves. But, though 

 in all probability acquired for such purposes, it is peculiarly attractive 

 to ants, which, at all hours, surround the caterpillar, and, by stroking 

 and tickling it with their antenna, induce it to yield up this sweet (?) 

 liquid. I have not yet found any caterpillar in the possession of web- 

 making or arboreal ants, such as Formica smaragdina, and no restraint, 

 such as Dr. Thwaites mentions, was placed upon any larva observed by 

 me ; but the ants would always remain near the caterpillar, and would 

 always fly fiercely to the rescue if anything molested it. When it 

 had attained its full-growth, the ants, forming a circle round it, would 

 forcibly drive it down to their nest at the foot of the tree. This sight 

 is rather an amusing one, the caterpillar often showing the greatest 

 reluctance to leave its pasture ground, and manifesting strong doubts 

 as to the intentions of its escort. I was struck with the forbearance 

 and patience of the ants which carefully abstained from any violent 

 use of their formidable jaws, though the journey was sometimes pro- 

 longed to six or seven hours. Having arrived at the foot of the tree, 

 the ants deposited the caterpillar in an open space just within the 

 mouth of the nest, whereupon the latter would attach itself to the 

 bark, and there commence its transformations. I have counted as 

 many as thirteen chrysalids of Azanus ubaldus so attached, in one 

 nest, at the foot of a kind of babul tree, Acacia leucoplaea. The 

 instinct which induces the ants to preserve these caterpillars in their 

 nests, thus sacrificing a large present supply of food to the possibility 

 of a future supply of the sweet juice they are so fond of, strikes me 

 as one of the most remarkable things in nature." 



Niceville gives (Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soe., iii., pp. 164-168) 

 further details on this subject, observing that, in Calcutta, he has 

 found the larvae of over a dozen Lycaenidae affected by ants. The 

 most important part of the paper, however, consists of a series of 

 observations on Tarueus theophrastus, Fab., by Mrs. Wylly, who 

 writes : " The larvae of Tarueus theophrastus 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, is about *75 in. in length, louse-like in shape, 

 and slow in movement, feeding on Zisyphus jujuba, with an edible 

 astringent yellowish fruit. On the dorsum of the 7th abdominal 

 segment is a small slit from which the larvae exude a small drop of a 

 juice of some sort, eagerly sought by the ants, and which they can 

 generally procure by stroking the larvae gently with their antennae. 

 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 before 

 the rains set in, about the middle of June, great activity among the 



