88 LIFE HISTORIES OF CERTAIN BUTTERFLIES 
LIFE HISTORIES OF CERTAIN EAST AFRICAN 
BUTTERFLIES 
By Capt. P. L. Coleridge 
Lycjenid 
The $ lays her eggs on a small trailing leguminous plant 
with hairy reddish stems and leaves and consisting of three 
leaflets. The flowers are light mauve and grow on a separate 
flower-stalk, but too distant to be called a spike. 
After watching a $ closely for some time on September 2, 
1915, I saw her oviposit on a young seed pod, which I collected 
about 9 a.m. 
Egg . — The egg is of the usual flattened Lycaenid form, 
and not so small as one would imagine from the diminutive 
size of the parent insect. 
It hatched September 6, 1915. 
Larva . — The infant larva does not eat the empty eggshell, 
but at once betakes itself to the underside of a leaf and gets 
in between two nervures, where it commences to feed on the 
cuticle. It is almost transparent, and little can be seen but 
a tiny, shining, black head, which is retractile. 
On September 11, 1915, the larva moulted and assumed 
the woodlouse shape more or less. It became greener, and 
almost matched the midrib of a leaf (underside) in colour. 
When at rest the black head was completely withdrawn under 
segment 8. It continued to feed on the cuticle of the leaves. 
On September 16, 1915, the larva again moulted, and the divi- 
sions between the segments became more marked. It refused 
leaves and betook itself to stems and young seed-pods. In 
length it was just under \ inch, and the retractable head’s 
usefulness, on the end of the long neck, became apparent. 
It pierced the pods with great skill exactly alongside the young 
green seeds, which it then consumed, the larva remaining 
outside with its head in. In this way it emptied a pod. 
