290 
Psyche 
[December 
1969 (A. M. Y., unpubl. field notes). It is therefore possible that 
local movements of adults of at least some ithomiines are in the 
form of consistent day-to-day patterns (home ranges). 
Table 1. The developmental time a of Hymenitis nero (Ithomiinae) on its 
host plant, Cestrum standleyi (Solanaceae) . 
Instars b 
Total Time 
Statistic 
Egg 
1-2 
3 
4-5 
Pupa Egg-Adult 
Mean Duration 
(Days) 
4 
3 
5 
7 
11 30 
S. E. 
0.3 
0.7 
0.4 
0.4 
1.2 
No. 
20 
18 
18 
18 
18 
Died 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 
a measured in the laboratory 
b data are lumped for instars since head capsules were not collected for 
each instar. 
Oviposition occurs on plants of a wide height range, this being 
0.3 to 1.0 m at the study site. Eggs are always laid singly with only 
one egg per leaf and usually only one or two eggs per plant. The 
egg is always laid on the dorsal leaf surface, and usually in the cen- 
tral region near the midrib. These observations were gathered from 
a total of 53 oviposition sequences observed at the study site during 
July and August. There is no apparent selection for young leaves 
during egg-laying, and most eggs are, in fact, laid on older leaves. 
Height distribution of eggs on individual plants of similar size is 
very variable. 
Female vagility may be high in this species since it is observed 
that individual females pass through the study site pausing briefly 
for oviposition. However, no marking studies have been done to 
assess the extent of vagility in either sex. As mentioned earlier, how- 
ever, the larval food plant has a highly dispersed local distribution 
and does not occur as extensive homogeneous patches. Such food 
plant dispersion would favor high vagility in non-colonial butterflies. 
Discussion 
Various ecological traits of butterflies, including larval defensive 
behavior, palatability, mimicry, breadth of food plant acceptance, 
and oviposition have been recently discussed in terms of community 
structure (e.g., Brower and Brower, 1964; Ehrlich and Raven, 1965; 
