184 
LEPIDOPTEBA INDIOA. 
interesting description of his and Mrs. Wylly’s observations on this subject in the 
Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, vol. iii. p. 164 (1888). The larvae of 
some species are carnivorous. In a note by Thwaites, he says it is difficult to realise 
that the larvse of some of these lovely Lycsenidse, such as Amblypodia, etc., are car¬ 
nivorous or even cannibal in their habits, and do not hesitate to eat their own brethren 
of the same brood when any of the latter are commencing their change into the 
inactive chrysalis state, with their consequent inability to protect themselves from 
their voracious kindred, who devour them with avidity, de Niceville says (p. 55) that 
Green (who is a very careful observer) states that the larvse of Spalgis epius are 
carnivorous; and James L. Courtice, in Ent. Mo. Mag. 1865, p. 45, gives an account of 
the cannibalism of Zephyrus quercus ; he says, “ On the 27th May, one had changed to 
chrysalis in a corner of the shade, and I observed a larva attached to the tail end of it, 
and evidently very busily engaged. I disturbed him, and found that he had not only 
eaten off the end of the chrysalis, but had cleaned the contents of it right out; and 
what still more astonished me was that, after being disturbed, he returned resolutely 
to the attack, and finished up the greater part of the pupa shell.” 
With reference to the pupse, de Niceville says they are usually attached by the 
cremaster which forms the terminal portion of the pupa, and is furnished with minute 
hooks for attachment to the pad of silk previously spun for that purpose by the larva, 
and by a silken girth round the middle of the body to whatever surface the larvse 
choose on which to perform their transformation; in some forms, however, the pupse 
are freely suspended by the tail, and Trimen notes the same, remarking that the 
pupae of some Lycaenidae are attached by the tail only in a fixed horizontal or slightly 
inclined position. Some forms of pupae are hidden in the ground, Trimen says, but 
de Niceville remarks that this is certainly true in the case of some Indian species, the 
larvae of which are attended by ants, as the latter drive the larvae into their nest, when 
they turn to pupae in the usual way, being attached to the trunk of the tree by a tail 
or a girdle, the ants having constructed a temporary nest around the base of the tree. 
The butterflies of this family are often found in open meadow or grass land, but 
by far the greater number of forms frequent trees and bushes, especially open paths 
and the edges of forests ; the males are sometimes to be seen in great numbers on 
damp sandy ground and the sides of streams, sucking up the moisture, and they have 
the habit of rubbing the hindwings one over the other, when first settling, the motion 
being apparently more or less rotary. Trimen notes on the subject: “ This curious 
habit is practised by every member of the family that I have watched when settled, 
and it seems not improbable that the movement may serve to accentuate their orna¬ 
ments, either in rivalry or menace.” Scudder thinks that the action may cause a 
stridulation which, though inaudible to our ears, may be heard by insects; most of 
the Lycsenidse close their wings when at rest, as do other butterflies, but this is not 
