LYCAENIDAE 
69 
Family LYCAENIDAE. 
No measurements are given, as the figure is in every case that of a butterfly of average size. 
Ovum. Smooth and almost spherical: sometimes smooth and much flattened at base and ajiex: some¬ 
times densely pitted and flattened. Dejiosited either singly or in clusters upon the stems, voung shoots 
or flowerbuds of tiie foodplaiit. 
Larva. Almost invariably flattened and sluglike in shape, rvitli the liead retractile and concealed while 
at rest. Posterior segments usually with dorsal glands, which secrete a liquid much prized by ants: 
the ants consequently attend the larvae and in some cases shepherd them. The larvae feed singly or 
gregariously, and usually by night, sheltering during daylight in ants’ nests, under bark or stones, in 
curled leaves or flowerbuds, or in crevices of the trunk of the foodplant. (Fig. L286, L428). 
Pupa. Usually smooth and in transverse section ovoid (fig. P. 428) : sometimes much flattened and 
with the abdomen extended in lateral ridges (fig. P. 338). Usually attached-by the tail, and sometimes 
by a central girdle in either horizontal or vertical position, and with the head either upwards or down¬ 
wards. Usiiallv found in the same positions as the sheltering laiwae: more rarely loose .just beneath the 
surface of sandy soil. 
liiAGO. Usually of small size and delicate structure, with dominant colour some shade of blue or 
brown. All lees developed for walking-, but front pair less so than the otliers, and better developed in the 
female than in the male: tarsi of front les^s often not articulated in the male. Body slender: Iiead small: 
eves sometimes smooth and sometimes hairy: antennae short and ending in distinct elon<rate clubs: palni 
with third joint considerably longer In the female than in the male. Fore-wing- usually with eleven veins 
(twelve in JJpliiira only: twelve in the male and eleven in the female in Trofialmemis only: ten in 
Jhfpohtcaena onhA : vein 8 absent: vein 11 often nnastomosed with vein 12 for a varvinir distance, some¬ 
times touchinir vein 12 without anastomosis, sometimes only bent towards, but free from vein 12, some¬ 
times runnins: 7 'arallel with and not bent towards vein 12: vein G sometimes arisinir from nnner ai-'ev 
of cell, and more rarely from vein 7 well bevond cell: arex and termen usually more rounded in the 
female than in the male. Hindwiner "with termen rounded or slisrhtly dentate: with or without tail or 
tads: anal lobe sometimes-u^ell developed: precostal spur absent: vein la and vein lb present. 'Males 
with or -witbont a sexmark. 
Baxge. Worldwide. Tn Australia verv plentiful in the subtropical scrubs of the north. Quite a 
]aro-e number of si^ecies are onlv to be taken on Tape York Peninsula: others extend as far as tlie 
Tairns district, and many reach as far south as fbe northern scrub dish-icts of K S. Wales. 17earlv 
all the southern srecies are also to be found in Queensland, the only g-enus not yet taken tliere beinsr 
Psendatmenus. 
For the classification of the family into srenera -w^e have to depend as usual upon the structure of 
the imasjnes. Characters of the ova are of little value in Australia, for the genus Ogijris itself provides 
eggs of three Avidely divergent types. The larvae and pupae give but little aid, for they are mosfly 
A’ery similar: in the feAV cases Avbere a peculiarity of shape is noticeable in the pupae, it is fortunately 
of great use in separating otherwise closely allied gi’oups. 
Since the Revisional Paper upon this family in Australia, published by one of us in 1903, Ave liaA’e 
made a sjmcial study of the structure. We Imre not confined ourseh’es to Australian species, but for 
purposes of comparison ha\^e made careful examination of a number of Tndo-Australian Lycaenids, 
paying particular attention to types of genera. We liaA’e studied A^ery carefully the excellent volume 
upon Lycaenidae by the late L. de Niceville (Butterflies of India, Burmah and Ceylon, Yol. TIT, 1890), 
and also the A’olume in “Fauna of British India,” by the late Col. Bingham, 
