424 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
The life-history presents features which are characteristic of the 
family (Plate XXXII); the eggs are less dome-shaped than in most 
Fig. 293—Virachola ISOCRATES, larva on guava fruit. 
Khopalocera, white or bluish and reticulate ; they are laid singly on the 
foodplant. In most cases the larva is flattened, oval, the legs and 
prolegs under the body; the general form is that of a woodlouse 
(“ Onisci-form 55 ) ; there is commonly a dense covering of very short 
hairs, though some are smooth and a few tuberculate with bristles. In 
many forms, a secretion much sought after by ants exudes from an 
opening at the hind end, and each species has its special attendant 
ants. Curetis larvae have a peculiar process bearing a tentacle at 
the end of which are hairs ; this tentacle is whirled round rapidly 
when the larva is alarmed, presumably with the object of frightening 
off enemies. Liphyra has a still more remarkable larva, a description 
of which occurs in the Fauna of India Volume. 
The larvse are vegetarian in nearly all cases, feeding on leaves or 
buds and living exposed on the plant, their form and cryptic colouring 
rendering them inconspicuous. 
