DROVES OF LYCÆNID CATERPILLARS HERDED BY ANTS

Extract

The larvæ of Tarucus theophrastus Fabricus are cultivated and protected by the large, common black ants of Indian gardens and houses. The catepillar, which varies in colour from light pure green to a dark reddish tint [this is a common variation in Lycænid larvæ] is about threequarters of an inch long, louse-like in shape, and slow in movement, and it feeds on the Zizyphus jujuba, a small, thorny bush of the jungles with an edible, astringent, yellowish fruit, the “Byr-coolie” of the natives. Some Lycæindæ larvæ have the power of protruding and retracting at will two small, fleshy tentacles or horns, each tufted with a brush of fine hairs, from the upper surface of the tail segments.