Results of the development of Chærocampa Elpenor and C. Porcellus; comparison of these with the other known species of Chærocampa.
The first stage of Elpenor shows that the most remote ancestor of the genus possessed no kind of marking, but was uniformly green. At a later period, the white longitudinal stripe which I have designated the “subdorsal line” made its appearance, and at a still later period this line vanished, with the exception of a few more or less distinct remnants, whilst, at the same time, from certain portions of it, the eye-spots of the fourth and fifth segments became developed. After the perfecting of the eye-spots, weak repetitions of the latter appeared as black spots on all the segments except the last.
In Porcellus the caterpillar emerges from the egg with the subdorsal line, the first stage of Elpenor being omitted. From this fact we may venture to conclude that Porcellus is the younger species, or, what comes to the same thing, that it has further advanced in development. The whole subsequent history of Porcellus agrees with this view, its course of development being essentially but a repetition of the phenomena displayed by Elpenor, and differing only in one point, viz. that all new characters make their appearance one stage earlier than in the latter species. This is the case with the transformation of the green into a brown ground-colour; with the repetition of the eye-spots on the remaining segments in the form of suffused black spots; and with the appearance of the light “dorsal spots.” Only the eye-spots themselves appear, and the snout-like tapering of the front segments occurs in the same stage as in Elpenor, i.e. the second.
From these data alone, we may venture to infer the occurrence of four chief stages in the phyletic development of the genus. The first stage was simply green, without any marking; the second showed a subdorsal line; the third, eye-spots on the third and fourth segments; and the fourth stage showed a repetition of the eye-spots, although but rudimentary, on all the remaining segments with the exception of the twelfth.
Now if we compare the other known species of Chærocampa larvæ with the above, we shall arrive at the interesting conclusion that all these species can be arranged in three groups, which correspond exactly with the three last phyletic stages as just deduced from the ontogeny of C. Elpenor and Porcellus.
Of the genus Chærocampa,[72] over fifty species have been described,[73] of which the larvæ of only fifteen are known in the form which they possess at the last ontogenetic stage.
Group 1.—I can furnish but little information with respect to this group. The first species with which I became acquainted was Chærocampa Syriaca,[74] of which I saw two blown caterpillars in Staudinger’s collection, and which I have figured in [Pl. IV]., Fig. 29. The larva is green, and has the short oblique stripes over the legs common to so many species of Chærocampa, the only marking besides these being a simple white subdorsal line, without any trace of eye-spots. This species exactly corresponds therefore with the second ontogenetic stage of C. Elpenor and Porcellus. The account of the species, both in the larval and perfect state, is unfortunately so imperfect, that we cannot with certainty infer the age of the two caterpillars from their size. If the moth were of the same size as Elpenor, then the caterpillar figured, having a length of 5.3 centimeters, would not be in the last but in the penultimate stage, and it remains doubtful whether it may not acquire eye-spots in the last stage.
That species exist, however, which in their last stage correspond to the second stage of Elpenor, is shown by two of the forms belonging to Walker’s genus Darapsa, which was founded on the characters of the imagines only. Ten species of this genus are given in Gray’s catalogue, the adult larva of two of these being known through the excellent figures of Abbot and Smith.[75] These two caterpillars possess the characteristic tapering form in a very marked degree; one is figured in the attitude so often assumed by our species of Chærocampa on the approach of danger, the three front segments being withdrawn into the fourth. (Fig. 34, [Pl. IV]., is copied from this Plate). There are no eye-spots either in D. Myron or D. Chœrilus,[76] but only a broad white subdorsal line; underneath which, and to a certain extent proceeding from it, there are oblique white stripes, precisely similar to those which meet the subdorsal line in the third stage of C. Porcellus.[77]
Group 2.—This group contains numerous species which, like our native C. Elpenor and Porcellus, show eye-spots on the fourth and fifth segments, whilst these markings are absent, or at most only present in traces, on the remainder. To this section there belong, besides the two species mentioned, five others, viz. in Europe, C. Celerio and Alecto (not certainly known?);[78] in India, C. Nessus, Drury, and Lucasii, Boisduval;[79] and an unnamed species from Port Natal.
In the species belonging to this group the subdorsal line may be more or less retained. Thus, C. Celerio, according to Hübner’s figure, has a broad yellow line extending from the horn to the sixth segment, whilst it is completely absent on the three front segments. In the unnamed species from Port Natal[80] the subdorsal line extends to the front edge of the fifth segment, and on the fourth segment only is there a perfect eye-spot, whilst on the succeeding segments traces of such markings can be recognized as dark spots similar to those in Elpenor and Porcellus. The transition to the third group is through another unnamed species from Mozambique,[81] in which rather large eye-spots have become developed on the fourth and fifth segments and these are followed by a subdorsal line, which only appears distinctly at certain places. On this broken subdorsal line, and not completely separated from it, there are small, roundish eye-spots, situated near the front edge of each segment; these being, therefore, a somewhat more perfect repetition of the front eye-spots.[82]