Abstract 1. The Essential Nature of the Colouring of Phytophagous Larvæ. Phytophagous larvae owe their colour and markings to two causes: (1) Pigments derived from their food-plants, chlorophyll and xanthophyll, and probably others; (2) pigments proper to the larvæ, or larval tissues made use of because of some (merely incidental) aid which they lend to the colouring, e. g., fat. A larva may be coloured by either or both of these groups of factors. It may be generally stated that all green colouration without exception, as far as I have investigated the subject, is due to chlorophyll; while nearly all yellows are due to xanthophyll. All other colours (including black and white) and some yellows, especially those with an orange tinge, are due to the second class of causes (as far as I am aw are: it is, however, extremely probable that certain colours will be proved to arise from the modification of the derived pigments; and many observations make it probable that other colours may be derived from plants in the case of larvæ feeding upon the petals, &c.).
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Edward Bagnall Poulton (1885) studied this question.