Yes: the herring-bone pattern does match that of some Proteuxoa species. But it's pattern also matches photos of J. evagoras larvae that I have seen, and it's length is only about 1 cm., which is consistent with being a Lycaenid. I was hoping the butterfly moderators more familiar with Jalmenus larvae would jump on me and tell me it is NOT a Lycaenid. Attendant ants would have favoured the Lycaenid hypothesis. The other feature that would distinguish the possibilities is whether it was cylindrical or flattened. This is not clear from the posted photos. I was hoping Ned could enlighten us on these questions.
Hi Don, There were no ants that I noticed in the vicinity and the insect itself was travelling fast in a straight direction seemingly oblivious to any other bugs. It was cylindrical in shape and moved by stretching itself in, raising the middle before stretching out again. I agree it's not very clear in the photos. I believe the length was somewhere around the 12mm mark rather than the 5mm.
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