Williams: Philippine Zoology. 333 



ably crepuscular, lays its eggs on the rattan (Calamus), a species of 

 thorny and climbing palm. The larva is covered with a flocculent 

 white material. It pupates in a neat retreat of rolled-up leaflets. 

 The sensitive pupti even when gently disturbed, will so move as to 

 produce what is at first a rather startling, whirring or scraping noise. 

 Other large skippers feed also on palms, on plants of the ginger 

 family, and on Araliaceae. 



The largest as ^\'ell as one of the handsomest of the day butter- 

 flies is the bird-wing butterfly, Ornithoptera nephereus G. R. Gray, 

 witli colors chiefly velvety black and brassy yellow, and a wing ex- 

 panse of about six or six and a half inches. Though a fine insect, 

 it is by no means the largest nor the handsomest of the genus. It is 

 found in the lowlands to some distance up in the forest. The larva 

 feeds on a species of Aristolochia or "Dutchman's pipe vine," which 

 it shares with Papilio antiphus Fabricius, a much smaller, mostly 

 black butterfly. The larvae of these two species, as well as that of 

 Papilio philenor Linn of North America, resemble one another some- 

 what in that they have fleshy processes on the body. The pupse also 

 are swollen at the sides much more than any other pupse of Papilio 

 that I know of. 



The genus Ornithoptera is sometimes considered a subgenus of 

 Papilio, and ranges south, well into Australia. 



FIREFLIES. 



We have fireflies with us practically throughout the year. This 

 is in striking contrast to the comparatively brief season of the adult 

 beetles in the United States. But there is this much to be said in 

 favor of the latter. I have seen no Luzon island lampyrid that 

 equals in brilliancy the light that is emitted by Photuris pennsyl- 

 vanica of the Eastern United States. 



There are quite a number of species found in this portion of the 

 Pliilippines. Some have a weak luminosity, while others are quite 

 brilliant, and it is a common thing to see a whole bush or crown of 

 a tree sparkling like an old-fashioned Christmas tree, with hundreds 

 of these insects. Such trees, especially when isolated, are visible 

 from quite a distance. 



While the larvse of fireflies, being luminous themselves, are not 

 difficult to find, I do not believe that many Philippine species have 

 yet been associated with the adults. I have found some, as related 

 by Fabre in Europe, devouring snails within their shells, the victim 

 having been overcome on some bush or on the ground. In the 



