MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 521 



The females seem to be more persistent in their luminosity although it is 

 not so bright as in the males, whilst the latter flashed every 5 seconds at the 

 tops of the trees, the flashes sometimes being from right to left for six or seven 

 times, then all together and then left to right. 



The sympathetic telepathy which seems to exist amongst the males at this 

 season and causes each colony frequenting the tops of one or more trees to 

 flash at exactly the same moment every few seconds is wonderful. 



It would be interesting if some member would keep a number of these insects 

 alive for a few months and give us some details as to the eggs they lay, the time 

 taken in hatching and the appearance of the larvee, &c. 



What is the larva of the Firefly like and has it any luminosity ? 



W. S. MILLARD. 



Bombay, loth June, 1905. 



No. XX£— CURIOUS ACCIDENT TO A DRAGONFLY. 



Whilst at Khandalla (Western Ghats) recently I noticed a very large dragonfly 

 settled on the wire by the side of the road. As it did not fly away when I 

 approached it I took hold of the wings with my finger and thumb, and although 

 it was alive and moved, I found the reason of its not flying away was that it was 

 impaled on the barbed wire. One of the barbs had transfixed it just where the 

 head joins the thorax, and it was with some difficulty that I removed it. It was 

 one of the largest kind of dragonfhes with a pale blue-green thorax and abdomen 

 striped with very dark chocolate ; the spread of the wings measured 4^ inches 

 and the length of head and body 8 inches. 



It could not have been the work of a shrike or " butcher bird, " as there were 

 none about there, and I also doubt if a shrike could catch such a swift flyer as 

 this large dragonfly. 



W. S. MILLARD. 

 Bombay, 20th June, 1905. 



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