riiK TUMTixr; t.ean 123 



confess, Hull; 1 cannot think of any use that would 

 just if \ such a considerable waste of energy, but it stilL 

 more surprises me that the larva can keep up this move- 

 ment for several months without any food, not to speak 

 of tho (inantity of food necessary to bring- the young- 

 larva to maturity, not more than about twice its own 

 volume being stored in the fruit. The fruit when sent 

 to me were ([uite sound on the outer surface, not one 

 opening or mark of entrance could be detected by me 

 even with a magnifyer, so 1 presume that the larva must 

 enter the fruit when the latter is still very young and 

 that the larva feeds on the food V)rougiit there by the 

 plantparts cr,ncerned, alloAving a^ tlie same time suffi- 

 cient food for the proper growth of the outer shell, or the 

 moth must have a means of depositing the eggs into the 

 tissue wlien tlie fruit is n(>arly full grown, but I could not 

 find in tlie female moths tliat hatched out any ovipositor 

 that even suggested its rapability of performing this. 

 Before j pupation the larva cuts a very neat circular hole 

 in the hardest part of the shell, without removing the 

 centre, but this lid is only visible with the aid of a 

 magnifyer and seems to be kept in its place from the 

 inside by a silken surface that covers in fact the whole 

 inside « Mie to two month.s after these lids are made the 

 moths emerge and in my beans they all were of one species 

 belonging to ihe J*vralidae family of the genus Trphris. 

 The species was before quite unknown to me and most 

 probably new, but the peculiar thing is that the "jump- 

 ing beans" of other countries contain larvae of moths be- 

 longing to other families. The Mexican species is a 

 Tortrix, the Transvaal species a Fyralid and the other I 

 know from. Table mountain is a Tineid. This last species 

 is described by Me^vrick as ^Scirotis athleta, the only 

 species known of this genns. 



As Mr. Meyrick rightly says, these "beans'' have 

 notl)ing whatever to do, witlj the "beans" from Mexico 

 (nor from those of Lydenburg), as far as relationship in 

 concerned but are more to be looked upon as special ways 



