234 The Field Naturalises Quarterly August 



middle of May. It is a fine insect, measuring nearly 

 5 inches over the fore-wings, the body black with a few 

 markings of reddish yellow, chiefly on the under side. The 

 wings are transparent, except the basal part, which is 

 yellowish shading to deep brown or black next the body. 

 During the day it sits close on the trunk or branch of a 

 tree, at intervals making its shrilling noise, gently at first, 

 but gradually getting louder till when one is close to the 

 insect the sound is deafening ; then gradually it decreases 

 and stops with a jerk, after which performance it some- 

 times takes a short and swift but erratic flight to another 

 tree. 



They are very spry and quick in taking flight, and to 

 catch them with a net is very difficult, as they sit against a 

 branch, but the Chinese capture them in large numbers by 

 the aid of a long bamboo smeared at the end with bird- 

 lime. They are transferred to a bamboo cage, and one 

 often sees a cageful of cicadae, all grinding away, carried 

 through the streets of Hong-Kong, to be sold for hanging 

 up in the house in a little cage, as the Chinese are fond 

 of hearing them " sing." They call them Li-chee sim, i.e. 

 Lichee insect, as they are most in evidence during the 

 Lichee fruit season. Sometimes a child is given a cicada 

 in a twist of paper, to act as a substitute for a rattle. 



These insects are called " scissor-grinders " by the 

 foreigners in China, a very apt name, as the sound they 

 produce reminds one very much of the street knife-grinder 

 at home. 



2. A Chinese Pitcher-Plant. 



One of those curious plants of the family Nepentheaceas 

 is found in many places in the south of China, and another 

 closely allied plant, Nepenthes pkyllampkora, is peculiar to 

 S. China, one of its localities being an island close to 

 Macao. 



The former species, N. distil/atoria, is found in wet, 

 marshy ground, both at sea-level and some distance up the 

 slopes of the hills, frequenting much the same localities as 

 the sundews. The chief feature of the plant is the 

 " pitcher" formed at the end of the leaf; these vessels are 



