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57 : 15 



On some Curious Habits of certain 

 West African Insects 



by Dr. mi-d. F. C'reigton Wollmau, 

 of Benguella, West Africa. 



During the process of collecting nearly two 

 thousand African .species of insects and other 

 animals, the writer has made notes on the habits 

 of a large number of these, only a few of which 

 have been published. I\[ost habits of African 

 insects, it may be said in passing, are susceptible 

 of some rational explanatiuu by one familiar with 

 the climate , flora , and other features of the 

 continent; but occasionally one observes actions 

 of which he can offer no certain interpretation 

 whatever. It is of such that 1 wish to sjicak 

 in this paper. 



On October 29, 1905, 1 was collecting insects 

 at a point two days' mai'ch inland eastof Benguella, 

 and on that occasion I saw a Coprophagide beetle 

 lOiithopliagus sp. — the specimen was later 

 unfortunately ruined V)y mould) lying on its back 

 and rapidly revolving by means ot its six legs 

 a piece of charcoal about half the size of its own 

 body. The proceeding irresistablj- reminded me 

 of the actions of a Japanese juggler who lies on 

 his back and keeps a large ball revolving by 

 moving it with his feet. Presently the beetle 

 discarded the piece of coal and turned over int(j 

 its natural position and started to walk off. In 

 a few seconds it came back , siezed the piece of 

 coal and went through the whole performance 

 again. Then it turned over and walked off once 

 more. I followed it for some distance and as it 

 showed signs of flying away I caught it and put 

 it into my killing bottle. Whether the object 

 of this strange proceedure was to clean the beetles' 

 leg.t from dung is more than I can say. 



On the same journey I saw (October 24, 1905) 



one day in the bright sunlight a hazy ring come 

 30 mm. in diameter, which seemed to hover just 

 above the short grass. The ring looked somewliat 

 like the conventional halo one sometimes .sees 

 above the heads of saints in paintings. I struck 

 my hat sharply against the ground and found 

 that two Diptera (Anthomyiae S ?) rapidly flying 

 in a circle had caused the illusion. I suppose 

 the phenomenon to be some part of their courtship, 

 but have no explanation to offer regarding its 

 utility. 



On another occasion I was in an old deserted 

 camp in tiie desert east of Benguella. As 1 sat 

 in my tent the flies were very troublesome. 

 Presently a gentle rain began to fall , and after 

 a few minutes the flies left the dry tent and 

 went out into the rain. Most of them did not 

 fly out but crawled on the ground. Among the 

 flies I cauoht .^Iiisca domestica L.. Homahmijia 

 scalaris L. , and Pycnosomii chioropyga Wied. 

 As this occurred by a dried-up water hole . I 

 concluded that extreme, thirst may have tempted 

 the flies. 



In February 1904 1 saw in "West Africa a 

 species of Pliora dragging about a small ant, 

 having hooked the ungues or tarsi of its last 

 pair of legs to the legs of the ant. The fly 

 reminded one of a pony hitched to a cart. I 

 conjectured that the fly had oviposited in the 

 ants body (as some memliers of the Phoridae do) 

 and was seeking a safe place to deposit its victim 

 so that the maggot might develope undisturbed. 



On still another journey I saw by the roadside 

 some seeds from a tree called by the natives 

 „Onjilitl". These seeds were jumping about in a 

 most startling manner and the natives declared 

 they were bewitched. On cutting one open I saw 

 the' larva of a Curculionide beetle inside. This 

 grub by contracting and then suddenly lengthening 

 its body was able to deliver a blow hard enougli 

 to nmke the seed jump 40 or 50 mm from, the 



