4,g [February, 



"Emperor" of the wood. Wlienever another /;•/* came by, the one on the 

 " til rone " attacked it, and after a fight in wliicli one would eventually pursue the 

 other out of sight, the conqueror would return to the perch. If this was captured, 

 the next Iris coming along would take possession of the throne, and so on. Mr. 

 Claude Morley, the specimen of Diaxt ictus vuhieratiis, Sturm, first recorded in 

 Great Britain in the November number of the Kut. Mo. Mag., and a rare blue form 

 of Phratora vitelline, taken on low herbs, from Tuddenham Fen, Suffolk. Mr. G. 

 0. Champion, specimens of Naiwphyes JJurieui, a beetle from Central Spain, with 

 drawings of the larva, pupa and perfect insect. Professor E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., 

 stated that Mr. A. H. Church, M.A., of Jesus College, Oxford, had observed the 

 larvae of a species of Cucullin (probably C. verbaxci), feeding upon Buddleia globosa 

 which was growing against a wall in the Oxford Botanical Gardens. Mr. Church 

 had sent shoots uf the same plant to a friend at Warwick, and these, when grown 

 in a similar position in his garden, were all attacked by the sanu; species during the 

 past summer (1U02). It is possible that the eggs are laid upon the Buddleia because 

 of the very rough general resemblance in certain respects between its leaves and 

 those of Vcrbascum, in the same manner, as Professor Poulton suggested in 1887, tlie 

 common food-})lants of Smerinthus oce^/a^rt, viz., apple and sallow, may be explained 

 by the parent moth having mistaken the one for the other (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 

 1887, p. 314). In section II of the memoir cited it is shown that many young 

 larva?, on emergence from the egg, are able to feed upon strange species of jilants, 

 which, later they would refuse, if they had become specialized to one of the recog- 

 nised food-plants. Mr. R. McLachlan, F.R.S., mentioned the case of Mamestra 

 persicaricv, a pest in his garden at Lewisham, which, as a rule, attacked first and 

 most Anemone japoiiica. lie had this year offered them fern and elder (which is 

 reputed a favourite food), but the larvfE found on Anemone refused to touch either of 

 the plants. Mr. Goss said that larva; of Chverocampa Elpenur, taken from a 

 naturalized American balsam near Weybridge, had afterwards refused their usual 

 food-plant, Epilobium hirsutum. Professor Poulton expressed his opinion that 

 unusual food-plants must commonly be begun from the egg, and as a further example 

 quoted the case of Phalera bucephala, which, found half grown on hazel, refused to 

 touch elm and ^Salix triandra, there being with this as with other species evidently 

 some sort of gastric association between the larva and its food-plant. He also read a 

 communication from Mr. G. F. Leigh, of Durban, Natal, relative to insect enemies 

 there. The writer referred to the ordinary and very common grey South African rat 

 as one of the most dreadful pests to breeders of butterflies and moths. They seem 

 to be particularly fond of almost any pupa) ; thick wooden boxes containing them had 

 been eaten right through, and the contents devoured. They were especially fond of 

 Chaerocampa Eson and C. nerii. Even more remarkable was the way in which they 

 captured moths on the wing whilst feeding. A rat would leap from the roof right 

 on to the plant, and more often than not the moth selected for attack was captured, 

 usually followed by a fight amongst the rats over the prize. The moths seen to be 

 caught in this way were Sphinx convolvuli, Nephele variegata, Chwrocampa Eson, 

 and C. celerio. The first-named is the most successful in escaping, owing to the 

 long proboscis which compels it to hover at some distance from the blossom. 

 N. varleyata is probably the swiftest filer, but is more conspicuous owing to its dark 

 colour. — H. Rowland- liJiowN, Hon. Sec. 



