26 THE KNT()MOI.O(iISt's RECUKO. 



apariiic. The larvae refused to eat any of these plants, and nearly 

 three dozen died of starvation before a fresh supply of the balsam 

 could be obtained from Byfieet or Weybridge. Professor Poulton 

 expressed his opinion that unusual foodplants must be begun from 

 the egg, and, as an example, stated the case of Phalcra hucepliala, 

 which, after being given willow, refused to touch elm, there being with 

 this, as with other species, evidently some sort of gastric association 

 between the larva and its foodplant. 



At the same meeting Dr. Norman H. Joy exhibited specimens of 

 Apatura iris from the neighbourhood of Reading, captured in 1901. 

 With regard to this species he said that, with Mr. Lee, he took 

 altogether fourteen specimens, all males, eleven of them from the three 

 top branches on the north side of a beech tree. No females were seen, 

 in fact, it appeared to be the throne of the ruling " Emperor " of the 

 wood. Whenever another iris came by, the one on the "throne" 

 attacked it, and, after a fight in which one would eventually pursue the 

 other out of sight, one of them would return to the perch. If this 

 specimen was captured the next iris coming along would take pos- 

 session of the throne, and so on, so that five were taken in one 

 afternoon oft" the same tree. When on the throne they were extra- 

 ordinarily confident, as more than once the chosen branch was 

 struck hard without disturbing them, yet, if one happened to settle 

 on a lower branch, the slightest movement even of the hand frightened 

 it away at once. 



At the same meeting Professor Poulton read the following 

 communication from Mr. G. Frederick Leigh, of Durban, Natal. " I 

 have perused with great interest the abstract of the paper read by you 

 entitled 'Five Years' (1897-1901) Observations and Experiments on the 

 Bionomics of South African Insects,' etc., in the Procfedini/s of the 

 Entomoloijical Socicti/ nf London for this year, and, as I see no special 

 mention of one great enemy to insects here, perhaps it may be of 

 interest to give you particulars of the same. I refer to the ordinary 

 and very common grey South African rat, which is one of the most 

 dreadful pests to the breeders of butterflies and moths that I know of. 

 These rats seem to be particularly fond of almost any pup^, and I have 

 had thick wooden boxes containing pupa^ eaten right through, and the 

 contents all devoured. They are especially fond of Chocrocampa eson 

 and C'. nerii. Even more remarkable than their keenness in hunting 

 pupffi is the way in which they capture moths on the wing whilst 

 feeding. Over the verandah of my previous residence here, I had a 

 large honeysuckle upon the blossoms of which a great number of Sphin- 

 gid species used to feed. Whilst I have been watching them just at 

 dusk, all of a sudden I have heard a rush and down came a rat from the 

 roof right on to the plant, and more often than not the moth selected 

 for attack was captured, usually followed by a tight amongst the rats 

 over the prize. The moths I have seen captured in this way are 

 Sj)Iiinx conrolruli, yepJidc rariefjata, Clwcrocainpa csou and C cticrio. 

 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. 

 .V. varief/ata is probably the swiftest flier, but it is more conspicuous 

 owing to its dark colour. Bats are also very destructive of South 

 African insect-life. I have often seen them swoop down and take both 

 moths and beetles on the wing. CJiaran's lihalion also has a terrible 



