126 [ June > 



large orange blotches placed as another band ; anal extremity bright orange ; legs 

 black, prolegs orange-red. A really handsome and striking creatine. Pupa smooth 

 and shining, dark red-brown, with little sculpture, but the abdominal segments 

 strongly ridged behind ; eremaster thick, somewhat conical, and armed with two 

 short hooks. The moth is a creature of quite remarkable loveliness, shining white, 

 the fore-wings shaded with silvery-grey or pale silvery-buff, and barred with thick 

 black lines ; the discal spot brilliant scarlet ; down the back of the thorax are three 

 pairs of orange spots, and there is an orange band on each abdominal segment]. 



Cucullia (several species). — " Edward has been making a garden beyond the 

 river, in a wilderness of trees and bushes, away from the fowls. We cross the river 

 by stepping stones from our shrubbery and climb a steep bank to reach it. It is a 

 pretty place, but not so easy of access for night hunting. One night he said that 

 he had seen hawk-moths there at the blossoms of some broad beans which had been 

 planted, so I took over a net and secured a few ; but my most satisfactory captures 

 were some silvery and whitish moths that haunted the bean flowers just as darkness 

 fell. There are several of what I call the ' silver splash ' {Cucullia Hulchinsoni 

 Hpsn.), and a darker kind much like it in habits (C. extricata, Walk.), which have 

 given us much pleasure. I have been over there many evenings, counting the effort 

 quite worth while if I brought back one or two. They are timid and dasli off, so 

 that I have to go away and wait before they will come back. I hunted those beans 

 thoroughly till the moths got quite shy, and I had to divide my time between these 

 and the peach trees which were in blossom, around which the large Silver Y's 

 (Plusia circumflexa, L.) were abundant, and the American pests (Heliothis armigera, 

 L.) were most insistent. The moths at the bean flowers begin to fly at dusk, when 

 you can just see the movement at the blossoms, but I do not think that they feed 

 late. With the exception of a few pods for seed this was the only crop that we had 

 from the beans ; the di'ought affected them, and then the ' cocos ' beetles came and 

 cleared off the blossoms ! I caught one or two of the ' silver splashed ' (C. Hulchin- 

 soni) also at the fruit blossom, but I think none of the darker species (C. extricata). 

 There were some dark ones with a silver splash (C. pallidi stria, Feld.) which gave 

 us great delight. These only lasted for a week or two, but I still get sometimes a 

 silver splash. Orange, lemon and 'nautje' furnish this, and C. consimilis, Feld., 

 C. africana, Auriv., C. chrysota, Hpsn., and C. terensis, Feld., all rarely; one or 

 two have come to the flower we call honeysuckle, and also to the wild cotton plant." 



Plusia exquisita, Feld. — " This beautiful species was hovering at the bean 

 blossom, but I have caught more at blossoming orange, lemon and nautje trees on a 

 very damp evening. The favourite is the nautje, which blossoms all over, and seems 

 sweeter than the orange or lemon ; its fruit is flattish orange-shaped, with a very 

 thin, bitter skin, but the inside juicy and very sweet." 



Plusia circumflexa, L. — " E. brought me a common smooth green caterpillar 

 feeding on lettuce. It quickly spun up and speedily came out." 



[This species appears quite to take the place, in South Africa, of our commonest 

 species, P. gamma. The pupa sent is very dull black, short and thick, the tongue 

 case prominent but curved down under the abdominal segments ; eremaster con- 

 sisting merely of two short, thick, hooked spikes.] 



Plusia permissa, Walk. — " Several larvse were found on a very delicate feathery 



