F1914.] 191 



attracted my attention among the flower-buds, was the Danais 

 archippus ; and presently the two sexes were seen. Being Sunday, 

 they escaped ; but next morning, going through the grounds of the 



University on the north side of Melbourne I observed two 



more before me, and on going to my room found my collector in a 

 great state of excitement at having caught one in my botanic garden 

 in the University grounds, and having the previous day seen one five 

 miles south of Brighton. So that the insect had made its appearance 

 for the first time in the colony simultaneously at places fourteen miles 

 apart, and with no community of character or vegetation. On the 

 three following Sundays I saw two or three specimens in fine con- 

 dition, which could not, therefore, have been those seen at first ; and 

 last week (end of March, 1873), I saw some in the street leading to 

 the University, and on the same day the collector came across 

 them .... at the opposite side of the city .... This sudden 

 American invasion of the whole continent seems worth recording." 



It is evident that New South Wales was reached by D. plexippus 

 very soon after its first arrival in Australia. Mr. G-. A. Wateidiouse 

 states (Proc, Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, 1897, p. 286) that " since 1870, 

 it has been a very familiar insect about Sydney." An indication of 

 an even earlier arrival is, however, given by Mr. A. S. Olliff on p. 10 

 of his little work on "Australian Butterflies" (Sydney, 1889). He 

 says : " It is generally thought that 1870 was the first year of its 

 appearance here (at Sydney), but Dr. Barusay of the Australian 

 Museum informs me that he is positive that he saw the species at 

 Ashfield, near Sydney, as early as the year 1856. Observers are so 

 scattered, that the exact date of the insect's arrival can only be a 

 matter of conjecture. It is evident, however, that the species did not 

 obtain a firm foot-hold until 1870 or thereabouts." It was the very 

 first butterfly that I saw on the wing at Sydney, in February, 1900, and 

 on all my visits to that port I found it in more or less abundance. Here 

 I may record an unpremeditated experiment which clearly demonstrates 

 the extreme unpalatability of the insect in the larva state. One day in 

 May, 1903, while my friend Mr. H. J. Carter and I were lunching in 

 the garden of the hotel at Narrabean, a few miles north of Sydney 

 Harbour, a small pet monkey picked my pocket and made off with a 

 pill- box containing two full-fed larvae of D. plexippus. She at once 

 proceeded to devour the tempting-looking caterpillars, and it will be 

 long before I forget the expression of supreme disgust on the face of 

 the little creature when she realised the flavour of her supposed prize, 



