96 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



1895. 



Oct. 5. Hohartia emerging ; saw a specimen on the wing. 

 ,, 12. Saw //o&«r<m twice. 

 ,, 17. Caught a good specimen of female Flobartia just 



emerged, wings slightly crumpled. 

 ,, 18. Caught six specimens of Hohartia, all females — two in 



splendid condition, the others a little worn. 

 ,, 24. Hohartia fully out, and in good condition. 

 Nov. 6. Good specimens of Hohartia still procurable. 



The males of X. Hohartia, seem to fly principally at midday, and 

 are very fond of circling about the tops of tree-ferns ; they may 

 be easily captured by waiting at the foot of a fern whose head is 

 within striking distance of the net. They rarely settle on the 

 fronds, but seem to like fluttering and dancing around them, 

 travelling from one frond to another until they have made the 

 round of the fern head. When so engaged they apparently care 

 little for repeated strokes of the net, and if narrowly missed will 

 frequently continue their flight, and without appearing alarmed 

 return again to within reach of the net. 



My chrysalides of X. Hohartia passed the autumn in the same 

 state, and the butterflies emerged with the spring brood. 



Devondale, Macclesfield. Edmund Jarvis. 



There are still a number of Victorian butterflies whose early 

 life-histories have not yet been noted, and it is to be hoped 

 members will lose no opportunity of securing for the Club the 

 credit of having placed them upon record. — G. Lyell, Jun., 

 Gisborne. 



The Mildew of Wheat. — In his presidential address to the 

 Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society, delivered at the 

 twenty-sixth annual meeting, held on 25th March, 1895, Dr. 

 Chas. B. Plowright, the well-known worker in Micro-fungi, par- 

 ticularly the Uredinacese, devoted considerable time to a 

 review of the life-history of the too well known mildew of the 

 wheat, or "rust," as it is called in its second stage. It has long 

 been known that the common Barberry ( Berberis vulgaris) acted 

 as the host of one of the stages of this fungus, and it now seems 

 that the berries of the Mahonia (Uerheris fascicularis) will suit 

 equally well. Dr. Plowright refers to the great injury done by 

 rust to the wheat crops of Australia, greater than in any other 

 part of the world, and suggests that the Mahonia may be more 

 common in gardens, &:c., there than in England. He asks why 

 the berries only of the Mahonia should be aft'ected, and, taking 

 into consideration the host plant, whether the English and 

 Australian diseases are identical. Altogether his remarks open 

 up a wide field for research for Australian mycologists. 



