March, 1908.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 165 



SOME DIMBOOLA BUTTERFLIES. 

 By G. a. Waterhouse, B.Sc, F.E.S., and G. Lyell, F.E.S. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Cluh of Victoria, 10th Feb., 1908.) 



Some twenty-two years ago, on a collecting excursion tjo the 

 Grampians, the late Mr. W. Kershaw, in company with Mr. 

 Joseph A. Hill, of Kewell, captured a number of specimens of a 

 butterfly which he identified as Ogyris idrao, Hew. The species 

 has been figured by Anderson and Spry in " Victorian Butter- 

 flies," p. 104. Mr. Hill has since seen the same butterfly at the 

 Grampians (Rose's Gap, November, 1901), and at Mt. Arapiles 

 (November, 1903), but in neither instance was he able to capture 

 a specimen. Those collectors who have tried to net an Ogyris 

 butterfly can sympathize with him in his failure ; few butterflies 

 are so difficult to capture, and had we not learned something of 

 the life-history of the members of the genus few collections would 

 boast of more than an odd specimen or so. 



In November, 1903, we had sent us by Mr. Frichot, of Dim- 

 boola, a freshly caught male and female of this butterfly, and a 

 little later, on comparing them with typical Ogyris idmo from 

 Western Australia, we found points upon which they did not 

 agree. We therefore submitted both species, together with others 

 of the genus, to the well-known authority on the Lyccenidce, Mr. 

 Bethune Baker, of Birmingham, England. He agreed that the 

 Victorian species vvas distinct, and without referring again to us 

 published the description under the name of Ogyris tvaterhouseri. 



Mr. Frichot having left Dimboola, there seemed little chance of 

 further specimens, so this year we determined upon a personal 

 search for the species. Mr. Hill gave us what help he could, but 

 his localities were far from the railway, and he himself was too 

 busy to be able to promise to go with us. However, at the last 

 moment, we were fortunate enough to induce Mr. Frichot to go 

 with us as guide. 



We left Melbourne by the Adelaide express on Monday, i8th 

 November, and reached Dimboola shortly after midnight. 

 Morning found us early astir, and with the bright, hot sunshine 

 our hopes of success ran high. For three days we searched the 

 bush, paying very special attention to those eucalypts upon 

 which the mistletoe, Loranthiis penduhis, was growing. Though 

 we did not capture Ogyris tvaterhouseri we saw one specimen 

 flying around and settling upon the mistletoe, and another flying 

 in a " bee-line " across the sandy heath country, where clumps of 

 dwarf Banskia are interspersed with various flowering shrubs, then 

 past their best, including occasional specimens of the showy 

 scarlet " bottle-brush," Callistemon, 



Upon eucalypts supporting bunches of the Loranthus we found 

 a good numler of empty Ogyris pupal skins, many of which 

 undoubtedly belonged to the present season's brood. Upon one 



