28 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



female, dull metallic green. It is the smallest of the flies listed. 

 P. hillinghursti is a striking insect, brilliant blue marked with 

 bronze ; female yellowish, with same markings. A. icteroinelas is 

 a very common insect, dark bronze, almost blackish, in colour. A. 

 grisea is smaller. X. erythroneurum has a red thorax. 



NOTES ON THE ARGONAUTS. 



By Jas. a. Kershaw, F.E.S., Curator of Zoology, National 



Museum. 



(^Readhef ore the Field Naturalists^ CI uh of Victoria, IQtliMarcli, 1902.) 



The great interest which has been aroused in the Argonauts, owing 

 to the large numbers which have recently appeared in Port Phillip, 

 and the tendency to confuse this form with the shell commonly 

 known as the Pearly Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius, has induced 

 me to put these few notes together, in the hope that they may 

 prove of interest to such of the members who are unacquainted 

 with the history of this animal. Though I do not claim to add 

 anything of importance to what has already been published from 

 time to time, I trust they may tend to stimulate further research 

 among our members with a view of learning more of the life- 

 history, and filling up some of the gaps in our knowledge of these 

 interesting creatures. 



For some time past, and particularly during December and 

 January last, large numbers of these shells have been washed ashore 

 in various parts of the Bay, which, on account of their beauty and 

 novelty, have created a good deal of excitement among seaside 

 visitors and others, many of whom have searched the shores early 

 and late — even after dark with the aid of a lantern — in the hope of 

 picking up some of these greatly prized shells. Some of the more 

 fortunate searchers have succeeded in gathering in a short time as 

 many as twenty-five and thirty specimens each, either on the 

 sand or by wading in the shallow water, and it was no uncom- 

 mon sight, as daylight was breaking, to see a number of figures 

 wading about in the water and watching for the shells to float in 

 with the tide. Small parties of fishermen, witli the assistance of 

 their boats and a shrimp net, have been known to have collected 

 as many as seventy or eighty shells each, and these they have 

 disposed of to seaside visitors and others at from 5s. to 15s. and 

 even ^i per pair, according to their size. The broad sandy 

 beaches of Mordialloc and Carrum have probably yielded the 

 largest number, while they have also been found more or less com- 

 monly all along the shores on both sides of the Bay. During the 

 early part of February two specimens were captured just outside 

 the Heads, at Point Lonsdale, while slowly drifting in towards the 

 shore, and others were reported from various places both east and 

 west of the Heads. 



