216 SPOLIA ZEYLANIOA. 
The main characters of the aberration are as follows. On the 
upper side the red area on the fore-wing is more widely extended, 
obliterating the usual black patch in the middle of interspace 1, and 
the submarginal red band on the hind-wing does not include the 
black spots that are found in typical examples. On the under side 
the differences are still more marked ; the red area on the fore-wing 
is even more widely extended, and the subapical white streaks and 
spots in the black area have disappeared ; the hind-wing is almost 
entirely suffused with pale gray scales, leaving only a few 
nebulous patches of brown. If this specimen had been captured on 
the wing it might have suggested a natural hybrid between indica 
and cardut. 
From a subsequent batch of larve that pupated under similar 
conditions I obtained two normal examples of the butterfly and one 
aberration precisely similar to the first. 
EK. ERNEST GREEN. 

30. On ‘* Megaderma lyra,” its Habits and Parasites.—In a 
previous number of this Journal f have called attention to the 
carnivorous habits of bats of the genus Megaderma. I have found 
frequent signs of its depredations in the remains of birds and small 
bats dropped in my verandah. I have since seen the fragments of a 
_ mouse (consisting of the feet and part of the head, mingled with the 
characteristic excreta of a bat) that had evidently been captured 
and devoured by the same animal. But, until quite recently, I had 
never come to close quarters with the bat itself. Examination of a 
loft above the Royal Botanic Gardens Laboratory has, however, 
revealed a stronghold of Megaderma lyra. They were found to be 
swarming with a minute dipterous parasite, allied to the “ tick-flies ” 
(Hippobosca). The common bat parasite (Nycteribia) belongs to the 
same family (Pupipara), but is apterous. The parasite of Megaderma 
has small but fully developed wings and is capable of flight. 
The destruction of small birds, due to these vampire bats, must 
be enormous. Day after day, for weeks together, I have found 
my verandah strewn with the wings and feathers of small birds, 
principally of the dainty little honey-sucker (Cinnyris zeylonicus). 
It would be interesting to know how the bat effects its capture. 
Though extremely agile on the wing, a bat is but a clumsy animal 
when it has to rely upon progress by means of its feet and claws 
alone. When the bat is abroad, the bird is snugly roosting in the 
recesses of a bush. How does the bat discover the presence of its 
prey ? Does it enter and explore bush after bush on the chance of 
happening upon a sleeping bird, or does it scent them from a 
distance and then hunt them down in their retreat ? 
K. ERNEST GREEN, 
