NOTE ON CERTAIN INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. 197 



tliis species in China is not impossible, and, if confirmed, 

 wonld be a malter ol'some interest. 'J'lie Brazilian P. Myrinna 

 resembles P. J'irginiensis, bnt is unich more riclily coloured, 

 and the space occui)ied by the siibmarginal eyes on the 

 upper surface of the hind wings is filled up by a broad brown 

 Ijand. Of the species allied to Aialanta the most interesting 

 are Indica, Herbst. {CallirJioe, Hiibn.), from the East Indies 

 and Canaries, which resembles a pale AtaUtnta, with a broad 

 tawny band on the fore wings, marked with three black 

 spots on the inside; P. Go/ierilla, from New Zealand, which 

 has a broad red band on the hind wings, marked with four 

 black eyes with blue pupils ; and P. Tammeaniea, Esch., a 

 large and richly-coloured species from the Sandwich Islands. 

 P. Ilea is reddish or greenish tawny at the base of the fore 

 wings and on the hind wings, except at the costa and hind 

 margin ; the basal colouring of the lore wings is bounded by 

 a very large, oval, yellow spot; the rest of the wing is black, 

 with some small while and yellow spots near the tip : it is 

 an Australian insect, and resembles no other species. 



I have not been able to complete the subject of the genera 

 allied to Vanessa in the present paper, and shall have to 

 resume it in the next. 



NOTE ON CERTAIN INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. 



By G. B. CoRBlN. 



It is well known that the above subject has excited some 

 considerable degree of interest within the past few years, and 

 especially since the publication of Mr. Darwin's book treating 

 of the subject. Few readers ol the ' Entomologist,' especially 

 those who have visited the New Forest, are unacquainted 

 with the insectivorous properties of the sundews (Droseracea), 

 and the tenacity with which tiie viscous matter exuding from 

 the glandular hairs, with which the leaves are encirled, entrap 

 and hold the unfortunate insect that comes within reach. 

 These are not of the smaller kinds only, but sometimes — as 

 my friend the Rev. H. M. Wilkinson informs me — insects as 

 large as a dragonfly are caught, and their juices assin)ilated 

 to the plant's well-being; or, again, the butterwort {Piit- 

 giiicula) acts in a somewhat similar manner; whilst in the 

 water the bladderworts (Urtricularia) have an equally 

 wonderful property of entrapping small water-slugs and 

 insects, and, as IVIr. Darwin propounds, thrives upon such 



