367 



THE VEGETABLE OATERPILLAE. 



(CORDYCEPS ROBERTSIl). 



Amongst the promised papers, one with the title "The Solution of a New 

 Zealand Botanical Mystery," by Dr. Bull, elicited much curiosity. 



Dr. Bull exhibited a curious horned caterpillar-like object forwarded from 

 New Zealand which had been sent to him with the following amusing descrip- 

 tion :— " Two or three inches long, dark brown body, not unlike dried leather — 

 " legs, feet, eyes, and mouth, perfect, as if the insect had been carefully stuffed 

 " and preserved. From the tail end there shoots out the thin stem of a plant six 

 " to eight inches long, perfectly rounded and the same colour as the caterpillar. 

 " It is clear that the grub, when alive, eats the seed of some unknown plant or 

 " tree, which, germinating inside the insect (when it buries itself in the ground 

 " before changing into a crysalis) gradually kills it as it grows and feeds upon it. 

 " The most remarkable feature is not that the grub eats the seed, nor that the 

 " seed germinates within its body, but that the process should go on whilst the 

 " outward form of the grub remains intact. The grub is found in this state 

 " underground, witli the plant growing above the surface. The plant has neither 

 " branches nor leaves, but partakes of the nature of a creeping vine. Some of the 

 " natives say that it is the seed of the rata which the grub eats in this way." 



Dr. Bull explained that this peculiarly nourished Fungus, with its elongated 

 stem of brownish-black colour, about five inches in length, belonged to the order 

 of Sphceriacei, of wliich several grew in this parasitical way on substances living or 

 dead ; this peculiar species being remarkable for being taller than other species of 

 the same family. 



There was an analogous British form which we occasionally find in our autumn 

 Fungus Forays which is called Red Torrubia or Torrubia mititaris, distinguished 

 by its fleshy orange-red club-shaped appearance ; it grows upon the larvae and 

 pupse of insects. 



The Sphceria Robertsii grows from the head of the caterpillar of Hepialua 

 virescens, a kind of moth, when it buries itself in the ground preparatory to under- 

 going its metamorphosis. The grub instead of developing into a beautiful moth 

 is replaced by a Fungus which nourishes itself upon the tissues of the caterpillar. 



Thus a vegetable takes the place of this species of ichneumon fly. 



This Fungus is described in Illustrated Natural History, by Rev. J. G. Wood, 

 Vol. III., p. 530, under the name of Cordyceps ■ Robertsii. An illustration and a 

 note on the subject of Sphceria siiiensis brought home by Mr. Moseley, the 

 naturalist to the "Challenger" Expedition, is described in the Gardener's 

 Chronicle for March 6th, 1875, also for January 18th, 1879, p. 89. 



Readers are referred to a full description of a fine specimen of Cordyceps 

 Taylori, deposited in the Department of Botany, British Museum, which will be 

 found in the Gardener's Chronicle for February 26th, 1887, p. 288. The spores of 



