Tlic BionomicH of South African Insects. 877 



June 4. Mungoose ate three Terias hrigitta, three 

 T. senegalcnsis, two Precis sesamus, three 

 ByUia ilithyia, one Fyramcis cardui, and 

 two Mylotliris agatlvina. 

 „ 7. Mungoose ate three Acrma axhia and actually 



one Limnas ckrysippus. Whether this 

 eating of evidently-unpalatable species 

 is due to the voracious appetite of the 

 animal or to a youthful lack of discrimina- 

 tion it is difficult to say, but probably 

 the former is the truer explanation. I 

 could not observe any marked signs of 

 its having found the insects unpleasant. 

 „ 11. Gave mungoose an Acr^a caldarcna, which 

 was promptly eaten. An L. chrysi2J2^i(S 

 was then thrown down ; she seized it at 

 once, but quickly ejected it with unmis- 

 takable signs of distaste. An A. axina 

 was treated in a precisely similar manner, 

 so that she seemed to have learned 

 wisdom. Later on she was offered a 

 Phymatcus morhillosus ; she made several 

 attempts to eat it, but its very unpleasant 

 smell deterred her each time. 

 [These results are interesting and in some respects re- 

 markable. It is probable that some of the apparently- 

 inconsistent results were due to the fact that a voracious 

 insect-eater in extreme youth was gaining its first experi- 

 ence of certain species. Thus the apparent fear of the 

 large Hesperid BJiojKdoeanijJtcc was probably, as Mr. Marshall 

 suggests, the inherent timidity of a young animal in the 

 presence of a strange sound and a method of wing-vibra- 

 tion very different from anything which it had witnessed 

 before. The treatment of Mylotliris suggests that the 

 animal was startled at first by something unusual in taste 

 or smell, but that when it became accustomed to the 

 experience the Pierine was no better defended against 

 the mungoose than against mantides. On the other hand, 

 the behaviour towards Aciteas and chrysipiyus seems to 

 indicate a progressive recognition of distastefulness or 

 unwholesome qualities. It is unfortunate that the experi- 

 ments were not greatly extended and prolonged. — E. B. P.] 



