INSECTA TRANSVAALIENSIA. 73 



Genus HERSE. 



Herse, Okeu, ' Lebrbuch der Naturgescbicbte,' t. iii. (1) p. 762 (1815). 



20. Herse fulvinotata. (Tab. VI., fig. 15.) 



Prutopaice fuhHiuitata, Butler, Proe. Zool. Soe. Lond. 1875, p. 11 ; Traus. Zool. Soc. Lond. vol. ix. 



p. G08 (1877). 

 ProtdjKiice iiiiiuritii, Butler, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. vol. ix. p. 606 (1877). 

 Maciosila solani, ^ , war. f3 et ? , Walk. Cat. Lepid. Heteroc. Brit. Mus. viii. p. 207(1856); Herr.-Schaff. 



Auss. Scbmett. i. f. 206 (1854). 

 PIdegethontius mauiitii, Kirby, Syu. Cat. Lepid. Heteroc. vol. i. p. 687 (1892) ; Dist. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 



(6) vol. xix. p. 579 (1897). 

 Larva. — Fmtupai-ce iiiaiiritii, Fawcett, Trans. Zool. Soc. Loud. vol. xv. p. 311, pi. xlviii. figs. 9, 10 (1901). 



Larva. — Ground colour grass-f/reen, under surface darker. Paired Inunps on 1st and 2nd somites ; a 

 purple dorsal stripe from dtlt somite to horn; latercd oblique purple stripes from 4tJi to 10th somites ; these 

 stripes join the dorsal stripe un evert) somite, and are defined inferiorly bi/ parallel narroiv n-hite oblique 

 stripes; horn ferruginous, long, and beset with yellowish tubercles; spiracles small, red, tvith black centres. 

 Head green, with vertical black stripes on the face and sides, as in larva if A. atropcs. Thoracic legs black, 

 ciasjjers green (Fawcett). 



Hab. — Transvaal; Pretoria (Colls. Dist. and Pret. Mus.), Lydenburg District (Zutrzenka). — Delagoa 

 Bay (Junod). Pemba Island (Burtt). 



The larva feeds in Natal on Duranta phimicri, a common shrub in gardens, but which, 

 according to Mr. Medley Wood, is included in the flora of Natal by mistake, and is most 

 certainly not indigenous. It also feeds on Dahlia variabilis, an imported plant in Natal 

 (Fawcett). Mr. G. F. Leigh, of Durban, in a note obligingly handed to me by Mr. R. South, 

 writes that in April he found quite unexpectedly a full-fed larva of this species (and the rare 

 brown variety) on a tomato-plant in his garden. Upon touching it, "it cried quite loudly for 

 some time"; and again on a following morning before being killed for preservation, it 

 "cried three or four times." The Moth Mr. Leigh has often heard "cry," but had not 

 previously heard the sound from the larva, which he describes as like that produced by some 

 of the local Longicoru Beetles. The cry of the Moth he compares with that of A. atropos. 



21. Herse convolvuli. (Tab. VII., fig. 2.) 



Sphinx convohidi, Linnseus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 490, u. 6 (1758) ; Esper, Scbmett. ii. p. 52, pi. v. (1779 ?) ; 



Hiibn. Eur. Scbmett. Sphimj. fig. 70(1797-1803); Ocbs. Scbmett. Eur. ii. p. 236(1808); Godt. 



Lep. France, iii. p. 26, pi. xvi. (1822). 

 Agrius convolvidi, Hiibn. Verz. bek. Scbmett. p. 140 (1822 ?). 

 Protoivvrce convolvidi. Bull. Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. vol. ix. p. 609 (1877) ; Hamps. Faun. Brit. Ind. Moths, 



vol. i. p. 103, fig. 60 (1892). 

 ' Phlegethontius convolvuli, Kirby, Syn. Cat. Lepid. Heteroc. vol. i. p. 690 (1892) ; Dist. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 



(6) vol. xix. p. 579 (1897). 



Hab. — Transvaal; Pretoria (Distant), Johannesburg (Oregoe), Barberton (Eendall). — Natal; Durban 

 (Ross). Pemba Island (Burtt). — Of almost universal distribution throughout the Old World — Europe, 

 Africa, Asia, and Malay Archipelago. 



In Britain, the larva of this species feeds on Convolvtdus arvensis, occasionally on common 

 bindweed (C. sepium), and it was once found in Wales on the leaves of the wild balsam 



