( 15 ) 



treat, and prefers one to a spider. I think I have told you 

 the tale of an old native lady at Akwe [1] who saw me 



xviii] 



catching butterflies. A few days after this she arrived with 



a calabash full, but all the wings had been pulled off ! " 



Determination of the Coccid Food of the Larva of 

 Spalgis lemolea. — Professor Poulton said that he had now 

 submitted to Professor R. Newstead some of the Coccids which 

 formed the food of S. lemolea, H. H. Druce. They had been 

 sent in spirits by Mr. W. A. Lamborn, and, although unfortun- 

 ately badly attacked by fungus, had been placed without 

 hesitation in the genus Dactylopius by Professor Newstead, 

 who had written, Feb. 19, 1912: — 



" I have now examined the material bearing the label. 



' With 457 Lycaenid larvae {Sjjalgis lemolea),' with the 



following results : — 



"1. The Coccid is undoubtedly a species of Dactylopius, 

 Targ.-Tozz., and, as far as I can judge by the somewhat im- 

 perfect condition of the preparations, the species is identical 

 with D. longispinus, Targ.-Tozz., one of the common and 

 widely distributed ' Mealy Bugs.' Only four examples (1 

 nymph, 3 adult females) were discoverable on the leaves, and 

 all of these are badly infested with a microfungus of some 

 kind — the body cavity being completely filled with hyphae or 

 some other phase of the fungus \ so that the morphological 

 characters of the integument are almost completely obliter- 

 ated ; but, in spite of this, the salient characteristics of the 

 insect are visible. The microscopical preparations are all 

 marked A. 



" 2. An example of No. 1 completely destroyed by fungus. 

 Slide marked B. 



" 3. Lepidopterous larva found buried in silken web. 

 Slide marked 0. 



" 4. Portion of silken web taken from the surface of the 

 leaves. This contains the remains of the Dactylopius, plant 

 hairs, frass and the spores of a fungus. Two slides marked D. 



"5. The same as D, but stained. In one of the prepara- 

 tions you will find a bundle of the long hairs to which I called 



