368 Mr. C. O. Farquharson’s Five Years’ Observations 
red tips, the red being exactly that of a good old-fashioned 
Bryant and May match. The flower, in fact, has a by no 
means fanciful resemblance to a “Swan” vesta with a 
yellow stick. When mature the most abundant Lycaenid 
on them is one with a pink larva just delicately tinged 
with yellow and extremely difficult to see unless one 
knows how to detect them. [It is evident from a later 
letter, p. 372, that the larva is #. casis; but the commonest 
species was ultimately found to be A. paneperata.| I 
am to send you a new series of these when they come on, 
for the Loranthus series threatens to be more complex 
than the Plerocarpus one [p. 381]. That tree, too, 
may soon be coming into flower. This evening’s adven- 
ture has seriously complicated the Loranthus series. The 
Loranthus flowers are verticillate. They arise apparently, 
season after season, on the same “ cushions,”’ to use a term 
applied to cocoa-flowering. These cushions are rough and 
warty, brown in colour, tinged here and there with dull 
green. Arising on them and sticking upwards are found 
the flowers; at the present stage these are dull green—a 
_ sort of bud-seale green shot with brownish hairs. There is 
no trace of the red tip yet. I was not surprised to find the 
larva of the form from which I bred the Nematodes 
[A. paneperata]. It is exactly that colour. I expect to 
get a few and to be able to send one in spirit. I had taken 
my knife to cut off a “cushion” with its partially deve- 
loped flowers when my eye caught sight of something that 
ought to have been a part of the cushion but was—another 
larva, a perfectly amazing cryptic form with curious knobs 
and an astonishing and quite indescribable medley of 
colours, a masterpiece of camouflage! [The larva of 
E. farquharson.| I got him safely into my tin and pro- 
ceeded to cut off the cushion of flowers for it to “ chop.” 
Camouflage can have its disadvantages. Alas, I cut another 
one in two and my joy at finding No. 1 was seriously 
damped. But before it was too dark I got four in all. 
I'll get more, ’m sure, and [’Jl have one to spare for spirit. 
I'm positive, however, that I didn’t overlook these before, 
when the flowers were in full bloom and the predominant 
colours were yellow and red. And the pink larva form 
[HZ. zasis| hasn’t arrived yet. The colours [of #. farqu- 
harsoni| aren’t bright nor are they many, but the few there 
are, green, brown and tiny hints of red, very very slight, are 
wonderfully blended. The Argiolaus maesa has a very odd 
