eee [x 
with the bodies: they are then eaten, or placed in a wooden 
vessel called a ‘Walbun,’ or ‘Culibun,’ and pounded by a 
piece of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps of fat, 
and may be compared in colour and consistence to dough 
made from smutty wheat mixed with fat. The bodies of the 
moths are large, and filled with a yellowish oil, resembling 
in taste a sweet nut. These masses . . . will not keep above 
a week, and seldom even for that time; but by smoking they 
are able to preserve them for a much longer period. The 
first time this diet is used by the native tribes, violent vomit- 
ing and other debilitating effects are produced; but after a 
few days they become accustomed to its use, and then thrive 
and fatten exceedingly upon it.” (‘‘ Wanderings in New 
South Wales,” by George Bennett. London, 1834. Vol. i, 
p. 270.) Mr. Bennett adds that “it is not only the native 
blacks that resort to the ‘ Bugong,’ but crows also congregate 
for the same purpose.” (J/bid., p. 272.) 
The foregoing extract contains several points of interest. 
In the first place the statement that the flavour of the insects 
resembles that of a sweet nut recalls the experience of Plateau 
with Abraxas grossulariata, and that of Wheeler and Marshall 
with various insects believed on good grounds to be objection- 
able to insect-eating animals. (See Prof. Poulton in Trans. 
Entom. Soc. Lond., 1902, pp. 405-414.) Again, the assertion 
as to the deleterious effects of the Bugong diet is of interest 
in relation to Prof. Poulton’s suggestion regarding the rejection 
of Acrxas by the Mantide, as being ultimately due to their 
unwholesome character. (Jbid., pp. 318, 319.) 
It will be observed that Mr. Bennett persistently speaks 
of the Bugong as a moth, whereas Prof. Westwood states 
categorically that it is a butterfly belonging to the genus 
Euplea. The description of the insects “collecting in the 
crevices of the masses of granite in incredible quantities ” 
seemed to me so unlike what was to be expected of a true 
Euplea, that I could not help suspecting a mistake of some 
kind. Searching in Mr. Bennett’s book for further inform- 
ation about the insect in question, I found the following 
description: ‘‘The largest specimen I obtained measured 
seven-eighths of an inch with the wings closed, the length 
