838 Mr. G. A. K. Marshall on 



the larvse are very free from parasites, which in my 

 opinion tells somewhat against that view. 



Salishnry, March 6-10, 1898. — Of four larvse of L. 

 chrysippus I have taken this season two were killed by a 

 parasitic fly [probably a TacJiina'] which attacks many 

 different butterfly larvse. 



In his " Rhopalocera Malayana " (p. 407) Mr. Distant 

 writes : " Mr. W. F. Kirby has kindly drawn my attention 

 to the fact that several species of Chalcis have been reared 

 from East Indian Danaids." * 



[Colonel J. W. Yerbury at Aden " lost a great number 

 of chrysijiims larvse from the attacks of a large dipterous 

 parasite, one of the TacJiinin/c" (Journ. Bomb. Nat, 

 Hist. Soc, 1892, p. 209). 



Professor Felix Plateau, in his interesting paper on 

 Abraxas grossulariata, L. (Mem. de la Soc. Zool.de France, 

 tome vii, 1894, p. 375), also referred to on pp. 325-7, states 

 that he found twenty-two caterpillars out of flfty-one, 43 per 

 cent., attacked by insect parasites, viz. of Hymenoptera, two 

 species of Microgastcr and one of Ichneumon; of Diptera, 

 the Tachinid Exorista vulgaris (Fallen). The caterpillar, 

 'pace Professor Plateau, is most conspicuous, and, as the 

 Professor admits in the above-quoted paper, is refused 

 by European insect-eating vertebrates with wonderful 

 unanimity. 



In the autumn of 1888 I found the conspicuous gregar- 

 ious larva3 of Ficris Irassicx suffered to an enormous extent 

 from the attacks of Ichneumonidfo. No less than 424 mature 

 larvae out of 631 died from this cause (Trans. Ent. Soc. 

 Lend., 1892, p, 439). I have also observed an excessively 

 high rate of mortality from the same cause among the 

 conspicuous specially-defended larvse of Porthesia aurifiua. 

 Dr. F. A. Dixey informs me that he has found the larvas 

 of Euchclia jc(colcVm much infested by ichneumons. — 

 E. B. P.] 



8. Experiments on Lizards and Frogs. (G. A. K. M.) 



[Experiments with lizards and frogs were few and the 

 results negative. A large number of the S. African species 

 are no doubt specialized to eat only certain kinds of food, 

 and these would be useless for experiment if their natural 



* The names of Ghahis cnplea, Hope, and G. albicrns, King, are 

 .specially mentioned. 



