Tlir Jiionomic>i of ^outli African Insects. r577 



June 4. Mimgoose ate three Terias Jn-igitki, three 

 T, senegaleoisis, two Precis scsamus, three 

 Byhlia ilithyia, one Pyrameis eardui, and 

 two Mylollvvis agatlvina. 

 „ 7. Mungoose ate tlu'cc Acrxa axina and actually 



one Limnas chrysipims. Whether this 

 eating of evidentl3'-unpa]atable species 

 is due to the voracious appetite of the 

 animal or to a youthful lack of discrimina- 

 tion it is difficult to say, but probably 

 the former is the truer explanation. I 

 could not observe any marked signs of 

 its having found the insects unpleasant. 

 ,, 11. Gave mungoose an Acr/ea caldarenci, which 

 was promptly eaten. An L. chrysippns 

 was then thrown down ; she seized it at 

 once, but quickly ejected it with unmis- 

 takable signs of distaste. An A. aHna 

 was treated in a precisely similar manner, 

 so that she seemed to have learned 

 wisdom. Later on she was offered a 

 Phymatcus morhillosns ; she made several 

 attempts to eat it, but its very unpleasant 

 smell deterred her each time. 

 [These results are interesting and in some respects re- 

 markable. It is probable that some of the apparently- 

 inconsistent results were due to the fact that a voracious 

 insect-eater in extreme youth was gaining its first experi- 

 ence of certain species. Thus the apparent fear of the 

 large Hesperid Bhopalocampta was probably, as Mr. Marshall 

 suggests, the inherent timidity of a young animal in the 

 presence of a strange sound and a method of wing-vibra- 

 tion very different from anything which it had witnessed 

 before. The treatment of Mylothris suggests that the 

 animal was startled at first by something unusual in taste 

 or smell, but that when it became accustomed to the 

 experience the Pierine was no better defended against 

 the mungoose than against mantides. On the other hand, 

 the behaviour towards Acrgeas and clirysip'pus seems to 

 indicate a progressive recognition of distastefulness or 

 unwholesome qualities. It is unfortunate that the experi- 

 ments were not greatly extended and prolonged. — E. B. P.] 



