696 Mr. S. L. Hiude on the Protective BesemUanee to 



never seen the larvae and imagines on the same stem or 

 even together on the same tree or bush. I have never 

 seen the imagines on vertical stems, but always on those 

 which are actually or approximately horizontal. 



It does not by any means follow that Professor Gregory 

 was mistaken in his impressions, but it is certain that 

 conditions other than those which he records are common. 

 The discrepancy is not, however, to be explained by the 

 hypothesis that I have been observing one species and 

 Professor Gregory another. My material has been com- 

 pared with that of Professor Gregory in the British Museum 

 of Natural History by Professor Poulton, and he states 

 both sets of specimens certainly belong to the same 

 species, viz. a form slightly different from Flata nigro- 

 cincta (Walker), but evidently closely allied and perhaps 

 specifically identical with it. 



One criticism of Professor Gregory's plate and description 

 we cannot sustain. I understand that the experienced 

 African naturalist, Mr. W. L. Distant, holds that the 

 position shown in Professor Gregory's Fig. 1 was merely 

 due to the heavy rain which is stated to have occurred at 

 the time (loc. cit., p. 273), the insects having crept up the 

 vertical stem to as great a height as possible in order to 

 escape the wet. Mr. Distant accordingly believes that 

 their grouping is unconnected with any protective re- 

 semblance to an inflorescence. My wife and I, on the 

 other baud, recognize a strong superficial likeness between 

 the mixed groups of insects and the flowers and buds of a 

 leguminous plant with which we are perfectly familiar. 

 We have mistaken the groups of insects for the flowers, 

 and conversely the flowers for the insects. We unfortun- 

 ately omitted to bring a piece of the plant to England in 

 order that it may be identified, but this omission can easily 

 be rectified on our return to East Afiica. 



Although, as I have said, we have never seen the 

 imagines on vertical stems, the groups of larvee were 

 generally, although not always, in this position, as may be 

 seen on Plate XXVII, reproduced about two-thirds of the 

 natural size from a drawing made and finished upon the 

 spot by Mrs. Hinde (Jan. 20, 1901). The locality was 

 an island in the Athi River near the " Falls," about twenty- 

 three miles from Kitui Station. There were dozens of 

 groups on the shrubs and small trees under the shade of 

 large trees on the island, and the group painted — a small 



