452 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



It is not surprising that the extremely flower-like pupa of 

 the Mantis, Hymenopus hicornis^ named in Kelantan the 

 Kdnchmig, is believed to be "a flower which has become 

 alive," and to have its origin from the "Straits Khodo- 

 dendron " {Melastoma polyanthum), to the blossoms of which 

 it bears so close a resemblance. It is less obvious why 

 Heteropteryx dilatata, a large flat Phasmid, not particularly 

 leaf-like in appearance, should be supposed to spring from 

 the leaves of the Jack-fruit tree {Artocarpus integrifolia) \ 

 but the Malays say that the insect is always found upon 

 this tree, and only eats its leaves. Heteropteryx is a rare 

 insect, and is much sought after by the Siamese, who believe 

 that its hard red eggs, when worn like jewels, or, as the 

 Malay phrase is, like "gecko's eyes" {mdta cMchak), in a 

 finger-ring, protect their owners from all manner of ghosts 

 and evil spirits. 



When a white zoologist is solemnly informed that a certain 

 hairy caterpillar habitually turns into a squirrel, he seems 

 to have reached the height of absurdity ; but a glance at the 

 caterpillar, which is called Uldt Sentddu, and probably 

 belongs to the Lymantriidae, will show him the origin of the 

 belief: just behind the insect's head he will notice two tufts 

 of hair longer than that on the rest of the body, and bearing 

 a most ludicrous resemblance to the tufts on the ears of a 

 squirrel. There is a fish not uncommon in the Malay 

 Peninsula which is believed by many to turn into a monkey: 

 a most respectable, and, in the ordinary dealings of life, a 

 most trustworthy old Malay haji, told me that he had seen 

 the metamorphosis in the course of completion. Doubtless 

 there is some fancied likeness in the head of this fish to that 

 of a monkey, and it is just possible that the old man had 

 seen one of those Japanese " mermaids " that are formed 

 out of the skin of a monkey and the skin of a fish patched 

 together. 



A very strange transformation, according to some Malays, 

 is that of the Rdjd Atn-dm — the '' King " or " Queen of the 

 Termites " — which by day rules over the termites in their 



^ See Proc, Zool. Soc. Lojidon, December 1900. 



