( lxxxi ) 



in the following note extracted from a letter written June 29, 

 1914, by Mr. Farquharson to Mr. W. A. Lamborn : — 



" On the 24th of June, 1914, I observed on the arm of a 

 verandah chair in my house at Ibadan, a specimen of the 

 Hesperid butterfly Rhopalocampta forestan, Cram. This 

 species is locally very common, and to find it in or about a 

 house is not at all unusual. The hour was about 1.30 p.m., 

 the day being dry, with little breeze, and overcast sky, typical 

 of a " dry " day in the wet season. On the previous day 

 there had been heavy rain. For no special reason, except to 

 admire the creature, I stopped about a yard from where it 

 was resting. Though on the alert, it did not attempt to fly 

 away. 



" I noticed that it was eagerly sucking up a drop of liquid 

 from the surface of the chair arm, and before I had time to 

 wonder how the drop of moisture came to be there, and why 

 it should not have gone to fuller sources, I was astonished to 

 see it push forward the slightly incurved abdomen to within 

 a few rnillinietres of the end of its proboscis, and eject a drop 

 of clear fluid, which was absorbed in a few seconds. I watched 

 this proceeding being repeated several times, when it struck 

 me that I might time the operation. A drop was ejected about 

 every ten seconds, sometimes a little longer period elapsing, 

 but at no time was the interval less than five seconds. How 

 long this might have gone on I cannot say, but I continued 

 watching for quite five minutes, after which, fearing that the 

 butterfly might suddenly fly off, I captured it. I kept it for 

 a short time in captivity, but it was too alarmed to renew the 

 proceedings. 



" Sometimes the drop was almost deposited on the proboscis 

 by the abdomen being thrust well forward, but several times 

 the drop was evidently shot forward, suggesting actual squirt- 

 ing. It was further noticed that the abdomen was rather 

 swollen, recalling in appearance that of a newly emerged 

 imago. 



" What interpretation Lepidopterists may put on this I 

 cannot say. As it happens, there ought to be an abundance 

 of food for butterflies at this time. A plot of Zinnias now in 

 full flower in my garden may fairly be said to swarm with 



PROC. ENT. SOC. LOND., V. 1916 F 



