NATURE 



[May 4, 1893 



been shed, and only now is a fresh crop coming on. The 

 common Lantana Camara, instead of being a blaze of bloom, is 

 a ragged, almost leafless shrub, with here and there a flower- 

 head ; Mimosa pudica is in many cases killed outright, butsome 

 are putting out fresh leaves from the root stocks. Rhodomyrtus 

 tomentosa, perhaps our coaimonest shrub, is quite killed on the 

 hills, and the exquisite Enkyanthus quinqueflorus, with its pink 

 bells and opal glands, that is so cherished by the Chinese at 

 their New Year Festival (February 17) was hardly up to date. 

 On February 28, with a party of naval officers, I ascended 

 Lanto (3000 feet), a peak on an island near Hongkong, that is 

 famous for Tiu Chung-fa, to give it the native name, and though 

 I found numbers of the shrubs putting forth new red terminal 

 leaves, only one was in flower, and the supply has been very 

 scanty. Cocoa-nuts and bananas have suffered greatly. 



At Canton Dr. Henry repoits the banana plantations are 

 ruined, and bamboos have suffered. " Aleurites triloba (the 

 candle-nut) looks shrivelled up, while begonias, euphorbias, 

 crotons, and scores of others look shrivelled up." There the 

 plants suffered more than at Hongkong, for Mr. C. Ford, super- 

 intendent of the Botanic Gardens, reports Aleurites uninjured 

 below an altitude of 300 feet. In his Government report he 

 gives a list of over eighty species of exotics that have suffered, 

 and the following effects upon indigenous plants : — 



Bischoffia javanica, Blume 

 Blechnum orientale, Linn. 

 Embelia Bibes, Unrm. 



ovata, Scheft'. 

 Evodia triphylla, A. de C. ... 

 Ficus retusa, Linn. 



hispida, Linn. 



Harlandi, Benth. 

 Garcinia oblongifoHa, Champ. 

 Ilea chinensis. Hook, and Am. 

 Melastoma candidum, Don 

 Moesa sinensis, A. de C. 

 Nephrolepis exaltata, Schott ... 



biserrata, Schott 

 Bsychotria elliptica, Ker 

 Rotthra paniculata, Juss. 

 Rhodomyrtus tomentosus, Hassk 

 Sponia veluiina. Planch 

 Tetracera sarmentosa, Vahl 

 Zanthoxylon nitidus, A. de C. 



... Killed. 



J, 



... Leaves killed. 



.!. Kil'led. 



,, 



... Leaves killed. 



... Killed. 



... ,, 



... Fronds killed. 



Leaves ,, 



!'.! Killed. 



... Leaves killed. 



"Those which were killed were above 800 feet above sea- 

 level." 



The effect upon insect life has been disastrous. A few 

 straggling butterflies and hymenoptera lasted a few days, and 

 then came a blank of weeks when not an insect of any kind was 

 seen, and the place seemed painfully still from the absence of 

 cicadas by day and crickets by night. My friend Mr. H. E. 

 Denson found a glow-worm at the Peak on February 6, but saw 

 nothing else in the way of insects. 



Towards the end of February the weather began to be mild, 

 though it is still below normal, and insects began to appear, 

 some lepidoptera emerging crippled. Butterflies are still quite 

 rare, and generally only single specimens seen. The only species 

 as plentiful as usual is the little pale blue Lyceena argea. Last 

 year butterflies absolutely swarmed. Thus Mr. J. J. Walker, 

 R.N., has in his diary the following notes: — February 3. 

 " Euploeas in greater numbers than I had ever seen." And 

 again, March 4: "The profusion of butterflies was quite 

 bewildering." 



I cannot show the difference between the two seasons better 

 than by comparing the list of species on the wing : — 



Species. 



10. Clerome etwiceus, Drur. 



11. Vanessa chavonia, Drur. 



12. Junonia asterie, Linn. 



13. Ifvionias, Linn.... 



14. orithya, Linn., var. A)i- 



dromeda 



15. Symhrenthia hypcelus. Hub. 



16. Ergolis ariadne, Linn. 



17. Neptis eurynome, Westw. ... 



18. Athyma perius, Linn. 



19. sulpitia. Cram. .. 



20. Hypolivmas misippus, Linn. 



21. Hestinaassimilis, Doub. ... 



22. Cupha erymanthis, Drur. ... 



23. Argyniiis niphe, Linn. 



24. Pyraiiieio cardui, Linn. 



25. indica, Herbst. ... 



26. Zemeros flegyas. Cram. ? 



27. Abisara kausambi, Held. ... 



28. Lampides celianiis, Fabr. ... 



29. Polyommatus bceticus, Linn.. 



30. Lycana praxiteles, Feld. 



31. argea'! 



32. Thecla 



33. Pieris canidia, Spar. 



34. coronis. Cram. ... 



35. Catopsilia catilla. Cram. 



36. pyranthe, Drur. ... 



37. crocale. Cram. 



38. Terias hecabe, Linn. . . . 



39- sp 



40. Ixias pyrene, Linn. ... 



41- sp 



42. Hebomoia glaucippe, Linn. ... 



43. Papilio memnon, hinn. 



44. helenus, Linn. ... 



45. polites, Godt 



46. dissimilis, Linn 



47. antiphates. Cram. 



48. sarpedon, Linn. ... 



49. telephus, Feld. ... 



50. agamemnon, Linn. 



51. paris, Linn. 



52. bianor. Cram. 



53. Leptocircus, sp. 



54. Choaspes, sp. 



55. Baoris mathias, Fabr. 



56. Telicota bambusir, Moore. ... 



No. of species on the wing, 

 March 17, 1892 ... 



No. of species on the wing, 

 March 17, 1893 



1893 



c 

 v.c 



c 

 v.c 



c 



c 



c 



c 

 v.c 



r 



c 



r 



c 

 v.c 

 v.c 

 v.c 

 v.c 

 v.c 

 v.c 



c 



c 



c 



c 



c 



r 



r 



c 



Remarks. 



■^" 



A few, 1893 

 A few, 1893. 

 One only, 1893. 



A few, 1893. 



One 9 , 1893. 

 One only, 1893. 



As usual in March. 

 Generally swarms. 



A few, 1893. 

 A few, 1893. 



One only, 1893. 



One only, 1893. 

 One only, 1893. 

 A few, 1893. 



A few, 1893. 

 A few, 1893. 



11 



NO. 1227, VOL. 48] 



The paucity of species this year does not nearly represent the 

 difference, for whereas butterflies swarmed at this time last year, 

 they are very rare now. Mr. Walker and I make it a rule to go 

 out every day and note the species, and I do not think we have 

 missed one. It is not the lack of flowers, for the gardens are 

 aglow, and rhododendrons are superb. I may mention that our 

 \XD\<\\ie R/wdoleia Championi f[ov:exedma.gmf\ceni\y in February, 

 producing two crops of flowers one after the other ; the first were 

 damaged and snapped off short at the base of the peduncle, 

 carpeting the ground with carmine blossoms ; the second blooms 

 were not shed. 



Bees are now active, cicadas and grasshoppers beginning to 

 sing, but in diminished numbers. Hemiptera are waking up 

 from their torpor, and coleoptera becoming numerous. I imagine 

 there is not a great destruction of pupce and eggs, but that they 

 are delayed in emerging. To-day we have the first real soaking 

 rain for months, and as the south-west monso m has begun to 

 make itself felt, I anticipate quite a burst of life during the next 

 few weeks, and will report. 



Another interesting phenomenon has occurred since I wrote 

 my first account of the cold wave. The sea-water flowing from 

 the north has cooled below the normal, and at the end of February 



