CURIOUS INSECTS. 391 



human hair, and fastened to the end of a long, slender 

 stick. They will lassoo adroitly their tiny game, and 

 bring them to you with the hair neatly secured around 

 the insect's neck, which does not prevent it from flut- 

 tering about, to the great delight of its captor ; for boys 

 are cruel, even in a state of nature. 



In the woods of Singapore I made captive a very large 

 and handsome species of Nephila, which I do not find 

 described. The thorax is covered with a rich golden 

 pubescence ; the terminal half of the palpi are deep black, 

 the proximate half red above, and yellow beneath ; the 

 chelicera are large and shining black ; the abdomen has 

 a black band at the anterior part, and posteriorly, and on 

 the sides large bright patches of yellow ; the cephalo- 

 thorax, where not hid by the silky hairs, is dark green, 

 with yellow striae ; the legs are black, with bright yellow 

 rings at the joints, and the thighs, on the under surface, 

 are bright yellow, and the eyes are black and shining. 

 It forms a large, geometrical web, extended vertically be- 

 tween low bushes. Another remarkable insect was seen 

 feeding on the bark of a tree, and appeared to me to 

 resemble, more than anything else, the larva of one of 

 the Geometridte, which, being destined to live on a rough, 

 green bark, and not among twigs and slender stems, in- 

 stead of the usual brown colour, was of a bright green, 

 with the segments of the body dilated laterally, giving 

 it somewhat the appearance of a number of fronds of 

 the Lemna, or Duck-weed, strung together. When this 

 strange-looking caterpillar crawled, it hooped its body in 

 the manner peculiar to the members of the Geometrida 

 family. 



