THE AUSTRALIAx\ MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



15 



young caterpillar, when it emerges 

 from the egg, is yellow in colour, and 

 covered with long hairs. It is exceed- 

 ingly voracious, and at once com- 

 mences to eat the young shoots and 

 leaves of the food-plant. Increasing 

 rapidly in size, it changes its skin 

 several times, until it attains a length 

 of one and a quarter inches, which is 

 its maximum size. At this stage the 

 body is greenish in appearance with 

 yellow tubercles on each segment 

 forming transverse rows. The long 

 hairs which were so conspicuous in 

 the young larva have given place to 

 very fine ones, the long ones having 

 disappeared during a moult. 



The caterpillar now develops into 

 the pupa or chrysalis stage, which is 

 attached to a leaf of the Capparis. The 

 chrysalis is about an inch in length, 

 and is greyish-white with yellow and 

 black markings. The head bears a 

 pointed process, and the second ab- 

 dominal segment has two black spine- 

 like structures. 



The butterfly, on emerging from its 

 chrysalis, has to wait some time until 

 its wings are dried before it can join 

 its companions in their migrations, or 

 sport around the green leaves of the 

 Capparis. 



The "Caper White"' has a very wide 

 distribution. In addition to being found 

 throughout Australia, it occurs in 

 Malavsia, Xew (Guinea, Friendlv 



Islands, Solomon Islands, New 

 Hebrides, and New Caledonia. So 

 far, it has not extended its range into 

 Xew Zealand. 



The White Caper resting on Flowers, 



Photo— A. Musgrate 



The poet Swinburne has immortal- 

 ised white butterflies in the following- 

 lines : — 

 "Fly, white butterflies, out to sea. 



Frail, pale wings for the winds to try ; 

 Small white wings that we scarce can see. 



Here and there may a chance-caught eye 

 Note, in a score of you, twain or three. 



Brighter or darker of tinge or dye ; 

 Some fly light as a laugh of glee, 



Some fly soft as a long, low sigh : 



All to the haven where each would be — 

 Fly." 



HOUSEHOLD PESTS.— From time to 

 time the Museum is asked to supply in- 

 formation as to the most elTective methods 

 of ridding a house of such common insect 

 pests as the house fly, the bed bug, fleas, 

 and cockroaches. 



Of these we shall deal first with the house 

 fly, Xitsca doincstica, also known as the 

 typhoid fly on account of its being a carrier 

 of the germs of this disease. Formalin has 

 proved to be the best poison, and a few 

 drops of five per cent, formalin placed in a 

 saucer of sweetened milk will cause the 

 death of all flies who partake of it. If 

 proper care were taken in the first place to 

 prevent flies breeding, by covering up re- 

 ceptacles for garbage and such places as 

 manure Iieaps in stables, they would eventu- 

 ally disappear. 



Fleas are encouraged through cats and 

 dogs being kept on the premises or else 

 through lack of proper cleanliness. Flea 

 larvae feed upon dust in carpets and in 



the cracks and crevices of the floor. To 

 dispose of fleas we must therefore get rid 

 of all dust by thoroughly scrubbing out the 

 room with hot water in which a small 

 quantity of carbolic has been poured, and 

 by beating all carpets. 



The only effective method for getting rid 

 of bugs is thorough fumigation by a com- 

 petent person employing such means as 

 hydrocyanic acid gas. This gas is very 

 poisonous and fumigation should not be 

 attempted by a novice. 



Cockroaches are best destroyed by placing 

 baits of borax and breadcrumbs, or equal 

 parts of ground-up chocolate and borax, in 

 the places where they lurk. Plaster of Paris 

 sprinkled about will also be greedily con- 

 sumed by the insects, and on being taken 

 into their digestive system it hardens, and 

 so causes death. Paris green blown into 

 their hiding places has the effect of driving 

 them out. — .\. Musgrave. 



