57 



the time, so unlike in flight and general appearance did it appear. 

 Mr. Jones discovered a truly wonderful species of Syntomid of the 

 genus Pseudosphex, which turns out to be new, flying with the little 

 vespid wasp, Megatithopus cassiuiiinga. The resemblance between 

 these two is one of the closest and most remarkable of all the 

 Syntomid cases of mimicry. 



I'he forest on both sides of the road, or rather, mule track, is very 

 fine, and we were at the right season for seeing the Alelastoma trees 

 in all their glory, covered with white and mauve flowers. The 

 blossoms open white, and gradually change to mauve as they mature. 

 I noticed a good deal of fuchsia growing in the undergrowth, and 

 occasionally we saw trees of Cassia one mass of yellow flowers. 

 Near habitations we saw some fine examples of the silk-cotton tree, 

 or Bombax /ades, with brilliant pink blossoms. The slopes of the 

 Serra, as seen from the Sao Paulo railway, are magnificent. The 

 mountain sides are densely covered with tangled vegetation. But 

 the railway, a British-owned one, does not help the lepidopterist 

 directly by providing specimens. The sides of the track are so 

 well looked after and kept free from growth that one obtained 

 nothing by walking down the line. Very different, indeed, are some 

 of the Brazilian-owned lines, which afford a happy hunting-ground 

 for the entomologist. 



While at the "Alto" we collected all day, and well into the night, 

 and altogether got a wonderful lot of insects. The climate, however, 

 was rather depressing and exceedingly damp. Clouds roll up the 

 Serra and envelop the little settlement of Alto da Serra almost every 

 afternoon, and apart from the discomfort of the mist it is difficult to 

 dry one's specimens. 



On March yth we bade adieu to our kind host, took an early train to 

 Sao Paulo, there fitted out with sundry necessaries, and the same after- 

 noon took train for Itarare. We spent a sleepless night in the train, not- 

 withstanding the fact that we had booked two berths in the" dormitorio." 

 But this Brazilian dormitorio was not the exact equivalent of our 

 luxurious sleeping-cars. Nevertheless, we were both much surprised 

 to hear that such accommodation existed in any form. We arrived 

 at Itarare at 5.40 a.m., and our first impressions of this out-of-the-way 

 little town were not encouraging. Everything was dilapidated and 

 badly kept, and the sole conveyance at the station was more suitable 

 for a museum than for service over a vile road. Itarare is right away 

 from the forest region, in the midst of the vast campos or prairies. 

 The climate is very fine, but Lepidoptera are decidedly scarce. 

 We found Cafagramtiia sorana in fair numbers and in perfect con- 

 dition. Eiinica bec/iifia was also common but badly worn. It was 

 at Itarare that I saw the one and only wild mammal while in Brazil. 

 In one of the small, scattered bits of woodland I disturbed a coati, 

 and had a good view of this interesting animal in its native state. 

 At the little hotel where we stayed a tame coati was kept chained up. 

 The proprietor of the house also had an orchid, Oncidiiwi prcetextum. 



