EAST AFRTCJAN INSECTS. 1035 



very slowly, after the fasliioii of London tnxicahs dosing up in a 

 press. The catevpillars were 1^ inches in leiigtli, (Handeni, 

 27.vi. 16.) 



Some six miles from Kilosa .ilong the railway line for Kigoma 

 is Juinhe Sungiiru's village. Here close to the line is a mighty 

 wild iig-tree, hig as an English elm, and as I was passing it to-day 

 I. saw that every bit of this great tree as far as its topmost twigs 

 was smothered in grey hairy caterpillars, each bearing on its 

 back two spots— tufts of black haiis in reality. The caterpillars 

 seemed to be moving slowly up the tree with long silken thi-eads 

 in gi-eat profusion as if to guide them, and as I walked around 

 the tree surveying this wonderful sight from different points, I 

 came upon a small column travelling with haste across the path. 

 Following this line back, I found they were descending from a 

 smaller tree — no larger than a crab-apple, and of raudh the same 

 appearance — which still had plenty of leaves, so why they should 

 leave a land of plenty and go on tliis pilgrimage to a tree already 

 much depleted of foliage and overstocked with caterpillars, I 

 could not iinderstand. 



I coulil not see the caterpillars feeding on the leaves, hut a 

 gentle rain of droppings kept falling, and the surrounding ground 

 was already well-covered, whilst unsightly masses of web and 

 silken thread loa.ded with excrement depended from the larger 

 branches. It was diflicult to see what the main body on the bole 

 of the tree would get to ea,t to-day, but for the time being they 

 had something else to distract their attention. Several minute 

 black ichneumon flies Avere hovering over them, and when one 

 of these approached a caterpillar, the latter would jerk its head 

 and forepart of the body most violently backwards, and the little 

 fly would move off. How it could get close enough to oviposit 

 an egg in the skin of such a hair}"^ caiierpillar was the problem 

 confronting the insect, but doubtless it would eventually succeed 

 in doing so. (Kilosa, 30. vi. 21.) 



On August 6th I revisited the tree and collected four pupae 

 which were concealed beneath a mat of webbing. Two were of 

 one species and two of another. 



Two pupje were green, but the shells left after emergence Avere 

 transparent and colourless except for their bright red *' tails." 

 They produced ochre-coloured moths with a reddish spot on each 

 fore- wing — Nygmia crocosticta Hmpsn., or a race of this species, 

 being smaller and moi-e richly coloured than the type which 

 came from the west of Lake Nyasa. (Kilosa, 14. viii. 21. J These 

 moths are Liparidte (Lymantridaj), a family not known to include 

 processionary larvfe. They may have accidentally pupated in the 

 web of the true processionaries or were perhaps definitely asso- 

 ciated with them. 



The tAvo other pupa? were bi-own Avith four longitudinal series 

 of golden-brown spots. They Avere 17 mm. in length over all, 

 except the tei-minal spine which Avas a millimetre long. One 

 moth either failed to emerge or was lost. The pupa of the other 



