r 



PROBABLE FOOD-PLANTS OF TERTIARY CATERPILLARS. 75 



East Indias, feeds upon Capparis.^ One species of Phaseolites, one of Sophora 

 and four of Cassia, namely : C. hyherborea Ung., C phaseolites Ung., C. lignitum 

 Ung., and C. ambigua Ung., are recorded from Radoboj, and as Cassia is a favorite 

 food plant among the larger species of Danai at the present day, we may fairly 

 presume one of these Cassise to have afforded nonrishment to Mijlothrites Pluto. 

 Moreover, no less than thirty-one species of Leguminosse in general, or between a 

 ninth and a tenth of the whole known flora, are given by von Ettingshausen as 

 occurring in Radoboj; so that in any case our Mylothrites must have found abun- 

 dance of palatable food. 



The food of Pontia Freyeri is doubtful. All the living species of the genus 

 so far as known, feed upon Cruciferse; within this family they do not seem to be 

 at all particular, making use of a large number of genera, but in only a single 

 instance are they known to attack the leaves of a genus (Reseda) belonging to an 

 adjoining family. Cruciferse, however, are excessively rare in the tertiaries of 

 Europe, two species only being recorded, and this from the comparatively recent 

 beds of (Eningen. This is unquestionably due simply to the nature of the plants 

 themselves, which scarcely could leave any trace of their existence; the almost 

 complete absence of the herbaceous families of plants, even in the later tertiaries, 

 is doubtless due to this fact. The plants nearest related to the Cruciferse found 

 near the horizon of Pontia Freyeri are a species of Nelumbium from Gunzbourg in 

 the Mayencian, and of Terminalia (T. radohojensis Ung.) — one of the Calyci- 

 florae, from Radoboj itself. Perhaps in the absence of better evidence we may 

 provisionally consider the latter to have been the food plant of P. Freyeri. 



A single Radoboj species remains, Eugonia atava. The recent species of 

 Engonia feed particularly on Salix, Populus and Betula; also upon Ulmus, and 

 occasionally on Ribes, and even on Hippophae. The first three seem however to 

 be their proper food ; and since the tertiaries of Radoboj contain fossils of all these 

 genera, we need look no farther. There are specified: Salix apollinis Ung., sp., 



• I Tentnre to give one more extract from a recent letter re- nourlBsant de Capparis. Los Capparis ont du exister, mais leur 



ceired from Coont Saporta, although he wi-ites: — "Je vous fcris feuilles sont difflciles k distinguer ^ cause de I'absence de carac- 



D'ayant sons lea yeux ni mes lirres nl mea collections, ce qui en- tires difTcSrentiels ; Icur furine et leur nurvution peu visibles dolvent 



levera D^c««AaJremcnt un peu de precision li quelques-unes de mes les fuire confondre avec beuucoup d'autrcs. 11 me scmble pourtant 



r^ponses." que des Capparis ont Hi signnl^s soil k Radoboj, soit k Iloering 



"11 est blen pins difficile de Justifler par des exemples l\\i» en Tyrol, depOt un peu plus anciens [TongrianJ, mais en I'ab- 



de Is nature des plantcs la presence k BadoboJ d'un insecte se sence de mes livres Je ne saurais vous ruilirmer.-'' 



