a 
304 Transactions:—Zoologyj. 
* À moth from the larve also accompanies the above, for I have fully 
satisfied myself of their identity. In 1836 I kept the larve under glasses, 
and fed them with the leaves of kumara (much to the annoyance of the 
natives), until the perfect insect was produced. There cannot reasonably 
exist a doubt that this insect deposits or drops some of her eggs on the 
` branches of the raataa (Metrosideros robusta, A.C.), beneath which tree 
alone the Spharia robertsii has hitherto been found, when they (the larve) 
fall to the earth beneath, die, and the Spheria is produced. 
“ I think I can offer a fact for consideration relative to their being only 
(or chiefly) found beneath Metrosideros robusta. One fine evening last 
summer, when enjoying, as usual, a promenade in my garden, just as the 
. sun had set, I was admiring the splendour of some plants of Mirabilis, 
which had just unfolded their scarlet petals. Suddenly several of these 
moths made their appearance, darting about the plants in every direction, 
pursuing one another, and eagerly striving to obtain the honey which lay at 
the bottom of the perianths of the Mirabilis. From this plant they flew 
upwards to the flowers of a stately Agave (A. americana), where, being 
joined by other moths, their congeners, their numbers soon increased ; and 
thus they continued to enjoy themselves every evening during the whole 
season. The inference I deduce is this, that the M. robusta, blooming at 
this season, having scarlet flowers which abound in honey, becomes the 
centre of attraction of these insects—increased, too, by its densely crowded 
coma of inflorescence, more particularly so from the blossoms being always 
at the extremity of its branches; by which, and by their colour, this tree 
may at once be distinguished from the other denizens of the forest, even at 
a great distance. 
** The larva whereon the Spheria is found, when first taken out of the 
earth, is white internally, and appears solid and succulent. A finely-cut 
slice, when held against the light, presents a beautiful appearance.” 
I may further add that, 25-30 years back, I had a honeysuckle (Lonicera 
periclymenum ) trained round the doorway of a house in my garden. This 
plant flowered abundantly in the summer, and it was interesting and curious 
of an evening to sit on the step (as I have often done) and watch those large 
moths (Hepialus); they would visit the plant in great numbers, and 
unrolling their long probosces, probe the flowers to get at the honey, pass- 
ing quickly from flower to flower, and continually coiling and uncoiling their 
long trunks with great rapidity; they never lighted on the plant, and all the 
time kept up a tolerably loud humming noise from the quick and incessant 
vibrations of their wings, which, indeed, drew the attention of the cats, who 
often, in consequence, captured them, 
