president's address. XUl. 



protecting tbe larvae from parasites and enemies. In the main I have suc- 

 ceeded in overcoming these difficulties. The food plant (several species of 

 Gahnia) grows either in swamps near the sea-coast, or inland in the bed of 

 creeks and so must be well supplied with water. When picked it very quickly 

 shrivels up and dies, crashing any larvae that may be hiding in the tufts. By 

 keeping the tufts in moist sand in a jar, I have kept it alive for over a week, 

 but this is by no means so satisfactory as having growing plants. Aided by Mr. 

 J. W. Allgood, gardener, I have now at least 50 growing plants and we have 

 found that the best time to remove the plants from the bush is in the early 

 spring or early autumn when they ai-e beginning to shoot. I have had little 

 success in moving plants in the winter. Pairing now is not difficult provided the 

 day is bright and sunny and I usuallj' place a large wire cage over a plant 

 growing in a tin and have the cage in as open a spot as possible. I have 

 at times had pairing take place in a large glass jar. The length of time of 

 pairing in cases I have watched has not exceeded 23 minutes which, no doubt, 

 accounts for the few times tliis species has been seen paired in the bush. After 

 pairing is noticed, the male is removed and killed, and during the following 

 two days from 16-32 eggs are laid by the female, usually on the footl plant, but 

 occasionally on the wire of the cage. The tin is then removed to one of the 

 specially built wire gauze cages, which are about 3 feet high and 2 feet 6 inches 

 wide on each side, with a door at one of the sides and are all numbered. My 

 early cages were single, being built round already growing plants of sword 

 gi-ass. Later the Senate of the University of Sydney generously made available 

 a special grant from the McCaughey Research Fund, for which I take this op- 

 portunity of expressing my thanks and I was enabled to erect a series of cages, 

 which for economy were built back to back, the ground being specially prepared, 

 and now, after 12 months, the plants are in splendid condition. By this means 

 the available number of cages has been more than doubled. These cages, being 

 made of the wire gauze used for fly windows, have protected the larvae from 

 both diptei-ous and hymenopterous parasites and have prevented the larvae from 

 wandering. The gi-owing sword gi-ass is protected from the ravages of the larva 

 of a moth, which feeds on the young shoots of the sword grass, causing it to 

 die. The greatest trouble at present is the presence of spiders, which find the 

 cages suitable places to live in and which, when very young, can easily pass 

 through the mesh of the wire gauze. When inhabited, the cages must be 

 examined almost daily and the spiders kUled. The larvae pass through their 

 transformation and the pupae are transfen'ed inside to compartments bearing 

 numbers corresponding with the cages from which they were taken. 



A trip in July, 1919, with Mr. G. M. Goldfinch to Southern Queensland was 

 undertaken both to obtain lai-vae of rawnsleyi, in which we were successful, and 

 to find larvae of morrisi at Southport which, however, we failed to do. I had, 

 however, a number of pupae of abeona from Sydney and also of rawnsleyi, and 

 as a male of rawnsleyi and a female of abeona emerged close together I paired 

 them and secured fertile eggs from which I reared three males and two females. 

 I made two pairings of these in the autunm of 1920 and secured two small 

 families which I have in my collection. These results were not altogether satis- 

 factory, as the parents that produced the second generation were brother and 

 sister. I also secured a pairing of abeona male with rawnsleyi female, this 

 female being reared from a fertile egg laid in the paper envelope by a female 

 <?aught by Mr. R. Ulidge at Mooloolah in October, 1919. These preliminary ex- 



