XIV. PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 



pea-iments, however, gave me sufficient information to set about the larger 

 experiment caxried out since. 



Tisiphone Joanna — A Natural Hybrid. 

 Experimental proof. 

 In October, 1920, I spent three days at Ui-unga, at the mouth of the Bel- 

 linger River, and there secured a few pupae of morrisi and a large number of 

 larvae. These I brought home and reared a nimiber of them to perfect insects. 

 Before this, I had secured a large number of larvae of abeona from near Sydney, 

 some of which I had in one of my cages and others I had on marked plants in 

 a gully near- my home to be used if required. When suitable specimens emerged 

 on the same day and the weather was right for paiiing, a pair was introduced 

 into a cage in the sunshine. In this way I secured ten sets of fertile eggs, in 

 five eases the male parent was abeona with a morrisi female and in the other 

 Ave the male parent was morrisi with an abeona female. In some eases I had 

 to keep the specimens alive for a few days by artificial feeding in order to have 

 the sex I required, and in one case only I had to bi-ing in a wild abeona male 

 caught near my home, as I had no freshly-emerged specimen. From these ten 

 families I secured in the autumn of 1921 exactly one hvmdred fii-st generation 

 hybrids. From these first generation specimens, despite very adverse weather 

 conditions, I was able to secure ten fresh pairings, in no ease mating brother 

 and sister. The weather during the winter of 1921 was not at all conducive to 

 success, and the lar\'ae of the first generation had so eaten down the food plants 

 during the previous summer, that I at one time feared that I should rear only 

 two or three specimens of the second generation. Some families failed entirely 

 to give me anj' butterflies, but two were very successful; it was abundantly in- 

 dicated that I should have more plants in reserve and not try to rear two broods 

 in the one cage in any one yeai-. I am now in a much stronger position for the 

 plants in the new set of cages are gTowing well and are in much better con- 

 dition than the older ones which were not grown under such favourable condi- 

 tions. Of second generation specimens I secured in all thirty butterflies frgm 

 which I was only able to make two successful pairings; these, however, have 

 given me during the last six weeks twelve butterflies of the third generation. 



A detailed examination of these three generations of hybrids has been so far 

 impossible, as sufficient time has not yet been available, so this must be postponed 

 until a later date; nor can all the families obtained and their parents be figured, 

 for coloured plates would be necessary and the cost would be very great. I have 

 given figures of six specimens of the first generation, six of the second and three 

 of the third, choosing as far as possible specimens that agree as nearly as possible 

 with those figures of Joanna in "The Butterflies of Australia," the coloured plate 

 appearing in that work being repeated here as Plate ii. A comparison of tlie 

 hybrids figured on Plate iii. with the figures of joanna on Plate ii. gives the fol- 

 lowing results : — 'fig. 1, a fii'st generation male, approaches fig. 808 ; fig. 2, also a 

 first generation male of the same family as fig. 1, is not represented on Plate ii. 

 but is of a somewhat similar type to many caught specimens; fig. 3 is a remark- 

 able first generation female; this type appeared in quite half the first generation 

 families, but was very rarely caught at Fort Macquarie; fig. 4, a first generation 

 male, approaches figs. 805, 809 land 811 and specimens somewhat like this are 

 not uncommon at Port Macquarie; fig. 5, another first generation male of the 

 same family as figs. 3 and 4, represents the general type of first generation 



