4 ' M. L. Peringiiey's Descriptive Catalogue [Nov. 30, 



I met once with a great number of i/. tulermlata in the ne'ghbour- 

 hood of Kimberley. It was after a moderate shower of rain (December) 

 on a barren, dry, red-coloured soil, where one could hardly expect to 

 come across much of insect life. Yet close search revealed the 

 presence of a few grass-hoppers, the females of which are devoid of 

 wings, Hoplolopha asina, Sauss, and which owing to their colouring 

 adapt themselves so well to their immediate surroundings as to be very 

 difficult of detection. Oraphiplerus (Carabidse) were also fairly 

 plentiful. 



I found several vertical galleries of the larvae, which were, however, 

 on the alert, and would descend rapidly as I drew near the entrance. 

 The ground was too hard to excavate, and they would not be lured 

 out of their burrows. 



, I had probably alighted on a special breeding place, as I could have 

 easily captured more than two hundred examples of Mantichora in a 

 few hours. 



I found one sort of ant only in that locality, and it was not plenti- 

 ful, and although I have no doubt that a Mantichora can easily attack 

 an Hoplolopha, T still wonder at the kind of prey made use of by the 

 larva, unless it is the white ant, Termes, spec, which swarms 

 in huge numbers after a shower of rain. That food was, however, 

 scarce in that locality was evidenced by the small size of most of my 

 captured specimens, some of them being the smallest I have yet seen. 



To this scarcity or abundance of nutritive material is probably due 

 the great diversity in size and sculpture, which makes the specific study 

 of this genus so very difficult. 



Although Mantichora is, as stated, generally found running in open 

 bare spot?, Mr, J. H. Brady informs me that he has captured it under 

 stones in the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth (Cape Colony). 



Rev. H. Junod, of Rikatla, near Lourenzo Marquez (Delagoa Bay) 

 writes that the natives there are in the habit of crushing with their 

 foot this beetle, which, according to them, has a nauseating smell, and 

 it is a common occurrence to meet with a Mantichora with crushed 

 elytra. 



So far as is now known the genus Mantichora is not met with 

 north of the Equator. 



