404 INSECTS. [Cuar. XII. 
knows; whither going no one can tell.! As day declines, 
the moths issue from their retreats, the crickets add 
their shrill voices to swell the din; and when darkness 
descends, the eye is charmed with the millions of 
emerald lamps lighted up by the fire-flies amidst the 
surrounding gloom. 
As yet no attempt has been made to describe the 
insects of Ceylon systematically, much less to enumerate 
the prodigous number of species that abound in every 
locality. Occasional observers have, from time to time, 
contributed notices of particular families to the Scientific 
Associations of Europe, but their papers remain un- 
digested, and the time has not yet arrived for the pre- 
paration of an Entomology of the island. 
What Darwin remarks of the Coleoptera of Brazil is 
nearly as applicable to the same order of insects in 
Ceylon: “The number of minute and obscurely co- 
loured beetles is exceedingly great; the cabinets of 
Europe can as yet, with partial exceptions, boast only 
of the larger species from tropical climates, and it is 
sufficient to disturb the composure of an entomologist 
to look forward to the future dimensions of a catalogue 
with any pretensions to completeness.”? M. Nietner, a 
German entomologist, who has spent some years in 
Ceylon, has recently published, in one of the local 
1 The butterflies I have seen in 
these wonderful migrations in Cey- 
lon were mostly Callidryas Hilarie, 
C. Alemeone, and C. Pyranthe, with 
straggling individuals of the genus 
Euplea, E. Coras, and E. Prothoe. 
Their passage took place in April 
and May, generally in a north- 
easterly direction. The natives 
have a superstitious belief that 
their flight is ultimately directed 
to Adam’s Peuk,. and that their 
pilgrimage ends on reaching che 
sacred mountain. A friend of 
mine travelling from Kandy to 
Kornegalle, drove for nine miles 
through a cloud of white butter- 
flies, which were passing across 
the road by which he went. 
? Nat. Journal, p. 39. 
