] 843.] and the White Wax of China. 90 1 



the white powder and anal canopy of white cottony down with which 

 the insect is loaded. 



Kirby and Spence seem to think it very doubtful whether the 

 Chinese wax is in reality the produce of the " Flata limbata;" and 

 remark, that as Sir G. Staunton merely supposes that such is the case, 

 and as he does not appear to have tried the experiment of dissolving 

 the wax in oil, there is more reason to believe, that the white wax of 

 China is the produce of a totally different species. In this opinion I 

 most fully concur, from the results of experiments made on the wax- 

 like substance procured from the " Flata limbata.'' 1 



Westwood refers the wax to the " Flata nigricornis" of China, and 

 states that the F. limbata inhabits Ceylon. Cramer, who figures both 

 insects, gives Ceylon as the habitat of F. limbata, but assigns Africa 

 as that of F. nigricornis ; the specimen of the latter however, figured 

 in Donovan's Insects of China, is said to have been taken from India. It 

 is probable, therefore, that F. limbata may occur in Ceylon, India and 

 China, and that F. nigricornis may likewise be found in the two latter 

 countries, for Chinese forms are exceedingly common in this part of 

 India, and this season I have captured both the Chinese Atlas Moth 

 ( Saturnia Atlas, J and two fine specimens of " Buprestis bicolor," said 

 to be an inhabitant of Java.* I have likewise a species of Flata 

 agreeing in all respects with F. nigricornis, except in wanting the row 

 of black dots along the posterior margin of the elytra. 



The newly deposited wax of Flata limbata I found to dissolve 

 readily in water, and when boiled and allowed to cool, a deposit of 

 clear white crystals was formed in the vessel ; these had no taste, and 

 felt gritty in the mouth. On trying to dissolve this deposit in warm 

 or even in boiling oil, no combination of the two took place, nor was 

 I more successful in my endeavours to dissolve the crude wax in oil ; 

 while the attempt to melt it on the fire without water or oil proved 

 altogether abortive, the wax merely burning and consuming away till 

 it became converted into a hard and baked substance. Melted in 

 water, the mixture assumed a brownish hue with strong aromatic scent. 

 Thus all my endeavours to convert the substance into wax for econo- 

 mical purposes, according to the directions given in Westwood's edition 



* Mr. W. H. Benson also possesses a specimen of B. bicolor, taken here some years 

 since. 



