NOTES AND QUERIES. 393 



is possibly a recent introduction here,* as it has lately appeared in 

 enormous numbers, especially during the war period, when most 

 people were absent from their houses and gardens in Johannesburg. 

 It is a rather large insect, and from the damage it does to many 

 plants, including dahlias, roses, salvias, wistarias, the young shoots 

 of Japanese privet, and even of almond and apricot trees, it readily 

 attracts attention. Like so many of its kind, it is possessed of a most 

 unpleasant smell — a smell of a nastiness and penetration surpassing 

 that possessed by any other insect I am acquainted with. Moreover, 

 it has the power, which it seldom neglects to use when opportunity 

 offers, of squirting out, apparently with some accuracy of aim, a most 

 offensive and disgusting fluid, which appears to be the source of the 

 unpleasant smell referred to. 



In spite of its size this insect is not readily seen unless looked for. 

 Its angular outline and general colouration are distinctly protective, 

 and, although strong on the wing, it has the habit, like some other 

 protectively coloured insects, of letting go its hold of a plant, and 

 dropping to the ground, where it lies perfectly still in whatever position 

 it has fallen. It is then very difficult to distinguish among dead 

 leaves, twigs, and pebbles. From its extremely ' offensive smell, and 

 its abundance in every garden, I was inclined to infer that it must 

 be unpalatable to ordinary enemies of insects. I noticed, however, 

 that a Lizard (Eremias sp.), of which there were many in my garden, 

 greedily ate some of the bugs I had killed ; another Lizard (Agama sp.) 

 declined the dainty morsel, preferring to rapidly pick up the ants 

 which had commenced swarming round the dead bugs. Afterwards I 

 found that my fowls were very eager after the bugs, and seemed to find 

 them very much to their liking. My next-door neighbour had for 

 some time a tame Meerkat (Suricata tetradactyla) , a little animal 

 possessed of the keenest sense of smell, and it also readily ate these 

 bugs. 



The fact that this bug is eaten by various creatures is, of course, 

 what one might expect from a knowledge of its habits and colouration. 

 It is very probable that its disgusting smell does afford it a certain 

 amount of protection from enemies — indeed, it would be hard to 

 account for such highly developed offensiveness except on some such 

 ground of utility ; but it is clearly a case where, to quote Mr. Distant's 

 words, odoriferous protection proves of a " highly partial and uncertain 

 character." — Harold Fry (Eock House, Johannesburg). 



* A common Transvaal insect, which I always found about Pretoria.— 

 Ed. 



Zooi. 4th ser. vol. VI. , October, 1902. 2 H 



