LUMINOUS SOUTH AFRICAN FULGOBID INSECT. 287 



once its position. Unfortunately time prevented my stopping 

 longer, and on the next occasion, about an hour after, it had 

 buried itself beneath ; so, like the story of the professor and 

 the mushrooms, I had lost my chance. The cocoon made had 

 all the characteristics of the former ; I found the same piled-up 

 heap, with its slender little filament, adorning carefully this 

 architecture. Next day, for the purpose of seeing what it now 

 looked like, I prised up the covering from the leaf ; the larva, so 

 quiet before, now evinced great alarm by beating its head to and 

 fro so rapidly that for the space of several seconds I thought it 

 would never stop. I was able at last to examine it. But how 

 different, reduced to a small maggot, nearly white all over, 

 unlike any caterpillar in my experience ; body composed of 

 segmented rings, fore legs soft and bulbous, without hooks, the 

 third pair being different, much stouter ; between these and the 

 claspers (four pairs) was a cavity like in some Lamellicornia ! 

 Larva again much creased ; the clasping legs were very short, 

 but firm and large ; the anal extremity was tubular — possibly, 

 only I could not see — composed of another pair of claspers. 

 This description appears, perhaps, a little vague, but was made 

 after death, without the aid of a microscope. 



I omitted to state that the pupa covering was very tough, 

 resisting a sharp penknife in penetrating. The chrysalis, again, 

 from white turns black, much like a Sesia (" clearwings"), but 

 with no hooks about the segments. The first imago took sixty- 

 one days, others sixty-nine and seventy-one days respectively, to 

 emerge, with a temperature not lower than 63° indoors. The 

 exit is made between the covering and the leaf, the larva having 

 left that part flexible for that purpose. But I may note, as it is 

 worthy of attention, perhaps, this feat on the part of the moth is 

 not accomplished without some hard work by its pupa, and in 

 every instance of emergence the exit was facing the leaf's stem. 

 The metamorphosis now complete, a short description of the 

 moth will terminate this communication. 



The first moth emerged early one morning between 6 and 

 7 o'clock — a black moth, with nothing to recommend her, unless 

 it is her quiet modesty as she clings to the leaf supporting her 

 white sepulchre. As I inspect her, which she allows me to do 

 without the least signs of any timidity, I find I am wrong in my 



