5012 



An Entomologist^ s 



knew they stole my sugar and that I did not molest them, and, except 

 as regards petty larceny, they never molested me. 



In December that beautiful hairstreak, Thecla Evagoras, comes out 

 everywhere : it is of a most lovely metallic-blue colour, and has a 

 graceful but rather feeble flight. The caterpillar is gregarious. I 

 have often gathered a twig of wattle with forty or fifty of the pupa? 

 attached to it, and unchanged larvaj still feeding amongst them ; but 

 I allude to this butterfly solely with the view of mentioning, in con- 

 nexion with it, a peculiarity of the ant tribe. The first batch of 

 Evagoras pupae that I found was on a little conical sprig of wattle ; 

 at the base of the pyramid were a number of the reddish black pupae 

 glistening in the sun ; above these were others, still undergoing their 

 metamorphosis ; and at the apex were larvae still feeding. Hundreds 

 of black ants were bustling about in this colony of butterflies, and I 

 supposed at first their object was to devour the soft and newly-changed 

 pupae, but this was not so. I found that the skins of the larvae, imme- 

 diately after the change, remained tightly adhering to the tail of the 

 pupae, and that the pupae had no power to get rid of them. The ants 

 ate this skin only, stripping it off", devouring every particle of it, and 

 leaving the polished chrysalis glittering in the rays of the sun. These 

 ants appeared to delight in running over the backs of the still feeding 

 caterpillars, but never did them the slightest injury. I picked many 

 of the twigs covered with these colonies, and, bringing them into my 

 tent, found the ants most unwilling to leave their companions: how- 

 ever, they did not like the absence of sun, and one by one took their 

 departure. The larvae continued to change, the skins still adhering to 

 the pupae. In a few days the butterflies began to appear ; those from 

 the pupae cleansed by the ants were bright and beautiful, the others 

 with crippled wings and unable to fly : this might have been occa- 

 sioned by the diminished light within the tent, but I could not help 

 attributing it to the want of the kind attentions of the ants. 



If any insects in Australia can dispute numerical supremacy with 

 the ants it is certainly the flies, the various species of Muscina ; one 

 in particular, somewhat smaller than our bluebottle, is a dreadful pest. 

 It breeds in the offal which abounds at the Diggings, and is perpetu- 

 ally buzzing about you, especially when eating : it settles on your 

 face, and even in your eyes, and you have a hard task to protect your 

 meat, cooked or uncooked ; it will settle on it the moment it has 

 cooled, and deposit its masses of eggs, which almost immediately be- 

 come maggots : some even say it deposits living maggots, but this I 



