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NATURAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SOUTH AFRICA. 



( Contrntied.) 



By S. D. Bairstow, F.L.S. 



*** Note. — Owing to the absence of both Editors from Huddersfield, Plate 

 yni. was accidentally omitted from the last number, but is given this month ; 

 and the last sentence in Mr. Bairstow's paper (p. 136) ought to have appeared 

 as the beginning of the present part. 



Our Sphinges are numerous and varied, and my old friend A. Atropos 

 poses in Port Elizabeth as a vine pest and a hive-robber, whilst by- 

 many up-country agriculturalists it is held in terror and superstitious 

 awe. 



The ChelonidcB contain some lovely species, several of which I doubt 

 not hybernate as larvae, as at home. One of our most striking moths, 

 Pais decora, I have taken during the season, flies over grassy plains, and 

 is readily boxed. It resembles Abraxas grossulariata, both in flight and 

 metamorphoses. The larva, pupa, and imago exhibit coincident forms 

 of colour. Several of the ZygcBnidce swarm where they locate, and are 

 always welcome friends. At Rondebosch — a delightful retreat near 

 Cape Town — I saw thousands of them pursuing their revels beneath 

 the glare of a fiery sun. Procris nebulosa is not uncommon, but a moth 

 (sp. 1) I was pleased to greet as a Procris never fell to my net in the old 

 country. I have not yet discovered a solitary Hepialus,'^ but should 

 suppose the genus is represented. To speak of Geometers, Noctuas, 

 and Micros — 



I would if I could, but I can't, 



If I could when I would, then I dar'nt. 



To integrate such a history necessitates the combined efforts and 

 researches of a complete nation of lepidopterists. Monographic 

 mention elevates one to insult the rest. Mr. Spiller mentions a few 

 Natalian mothsf that are recorded also from Great Britain, and I 

 notice a species of Plmia, closely allied to gamma. 



The hemipterous fauna of South Africa, says Dr. Buchanan White, 

 F.L.S. , is " pretty well worked,;]: although a great deal remains to be 

 N.S., Vol. ix. Ape., 1884. 



* Since penning this, Eepialus antarcticus is registered from Cape Town in 

 the S.A. Museum Blue Book. 



t iS^. Convolvuli, S. Celerio^ C. Nerii, A. Atropos^ D. Fulchella, S. Saorarta, 

 Heliothis Armigera. [Ent., vol. xiii., p. 83.) 



:j: The only book on this order known to me is Stahl's Hemiptera Africance^ 

 which covers the entire continent. 



