70 
Transactions of the Boyal Society of South Africa. 
of the seeds of these plants it enables the others to become fertile, which 
would not be possible without its aid. 
The case is quite parallel to that of the Yucca moth {Pronuba), which, 
while depositing its eggs into the pistil, effects the pollination of the 
flower, and although a number of seeds are destroyed by the grubs of the 
moth, without such visits no seeds are formed at all. 
Eattray states : " From June onwards one finds a proportion of the 
seeds (80 %-100 %) parasitized by the grub of the same species of 
Phloeophagus " {i.e., Antliarrhinus.) "The adult insect works its way 
out of the seed at a time when the cones begin to disintegrate." (This is, 
as far as my information goes, about December to January.) The adult 
insect can live for three months without food and only a limited amount 
of air, but where or how this period is spent is uncertain." 
This uncertainty, however, is now removed. Mr. Mally has informed 
me that he and Mr. Tidmarsh have observed the Antliarrhinus under the 
bark of trees in the Botanic Garden at Grahamstown, where a considerable 
number of plants of E. Altensteinii as well as E. villosus are growing. 
The beetles obviously pass the summer in a dormant state, and when the 
odour of the pollinating cones reaches them they congrega.te on the 
cones for feeding and pairing. 
Summary. 
The presence of Antliarrhinus zamiae in the seeds of Encephalartos 
caffer is recorded for the first time by Thunberg (1773). 
J. F. Dr6ge, as well as Ecklon and Zeyher, collected the same beetle 
from the seeds of several species of Encephalartos, and also two species 
of Phloeophagus on the ^ cones of E. caffer. 
Miss A. Pegler collected Phloeophagus hispidus on the S cones 
of E. villosus, and Professor H. H. W. Pearson'''' thought it not unlikely 
that this insect may be concerned in the transport of the pollen from 
the ^ cone to the ? cones. It has, however, not been found as yet on 
a $ plant. 
Miss Pegler later on sent us some parcels of insects, among them two 
other weevils, viz., Derelomus languiclus and D. postfaciatus, together with 
several other insects that had been found on both the and $ cones. 
Eattray found the Antliarrhinus zamiae, called by him Phloeophagus, on 
both the S and $ cones of E. Altensteinii and E. villosus at a time 
when the pollen was being shed, thereby establishing the fact that this 
insect is the principal agent for the transport of the pollen to the 
$ cones. 
* Trans. S.A. Phil. Soc, vol. xvi., 348, 1906. 
