NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
17 
mandibles to their fullest extent and remained with them thus for some lime as if 
gasping. Soon all this ceased and she lay dead, though slight muscular move- 
ments continued for some while. The date of Nock was out evidently, for she 
had survived the early frosts of October. The weather latterly had been 
unusually mild, and it was not the cold but November 4 which killed her. 
The following are the measurements of the scar on the ash-twig, which I cut 
off and still have: — Extreme length. 3; inches ; average breadth, 1 inch (about) ; 
circumference at part where the bark is stripped off all round, I ’ inches. 
Wamil Hall, MildenhaU, Sufiolk. Edmund Sei.ous. 
Notes from Northern Tasmania. —November 3.— A little bit of love- 
making on the part of some large ants called “ blue-jumpers ” was lately 
observed. These ants are of a dark blue colour with yellow legs and antennae, 
and build small hillocks of bits of stick and gravel, dragging quite surprising 
weights in comparison with their own. In these hillocks are their nests, and 
on the outside sentinels are always promenading to give notice of the approach 
of an intruder. Woe to the unfortunate wight who steps unwittingly too near 
these redoubtable warriors, for in a second or two they have leapt upon him, 
and hanging tightly by their mandibles wherever they can find a soft place, 
sting again and again with the point of the abdomen until their victim is nearly 
maddened with pain. They are absolutely fearless, and always act on the offensive 
if man or beast approach too near their habitation. With regard to the amours 
of this species, on the occasion referred to a female, of a somewhat broad flit 
shape, and wingless, was seen upon the ground, with a winged mile dancing 
attendance upon her. Having captured the latter I allowed the female to crawl 
away a good distance round a sandy hillock, and then liberated the winged one, 
which immediately alighted upon the ground and began to track the other, 
apparently by scent, and without looking where it was going, until it ran into 
a tuft of grass, on the other side of which the female had stopped. The winged 
one rushed round this obstacle with all a lover’s impetuosity, and encountering the 
object of his affection, began at once a furious courtship. 
November 6. — A very curious larva was found upon a gum-sapling, having a 
most heavy, ungainly appearance, and proving to be that of a species of lace wing 
fly (Chrysafa). This larva carried a load of material upon its back, the pile being 
composed apparently of fragments of charred wood and pieces of withered wattle- 
flowers. This load swayed from side to side as the creature walked, and looked 
like a waggon load of hay being carted on a rough road. The bearer did not 
seem to feel any inconvenience from the presence of all this foreign material, even 
when walking upside down, and had probably placed it there as a protection 
against its enemies. The shape of this larva was flattish, broad in the middle 
and tapering off at each extremity, in colour whitish with two dark stripes along 
the back ; it was provided with six legs, two large pincer-like mandibles, and 
an appendage at the tail with perhaps a sucker action, w'hich seemed to help it to 
cling, and gave it an impetus when walking. Many brown long-snouted curculio 
beetles may be seen sitting astride the edges of the gum leaves and feeding upon 
them. The elytra are covered with small lumps, and there are two longer 
protuberances towards the extremity. If this beetle be approached by the hand 
it instantly drops to the ground and lies motionless for a time, but if this 
manoeuvre has not been executed in time and the insect is caught, it will then 
cling with extraordinary tenacity to its leaf edge, and can hardly be detached 
without injury. 
The young eucalypts are also much frequented by the insects called “frog- 
hoppers,” allied to the English “ cuckoo spits,” but devoid of the frothy substance 
in which the latter envelopes itself. The perfect forms of some of these hoppers 
are very pretty, the head and outer wings being of a polished blue tint, while in 
others the bodies are red and the wings variegated. They make great leaps with 
a clicking noise. 
November 7. — Many instances of protective colouring may be met with in the 
bush by an attentive observer; one of the very commonest is that of a little black 
spider which hunts upon the bark of the gum trees which have been burnt black 
in the bush fires, and could not be distinguished at all on its hunting ground were 
it not for the silvery-white palpi, which are constantly in motion. 
