2 RADIATA.

1: A. dichotomum,Chenu.2: Fistulana gregata,Lam.3: Blainvillea,Hupé.4: Latraria tellinoides,Lam.5: I have also seen M. hians of Philippi in a Ceylon collection.6: M. Taprobanensis,Index Test. Suppl.7: Psammotella Skinneri,Reeve.8: P. cærulescens,Lam.9: Sanguinolaria rugosa,Lam.10: T. striatula of Lamarck is also supposed to be indigenous to Ceylon.11: T. rostrata,Lam.12: L. divaricata is found, also, in mixed Ceylon collections.13: C. dispar of Chemnitz is occasionally found in Ceylon collections.14: C. impudica,Lam.15: As Donax.16: V. corbis,Lam.17: As Tapes.18: V. textile,Lam.19: ? Arca Helblingii,Chemn.20: Mr. Cuming informs me that he has forwarded no less than six distinctUnionesfrom Ceylon to Isaac Lea of Philadelphia for determination or description.21: M. smaragdinus,Chemn.22: As Avicula.23: The specimens are not in a fitting state for positive determination. They are strong, extremely narrow, with the beak of the lower valve much produced, the inner edge of the upper valve denticulated throughout. The muscular impressions are dusky brown.24: An Anomia.25: The fissurata of Humphreys and Dacosta, pl. 4—E. rubra,Lamarck.26: B. Ceylanica,Brug.27: P. Tennentii. "Greyish brown, with longitudinal rows of rufous spots, forming interrupted bands along the sides. A singularly handsome species, having similar habits toLimax. Found in the valleys of the Kalany Ganga, near Ruanwellé."—TempletonMSS.28: Not far from bistrialis and Ceylanica. The manuscript species of Mr. Dohrn will shortly appear in his intended work upon the land and fluviatile shells of Ceylon.29: As Ellobium.30: As Melampus.31: As Ophicardelis.32: M. fasciolata,Olivier.33: These four species are included on the authority of Mr. Dohrn.34: N. exuvia,Lam. notLinn.35: Conch. Cab. f. 1926-7, and N. melanostoma,Lam. in part.36: Chemn, Conch. Cab, 1892-3.37: N. glaucina,Lam.notLinn.38: Not ofLamarck. D. atrata.Reeve.39: Philippia L.40: Zeit. Mal. 1846 for T. argyrostoma,Lam.notLinn.41: Buccinum pyramidatum,Gm.in part: B. sulcatum, var. C. ofBrug.42: Teste Cuming.43: As Delphinulat.44: P. papyracea,Lam.In mixed collections I have seen the Chinese P. bezoar ofLamarckas from Ceylon.45: P. vespertilio,Gm.46: R. albivaricosa,Reeve.47: M. anguliferus var.Lam.48: T. cynocephalus ofLamarckis also met with in Ceylon collections.49: S. incisus of the Index Testaceologicus (urceus, var.Sow. Thesaur.) is found in mixed Ceylon collections.50: C. plicaria ofLamarck, and C. coronulata ofSowerby, are also said to be found in Ceylon.51: As Purpura.52: N. suturalis,Reeve(as ofLam.), is met with in mixed Ceylon collections.53: E. areolataLam.54: E. spirata,Lam. notLinn.55: B Belangeri,Kiener.56: As Turricula L.57: 0. utriculus,Dillwyn.58: C. planorbis,Born; C, vulpinus,Lam.59: Conus ermineus,Born, in part.

1: A. dichotomum,Chenu.

2: Fistulana gregata,Lam.

3: Blainvillea,Hupé.

4: Latraria tellinoides,Lam.

5: I have also seen M. hians of Philippi in a Ceylon collection.

6: M. Taprobanensis,Index Test. Suppl.

7: Psammotella Skinneri,Reeve.

8: P. cærulescens,Lam.

9: Sanguinolaria rugosa,Lam.

10: T. striatula of Lamarck is also supposed to be indigenous to Ceylon.

11: T. rostrata,Lam.

12: L. divaricata is found, also, in mixed Ceylon collections.

13: C. dispar of Chemnitz is occasionally found in Ceylon collections.

14: C. impudica,Lam.

15: As Donax.

16: V. corbis,Lam.

17: As Tapes.

18: V. textile,Lam.

19: ? Arca Helblingii,Chemn.

20: Mr. Cuming informs me that he has forwarded no less than six distinctUnionesfrom Ceylon to Isaac Lea of Philadelphia for determination or description.

21: M. smaragdinus,Chemn.

22: As Avicula.

23: The specimens are not in a fitting state for positive determination. They are strong, extremely narrow, with the beak of the lower valve much produced, the inner edge of the upper valve denticulated throughout. The muscular impressions are dusky brown.

24: An Anomia.

25: The fissurata of Humphreys and Dacosta, pl. 4—E. rubra,Lamarck.

26: B. Ceylanica,Brug.

27: P. Tennentii. "Greyish brown, with longitudinal rows of rufous spots, forming interrupted bands along the sides. A singularly handsome species, having similar habits toLimax. Found in the valleys of the Kalany Ganga, near Ruanwellé."—TempletonMSS.

28: Not far from bistrialis and Ceylanica. The manuscript species of Mr. Dohrn will shortly appear in his intended work upon the land and fluviatile shells of Ceylon.

29: As Ellobium.

30: As Melampus.

31: As Ophicardelis.

32: M. fasciolata,Olivier.

33: These four species are included on the authority of Mr. Dohrn.

34: N. exuvia,Lam. notLinn.

35: Conch. Cab. f. 1926-7, and N. melanostoma,Lam. in part.

36: Chemn, Conch. Cab, 1892-3.

37: N. glaucina,Lam.notLinn.

38: Not ofLamarck. D. atrata.Reeve.

39: Philippia L.

40: Zeit. Mal. 1846 for T. argyrostoma,Lam.notLinn.

41: Buccinum pyramidatum,Gm.in part: B. sulcatum, var. C. ofBrug.

42: Teste Cuming.

43: As Delphinulat.

44: P. papyracea,Lam.In mixed collections I have seen the Chinese P. bezoar ofLamarckas from Ceylon.

45: P. vespertilio,Gm.

46: R. albivaricosa,Reeve.

47: M. anguliferus var.Lam.

48: T. cynocephalus ofLamarckis also met with in Ceylon collections.

49: S. incisus of the Index Testaceologicus (urceus, var.Sow. Thesaur.) is found in mixed Ceylon collections.

50: C. plicaria ofLamarck, and C. coronulata ofSowerby, are also said to be found in Ceylon.

51: As Purpura.

52: N. suturalis,Reeve(as ofLam.), is met with in mixed Ceylon collections.

53: E. areolataLam.

54: E. spirata,Lam. notLinn.

55: B Belangeri,Kiener.

56: As Turricula L.

57: 0. utriculus,Dillwyn.

58: C. planorbis,Born; C, vulpinus,Lam.

59: Conus ermineus,Born, in part.

A conclusion not unworthy of observation may be deduced from this catalogue; namely, that Ceylon was the unknown, and hence unacknowledged, source of almost every extra-European shell which has been described by Linnæus without a recorded habitat. This fact gives to Ceylon specimens an importance which can only be appreciated by collectors and the students of Mollusca.

The eastern seas are profusely stocked with radiated animals, but it is to be regretted that they have as yet received but little attention from English naturalists. Dr. Kelaart has, however, devoted himself to the investigation of some of the Singhalese species, and has given the fruits of his discoveries in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Asiatic Society for 1856-8. Our information respecting the radiata on the confines of the island is, therefore, very scanty; with the exception of the genera[1] examined by him. Hence the notice of this extensive class of animals must be limited to indicating a few of those which exhibit striking peculiarities, or which admit of the most common observation.

1: Actinia, 9 sp.: Anthea, 4 sp.; Actinodendron, 3 sp.; Dioscosoma, 1 sp.; Peechea, 1 sp.; Zoanthura, 1 sp.

Star Fish.—Very large species ofOphiuridæare to be met with at Trincomalie, crawling busily about, and insinuating their long serpentine arms into the irregularities and perforations in the rocks. To these they attach themselves with such a firm grasp, especially when they perceive that they have attracted attention, that it is next to impossible to procure unmutilated specimens without previously depriving them of life, or at least modifying their muscular tenacity. The upper surface is of a dark purple colour, and coarsely spined; the arms of the largest specimens are more than a foot in length, and very fragile.

The star fishes, with immovable rays[1], are not by any means rare; many kinds are brought up in the nets, or may be extracted from the stomachs of the larger market fish. One very large species[2], figured by Joinville in the manuscript volume in the library at the India House, is not uncommon; it has thick arms, fromwhich and the disc numerous large fleshy cirrhi of a bright crimson colour project downwards, giving the creature a remarkable aspect. No description of it, so far as I am aware has appeared in any systematic work on zoology.

1:Asterias, Linn.2:Pentaceros?

1:Asterias, Linn.

2:Pentaceros?

Sea Slugs.—There are a few species ofHolothuriæ, of which the trepang is the best known example. It is largely collected in the Gulf of Manaar, and dried in the sun to prepare it for export to China. A good description and figure of it are still desiderata.

Parasitic Worms.—Of these entozoa, theFilaria medinensis, or guinea worm, which burrows in the cellular tissue under the skin, is well known in the north of the island, but rarely found in the damper districts of the south and west. In Ceylon, as elsewhere, the natives attribute its occurrence to drinking the waters of particular wells; but this belief is inconsistent with the fact that its lodgment in the human body is almost always effected just above the ankle, which shows that the minute parasites are transferred to the skin of the leg from the moist vegetation bordering the footpaths leading to wells. The creatures are at this period minute, and the process of insinuation is painless and imperceptible. It is only when they attain to considerable size, a foot or more in length, that the operation of extracting them is resorted to, when exercise may have given rise to inconvenience and inflammation.

Planaria.—In the journal above alluded to, Dr. Kelaart has given descriptions of fifteen species of planaria, and four of a new genus, instituted by him for the reception of those differing from the normal kinds by some peculiarities which they exhibit in common. At Point Pedro, Mr. Edgar Layard met with one on the bark of trees, after heavy rain, which would appear to belong to the subgenusgeoplana.[1]

1: "A curious species, which is of a light brown above, white underneath; very broad and thin, and has a peculiarly shaped tail, half-moon-shaped, in fact, like a grocer's cheese knife."

Acalephæ.—Acalephæ[1] are plentiful, so much so, indeed, that they occasionally tempt the larger cetacea into the Gulf of Manaar. In the calmer months of the year, when the sea is glassy, and for hours together undisturbed by a ripple, the minute descriptions are rendered perceptible by their beautiful prismatic tinting. So great is their transparency that they are only to be distinguished from the water by the return of the reflected light that glances from their delicate and polished surfaces. Less frequently they are traced by the faint hues of their tiny peduncles, arms, or tentaculæ; and it has been well observed that they often give the seas in which they abound the appearance of being crowded with flakes of half-melted snow. The larger kinds, when undisturbed in their native haunts, attain to considerable size. A faintly blue medusa, nearly a foot across, may be seen in the Gulf of Manaar, where, no doubt, others of still larger growth are to be found.

1: Jellyfish.

The remaining orders, including the corals, madrepores, and other polypi, have yet to find a naturalist to undertake their investigation, but in all probability the species are not very numerous.

Owing to the combination of heat, moisture, and vegetation, the myriads of insects in Ceylon form one of the characteristic features of the island. In the solitude of the forests there is a perpetual music from their soothing and melodious hum, which frequently swells to a startling sound as the cicada trills his sonorous drum on the sunny bark of some tall tree. At morning the dew hangs in diamond drops on the threads and gossamer which the spiders suspend across every pathway; and above the pool dragon flies, of more than metallic lustre, flash in the early sunbeams. The earth teems with countless ants, which emerge from beneath its surface, or make their devious highways to ascend to their nests in the trees. Lustrous beetles, with their golden elytra, bask on the leaves, whilst minuter species dash through the air in circles, which the ear can follow by the booming of their tiny wings. Butterflies of large size and gorgeous colouring flutter over the endless expanse of flowers, and frequently the extraordinary sight presents itself of flights of these delicate creatures, generally of a white or pale yellow hue, apparently miles in breadth, and of such prodigious extension as to occupy hours, and even days, uninterruptedly in their passage—whence coming no one knows; wither going no one can tell.[1] As daydeclines, the moths issue from their retreats, the crickets add their shrill voices to swell the din; and when darkness descends, the eye is charmed with the millions of emerald lamps lighted up by the fire-flies amidst the surrounding gloom.

1: The butterflies I have seen in these wonderful migrations in Ceylon were mostlyCallidryas Hilariæ, C. Alcmeone, andC. Pyranthe, with straggling individuals of the genusEuploea, E. Coras, andE. Prothoe. Their passage took place in April and May, generally in a north-easterly direction.

No attempt has as yet been made to describe the class systematically, much less to enumerate the prodigious number of species which abound in every locality. Occasional observers have, from time to time, contributed notices of particular families to the Scientific Associations of Europe, but their papers remain undigested, and the time has not yet arrived for the preparation of an Entomology of the island.

What Darwin remarks of the Coleoptera of Brazil is nearly as applicable to the same order of insects in Ceylon: "The number of minute and obscurely coloured beetles is exceedingly great; the cabinets of Europe can as yet, with partial exceptions, boast only of the larger species from tropical climates, and it is sufficient to disturb the composure of an entomologist to look forward to the future dimensions of a catalogue with any pretensions to completeness."[l]

1:Nat. Journal, p. 39.

M. Neitner, a German entomologist, who has spent some years in Ceylon, has recently published, in one of the local periodicals, a series of papers on the Coleoptera of the island, in which every species introduced is stated to be previously undescribed.[1]

1: Republished in theAnn. Nat. Hist.

COLEOPTERA.—Buprestidoe; Golden Beetles.—In the morning the herbaceous plants, especially on the eastern side of the island, are studded with these gorgeous beetles whose golden elytra[1] are used to enrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, whilst the lustrous joints of the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and bracelets of singular brilliancy.

1:Sternocera Chrysis; S. sternicornis.

These exquisite colours are not confined to one order,and some of the Elateridæ[1] and Lamellicorns exhibit hues of green and blue, that rival the deepest tints of the emerald and sapphire.

1: Of the family ofElateridæ, one of the finest is a Singhalese species, theCompsosternus Templetonii, of an exquisite golden green colour, with blue reflections (described and figured by Mr. WESTWOOD in hisCabinet of Oriental Entomology, pl. 35, f. 1). In the same work is figured another species of large size, also from Ceylon, this is theAlaus sordidus.—WESTWOOD, 1. c. pl. 35, f. 9.

Scavenger Beetles.—Scavenger beetles[1] are to be seen wherever the presence of putrescent and offensive matter affords opportunity for the display of their repulsive but most curious instincts; fastening on it with eagerness, severing it into lumps proportionate to their strength, and rolling it along in search of some place sufficiently soft in which to bury it, after having deposited their eggs in the centre. I had frequent opportunities, especially in traversing the sandy jungles in the level plains to the north of the island, of observing the unfailing appearance of these creatures instantly on the dropping of horse dung, or any other substance suitable for their purpose; although not one was visible but a moment before. Their approach through the air is announced by a loud and joyous booming sound, as they dash in rapid circles in search of the desired object, led by their sense of smell, but evidently little assisted by the eye in shaping their course towards it. In these excursions they exhibit a strength of wing and sustained power of flight, such as is possessed by no other class of beetles with which I am acquainted, but which is obviously indispensable for the due performance of the useful functions they discharge.

1:Ateuchus sacer; Copris sagax; C. capucinus, &c. &c.

The Coco-nut Beetle.—In the luxuriant forests of Ceylon, the extensive family of Longicorns live in destructive abundance. Their ravages are painfully familiar to the coco-nut planters.[1] The larva of one speciesof large dimensions,Batocera rubus[2], called by the Singhalese "Cooroominya" makes its way into the stems of the younger trees, and after perforating them in all directions, it forms a cocoon of the gnawed wood and sawdust, in which it reposes during its sleep as a pupa, till the arrival of the period when it emerges as a perfect beetle. Notwithstanding the repulsive aspect of the large pulpy larvæ of these beetles, they are esteemed a luxury by the Malabar coolies, who so far avail themselves of the privilege accorded by the Levitical law, which permitted the Hebrews to eat "the beetle after his kind."[3]

1: There is a paper in theJourn. of the Asiat. Society of Ceylon, May, 1845, by Mr. CAPPER, on the ravages perpetrated by these beetles. The writer had recently passed through several coco-nut plantations, "varying in extent from 20 to 150 acres, and about two to three years old; and in these he did not discover a single young tree untouched by the cooroominya."—P. 49.2: Called also B.octo-maculatus; Lamia rubus, Fabr.3: Leviticus, xi. 22.

2: Called also B.octo-maculatus; Lamia rubus, Fabr.

3: Leviticus, xi. 22.

Tortoise Beetles.—There is one family of insects, the members of which cannot fail to strike the traveller by their singular beauty, theCassidiadæor tortoise beetles, in which the outer shell overlaps the body, and the limbs are susceptible of being drawn entirely within it. The rim is frequently of a different tint from the centre, and one species which I have seen is quite startling from the brilliancy of its colouring, which gives it the appearance of a ruby enclosed in a frame of pearl; but this wonderful effect disappears immediately on the death of the insect.[1]

1: One species, theCassida farinosa, frequent in the jungle which surrounded my official residence at Kandy, is covered profusely with a snow-white powder, arranged in delicate filaments, which it moves without dispersing: but when dead they fall rapidly to dust.

ORTHOPTERA.The Soothsayer.—But the admiration of colours is still less exciting than the astonishment created by the forms in which some of the insect families present themselves, especially the "soothsayers" (Mantidæ) and "walking leaves." The latter[1], exhibiting the most cunning of all nature's devices for the preservation of her creatures, are found in the jungle in allvarieties of hue, from the pale yellow of an opening bud to the rich green of the full-blown leaf, and the withered tint of decaying foliage. And so perfect is the imitation in structure and articulation, that these amazing insects when at rest are almost indistinguishable from the verdure around them: not the wings alone being modelled to resemble ribbed and fibrous follicles, but every joint of the legs being expanded into a broad plait like a half-opened leaflet.

1:Phyllium siccifolium.

It rests on its abdomen, the legs serving to drag it slowly along, and thus the flatness of its attitude serves still further to add to the appearance of a leaf. One of the most marvellous incidents connected with its organisation was exhibited by one which I kept under a glass shade on my table; it laid a quantity of eggs, that, in colour and shape, were not to be discerned fromseeds. They were brown and pentangular, with a short stem, and slightly punctured at the intersections.

EGGS OF THE LEAF INSECT.EGGS OF THE LEAF INSECT.

EGGS OF THE LEAF INSECT.

The "soothsayer," on the other hand(Mantis superstitiosaFab.[1]), little justifies by its propensities the appearance of gentleness, and the attitudes of sanctity, which have obtained for it its title of the praying mantis. Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerate into cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individuals of its own species. Two which I enclosed in a box were both found dead a few hours after, literally severed limb from limb in their encounter. The formation of the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the sharp edge of the thigh as to amputate any slender substance grasped within it.

1:M. aridifoliaandM. extensicollis, as well asEmpusa gongyloides, remarkable for the long leaf-like head, and dilatations on the posterior thighs, are common in the island.

The Stick-insect—ThePhasmidoeor spectres, another class of orthoptera, present as close a resemblance to small branches or leafless twigs as their congeners do to green leaves. The wing-covers, where they exist, instead of being expanded, are applied so closely to the body as to detract nothing from its rounded form, and hence the name which they have acquired of "walking-sticks." Like thePhyllium, thePhasmalives exclusively on vegetables, and some attain the length of several inches.

Of all the other tribes of theOrthopteraCeylon possesses many representatives; in swarms of cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets.

NEUROPTERA.Dragon-flies.—Of theNeuroptera, some of the dragon-flies are pre-eminently beautiful; one species, with rich brown-coloured spots upon its gauzy wings, is to be seen near every pool.[1] Another[2], which dances above the mountain streams in Oovah, and amongst the hills descending towards Kandy, gleams in the sun as if each of its green enamelled wings had been sliced from an emerald.[3]

1:Libellula pulchella.2:Euphoea splendens, Hagen.3:Gymnacantha subinterrupta, Ramb. distinguished by its large size, is plentiful about the mountain streamlets.

1:Libellula pulchella.

2:Euphoea splendens, Hagen.

3:Gymnacantha subinterrupta, Ramb. distinguished by its large size, is plentiful about the mountain streamlets.

The Ant-lion.—Of the ant-lion, whose larvæ have earned a bad renown from their predaceous ingenuity, Ceylon has, at least, four species, which seem peculiar to the island.[1] This singular creature, preparatory to its pupal transformation, contrives to excavate a conical pitfall in the dust to the depth of about an inch, in the bottom of which it conceals itself, exposing only its open mandibles above the surface; and here every ant and soft-bodied insect which, curiosity tempts to descend, or accident may precipitate into the trap, is ruthlessly seized and devoured by its ambushed inhabitant.

1:Palpares contrarius, Walker;Myrmeleon gravis, Walker;M. dirus, Walker;M. barbarus, Walker.

The White Ant—But of the insects of this order the most noted are thewhite antsor termites (which are ants only by a misnomer). They are, unfortunately, at once ubiquitous and innumerable in every spot where the climate is not too chilly, or the soil too sandy, for them to construct their domed edifices.

These they raise from a considerable depth under ground, excavating the clay with their mandibles, and moistening it with tenacious saliva[1] until it assume the appearance, and almost the consistency, of sandstone. So delicate is the trituration to which they subject this material, that the goldsmiths of Ceylon employ the powdered clay of the ant hills in preference to all other substances in the preparation of crucibles and moulds for their finer castings; and KNOX says, in his time, "the people used this clay to make their earthen gods of, it is so pure and fine."[2] These structures the termites erect with such perseverance and durability that they frequently rise to the height of ten or twelve feet from the ground, with a corresponding diameter. They areso firm in their texture that the weight of a horse makes no apparent indentation on their solidity; and even the intense rains of the monsoon, which no cement or mortar can long resist, fail to penetrate the surface or substance of an ant hill.[3]

1: It becomes an interesting question whence the termites derive the large supplies of moisture with which they not only temper the clay for the construction of their long covered-ways above ground, but for keeping their passages uniformly damp and cool below the surface. Yet their habits in this particular are unvarying, in the seasons of droughts as well as after rain; in the driest and least promising positions, in situations inaccessible to drainage from above, and cut off by rocks and impervious strata from springs from below. Dr. Livingstone, struck with this phenomenon in Southern Africa, asks: "Can the white ants possess the power of combining the oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable food by vital force so as to form water?"—Travels, p. 22. And he describes at Angola an insect (A. goudotti? Bennett.) resembling theAphrophora spumaria; seven or eight individuals of which distil several pints of water every night.—P. 414. It is highly probable that the termites are endowed with some such faculty: nor is it more remarkable that an insect should combine the gases of its food to produce water, than that a fish should decompose water in order to provide itself with gas. FOURCROIX found the contents of the air-bladder in a carp to be pure nitrogen.—Yarrell, vol. i. p. 42. And the aquatic larva of the dragon-fly extracts air for its respiration from the water in which it is submerged. A similar mystery pervades the inquiry whence plants under peculiar circumstances derive the water essential to vegetation.2: KNOX'SCeylon, Part I, ch. vi. p. 24.3: Dr. HOOKER, in hisHimalayan Journal(vol. i. p. 20) is of opinion that the nests of the termites are not independent structures, but that their nucleus is "the debris of clumps of bamboos or the trunks of large trees which these insects have destroyed." He supposes that the dead tree falls leaving the stump coated with sand,which the action of the weather soon fashions info a cone. But independently of the fact that the "action of the weather" produces little or no effect on the closely cemented clay of the white ants' nest, they may be daily seen constructing their edifices in the very form of a cone, which they ever after retain. Besides which, they appear in the midst of terraces and fields where no trees are to be seen; and Dr. Hooker seems to overlook the fact that the termites rarely attack a living tree; and although their nests may be built against one, it continues to flourish not the less for their presence.

2: KNOX'SCeylon, Part I, ch. vi. p. 24.

3: Dr. HOOKER, in hisHimalayan Journal(vol. i. p. 20) is of opinion that the nests of the termites are not independent structures, but that their nucleus is "the debris of clumps of bamboos or the trunks of large trees which these insects have destroyed." He supposes that the dead tree falls leaving the stump coated with sand,which the action of the weather soon fashions info a cone. But independently of the fact that the "action of the weather" produces little or no effect on the closely cemented clay of the white ants' nest, they may be daily seen constructing their edifices in the very form of a cone, which they ever after retain. Besides which, they appear in the midst of terraces and fields where no trees are to be seen; and Dr. Hooker seems to overlook the fact that the termites rarely attack a living tree; and although their nests may be built against one, it continues to flourish not the less for their presence.

In their earlier stages the termites proceed with such energetic rapidity, that I have seen a pinnacle of moist clay, six inches in height and twice as large in diameter, constructed underneath a table between sitting down to dinner and the removal of the cloth.

As these lofty mounds of earth have all been carried up from beneath the surface, a cave of corresponding dimensions is necessarily scooped out below, and here, under the multitude of cupolas and pinnacles which canopy it above, the termites hollow out the royal chamber for their queen, with spacious nurseries surrounding it on all sides. Store-rooms and magazines occupy the lower apartments, and all are connected by arched galleries, long passages, and doorways of the most intricate and elaborate construction. In the centre and underneath the spacious dome is the recess for the queen—a hideous creature, with the head and thorax of an ordinary termite, but a body swollen to a hundred times its usual and proportionate bulk, and presenting the appearance of a mass of shapeless pulp. From this great progenitrix proceed the myriads which people the subterranean hive, consisting, like the communitiesof the genuine ants, of labourers and soldiers, which are destined never to acquire a fuller development than that of larvas, and the perfect insects which in due time become invested with wings and take their departing flight from the cave. But their new equipment seems only destined to facilitate their dispersion from the parent nest, which takes place at dusk; and almost as quickly as they leave it they divest themselves of their ineffectual wings, waving them impatiently and twisting them in every direction till they become detached and drop off, and the swarm, within a few hours of their emancipation, become a prey to the night-jars and bats, which are instantly attracted to them as they issue in a cloud from the ground. I am not prepared to say that the other insectivorous birds would not gladly make a meal of the termites, but, seeing that in Ceylon their numbers are chiefly kept in check by the crepuscular birds, it is observable, at least as a coincidence, that the dispersion of the swarm generally takes place attwilight. Those that escape thecaprimulgilose their wings before morning, and are then disposed of by the crows.

The strange peculiarity of the omnivorous ravages of the white ants is that they shrink from the light, in all their expeditions for providing food they construct a covered pathway of moistened clay, and their galleries above ground extend to an incredible distance from the central nest. No timber, except ebony and ironwood, which are too hard, and those which are strongly impregnated with camphor or aromatic oils, which they dislike, presents any obstacle to their ingress. I have had a case of wine filled, in the course of two days, with almost solid clay, and only discovered the presence of the white ants by the bursting of the corks. I have had a portmanteau in my tent so peopled with them in the course of a single night that the contents were found worthless in the morning. In an incredibly short time a detachment of these pests will destroy a press fullof records, reducing the paper to fragments; and a shelf of books will be tunnelled into a gallery if it happen to be in their line of march.

The timbers of a house when fairly attacked are eaten from within till the beams are reduced to an absolute shell, so thin that it may be punched through with the point of the finger: and even kyanized wood, unless impregnated with an extra quantity of corrosive sublimate, appears to occasion them no inconvenience. The only effectual precaution for the protection of furniture is incessant vigilance—the constant watching of every article, and its daily removal from place to place, in order to baffle their assaults.

They do not appear in the hills above the elevation of 2000 feet. One species of white ant, theTermes Taprobanes, was at one time believed by Mr. Walker to be peculiar to the island, but it has recently been found in Sumatra and Borneo, and in some parts of Hindustan.

HYMENOPTERA.Mason Wasp.—In Ceylon as in all other countries, the order of hymenopterous insects arrests us less by the beauty of their forms than the marvels of their sagacity and the achievements of their instinct. A fossorial wasp of the family ofSphegidoe,[1] which is distinguished by its metallic lustre, enters by the open windows, and disarms irritation at its movements by admiration of the graceful industry with which it stops up the keyholes and similar apertures with clay in order to build in them a cell, into which it thrusts the pupa of some other insect, within whose body it has previously introduced its own eggs; and, enclosing the whole with moistened earth, the young parasite, after undergoing its transformations, gnaws its way into light, and emerges a four-winged fly.[2]

1: It belongs to the genusPelopoeus,P. Spinoloe, St. Fargeau. TheAmpulex compressa, which drags about the larvæ of cockroaches into which it has implanted its eggs, belongs to the same family.2: Mr. E. L. Layard has given an interesting account of this Mason wasp in theAnnals and Magazine of Nat. Historyfor May, 1853."I have frequently," he says, "selected one of these flies for observation, and have seen their labours extend over a period of a fortnight or twenty days; sometimes only half a cell was completed in a day, at others as much as two. I never saw more than twenty cells in one nest, seldom indeed that number, and whence the caterpillars were procured was always to me a mystery. I have seen thirty or forty brought in of a species which I knew to be very rare in the perfect state, and which I had sought for in vain, although I knew on what plant they fed."Then again how are they disabled by the wasp, and yet not injured so as to cause their immediate death? Die they all do, at least all that I have ever tried to rear, after taking them from the nest."The perfected fly never effects its egress from the closed aperture, through which the caterpillars were inserted, and when cells are placed end to end, as they are in many instances, the outward end of each is always selected. I cannot detect any difference in the thickness in the crust of the cell to cause this uniformity of practice. It is often as much as half an inch through, of great hardness, and as far as I can see impervious to air and light. How then does the enclosed fly always select the right end, and with what secretion is it supplied to decompose this mortar?"

1: It belongs to the genusPelopoeus,P. Spinoloe, St. Fargeau. TheAmpulex compressa, which drags about the larvæ of cockroaches into which it has implanted its eggs, belongs to the same family.

2: Mr. E. L. Layard has given an interesting account of this Mason wasp in theAnnals and Magazine of Nat. Historyfor May, 1853.

"I have frequently," he says, "selected one of these flies for observation, and have seen their labours extend over a period of a fortnight or twenty days; sometimes only half a cell was completed in a day, at others as much as two. I never saw more than twenty cells in one nest, seldom indeed that number, and whence the caterpillars were procured was always to me a mystery. I have seen thirty or forty brought in of a species which I knew to be very rare in the perfect state, and which I had sought for in vain, although I knew on what plant they fed.

"Then again how are they disabled by the wasp, and yet not injured so as to cause their immediate death? Die they all do, at least all that I have ever tried to rear, after taking them from the nest.

"The perfected fly never effects its egress from the closed aperture, through which the caterpillars were inserted, and when cells are placed end to end, as they are in many instances, the outward end of each is always selected. I cannot detect any difference in the thickness in the crust of the cell to cause this uniformity of practice. It is often as much as half an inch through, of great hardness, and as far as I can see impervious to air and light. How then does the enclosed fly always select the right end, and with what secretion is it supplied to decompose this mortar?"

Wasps.—Of the wasps, one formidable species (Sphex ferrugineaof St. Fargeau), which is common to India and most of the eastern islands, is regarded with the utmost dread by the unclad natives, who fly precipitately on finding themselves in the vicinity[1] of its nests, which are of such ample dimensions, that when suspended from a branch, they often measure upwards of six feet in length.[2]

1: In ought to be remembered in travelling in the forests of Ceylon that sal volatile applied immediately is a specific for the sting of a wasp.2: At the January (1839) meeting of the Entomological Society, Mr. Whitehouse exhibited portions of a wasps' nest from Ceylon, between seven and eight feet long and two feet in diameter, and showed that the construction of the cells was perfectly analogous to those of the hive bee, and that when connected each has a tendency to assume a circular outline. In one specimen where there were three cells united the outer part was circular, whilst the portions common to the three formed straight walls. From this Singhalese nest Mr. Whitehouse demonstrated that the wasps at the commencement of their comb proceed slowly, forming the bases of several together, whereby they assume the hexagonal shape, whereas, if constructed separately, he thought each single cell would be circular. SeeProc. Ent. Soc. vol. iii. p. xvi.

1: In ought to be remembered in travelling in the forests of Ceylon that sal volatile applied immediately is a specific for the sting of a wasp.

2: At the January (1839) meeting of the Entomological Society, Mr. Whitehouse exhibited portions of a wasps' nest from Ceylon, between seven and eight feet long and two feet in diameter, and showed that the construction of the cells was perfectly analogous to those of the hive bee, and that when connected each has a tendency to assume a circular outline. In one specimen where there were three cells united the outer part was circular, whilst the portions common to the three formed straight walls. From this Singhalese nest Mr. Whitehouse demonstrated that the wasps at the commencement of their comb proceed slowly, forming the bases of several together, whereby they assume the hexagonal shape, whereas, if constructed separately, he thought each single cell would be circular. SeeProc. Ent. Soc. vol. iii. p. xvi.

Bees.—Bees of several species and genera, some divested of stings, and some in size scarcely exceeding a house-fly, deposit their honey in hollow trees, or suspend their combs from a branch; and the spoils of their industry form one of the chief resources of the uncivilised Veddahs, who collect the wax in theirupland forests, to be bartered for arrow points and clothes in the lowlands.[1] I have never heard of an instance of persons being attacked by the bees of Ceylon, and hence the natives assert, that those most productive of honey are destitute of stings.

1: A gentleman connected with the department of the Surveyor-General writes to me that he measured a honey-comb which he found fastened to the overhanging branch of a small tree in the forest near Adam's Peak, and found it nine links of his chain or about six feet in length and a foot in breadth where it was attached to the branch, but tapering towards the other extremity. "It was a single comb with a layer of cells on either side, but so weighty that the branch broke by the strain."

The Carpenter Bee.—The operations of one of the most interesting of the tribe, the Carpenter bee,[1] I have watched with admiration from the window of the Colonial Secretary's official residence at Kandy. So soon as the day grew warm, these active creatures were at work perforating the wooden columns which supported the verandah. They poised themselves on their shining purple wings, as they made the first lodgment in the wood, enlivening the work with an uninterrupted hum of delight, which was audible to a considerable distance. When the excavation had proceeded so far as that the insect could descend into it, the music was suspended, but renewed from time to time, as the little creature came to the orifice to throw out the chips, to rest, or to enjoy the fresh air. By degrees, a mound of saw-dust was formed at the base of the pillar, consisting of particles abraded by the mandibles of the bee; and these, when the hollow was completed to the depth of several inches, were partially replaced in the excavation after being agglutinated to form partitions between the eggs, as they are deposited within.

1:Xylocopa tenuiscapa, Westw.; X.latipes, Drury.

Ants.—As to ants, I apprehend that, notwithstanding their numbers and familiarity, information is very imperfect relative to the varieties and habits of these marvellous insects in Ceylon.[1] In point of multitudeit is scarcely an exaggeration to apply to them the figure of "the sands of the sea." They are everywhere; in the earth, in the houses, and in the trees; they are to be seen in every room and cupboard, and almost on every plant in the jungle. To some of the latter they are, perhaps, attracted by the sweet juices secreted by the aphides and coccidæ; and such is the passion of the ants for sugar, and their wonderful faculty of discovering it, that the smallest particle of a substance containing it, though placed in the least conspicuous position, is quickly covered with them, where not a single one may have been visible a moment before. But it is not sweet substances alone that they attack; no animal or vegetable matter comes amiss to them; no aperture appears too small to admit them; it is necessary to place everything which it may be desirable to keep free from their invasion, under the closest cover, or on tables with cups of water under every foot. As scavengers, they are invaluable; and as ants never sleep, but work without cessation, during the night as well as by day, every particle of decaying vegetable or putrid animal matter is removed with inconceivable speed and certainty. In collecting shells, I have been able to turn this propensity to good account; by placing them within their reach, the ants in a few days will remove every vestige of the mollusc from the innermost and otherwise inaccessible whorls; thus avoiding all risk of injuring the enamel by any mechanical process.

1: Mr. Jerdan, in a series of papers in the thirteenth volume of theAnnals of Natural History, has described forty-seven species of ants in Southern India. But M. Nietner has recently forwarded to the Berlin Museum upwards of seventy species taken by him in Ceylon, chiefly in the western province and the vicinity of Colombo, Of these many are identical with those noted by Mr. Jerdan as belonging to the Indian continent. One (probablyDrepanognathus saltatorof Jerdan) is described by M. Nietner as "moving by jumps of several inches at a spring."

But the assaults of the ants are not confined to dead animals alone, they attack equally such small insects as they can overcome, or find disabled by accidents or wounds; and it is not unusual to see some hundreds ofthem surrounding a maimed beetle, or a bruised cockroach, and hurrying it along in spite of its struggles. I have, on more than one occasion, seen a contest between them and one of the viscous ophidians,Coecilia glutinosa[1], a reptile resembling an enormous earthworm, common in the Kandyan hills, of an inch in diameter, and nearly two feet in length. It would seem as if the whole community had been summoned and turned out for such a prodigious effort; they surrounded their victim literally in tens of thousands, inflicting wounds on all parts, and forcing it along towards their nest in spite of resistance. In one instance to which I was a witness, the conflict lasted for the latter part of a day, but towards evening the Cæcilia was completely exhausted, and in the morning it had totally disappeared, having been carried away either whole or piecemeal by its assailants.

1: See ante,Pt, 1. ch. iii. p. 201

The species I here allude to, is a very small ant, called theKoombiyain Ceylon. There is a still more minute description, which frequents the caraffes and toilet vessels, and is evidently a distinct species. A third, probably theFormica nidificansof Jerdan, is black, of the same size as that last mentioned, and, from its colour, called theKalu koombiyaby the natives. In the houses its propensities and habits are the same as the others; but I have observed that it frequents the trees more profusely, forming small paper cells for its young, like miniature wasps' nests, in which it deposits its eggs, suspending them from the leaf of a plant.

The most formidable of all is the great red ant or Dimiya.[1] It is particularly abundant in gardens, and on fruit trees; it constructs its dwellings by glueing the leaves of such species as are suitable from their shape and pliancy into hollow balls, which it lines with a kind of transparent paper, like that manufacturedby the wasp. I have watched them at the interesting operation of forming their dwellings;—a line of ants standing on the edge of one leaf bring another into contact with it, and hold both together with their mandibles till their companions within attach them firmly by means of their adhesive paper, the assistants outside moving along as the work proceeds. If it be necessary to draw closer a leaf too distant to be laid hold of by the immediate workers, they form a chain by depending one from the other till the object is reached, when it is at length brought into contact, and made fast by cement.

1:Formica smaragdina, Fab.

Like all their race, these ants are in perpetual motion, forming lines on the ground along which they pass, in continual procession to and from the trees on which they reside. They are the most irritable of the whole order in Ceylon, biting with such intense ferocity as to render it difficult for the unclad natives to collect the fruit from, the mango trees, which the red ants especially frequent. They drop from the branches upon travellers in the jungle, attacking them with venom and fury, and inflicting intolerable pain both upon animals and man. On examining the structure of the head through a microscope, I found that the mandibles, instead of merely meeting in contact, are so hooked as to cross each other at the points, whilst the inner line is sharply serrated throughout its entire length; thus occasioning the intense pain of their bite, as compared with that of the ordinary ant.

To check the ravages of the coffee bug (Lecanium coffeoe, Walker), which for some years past has devastated some of the plantations in Ceylon, the experiment was made of introducing the red ants, who feed greedily on the Coccus. But the remedy threatened to be attended with some inconvenience, for the Malabar Coolies, with bare and oiled skins, were so frequently and fiercely assaulted by the ants as to endanger their stay on the estates.

The ants which burrow in the ground in Ceylon are generally, but not invariably, black, and some of them are of considerable size. One species, about the third of an inch in length, is abundant in the hills, and especially about the roots of trees, where they pile up the earth in circular heaps round the entrance to their nests, and in doing this I have observed a singular illustration of their instinct. To carry up each particle of sand by itself would be an endless waste of labour, and to carry two or more loose ones securely would be to them embarrassing, if not impossible; they therefore overcome the difficulty by glueing together with their saliva so much earth or sand as is sufficient for a burden, and each one may be seen hurrying up from below with his load, carrying it to the top of the circular heap outside, and throwing it over, whilst it is so strongly attached as to roll to the bottom without breaking asunder.

The ants I have been here describing are inoffensive, differing in this particular from the Dimiya and another of similar size and ferocity, which is called by the SinghaleseKaddiya; and they have a legend illustrative of their alarm for the bites of the latter, to the effect that the cobra de capello invested the Kaddiya with her own venom in admiration of the singular courage displayed by these little creatures.[1]

1: KNOX'SHistorical Relation of Ceylon, pt i. ch vi. p. 23.

LEPIDOPTERA.Butterflies.—Butterflies in the interior of the island are comparatively rare, and, contrary to the ordinary belief, they are seldom to be seen in the sunshine, They frequent the neighbourhood of the jungle, and especially the vicinity of the rivers and waterfalls, living mainly in the shade of the moist foliage, and returning to it in haste after the shortest flights, as if their slender bodies were speedily dried up and exhausted by the exposure to the intense heat.

Among the largest and most gaudy of the Ceylon Lepidoptera is the great black and yellow butterfly (Ornithoptera darsius,Gray); the upper wings, of which measure six inches across, are of deep velvet black, the lower, ornamented by large particles of satiny yellow, through which the sunlight passes, and few insects can compare with it in beauty, as it hovers over the flowers of the heliotrope, which furnish the favourite food of the perfect fly, although the caterpillar feeds on the aristolochia and thebetel leafand suspends its chrysalis from its drooping tendrils.

Next in size as to expanse of wing, though often exceeding it in breadth, is the black and bluePapilio Polymnestor, which darts rapidly through the air, alighting on the ruddy flowers of the hibiscus, or the dark green foliage of the citrus, on which it deposits its eggs. The larvæ of this species are green with white bands, and have a hump on the fourth or fifth segment. From this hump the caterpillar, on being irritated, protrudes a singular horn of an orange colour, bifurcate at the extremity, and covered with a pungent mucilaginous secretion. This is evidently intended as a weapon of defence against the attack of the ichneumon flies, that deposit their eggs in its soft body, for when the grub is pricked, either by the ovipositor of the ichneumon, or by any other sharp instrument, the horn is at once protruded, and struck upon the offending object with unerring aim.

Amongst the more common of the larger butterflies is theP. Hector, with gorgeous crimson spots set in the black velvet of the inferior wings; these, when fresh, are shot with a purple blush, equalling in splendour the azure of the European "Emperor."

Another butterfly, but belonging to a widely different group, is the "sylph" (Hestia Jasonia), called by the Europeans by the various names ofFloater, Spectre,andSilver-paper-fly, as indicative of its graceful flight. It is found only in the deep shade of the damp forest, frequenting the vicinity of pools of water and cascades, about which it sails heedless of the spray, the moisture of whichmay even be beneficial in preserving the elasticity of its thin and delicate wings, that bend and undulate in the act of flight.

TheLycoenidoe[1], a particularly attractive group, abound near the enclosures of cultivated grounds, and amongst the low shrubs edging the patenas, flitting from flower to flower, inspecting each in turn, and as if attracted by their beauty, in the full blaze of sun-light; and shunning exposure less sedulously than the other diurnals. Some of the more robust kinds[2] are magnificent in the bright light, from the splendour of their metallic blues and glowing purples, but they yield in elegance of form and variety to their tinier and more delicately-coloured congeners.

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