NATURAL HISTORY
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of sea snake, all venomous, are found in Hong Kong waters but, fortunately, do not attack bathers. An amphibian of special interest is the Chinese newt. The Hong Kong variety has not been recorded anywhere else in China.
There are nearly 200 species of butterfly in the Colony. Of the many moths two are outstanding for their size. These are the Atlas and Moon moths with wing spans of nine and six inches respectively. Apart from butterflies and moths there is a great variety of insects, many brilliantly coloured. They include many species of dragon fly and damsel fly and metallic-coloured beetles and solitary wasps. The beautiful Candel Fly or Lantern Fly has delicately coloured wings like those of a butterfly, but is more closely related to the cicada. It lives on lychee trees and is remarkable in that its forehead is almost as long as its body, hence the Chinese name which trans- lated means the elephant-nosed bug.
The adults of several species of cicada emerge during spring and summer. They range from the rare three-and-a-half inches Tacua to the small grass cicadas less than a half an inch long. The males make a loud trilling noise by vibrating a drum-like membrane in the abdomen. The noise of the male grasshoppers, on the other hand, is made by scraping the leg against the abdomen, as if the body were a violin.
Land molluscs of note are the Giant African Snail, measuring about five inches long, which was introduced (and is now a consid- erable pest), and a large black slug, Veronicella, a species sufficiently distinct from all other slugs to be placed in a separate family.
The Wild Birds and Wild Mammals Protection Ordinance 1954, provides for the conservation of all wild birds, and various mammals now rare or in danger of becoming rare. It also prohibits the trapping or poisoning of any bird or mammal, except rodents. Game birds may be shot only in season. There are eight wild life sanctuaries, one of which is the whole of Hong Kong Island. Both game wardens and honorary game wardens are appointed by the Governor to assist in carrying out the provisions of this ordinance. By regulations, made under the Forestry Ordinance, special protection is also given to certain plants including camellias, enkianthus, magnolias, orchids, and azaleas.