ENG-1968 — Page 346

NATURAL HISTORY

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The beautiful Candle 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 con- siderable 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 trap- ping 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.

Interest in local fauna and flora is fostered by The Hong Kong Natural History Society-founded in 1949 as The Hong Kong Biological Circle-whose aims are to

facilitate and en-

courage the study of natural history in general and in particular that of the Colony of Hong Kong'. The activities of this society include both indoor meetings and field outings. Another society is the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, founded in 1957 for the study of local bird life. This society holds approximately 12 field outings each year.

FLORA

It is not possible to make any distinction between the trees of Hong Kong and those of neighbouring southern China. The prin- cipal trees in the Colony are pine, Chinese banyan and camphor.