that species do appear under such conditions, that we may say they have been modified to suit certain laws, and that they die away when the surroundings are unsuitable. As to the rate of modification, I will only mention the change in the character of shells produced by the introduction of unfavourable conditions, such as fresh or salt water, and refer to the vast mass of evidence given by Darwin, in his work on Plants and Animals under Domestication. The Meeting was then adjourned. 'ORDINARY MEETING, MARCH 7, 1887. THOMAS CHAPLIN, Esq., M.D., IN THE CHAIR. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed, and the following Paper was then read by the Author :— T1 ORIENTAL ENTOMOLOGY. By the Rev. F. A. WALKER, D.D., F.L.S. HERE can be no doubt but what the naturalist labours Difficulties of collecting under certain special disadvantages in collecting in the in the East. East. For example, if he happen to be in Syria or Palestine, the chances are that he will be on horseback the greater part of the time, as the only means of travelling, owing to the heat and the stony hill-sides, and will on that account fail to capture many an insect. ་ Again, the traveller in a distant land, or even in an unfamiliar spot (for this remark must not be understood as only applying to the East), through ignorance of the particular plant affected by this or that caterpillar or perfect insect, or, at all events, where the plants in question grow, may waste his time in fruitless search, and may be more successful on the last day of his stay, if he finds the flowers he has been looking for, than during all the rest of the time put together. By the term "Oriental Entomology" are to be understood Oriental all species of insects found in the East, not only those peculiar, what it or nearly so, to that region, but such as occur also in many understood other lands. This paper, naturally, only has reference to to signify. those parts of the East that the writer has personally visited, and where he has consequently observed and collectednamely, various places in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey, Greece, on the first occasion; and Egypt and Nubia on the second. Entomology must be Three dif ferent types Such butterflies as fell under my observation in the East of Eastern may conveniently be divided into three different types, for the better distinction and comprehension of the same; namely: butterflies (Lepidop tera Rhopalocera). Typical British butterflies observed in the East. Local British butterflies observed in the East. Rarest British butterflies observed in the East. 1. English. 2. Mediterranean littoral. 3. Purely Eastern. I propose to term such species " Typical British Butterflies " as may be ordinarily seen in the course of a summer day's walk, and are ordinarily common and abundant at home, and not all the British kinds, including our rarer and more local, occurring in the East. For example: 1. P. Brassica, Alexandretta, April; Corfu, June. 3. A. Cardamines, Ephesus, May; near Athens, June. 4. C. Edusa Philadelphia, May 10; Corfu, June ; 5. S. Janira, Corfu, June; Athens, June. 8. V. Urticæ, probably Corfu, June. 9. V. Cardui, road to Marathon, ditto to Laurium, June. 10. V. Atalanta, Corfu, June; Athens, May. 11. G. Rhamni, near Alexandretta, April; Belgrade, May. 12. S. Megæra, Corfu, June. 13. C. Pamphilus, Belgrade, May. 14. P. Linea, Acropolis, Athens, May. 15. P. Sylvanus, road to Marathon, June. 16. P. Machaon, Ephesus, May. 17. A. Cratægi, Ephesus, May; Deceleia, June. 19. S. Semele, Eleusis, May; Lycabettus. 20. A. Galatea, Acropolis, May; Lycabettus. 21. M. Cinxia, Belgrade, May. 22. T. W. album, Deceleia, June. 23. T. Rubi, Deceleia, June. 24. A. Lathonia, May. Between Jerusalem and Jericho, April 4; 25. P. Daplidice Philadelphia, May 10; Colonos and Ceramcicus, Athens, June. Twenty-five out of our total number of sixty-six British butterflies are here set down as coming under my own obser vation during the four months I spent in the East in 1882. No doubt there are some other kinds found equally in England and the East that I did not happen to come across. 1. P. Podalirius, Baalbec, April. 2. P. Alexanor, Ephesus, May. 3. G. Cleopatra, road to Marathon, June. 4. M. Didyma, Corfu, June. 5. V. Egea, Philadelphia, May. 6. L. Camilla, Prinkipo, May. 7. Minois Actæa, road to Laurium, June. 8. Minois anthelea, Deceleia, June. Butterflies ranean observed in the East. terranean tended by. The geological formation of several of the countries border- Mediing the Mediterranean is almost identical as regards the lime- littoral stone hills, rocks, and boulders. Similarly the dark-red what is inearth beneath the olive-groves on the sloping shores of Corsica closely resembles in colour the soil under the same trees on the sides of the hills of Judæa. Thus Palestine, Syria, Attica, are akin to a considerable extent in reference to the nature of their respective coast-line. From the identity of the geology follows, as a matter of course, a sameness to a great extent in the respective botany of these different lands, and again from the sameness of the botany follows the corresponding character of the entomology of these various countries. The term “Mediterranean littoral” was used by Dr. Post, the well-known Professor of Botany in the American College at Beyrout, to denote the geographical distribution of plants along the said shores. On the present occasion it will be found convenient to apply it to the range of certain species of insects. Medi littoral-how Entomology, Eastern lands have this in common with the rest of the Fauna of the "Mediterranean littoral," of which they form a part, that terranean three of the European species of Papilio, or Swallow-tail, exemplified are found there. Only one kind occurs in England, only two in Eastern in France and Germany; or, if the third kind occurs at in respect of all in France, it will only be in the extreme south-as, for instance, the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees. I have myself seen and captured the three kinds in the East, though not all three in the same place. The said three are as follows: P. Machaon, England, Generally distributed on the Papilios. P. Podalirius. P. Alexanor. The East. the Continent, Generally distributed on The East. the Continent, South of Europe. The East. P. virgatus. P. Feisthamelii. It may be remarked that the Eastern real or supposed variety of P. Podalirius has received another name, P. virgatus, owing presumably to some difference in the stripes. The specimen of P. virgatus that I have had for some years in my cabinet is from Damascus; the one that was captured during my visit to the East is from Baalbec. If there be a distinction, as far as I can see, it is in the fact that P. virgatus has a narrower dark margin; P. Feisthamelii, the German variety (which has also a whitish in place of the primrose ground colour), a broader ditto than is the case with the ordinary type of P. Podalirius. P. Machaon was noticed at Ephesus, and on Mount Pagus at Smyrna. P. Podalirius was again seen at Deceleia and in Corfu. I pointed out P. Alexanor to my courier near the Sisyrha quarter of ancient Ephesus, when he captured it, a large specimen, in fine condition, and the only one I have ever seen alive. I consider this insect as good a catch as any I succeeded in making in the East. As regards the fourth European species of Papilio, P.Hospiton. P. Hospiton, it does not enter into the present discussion, being exclusively confined to Corsica. Fauna of the littoral-how It would be going too far, perhaps, to assert, in the absence terranean of further evidence than such observation as I have been able exemplified to bestow, that our three common species of Pieridæ, so in Eastern abundant at home, are actually rare in the East. I can only in respect of say that I have never seen many of them there. I saw and the Pieridæ. captured one (female) of P. Brassica at Alexandretta in Entomology, April, and one (male) of P. Rapæ at Philadelphia in May. On the other hand, it is certain that three other species of Pieridæ, either very rare or local with ourselves, are by no means so along the Mediterranean littoral, and that I caught all the said three kinds, and one of them in abundance, in the East. This will be best exemplified by the following statistics: Synchloe 1. Synchloe Daplidice. Bath white. Daplidice. Leucophasia Bath white. (Our rarest English butterfly, and never seen by me alive in England.) Of this butterfly there are specimens in the collection belonging to Highgate School, captured at Rome and Milan by a relative, at Lido and Ajaccio by myself. Ditto in my own collection, and captured by me between Jerusalem and Jericho, and on the banks of the Jordan, at Colonos and Cerameicus, Athens, and at Philadelphia. 2. Leucophasia sinapis. Wood white. (Only seen by me in the New Forest, in England.) I have caught it in osier-beds near Martigny, at Gorla, Bellaggio, and, as regards the East, in Corfu. |