Crategi. 3. Aporia cratægi.* Black-veined white. (If I ever caught Aporia this butterfly, or even saw it alive in England, it is upwards of twenty-five years since.) I have caught it at Fontainebleau, Chamounix, Baveno, on the Lago Maggiore, and, as regards the East, in abundance at Ephesus, on the slopes of Mount Prion, and I have also seen it at Deceleia. A prima-facie reason for the non-appearance of the commoner sorts would seem to be the absence of the cultivation of cabbages and turnips, that serve as food-plants for the caterpillars of Brassica and Rapæ, to the same extent as at home; for, though there are market-gardens in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and on the site of the King's garden, mentioned by Nehemiah, close to the Pool of Siloah, these are principally devoted to the production of artichokes and salads. larger size in Some specimens of one, P. Brassica, that I saw several Brassica of years since in the collection made by Mr. Lord in Egypt, were, Egypt. to the best of my recollection, both larger and yellower than our own, in consequence, in all probability, of the warmer climate. Vanessas in The Vanessas constitute our gayest tribe of butterflies at Absence of home; yet those that I have seen are few and far between the East. in the East; indeed, of V. Egea, which is not a British V. Egea. species, I saw (but, unluckily, failed to capture) one specimen in the dry bed of the Sari-kizi, or stream of the fair girl, at Philadelphia. This butterfly belongs likewise to the Mediterranean littoral, being found in the South of Europe. Perhaps V. Atalanta, V. Io, and V. Urtica need our nettle, V. Polychloros our elm, as a food-plant. It is true that in one or two places I saw V. Atalanta-the Acropolis, v. Urtica. for example, and Pass of Daphne; and V. Urticæ once,† I think, in Corfu; but these are only exceptions to the rule. I must have missed the right time and place for this particular genus, for that all our seven species of Vanessa are found in Asia Minor and elsewhere, I make no doubt, on reference to Kirby's Lepidoptera, and from what I have elsewhere read. V. Antiopa is mentioned in Canon Tristram's article on V. Antiopa. "Palestine" in the Dictionary of the Bible, and is, no doubt, far * I took this in unlimited quantity about Torquay in May and June, 1855.-H. B. Tristram. + These come out in the hilly and oak-clad parts in July and August. Plentiful in Bashan in July.-H. B. T. V. Atalanta. V. cardui. Other butterflies of terranean littoral. REV. F. A. WALKER, D.D., F.L.S. commoner there than with us. It does not follow, however, in perfect swarms,* but is occasional and variable in that * In all my five visits to Palestine I have found V. cardui literally ín swarms.-H. B. T. † Some of our own A. Galatea were also taken by me on these occasions. I was unable to distinguish Galatea from Titea on the wing. Canon Tristram retains the old name of Lachesis for the species now known as Titea. Similarly, in treating of the Pieride and Satyridæ, he keeps to the old generic names in vogue before the subdivision of genera. "Arge" is 'Hipparchia," and "Anthocaris" "Pontia" in his list.-F. A. W. Melitaea Didyma Lycæna Melanops Satyrus Semele Road to Great St. Ber- Corfu, June, 1882 Alexandretta, April 28, According to Kirby, South Lu 1882 Neighbourhood of Athens, Philadelphia, May, 1882 This list might be further extended, but what has been already stated will amply suffice. As a matter of course, these artificial divisions, framed for the sake of convenience, will overlap one another to a certain extent; and some of the most characteristic species of the South of France, the Vallais (where, twenty years since, I saw more species of butterflies in one single day than I had ever seen in my life before), and the East at the same time, are also found, though very rarely (Argynnis Lathonia, for example), in England. S. Semele is also English, somewhat local, but abounding in limestone and slaty districts in North Wales and North of England, which resemble the geological formation in Greece; and the lower wings of the Grayling (which is its English name), when it is settled on a rock, can scarcely be discerned from the lichen that overspreads the boulder. Eastern Genus Thais. Thais may be regarded as an Eastern genus for all practical Purely purposes, as nearly every collection from Palestine, or Syria, species. or Asia Minor contains either T. Apollina (Doritis Apollinus according to Kirby), T. Cerisyi, or both species. And T. Apollina is quite the commonest butterfly during the month of March in Palestine, where I captured it on the plain of Sharon, and also where it occurred in great abundance on the Mount of Olives. I have never met with any species of this tribe anywhere on the Continent; and though it be true that T. Rumina, for example, is found in the South of France, and its variety, Medesicaste, in Algiers, still this does not invalidate the general claim of the tribe to be regarded as a subtropical, thoroughly Eastern genus. It is, in fact, the representative in Asia Minor, Syria, and the Holy Land of Parnassius, in Switzerland. And Thais Apollina is no doubt termed so from the supposed similarity of its markings to those of the commonest Swiss species, Parnassius Apollo. I also caught this insect in the meadows in the vicinity of Baalbec and Shtora, where it disports itself on and among the Purely Eastern species. Danais scarlet anemones, no less brilliantly-tinted tulips (Ranunculus Asiaticus and Tulipa oculi solis), Star of Bethlehem, and in the Plain of Sharon, among the variously-coloured vetches, and sundry other blossoms of the flowery plain or hill-side. Many of T. Apollina were in good, more in fair, condition. A perfectly fresh specimen of T. Apollina has a dark, gauzelike appearance over the whole of the upper wings, and a primrose tint (with the exception of the red and dark-blue of the ocelli that form the border) over the lower. In the case of a more worn individual, the gauze-like appearance is the first to go; in one still more faded, the primrose tint also, until the upper wings are nearly transparent, except for the three black spots which mark its affinity with the Apollinidæ. Whether or no the sexes are distinguished by the respective faintness or vividness of the markings, is more than I have knowledge in this instance to say. I was also fortunate enough to see six or seven specimens of Thais Cerisyi in Syria, and to capture three two at Shtora, and one at Baalbec. I attributed its scarcity to the fact that I was too early in the field for this particular kind, but have had reason to correct this view, having been informed that I was even in the end of March and beginning of April too late, as it appears on the wing at the very commencement of the season, before Apollina. Danais Chrysippus is a beautiful insect, and of striking appearance, with its wings of a golden bronze, spotted here Chrysippus, and there with black, and its upper one having a black patch at the extremity, bordered by a transverse band of white. Its geographical distribution is a wide one, as it is found in most warm countries in the Old World, ranging from Turkey (in Europe) to Australia, of course, with some local variations, according to the particular habitat. In fact, all species of the Danaida are fine, and notably so Danais Archippus, a still larger and more magnificent kind, and a native of the United States. I am led to mention this particular species (Danais Archippus) from the fact that it has recently been successfully naturalised in England, Australia, and, I believe, the Fiji Islands; and notices of its appearance in England were sent from time to time to the Entomologist. To revert to D. Chrysippus, all the numerous specimens that I have captured were taken at or near Cairo (and I have never seen it alive elsewhere) in December, 1883, on geraniums and other bedding plants in the public gardens; settling on the poinsettias in the Island of Roda; and flitting about the tall zinnias which grow to a height of seven feet and upwards in the gardens of Matareeyeh at the famous 1 Heliopolis. The effect of this fine butterfly fluttering round a scarlet poinsettia in the bright sunshine was truly gorgeous, and so excited was I when I first saw it alive and flying round the bedding plants in the gardens of the Esbekeeyeh, that I struck wildly with my net, and thus missed securing my first specimen,—so unusual is the appearance of a tropical butterfly of large dimensions when seen by an Englishman flying in its natural habitat for the first time. Eastern Eastern fectly known. Nov. 1, The fauna of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, &c., are neither Purely by any means so showy nor so numerous as those of Rio and species. of Port Natal; nevertheless, our knowledge of tropical species entomology from many localities is more complete. As a proof of this only impermay be cited the fact that I took a Yphthima, sp. ignot, in the Yphthima, neighbourhood of Alexandretta, and in the direction of Issus, sp. ignot. on April 30, 1883, which I showed on my return to Mr. Butler, at the British Museum; but he could not find that it corresponded precisely with any species of that genus contained in the National collection. I had previously (April 12) netted one or two of the same species along the road winding up the cliff above the Nahr-el-Kelb, or Dog River, Beyrout; but, most unfortunately, these were completely spoiled for specimens by getting rubbed and broken when still in the net, owing to my horse shying in consequence of some Orientals, who think nothing can be done without clamour, making a great noise on the steep and narrow path. In connexion with this subject, it may not be out of place to mention that I captured two specimens of a Deudorix on the 29th of November, and Deudorix, two again on the 1st of December, in the public gardens at Dec., 1883. Cairo. In these instances, also, the species is uncertain. Mr. Butler has compared them with those in the National collection, and finds that they approach most closely to an Indian species, but is inclined all the same to think that they are not the same, because of the wide geographical distance interposed, there being no specimens from any part of the intervening region of Arabia. Kirby enumerates twenty-nine species of Deudorix, by far the greater number (twenty-four) from India and the East Indian Islands, one from Australia, one from Sierra Leone, one from South Africa, one from Natal, and one from Mozambique. My specimens of Deudorix are about the size and of the tawny hue of our own C. Pamphilus; with short tails, however, and with a dusky margin round the upper wings, and round a portion of the Tarucus lower. My Tarucus Nara, from Cairo, November 29, is the Nara, Cairo. Cupido Nara, of Kirby; locality, India bor. according to Karsandra, him. My Zizera Karsandra, from the gardens of Gezeedeh, Gezeedeh, Cairo, December 1, is his Cupido Karsandra; India bor. ; Cairo. Zizera of Dec. 1, 1883, |