64 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



and does considerable damage to the crop in Egypt, and is indeed classed 

 as a noxious insect. In other countries it is usually considered a 

 somewhat scarce butterfly. 



A butterfly very rarely taken in Egypt is Hesperia {I'l/ri/ns) evanida, 

 Butler. I have already made mention of this in the Fhitoiiwlouist's 

 Montldij Magazine of last year but cannot give the reference and have 

 mislaid the notes I sent on the subject. [Vol. L. (xxv.), p. 174. — 

 H.J.T.] 



I may say here that it is an entirely desert insect, and is, so far as 

 I have observed, single-brooded in April. It is extremely difficult to 

 catch as it has a rapid zigzag flight close to the ground, and is almost 

 impossible to see in the flare of the desert. It settles with closed 

 wings always on the ground and is very hard to make out amongst the 

 rocks and sandy soil it always frequents. I have never found it far 

 away from Conrolndiis lauatiix which I have no doubt is the foodplant. 

 I may mention the curious fact that this plant has two sets of leaves, 

 those grown in the spring being long, and those in early summer 

 narrow and short. 



Note. — Bingham's description of the male of Pleheins loireii, 

 BiitteijUea in India, vol. 2, p. 343, probably taken from Beluchistan 

 specimens, is decidedly different from Egyptian specimens ; how far 

 either agree with Zeller's original description I am for the time being 

 unable to say. — N. M. 



Note. — 13ingham, Butt. Ind., vol. ii., p. 343 (1907), Lyraena 

 lueirii, Zell. 



^ Upperaide. — A beautiful purplish-blue, changing in certain 

 lights to deep blue ; veins of both fore- and hindwings jet-black, out- 

 wardly very conspicuous. 



Forewing : Costa very slenderly, termen from apex to tornus much 

 more brosdly and evenly, black. 



Hindwing: Costa broadly, termen a little more narrowly and 

 dorsum broadly dusky black ; posteriorly the blue ground-colour 

 between the conspicuous black veins terminates in each interspace in 

 an intense black spot, that contrasts strongly with the duller black on 

 the terminal margin ; outwardly these black spots are separated from 

 an anteciliary intense black line by a slender edging of bluish-white 

 scales. Cilia of both fore- and hindwings white, with their basal 

 halves dusky black. 



$ Underside. — Brownish-grey. 



Forewing: A prominent cliscocellular, transverse, white encircled 

 black spot; a transverse discal row of six comparatively black spots, 

 edged very slenderly on the inner side, very broadly on the outer side 

 with snow-white, the anterior five spots of the row placed in a slight 

 curve, the upper four round, the lower spot larger, oval and obliquely 

 placed ; the lowest posterior spot of the row also large, elongate, some- 

 times composed of two geminate spots placed vertically under and out 

 of line of the curve formed by the anterior five; these are followed by 

 a broad, transverse, post-discal blackish-brown band, a terminal, 

 catenulated transverse white band, each link of which is centered with 

 a dusky black spot and an anteciliary, very prominent, somewhat 

 lunular black line. 



Hindwing : A transverse subbasal series of four black spots, a 

 transverse discocellular spot and a discal series of six similar spots, 



