NOTES ON ALGERIAN AND TUNISIAN INSECTS. 66 



Ponipihis sp. near viaticns, Encera nigrilabis, Lep., $ , Anthoj^hora. 

 atroalba, Lep., ^ , and workers of Apis meUifica. I found one colony 

 of Mesmr barbartis, L., in a flowery sand waste near El Soukra. The 

 M. abd-el-kader was observed at flowers of red Lychnis quite commonly. 

 I may, perhaps, mention specimens of a Bonibylins which 

 appear to be inedius, taken near the Bardo. The spots on the wing 

 seem smaller than in typical vtedina. This is a difficult genus, very 

 characteristic, I fancy, of the Barbary countries, and, indeed, of the 

 Mediterranean generally. I took a •fopy.r, which is, presumably, J. 

 aolifiu/a. This Bristle-tail was found under a fallen "leaf" of the 

 Cactus, of which I have already spoken. May I suggest that fallen 

 portions of this plant often harbour small insects, and should be 

 worked carefully. Embiid nymphs occurred in such places, together 

 with many snails, wood-lice and myriapods. I have attempted to 

 mount the Japi/.r in Canada Balsam, but I find it quite impossible to 

 dehydrate the insect without first puncturing its seemingly slight 

 chitinous covering. The insect could not be cleared after many days 

 in absolute alcohol, though, for the seemingly much more impervious 

 thrips, one or two hours are sufficient ! I took a good many other 

 Thysanura here and elsewhere, but shall not again refer to them, as 

 they are not yet worked out. The same applies to about 20 tubes of 

 Thysanoptera, now in Mr. Bagnall's possessioo. 



Three beetles are noteworthy. A large Carabid discharged an 

 extremely irritating fluid into my eyes from a distance of six inches. 

 A large clumsy black Tenebrionid was abundant in sandy places, such 

 as the railway cutting near Sidi Bou Said. It is Pinwlia in)lata, 

 Herbst., { — barhara, Sol.). It eats dung and dry sticks, and spends 

 much of its time burying its head and body in the sand for no apparent 

 purpose. It certainly was not ovipositing, nor finding any food. Was 

 it possibly attempting to shield itself from a peculiarly hot sun ? The 

 Cetoniid Epiaitnetia sijnalida, L., is a hairy creature, which is found in 

 many flowers, but especially marigolds. It has a flight extremely like 

 that of Boiiibtis, and buzzes sharply on alighting,. but not, I fancy, 

 when actually in flight. 



On one of the hills of Carthage, Chrysomelid larvae were very 

 abundant. At the same place I captured a very large ocellated lizard 

 [Lacerta ocellata). This I preserved entire, and on my return to 

 England was surprised to find its stomach packed with little else but 

 these Chrysomelid larv^. Yet these might be supposed to be protected ; 

 they belong, I fancy, to a family of beetles, which are often regarded 

 as nauseous ; the larvjB themselves are brilliantly metallic and walk in 

 the daylight over stones, bushes and flowers, where thej- are most 

 conspicuous ; they secrete a yellow fluid from the mouth when 

 handled; and, unless my memory deceives me, they have an unpleasant 

 smell. (I have no note on this last point.) The larvae shrink badly 

 when preserved in spirits, but I judge my specimens to belong to the 

 the genus Chnjaouiela. 



On March 22nd, we visited Hammam-el-Lif. The country here is 

 so unlike the rest of the Tell that it merits separate notice. The sea- 

 shore merges imperceptably into a flat brackish marsh, of an exceedingly 

 uninteresting, even repulsive nature. From this there rise at once 

 steep dry hills covered with evergreen trees, most of which were newly 

 planted. The resulting scrub consisted of Pines, Juniper, Erica, Ilex, 



