June, 1913.] 121 



the cocoon to the outer world in search of food, but I had uo opportu- 

 nity of carrying my observations any further. 



I searched Betama bushes in several localities for the beautiful 

 larvse of Spintherops spectrum, F., but without success ; neither did I 

 meet with the imago. The lai-v£c of Pluna chalcites, Esp., appeared 

 regularly each season in small numbers on plants growing in pots on 

 the verandah of my house, so that I was able to breed a series of this 

 insect. A full-fed larva of Sphinx convolvuli, L., was picked up in our 

 " patio," but it died before pupation. It was probably injm-ed by 

 falling from a high wall on which its food-plant grew (a species of 

 Convohmlus locally known as " Morning Grlory "), or it may have been 

 dropped there by a blackbird, which had its nest in a palm tree 

 close by. 



It is interesting to note how, in some cases, Lepidoytera vary as 

 regards comparative abundance in a district, in the course of 24 years ; 

 thus when my friend Commander J. J. Walker collected Lepidoptera 

 in this region diu-ing 1886-9, he recorded in a paper which I found 

 of the greatest assistance (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1890, pp. 361-391), 

 that Hesperia nostradamus, ¥., was common in the district, and that 

 Abraxas pantaria, L., was exceedingly abundant in Gibraltar. Now I 

 do not think I am wrong in stating that both have disappeared from 

 Gibraltar itself, or have become extremely rare, both there and in the 

 adjoining district. After diligently searching for both these insects 

 for two seasons, I met with the former in very small numbers near 

 Tangier on September 11th, 1911, and have since seen two, and taken 

 one specimen at the foot of the Sierra Carbonera. The latter insect 

 {A. pantaria) I came upon quite by accident in the Cork Woods on 

 August 5th, 1911, and after beating and searching among a number of 

 ash trees arotmd the spot wdiere the first was taken, could knock out 

 only 6 specimens, since when I have seen and taken only one specimen 

 in Gibraltar, at light. Melitfea aurinia, Eott., var. desfontainii, Godt., 

 is another species which has entirely disappeared from Gibraltar. I 

 however, took M. aurinia var. iberica, Obth., on June 8th, 1912, just 

 before leaving for England. Colonel F. J. Augell, A.D.O.S., had 

 taken them in the same spot about the end of May. On the other 

 hand some insects which apparently did not occur in Gibraltar, or 

 were very rare there, are now found plentifully, but locally, such as 

 Euchloe tagis, E., and Hesperia actxon, E., whilst Acidalia imitaria, 

 Hiibn., is to be taken, at light all over the Rock. It is difficult to 

 understand the reason of these changes. In this interval, the 



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