136 [June. 



twilight in short, the inducement to issue forth at nightfall in their 

 pursuit, equipped as a highwayman, is not great. 

 I obtained specimens of the following : — 



Sphingina. 



Ino tenuicornis, 14/5 — 2/6. — Sunning sluggishly like the rest of the genus on 

 the heads of thistles and other flowers growing in waste places. 



Ino ampelophaga, " The Vine Consumer," 23/6 and 23/8. — During August this 

 little black moth emerged in numbers from the cobwebby corners of the vineyards. 



Deilephila livornica. — On the sandhills at Jaffa, which resemble the well 

 known hunting grounds at Deal as regards fauna and landscape this moth was 

 common in April, darting from the stunted vine stocks before the advancing foot- 

 steps with a swiftness that literally rendered it invisible. I conclude that it must 

 be local in Palestine, for I did not notice it on my arrival at Jerusalem. 



Chcerocampa nerii. — The caterpillars concealed themselves beneath the leaves 

 of the double garden oleanders in a marvellous way, so that they could only be 

 discovered by their droppings. In colour they were green or brown. Assuming 

 the chrysalis state at commencement of July, those I kept in confinement emerged 

 as moths at the close of the day between July 21 st and 26th. 



Choerocampa celerio. — I found a dead specimen lying on the road in the German 

 quarter at Jaffa, and on my arrival at Jerusalem I saw it, I believe, buzzing in the 

 sunshine about the flowering creepers on a house wall. Later on its young black 

 horned caterpillar appeared in the cobwebby corners of the vineyards, where the 

 leaves were drilled by those of Ino ampelophaga ; it then developed its peacock's 

 eye, became a chrysalis, and the moth appeared during the course of the autumn. 



Macroglossa stellatarum. — The Humming Bird Moth was unusually abundant 

 at Jerusalem I infer in 1897. It is there frequently seen in the sleeping apartment, 

 which is commonly more exposed to the sunshine than the sitting room, and it is not 

 unfrequently dislodged from the fringe of Pellitaria that festoons the entrance to 

 the numerous rock hewn caves. It likewise visits the vessels as they ride at anchor 

 during the day off the Syrian Harbours. 



BOMBTCINA. 



Saturnia pyri. — It is a favourite amusement at Jerusalem to rear this moth 

 from the caterpillar stage. It emerges from its chrysalis in April, when the bulky- 

 eyed imago may be frequently noticed beneath a finger glass in a parlour. The 

 caterpillars, nevertheless, do not appear to be found at Jerusalem. 



Deiopeia pulchella. — Common on the sandhills at Jaffa : during April, and on 

 May 19th I observed numerous examples of this prettily spotted moth in the vicinity 

 of the Pool of Siloam. As it is found on waste places from Central Europe to the 

 Cape and Australia, its caterpillars must of necessity feed on very different food 



plants. 



NOCTUINA. 



Heliotlds peJtigera, 10/5. — This moth in Palestine flies in the fields in the 

 morning sunshine and settles on the flowers. I saw it at Jaffa in April in company 

 with an Acontia and a Plusia that I mistook for gamma. At Jerusalem I captured 

 two other species of the latter genus. 



Spintherops spectrum. — Miss Fitzjohn has sent me a specimen of this moth. 



