NOTES ON COLLECTINO. 133 



fonnd one larva of l^yntnmia pher/ea nearly fall-fed, but saw little else 

 beyond one or two examples of ( 'alias rdiisa, one specimen of Paranjo me- 

 (jai'va and a few more or less disreputable specimens of Scsia [Macronhmsa) 

 atcUatannii. In March, I found i'olias. cdiisa quite fresh and in goodly 

 numbers on a sunny hillside a little way out of the town ; Avhilst P. 

 mi'iiacra was in great plenty in the same situation. Si'sia [}[acr()i/l<if<sa) 

 ateUatariDii was to be found in plenty hovering over the masses of 

 rosemary which was in full bloom along the roadside and on the hills. 

 Freshly-emerged specimens of Pirris hrasairae and P. rapae were met 

 Avith, and also hibernated Anlais urticac, Pi/raiiiris atalanta and 

 Goncpfrn/.r rhamni. One or two examples of Pliisia i/ainnia were taken 

 round the electric lights on board the P. & 0. ss. Osiris in Brindisi 

 harbour. I saw a very large hawk moth darting about in the bright 

 sunshine in an orange plantation one morning, but was unable to 

 capture it. Would this be ]>aj>hnis ncrii .' In a neighbourhood in 

 which every shepherd and goatherd carries a gun the whole year 

 round, it is not surprising that bird life is scarce. Lepidoptera suffer 

 but little, therefore, round Brindisi from avian foes, though the place of 

 the birds in this respect is more than filled by the lizards, which are 

 extremely abundant, and whose agility is absolutely astounding. The 

 Brindisi lizards are for the most part the little green wall lizards [Laccrta 

 mitralis), whose dorsal coloration is a bright green, and thus 

 harmonises with the grass and low vegetation. I have seen them 

 absolutely lie in wait under a trailing stem of rosemary blossom, and 

 then suddenly dart out and seize the big violet-winged carpenter-bee 

 (Xi/Iocoiia fidlacca), or the swift-flying Scsia [Marrof/loHsa) sti'llatarmii, as 

 it hovered over the flowers. They will even chase CoUaa eiliisa for many 

 yards up and down the hillside, proceeding by a series of short but 

 very rapid leaps.- — J. A. Simes, 2-1, Northwold Road, Upper Clapton, 

 N.E. April 21st, 1903. 



The capture of Polyommatus hylas at Dover. — I have just seen in 

 the Kntoniuloiiist's PeconI for December last, your observations on the 

 scanty notice of my capture of Pob/diiimatiis In/las at Dover. It is a 

 fact that there were no lepidopterists who seemed to take the least 

 interest in, what I should call, so important a capture, except, I 

 believe, Dr. Chapman. The details of the capture are as follows : — 

 First, the note from my diary reads — " Sunday, September 7th — 



Went to and took fine Colias ednsa, 2 Pol;/oiii)iiatiiscoyi/dou, P. 



astrarche and P. icarinns." A side note made about ten days after 

 Avith reference to the last specimen reads: — "This proves to be P. 

 hi/las.'" I took the insect sitting, and noticed the basal spots were 

 wanting, and so, as the note says, took it for P. icarimis. It was in 

 my bottle for a week as I was busy with other insects for my collection 

 that is placed in the Dover Museum. On pinning it I saw, what 

 appeared to me, a somewhat familiar underside, and, on semirelaxing 

 it, at once saw that I had P. Jn/las. September 7tb was the last day I 

 took a net out, but had I recognised my capture at first, I should have 

 examined every Lycienid I could find. The specimen is now in the 

 collection of British butterflies in the South Kensington Museum. Mr. 

 Gray, curator of the Dover IMuseum, said he thought he remembered, 

 when he collected, taking /'. adonis without bars on the fringes. If he 

 did so we know Avhat that would mean. My specimen was perfectly 

 fresh and I do not believe it had been out four hours. I took it about 



