SOME NOTES ON COLLECTING IN SYRIA. 128 



were taken below the hotel hill, while very worn Adopaea Ihu'ida 

 occurred here and there. A few Liiucnith Camilla, fresh, and ap- 

 parently of the second brood, occurred in bushy places, and with them 

 I got (jonepteryx clcoj^atra var. taioica, but never in good condition. 



Of other insects Pontia daplulice, Paranjc iiiaera, Melitaea trivia 

 and Satyrus iielo/iea emerged shortly after my arrival ; the first two 

 species were small as a rule. P. daplidive occurred very frequently up 

 to about 4500 feet, while M. trivia was local, frequenting open gravelly 

 banks and clearings in the pine woods. Paranje muera was fairly 

 common everywhere, but S. pelopea occurred most commonly in dry 

 rocky places, and settled as a rule on the ground, where its underside 

 coloration made it very hard to distinguish. I only took one Satyr uk 

 fatua var. sic/iaca, and saw two others when I was in difficulties on 

 impossible ground, and so cannot say much about its habits. Two of 

 the three I saw alighted on pinetrees, as did N. /wnnioite, which occurred 

 in numbers in the pine woods, S. tclephaHsa var. antlw rested as a 

 rule on grey granite rocks and boulders, while .S. pelopea was fondest 

 of patches of brown or reddish soil, overhung by boulders or ledges of 

 rock. Of the "skippers," Syridit/iits orbifer and .S. trssellinii var. unmas 

 occurred in most places, and in a small but thick wood in the valley I 

 got a couple of good specimens of Auyiades sylvanus, which appeared 

 to approach var. anatolia. I'arnara nostradatiius occurred, but was as 

 worn as usual. 



Jebel-Barouk, or rather the end of the range known by that name,, 

 which overlooked Zahalta from a height of 7000 feet, seemed to be 

 too barren and stony, despite an open cedar wood, to promise much, 

 but, in crossing the mountain, while on an expedition to the Litani or 

 Leontes river, I saw and took enough to bring me to the summit on 

 July 21st and 24th. The expedition to the Leontes revealed little 

 entomologically, as far as the B'kaa or valley between the Lebanon 

 and Antilebanon was concerned. On this excursion, my companion 

 and 1 nearly died of heat and thirst, the valley being at this season 

 one of the hottest and driest places in Syria, and the Litani 's waters 

 were absolutely undrinkable. I recognised l'ulyo)iiitiatus lydwun there, 

 and one battered Paidlio podalirius, but, in my condition, to catch 

 an insect was impossible, and so P. lysimon ought, I think, to be 

 marked with a query, though my acquaintance with the insect is- 

 considerable. 



To return to the mountain ! At a height of some 6500 feet was 

 a ravine, opening into a cup-shaped depression, partially planted with 

 corn by energetic Druses, surrounded by cedars and dotted with clumps 

 of buckthorn, prickly oak, elder, and one or two other bushes unknown 

 to me, and not destitute of flowers. Up here, insects were numerous 

 as far as species went, but a long series of anything w-as unobtainable,, 

 and many species were torn or worn, or both. Among these were 

 Chrysoplianiis t/icrsaiiKDt, liryaa pamlora, A. lineola, and a blue which I 

 named, with hesitation, Ptdyonnnattoi vandalus. A burnet, Zyyaena ?' 

 sp., occurred pretty frequently on the elder blossom, and Folyonniiatiift 

 anteros var. cra,^,npuncta and /'. panayea, mostly J s, were abundant. 



On the 21st I took a lovely specimen of Plebeim loeivii, uncom- 

 monly like my allardii from the Egyptian desert ravines, in spite of 

 so different a habitat, and a fine Chrysophanns Dchiinas. Fresh <? s of 

 both these lieautiful species were to be had on the 24th. No 2 s, and 



