TWO MONTHS AMONG THE BUTTERFLIES IN SOUTHERN SPAIN. 261 



Two months amon^ the Butterflies in Southern Spain/'' 



By ALBERT H. JONES, F.E.S. 



Lookiog through my notes of a two months' sojourn in the south 

 of Spain, from March 28th until May 28th last, I find but a record 

 of a series of windy, wet, chilly, overcast days. At Malaga the 

 weather reached a climax of badness, for it rained incessantly for three 

 days, April 10th, 11th, and 12th. It would be but natural that 

 there were intervals of tine weather, but ideal days for collecting were 

 few and far between. Having in view the past brilliant summer it 

 seems surprising that the weather during the earlier part of the year 

 on. the Mediterranean littoral should have been so unpropitious. 



Mr. G. 0. Sloper accompanied me to Gibraltar, and a stroll 

 over the Neutral Ground — not a very likely locality for butterflies 

 — only resulted in our seeing a few Paraiije aiujeiia, and a worn 

 Pyrameis atalanta. On March 30th we paid a visit to Europa Point, 

 and on waste ground noticed several TheHtor hallux, and an occasional 

 Kucldoe {Anthocharis) beletiiia. On the following day, accompanied by 

 Captain J. J. Jacobs, R.E., I visited the lower slopes of the hills to 

 the north ; crossing the Neutral Ground and passing through the dirty 

 town of La Linea de la Concepcion, the route lay for about a mile 

 and a half through a sandy waste partially under cultivation, the 

 " allotments " being enclosed by cacti and prickly pear. The path, 

 if you can so call it, was a sandy track most trying to walk over. 

 E. helemia was soon seen and captured, but to keep your eye on this 

 quick-flying butterfly and avoid the spiny points of the cacti, was no 

 easy matter. It is a long lane which has no turning, and we eventually 

 left the sand behind us and reached the grassy slopes we had in view. 

 Here Thestor ballus was not uncommon, Thais rumina occurred at 

 intervals, and on the extreme edge of a declivity K. belemia disported 

 themselves after the fashion of the Pieris {Poiitia) rallidice we see in 

 alpine regions. I took a fine but short series, but only a small 

 number of those seen were captured. 



Mr. Sloper and I, on April 1st, took the steamer to Tangiers. 

 I cannot say that I had in view any entomological aspirations ; indeed, 

 the unsettled state of the country suggested only a visit to the town 

 and back. In the afternoon we strolled round the outskirts, and 

 although we found here and there likely little bits of good collecting 

 ground, there was not a sign of lepidopterous life. In conversation at 

 the hotel with a Moorish guide, who spoke English well, I was 

 persuaded on the morrow to visit Cape Spartel, as he informed me 

 that in the previous summer he had accompanied a German 

 entomologist thither, and that he had there found numbers of butter- 

 flies. At an early hour on the following morning we started on foot, 

 passing the Jews' River, and then by a lane worn with deep furrows 

 by winter rains, to the plateau of Djebel Kebir (1070 feet). Along 

 this road, endless were the mules and carriers I met conveying tire 

 wood from the neighbourhood of Cape Spartel, a distance of about 

 ten miles. Along this treeless track, covered chiefly with cistus and a 

 species of heath, I saw but one butterfly, K. belemia 2 , which I 

 succeeded in capturing. It was a relief after some hours' walking, to 



* In this paper the author is responsible for the Nomenclature, which is that of 

 Staudinger's Catalogue, 1901. 



