188 [August, 



four acres of such laud just below Amara and put up batches of eight or 

 ten or even more from each tuft of grass I -walked through. I could see 

 twenty or thirty easily in the air at once and there must have been many 

 hundreds in the few acres in question." 



The following additional extracts from Captain Evans's notes 

 dealing mainly with the phases of colour in this species may be worth 

 quoting : — 



20.iv.l918 : " This spring I have only seen three examples." 



3.T.1918 : Describing a dragon-fly hunt in flooded ground at Amaru just 

 a quarter of a mile beyond the town on May 2nd, he says of this species : 

 " Occurs sparingly (comparatively), some being pale in colour (chiefly females), 

 others quite red." 



5.V.1918: " Still not abundant only occasional specimens met with singly, 

 the females continue to be of a buff yellow tint, but the males are redder, some 

 quite deep red. The pale stripe on the shoulders is constant." 



27. V. 1918: " Now very common. Males mostly bright red now, females 

 equally bright yellow with just a tinge of greenish. A few females are still 

 found of ochre colour and these, judging by the worn wings, are old specimens." 



5.ix.l918: " Still frequent and in most localities. The majority are bright 

 coloured, the males deep red, the females more or less yellow. Recently a few 

 of the dull coloured, presumably teneral state, have appeared, all females, so far 

 as I have examined them. Can this mean that there is a spring and an autumn 

 brood ? " 



5.X.1918: "During the last week or len days, while collecting all over the 

 place, I have seen only one (not very) red Vrocothenns, the quite numerous 

 other examples noted being all of the ocbreous tint sent last autumn." 



The following notes are from the dried specimens : — 



At the end of October and in November 1917 rather smaller speci- 

 mens occurred at Amara, somewhat buff-coloured, the thorax dorsally 

 browner so that the pale whitish or yellowish interalar line and shoulder- 

 stripes are in strong contrast, wings with only little trace of yellow at 

 the base, wing tips very slightly darkened, pterostigma yellowish to 

 reddish ; abdomen with a distinctly marked dorsal line in both sexes 

 and faintly flushed with red in the male which has also the face faintly 

 tinged with red. It seems pretty certain that these would never attain 

 the full coloration of the summer condition. 



In April larger examples appeared with wing tips more distinctly 

 darkened, wings tinged with yellowish in the costal and subcostal fields, 

 basal patch more noticeable and abdomen more inclined to reddish. 

 By May the males had become much finer and redder, the face red, the 

 basal patch of hind wings large and darker, extending to the triangle or 

 nearly so in both sexes ; in most of the examples the shoulder-stripes 



