278 iMay, 



wire. I saw at least two species of " orange-tip," and was so fortunate 

 as to catch one which Mr. Butler informs me is new. It is interesting 

 as being extremely similar to species from the Sou mail country. Two 

 ^' blues,'' Azarius Zena and A. Gamra v^era decidedly common; the 

 former has a peculiar habit of flying in swarms round the thorn bushes 

 reminding one of Lithosia rulricollis. Another butterfly also new 

 was not uncommon, flying low amongst rank grass, but was difficult to 

 capture on account of the intense glare arising from the sand ; Mr. 

 Butler will shortly describe this novelty. Moths were apparently 

 scarce ; but numerous Micros belonging, I think, to some genus akin to 

 Litlio collet is were not uncommon on the glass of our lamps in the 

 evening; but I saw no Nociucc, unless a large moth, very like an i 

 " under- wing," belonged to this genus, but it persistently declined my 

 offers to an intimate acquaintance ; it was a day -flier very strong on i 

 the wing, and had a disappointing habit of soaring when I was very 

 nearly within range. 



Beetles were not numerous, being, to a large extent, kept under 

 by the extraordinary number of lizards which swarmed everywhere ; 

 however, I saw one particularly handsome fellow which put me in 

 mind of the " Diamond beetle " of Brazil ; it flew strongly in the hot ;j 

 sunshine and did not appear to be very uncommon though I failed to 

 make a capture. The only other beetle, at all common, was a large 

 black one which had an annoying habit of getting amongst one's kit 

 and crawling over one at night, which made one think of scorpions. 

 Of these latter, some spots where we encamped seemed to swarm with 

 them, whilst at others w^e were more fortunate. I was much impressed 

 by my first sight of a real live specimen, and my ideas derived from 

 dried-up museum specimens received a rude shock. I hesitate to give 

 the dimensions of one we captured, but the officer under whose bed it 

 was found assured me that he had never seen" a larger in India ; all 

 we captured were of a semi-transparent green colour. Several men 

 were stung and suff'ered severely ; and, following their usual tactics, 

 the creatures were very fond of getting amongst the blankets at night 

 and not uncommonly repaying their unconscious host by an unfriendly 

 sting in the morning. 



Mosquitoes were remarkable for their absence, and this I attribute 

 to the want of water in which the larvae are reared. 



Concerning house-flies it is unnecessary to speak, suffice it to say 

 that they swarmed in the tents more particularly in countless thousands, 

 until the extreme heat killed them off. I believe ^^ Musca domestica " 

 cannot survive a heat bordering on 100° in the shade ; at any rate, they 



