88 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



I also saw one male specimen at El Kantara in March (1902). Both 

 sexes vary much in size ; and a few of the females I took near Algiers 

 in March (1902) approach the var. androgyne, Leech, 



Teracolus ilaira var. yiouna, Luc. — It was especially the desire to 

 catch this little butterfly that caused me to revisit Biskra this year ; 

 but though Mrs. Nicholl had been able to secure easily a good series 

 of it in that neighbourhood during March, 1902, and had also kindly 

 informed me exactly how, when, and where to look for it, I did not 

 come across a single specimen. Perhaps, like A. pechi, it was fully a 

 mouth late, >i it may have been such a bad season that it was ex- 

 tremely rare ; anyhow, I had to come away without it, and bear my 

 disappointment as best I might. But the unexpected happens to 

 collectors of butterflies just as it does to everyone else, and it was a 

 most unexpected event for me when, on June 27th, on a mountain 

 near Sebdou, I took one male of this species. It was just fresh out, 

 so much so that, though it was the middle of the day, its flight was 

 slow and halting, and it therefore fell an easy prey to my net. Of 

 course, I imagined that a summer brood was now beginning, the 

 elevation being about 4000 ft. ; but though I visited the " Nouna 

 Mountain" again the next day, and on many other subsequent occa- 

 sions, I never saw another ! 



Colias edusa, F. — Pretty common everywhere. Also the var. helice 

 at Sebdou in July, where I took one very fine specimen of the inter- 

 mediate form, in which the ground colour on all the wings is a pale 

 primrose yellow. 



Goneptenjx cleopatra, L. — Common at Teniet in June. The orange 

 patch in the males seems to be slightly less intense than in those I 

 have from the South of France. 



Fyrameis cardiii, L, — Common everywhere. 



Vanessa j^olychloros var. erythromelas, Aust. — This magnificent form 

 of the " greater tortoiseshell " occurred commonly at Teniet-el-Haad 

 m June ; it was not out in the end of May. The ground colour is a 

 vivid orange-red, and it is much more distinct from the type than 

 I imagined at the time, or I might have secured a longer series ; but 

 erythromelas is a rapid flier and most difficult to catch, the street 

 gutters in the town of Teniet ofiering perhaps the best chances of a 

 capture. Though the ground colour of this Algerian form is even 

 deeper in tone than any specimen I have ever seen of V. zanthomelas, 

 S. v., still it fails to present the other distinctive features of that 

 species, inasmuch that the legs are brown, the light-coloured marks 

 near the costa on the fore wings are yellow and not white, while the 

 brown shadings on the under side of all the wings are darker instead 

 of lighter. So that it cannot possibly be classed as zanthomelas, though 

 bearing a strong superficial resemblance to it. 



MelitcBa a;therie var. algirica, Stgr. — Occurred commonly in the 

 cedar forest and other localities near Teniet in May and June. A few 

 of the specimens appear to be typical, and are indistinguishable from 

 some I have from Spain, taken near Seville, but far the greater number 

 belong undoubtedly to tlie var. algirica. 



M. didyma var. deserticola, Obth. — Taken at Biskra in March and 

 April. Also an intermediate form at Sebdou in June and July ; 

 approaching the type from Teniet in June. 



