from the region oj the Straits of Gibraltar. 375 



summer, and fresh specimens are occasionally to be met 

 with in the winter months ; these are usually small and 

 very darkly coloured. 



Mclitcea aurinia, Eott., var. Desfontainii, Godt. — I 

 shall not readily forget my astonishment at meeting 

 with this butterfly — for which I had been vainly scouring 

 every accessible marshy place for at least ten miles round 

 — on a steep, arid, bushy slope of the Rock of Gibraltar, 

 within a stone's throw of the main road, and barely 300 

 yards from the town walls. I first saw it on May 27th, 

 1888, and managed during the following week to obtain 

 a small series, not without a good deal of trouble, as the 

 insect flies very strongly, and the nature of the ground 

 it frequents renders its pursuit a matter of difficulty. It 

 is not easy to realise that these large richly-coloured 

 insects (my largest female measures in expanse of wing 

 2 in. Sg- lin.= 57 mm.), and the little pale washed-out 

 looking alpine merope, Dup., of which I have specimens 

 barely 1 in. 3 lin. (=: 34 mm.) in expanse, are but forma 

 of one variable species. 



M. phoehe, Kn., var. cetheria, Hiibn. — Common in the 

 cork-woods, frequenting the same localities as Lyccena 

 melanops, and on the wing at the same time, from April 

 30th to the end of May. No second brood observed. 

 The specimens are very fine and large, averaging 2 in. 

 2 lin. (=55 mm.) in expanse. 



Argynnis latona, E. — Apparently very rare; I took 

 one specimen by the roadside at Campamento on June 

 18th, 1887, and have seen one or two more caught near 

 San Roque. 



A. pandora, Schiff. — Very sparingly observed in the 

 cork-woods (May 28th, 1887), and near San Roque 

 (July 7th, 1888) ; also taken at Benzus Bay in August, 

 and seen at Tangier in September. It must, however, 

 be common somewhere in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, 

 as on September 19th, 1888, quite a large number sud- 

 denly appeared on the Rock after the prevalence of a 

 fresh westerly breeze, and were seen for a fortnight after- 

 wards, frequenting flowers of heliotrope, &c,, in the 

 Alameda. All were males, so far as I could ascertain, 

 and all in exceedingly worn condition. 



{Anosia plexippus, L.). — This wandering butterfly was 

 taken by Lieut. -Commander Cochran, of H.M.S. *Grap- 

 pler,' in his garden at Rosia, Gibraltar, on October 24th, 



