288 Mr. G. T. Jietliiine-Baker on 



of a series that is in the Tring Museum from Algeria with 

 a finer })attern, that was flying freely with T. medilerraneae, 

 also proves to be halkanica, thus extending the range of 

 this species in a very unexpected manner. 



In the Tring Museum is a large series of specimens 

 collected in Algeria, with a few from Egypt and Morocco. 

 They belong to three species; theophrastus is the most 

 abundant, medilerraneae is less so, whilst halkanica is 

 nmch the rarest. There are in all some 477 examples, 

 and when first I sorted and examined them I must confess 

 to a sense of complete bewilderment so far as regards the 

 first two ; the upperside of halkanica marks it out fairly 

 distinctly from the others, but it took a long study before 

 I was able to sort out with any degree of certainty iheo- 

 phrastus and mediterraneae, and in the end I found the 

 only way of coming to any satisfactory conclusion was to 

 dissect a good number of specimens ; this Lord Rothschild 

 kindly let me do. I had considered at first that nearly 

 all the specimens were my mediterraneae; the genitaUa, 

 however, proved that the great majority were theophrastus. 

 At Guelt-es-Stel, in the Hautes, there are 164 of Fabricius's 

 insect to nineteen of my new species ; they were, however, 

 flying together on the same ground and at the same time, 

 in June, July and August, though it was in the last month 

 that they were most abundant ; at Nedroma (Oran) 

 nine specimens of theophrastus only were taken ; at El 

 Kantara rather more than twice as many theophrastus 

 as of mediterraneae occurred; at the desert post of El 

 Hadrada ten of my species were taken and one halkanica, 

 but no theophrastus, whilst at Ghardaia, far in the Sahara, 

 one theoj)hrastus, twenty-one mediterraneae, and five 

 halkanica were captured, and at St. Oued Mya (Sahara) 

 eight of the latter and a pair of mediterraneae were collected ; 

 the other localities yielded much the same results, except 

 that at ]5iskra eleven mediterraneae and three theophrastus 

 were taken, and at Batna there were thirteen of the latter 

 to nine of the former. In Morocco both species occurred, 

 from the Masser Mines only theophrastus was sent home, 

 and from Zoudj-el-Beghal only mediterraneae; there were, 

 however, but a few in each instance. 



We see therefore, on the whole, that mediterraneae 

 appears to thrive better than theophrastus ui the desert 

 localities and vice versa. The distribution of the species 

 is so unusually interesting that I have given it somewhat 



