298 l\Ir. K. .). .MoitoM on 



blue; of two examples witli tlie wings motlerately tinted 

 with l)rown one gives an inqirt'ssmn tliat it may have been 

 blue, the other is greenish ; the other two, the oldest of tiie 

 five, have the wings more strongly tinted and the colour 

 sreenish. Whether we have to do with two different forms 

 or merely with a matter of age I do not venture to decitie, 

 but think there are most probably two forms. 



With regard to the habits of the species, Brewitt-Taylor 

 writes : " This species is not rare, but is very difficult to catch. 

 I have never seen it settled. It is to be seen in the da}' 

 flying rapidly in the palm swamp'', but does not remain in 

 any one spot. At sundown — about half an hour after sun- 

 set — it can best be caught while hawking the little swarms 

 of insects. It then often comes quite low down. Often a 

 dozen or so can be seen together at a height of about 20 feet 

 hawking amongst a group of gnats. This I have seen only 

 at dusk." In a later note he says: "On 24th June i 

 watched a yellow-green female ovipositing at 1.30. She 

 settled on a reed or grass lying on the water and pushed her 

 abdomen down sometimes quite 1^ iiiciies under water. 

 [This explains why the females often have muddy bodies.] 

 The frogs frequently attempted to catch her, but she was far 

 too quick for them. They approached cautiously towards Jier 

 and snapped at her." 



[Re-examination of one of Evans's Amara specimens 

 (22. v.), which is evidently very young, clearly shows the 

 beginning of the darker clouding, but it is not i)ossible to say 

 what the colour of the abdomen at the base may iiave been. 

 When these large insects are at rest, the greenish form one 

 would imagine would be less conspicuous than the blue. Can 

 it be that a less proportion of the latter reach mature age?] 



Orthetrum sabi'na, Druiy. 



8 J (^, G ? ?, 7-11-31, v., 1-10. vi., 13-10. vi. (Basra). 



1 may take occasion to reter again to this species when 

 dealing with Odonata received from Captain Buxton, taken 

 by him in N.W. Persia. 



Orthetrum trinacria, Seijs. 



2 (? (5" , 1 ? , 5. vii. (Amara). 



Crocothemis ert/thrcea chahlccorum, subsp. n. 

 Crocothemis erythrtea, Morton, E. M. M., 3rd ser. vol. v. p. 186 (1919). 

 •'> <J (?, 7 ? ? , 2-1 5. vi. (Basra) {Brewift-Tai/hr). 



