274 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



a most depressing performance, for the route, as a rule, lies 

 between two stone walls the whole way. But, looking down 

 from a hill-top, the whole appearance of the country is changed, 

 for the prospect embraces innumerable little fields, each one 

 cultivated to the utmost foot in the endeavour to support the 

 enormous population of the islands. Yet only some three- 

 fourths of the whole area is under cultivation, the remainder 

 consisting of expanses of bare rock, or of such barren soil as to 

 render agriculture impracticable. Cotton, potatoes, oranges, and 

 cereals appear to be the most important products, but immense 

 quantities of vegetables and fruit are also grown, and no account 

 of Maltese agriculture would be complete without mention of the 

 clover-like "sulla" {Hedysarum coronarmm), whose dark purple 

 flower tinges the fields in March and provides rich store of nectar 

 for numberless insects. 



In Valletta and its suburbs there are several small public 

 gardens, the most important of which are the two contiguous 

 gardens, called Maglio and Argotti, at Floriana. These are 

 usually gay with flowers throughout the year, and prove a great 

 attraction to many species of Lepidoptera, such as P. atalanta 

 and the Sphingids. There is a larger garden in the country at 

 San Antonio, but this is principally devoted to orange-culture. 



A short railway running from Valletta to the ancient capital, 

 Notabile, will be found of service in order to reach various 

 collecting-places in the centre of the island. As already in- 

 dicated, the most suitable localities are to be found in the 

 various wieds, the best of which is that running from the back 

 of the Marsa out to Bosch etto. Within the narrow confines of 

 this valley will be found nearly every indigenous species of 

 plant and insect. 



The climate of Malta may be divided roughly into a wet and 

 a dry season, the former extending from mid-November to mid- 

 February, and the latter comprising the remainder of the year. 

 From May to September rain is rare, and the rainfall is mainly 

 limited to passing showers during the remaining months of the 

 dry season. The average annual rainfall is about 19 inches. 

 Frost and snow are very rare phenomena, the winter tempera- 

 ture seldom falling below 40° F., whilst in summer it seldom 

 rises above 90° F. The average annual temperature is 64'5° F. 



The average temperature from March to May is 60'8°F. ; June 

 to August is 72-6° F. ; September to November is 68*4° F. ; 

 December to February is 54*4° F. The diurnal variation of 

 temperature is much greater in the country than in the towns. 

 Few regions are less liable to calms than Malta, especially by 

 day. A calm of twenty-four hours' duration has, perhaps, never 

 been experienced there in the memory of man. In the winter 

 a very strong north-east wind (locally called " Gregale"), some- 

 times blows for two or three days at a time, and it is chiefly to 



