276 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



much, so we find PierU hrassiccB M'ith three or four broods as 

 compared with the two broods in England. 



At present our knowledge of the Lepidoptera of Malta is 

 very incomplete, the list of local forms only including a little 

 over a hundred species ; but new ones are constantly turning 

 up, and it is safe to say that the list when properly worked 

 out will not be far short of two hundred indigenous species. 

 Considering the size of the islands, this seems a fair average 

 for the Palaearctic Region as a whole ; but, taking into con- 

 sideration their southerly position and proximity to both 

 Europe and Africa, the number seems a small one. This is 

 probably due to two main causes — firstly, to the flatness of 

 the country, whereby only one fauna can find a foothold (cp. 

 Sicily and Corsica with their rich yield of mountain species) ; 

 and, secondly, to the comparative scarcity of vegetation, a large 

 proportion of the islands being practically a barren waste. 



The publisbed information on the Lepidopterology of Malta 

 is most disappointingly scanty. Of the thousands of naval 

 and military officers and visitors who have resided in the 

 island during the British occupation, scarcely one seems to 

 have taken any interest whatever in the local fauna, and by 

 the native inhabitants very little appears to have been accom- 

 plished. If these brief notes help to arouse any interest in 

 the subject, their purpose will have been served. 



In his ' Notes of a Naturalist in the Nile Valley and Malta ' 

 (1870), Professor Leith Adams gave us a most interesting book 

 on the Natural History and Archaeology of Malta ; in it occur 

 long lists of fossils and birds and fish, but he contented himself 

 with a few casual and almost useless notes on the insects. 



Dr. Gavino Gulia published, in 1858, a book entitled * Corso 

 Elementare di Entomologia Maltese, data nel Palazzo di St. 

 Antonio,' but it is quite valueless so far as relates to information 

 concerning indigenous species, owing to the inaccuracy of the 

 determinations. Indeed, it only seems to have been intended as 

 a popular introduction to entomology in general. 



In ' Nature ' of January 2nd, 1890, is a short article by Mr. 

 Eraser on Maltese butterflies ; in this he mentions some half- 

 dozen species by their English names, and notes their small pro- 

 portions as compared with Continental examples, an observation, 

 by the way, which is quite inaccurate ; amongst others he names 

 the " Tortoiseshells" as flying about the garden of his hotel at 

 Sliema. These, however, must have been Pyrameis cardui (or 

 less probably P. atalanta), which are often so torn and bleached 

 by exposure to wind and weather as to render them almost 

 unrecognizable. 



(To be continued.) 



