62 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



A. helia var. ausonio, Hiib.— Not common, either on the coast or in 

 the mountains. 



A. chaiionia var jJsnia, Frey. — My experiences with this buttterfly 

 seem exactly to tally with those of Mrs. Nicholl and others, Never 

 common, only occurring singly and at rare intervals ; I took four 

 specimens, some of which were rather worn, and saw a few besides, 

 near Ain Zahalta, towards the end of April. 



A. damone, Feisth. — Fresh and plentiful near Ain Zahalta in April; 

 the females, too, were fairly common, but much less so than the 

 males. Specimens I have seen from Greece were much larger and 

 finer than the Syrian form. 



Leucophasia duponchcU var. astiva, Stgr. — I took this variety on the 

 Jebel-el-Arz (Cedar Mountain) early in June, not far below the 

 summit of the pass (8000 ft.) upon which only a week previous I had 

 ridden for a distance of several yards over some still unmelted snow. It 

 was not rare, but difficult to catch, on account of the steepness of the 

 mountain side over which it was flying. 



Idmaisfausta, Oliv. — Of the habits and life-history of this butterfly 

 I received a very interesting description from Mrs. Day. It first 

 appears on the wing at the very end of June or beginning of July, and 

 from that time produces a succession of broods on till the end of Sep- 

 tember, when it entirely vanishes in all its stages, and Mrs. Day has 

 hitherto been unable to determine whether it passes the winter, spring 

 and early summer in the ova, larva, or pupa state, or even, possibly, 

 as a hybernating butterfly ; though I cannot but think, if this were 

 the case, the warm, sunny days of April, May and June could not fail 

 to tempt it from its winter retreat ; and it never reappears till the 

 period above stated when, curiously enough, eggs, caterpillars and 

 butterflies are all to be found simultaneously. The first appearance of 

 it during the past summer, observed by Mrs. Day, was the sight of a 

 worn female laying eggs ; this would lead one to lean towards the idea 

 of hybernation in the perfect state. However, at about the same 

 time I saw it myself, inland; first on June 28th, one specimen, fresh 

 out, near Banyas, and others, for the most part also quite fresh, three 

 days later, in an olive-garden near the supposed Cana of Galilee, evi- 

 dently just emerged. I observed it more than once flying in the 

 streets of Jerusalem, and when I returned to Beyrout on July 15th, 

 "the salmon butterfly" was very much in evidence everywhere, I 

 think I might say, in town and country, I also found eggs and larvfe 

 in all stages, feeding in quantities upon the leaves of the caper-plant, 

 which grows wild in these countries. Mrs. Day informed me that, 

 whereas the eggs and caterpillars are always to be found like this from 

 the very beginning of July, she has never been able to discover any 

 during the earlier months of the year. I bred some forty or fifty 

 specimens myself and, with the exception of one deformity, every 

 pupa I had produced a perfect insect, the proportion of males and 

 females being about equal, though the male flies in considerably 

 greater abundance in the natural state. The period from ova to 

 imago occupies only three weeks, or even less ; the larvae feed up with 

 the greatest rapidity ; and the pupa stage of these summer broods 

 extends over a period of only a few days. Yet it is as a pupa that I 

 should be most inclined to think it passes those mysterious inter- 



