UTTERFLIES OF SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 99 



beneath, in both sexes. I could not trace much resemblance to semi- 

 argus in either sex, either in size, shape, or colour. 



Vanessa egea, Cr. — Common in most places, at no great elevation ; a 

 large, bright form. I do not recollect ever having seen such large 

 specimens anywhere in Europe, 



F. urtic(B var. turcica, Stgr. — Having found a quantity of " lesser 

 tortoiseshell " caterpillars feeding, as usual, on nettles, on the southern 

 slopes of the Jebel-el-Arz, at an elevation of some 7000 ft., on June 11th, 

 I took about two dozen of the largest I could find. They all pupated 

 in a few days, and in less than a week emerged into perfect insects, all 

 more or less belonging to the var. turcica, and some very markedly so. 

 Possibly the intense heat of Damascus, which place I had moved on 

 to, was partly accountable for their very rapid emergence. 



(Melitcea, F. — I have not been able to identify the species I took of 

 this genus with sufficient certainty to give any satisfactory account of 

 them. A series from Ain Zahalta, in April, I believe to be M. arduinna, 

 Esp., but I am by no means certain of their identity. I certainly 

 took a magnificent fox'm of M. didyma var. neera, on a high mountain 

 near Damascus, in May and, less decided, in a few other places.) 



Argynnis niohe var. eris, Meig. — One every small specimen at the 

 Cedars in June ; black tracery above extremely scanty. I saw others. 



A. pandora, S.V. — Common in several places. I saw one at Ain 

 Zahalta on April 28th ; was not this very early ? 



Danais chrysippus, L. — Fairly common on the Plain of Huleh, 

 round Beyrout, &c. ; I should say, on the wing throughout the summer. 



Melanargia titca, Klug. — At the mouth of the Dog River, and at 

 Hadet, near Beyrout, throughout the month of May. It was on May 

 4th that I first saw one specimen up the Dog Eiver, but unluckily I 

 did not visit its particular haunt at the mouth of the river that day, 

 which Prof. Day had kindly pointed out to me on a previous occasion ; 

 and when I did visit it, a week or two later, all the specimens were 

 worn. 



M. teneates, Men. — Like Mrs. Nicholl, I also mistook this butterfly 

 for M. larissa var. herta, when I first saw it, on the top of a mountain 

 near Damascus, in May. It seemed to occur on all the high moun- 

 tains throughout the summer, apparently producing a succession of 

 broods, as fresh specimens were always to be met with, as well as 

 others in as bad condition as they well could be. Perhaps it was most 

 common on the comparatively lower regions of Mt. Hermon, towards 

 the end of June ; but, unlike most of this genus, instead of colonizing 

 in groups in certain localities, it was widely distributed, and specimens 

 generally occurred singly. 



Satyrus anthe, 0. — Abundant everywhere in the Lebanon and Anti- 

 Lebanon; throughout the greater part of May and June ; I do not 

 recollect seeing it anywhere in July, or at all in Palestine, At the 

 foot of a mountain near Damascus, on May 10th, it was freshly 

 emerging in the early morning, and I took a number of specimens only 

 just out of the chrysalis, with their wings still limp. The var. hanifa 

 occurred everywhere with the type ; this variety seemed to be confined 

 to the females, though I took one male at Damascus very nearly 

 approaching it in richness of tone. 



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