136. THE ENTOMOLOGIST, 



of much lesser altitude. Away to the south there is another 

 range which is spoken of as the Great Atlas or the Atlas of the 

 Sahara, and these two belts of mountains form the retaining 

 walls, so to speak, of the high, barren, uncultivated plains covered 

 with esparto grass and interminable scrub, known as the High 

 Plateaux. Further south, beyond these highlands, we reach 

 the third region, the Great Desert, with its waterless plains and 

 sands, which are a barrier that few animals can pass, and form 

 part of the southern boundary of the Palsearctic region. My 

 collecting was chiefly done on the lower slopes of the mountains 

 immediately above the Tell, and I was not able to investigate 

 the insect fauna of the higher altitudes. 



I unfurled my net at Blidah, an interesting little walled town 

 pleasantly situated at the foot of one of the spurs of the Atlas. 

 Blidah is surrounded by orange and lemon orchards, olive groves 

 and vineyards, and has a very attractive appearance. Immedi- 

 ately I had secured accommodation at the hotel, I made my 

 way through the nearest town gate and found myself on the 

 river bank. Crossing by a footbridge I climbed the hill and 

 presently found a grassy and sheltered hollow where I caught a 

 Coenonympha, which I took to be C. arcania, but a second glance 

 revealed the large apical ocelli of the under sides of the fore wings 

 and the narrow white bands, little more than lines, on the hind 

 wings, and I was delighted to recognize that I had already secured 

 a species which was new to me, and which I could not name 

 until I returned to England, when I found it to be C. arcanioides, 

 Pier. Needless to say, I searched for others, and by beating the 

 herbage five specimens were secured. The southern, brightly 

 coloured form of Parage egeria, not differing greatly from those 

 I had been taking at Vernet, was also in evidence, and was a 

 common species in Algeria wherever I collected. In the west 

 of the colony I subsequently took females that I suppose would 

 be referable to var. intermedia, Tutt, some of the markings being 

 straw-coloured, as in our British P. egerides, giving the insect 

 a mottled appearance. G. cleopatra in excellent condition, the 

 only one I actually caught in Algeria, was overtaken flying along 

 a hedgerow. Pieris rapce and P. napi were also taken, but 

 proved to be quite ordinary forms of those species and indis- 

 tinguishable from those I get in my garden at St. Albans. The 

 first-named insect, P. rapce, was in great abundance wherever I 

 went, but this is the only record I have of the occurrence of its 

 congener in Algeria. Of P. rapes I took a long series in various 

 places, hoping to find P. iiianni among them, but in this I was 

 disappointed. The bag also included Pyrameis cardiii and 

 Rumicia phlceas. The sunshine had made my heart rejoice, 

 but while I was at lunch the clouds rolled up again, and 

 entomological work for the day was over. I beguiled the time 

 seeing the sights of the town and watching the Arabs buying 



