236 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the flowers and trees of the Crimean southern coast are those 

 commonly met with in mid-Europe. 



We spent five days at lalta, during which the weather was 

 favourable, and we were able to explore every day for Lepi- 

 doptera. I must say I was much surprised and disappointed to 

 find how western they all were. Scarcely a species was seen 

 that cannot be found in the Alps. The only butterfly we noticed 

 that was at all eastern in its distribution was Pyrgus orbifer, 

 which was not uncommon. Colias erate, Zegrls eupheme, and 

 Plebeius zephyrus, amongst other species, are said to occur, but 

 we did not see any of them. A plant that is very like Astragalus 

 exscapus, the food-plant of P. zephyrus, was, however, abundant 

 locally by the roadside near Aloupka, some ten miles from lalta. 

 Most of the ground that seemed promising is enclosed, and a 

 considerable part is vineyards, and there is very little space to 

 collect in. Butterflies were by no means common either as 

 individuals or species, except in one or two instances. Hiber- 

 nated examples of Libythea celtis were pretty frequent, although 

 we did not see any trees of Celtis australis. 



On the evening of May 12th we once more boarded the 

 steamer, landing the following day at Novorossisk, on the east 

 coast of the Black Sea. 



Novorossisk is a seaport of considerable size, and trades in 

 corn, timber, and other commodities. It is situated at the base 

 of what I suppose one might call the foothills of the Caucasus 

 Mountains, which have an altitude here of from 1500 ft. to 

 2000 ft. 



We stayed five days, and during that time explored the 

 surrounding mountains and valleys as much as possible. 



I was again much surprised at the western character of both 

 vegetation and Lepidoptera. Many of the little dingles seemed 

 very like those one meets with at home ; the sides were clothed 

 with elm and ash and oak, and many of the common English 

 flowers grew beneath. 



The only eastern butterfly we came across was Erebia afer, 

 which was not uncommon some distance up the mountains. 

 Unfortunately, we were a month too late for it, and nearly all the 

 specimens captured were more or less passe. 



We found some good ground amongst the hills to the north 

 of the town, but the best was undoubtedly the valleys and 

 mountains south of the harbour. 



In planning an expedition which had for one of its objects the 

 making acquaintance with as many eastern butterflies as pos- 

 sible, it seemed to me that there were three districts which 

 were worthy of consideration. 



First, there is the great range of the Caucasus Mountains, 

 magnificent in scenery, historic in the past ages, and peopled 

 with some of the most fascinating races in the world. All of 



