296 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



amount of silver spots that obtain in the type, and some have only 

 the outer row of spots on the hind wings silver, 



Melanargia galatea. — A rather large form of var. procida became 

 common in clearings in the " Tschapurnik Wald " during the last 

 few days of our stay at Sarepta. It was first seen on June 16th ; by 

 June 20th males w^ere common, and two days later, my last day, 

 I took two females. 



M. iapygia var. suivarovius. — This fine Melanargia was to be 

 found wherever grass grew abundantly amongst the usual plants 

 of the steppe on the hills at Sarepta; but this was not by any means 

 everywhere, for the butterfly was very local. We were on the look- 

 out for it during the first days of June, but did not actually see it 

 until the 9th of that month. On the morning of that day I was 

 searching the grassy hills some three or four miles to the north-west 

 of Sarepta; about 9 a.m. I saw a large white butterfly flying some 

 distance away, which at first I thought was Aporia crataegi ; as it 

 approached nearer, the variegated pattern and the grey tint of the 

 wings became apparent, stamping it as undoubtedly ill. var. siiivarovms. 

 I made a series of frantic efforts to effect a capture, but without 

 success, for this species when alarmed goes very fast, and as its flight 

 is very dodgy, there is not much chance of succeeding under these 

 conditions. I only secured one specimen on that day, although I 

 spent most of the morning in quest of the species ; later I found out 

 its headquarters and habits, and on June 13th and 15th obtained all 

 I required. 



M. var. sicivarovius at Sarepta is to be found freely amongst the 

 flowers which grow in its haunts, flying quietly amongst and 

 settling upon them. In the locality I have described, on the slope 

 facing the Volga, there are at intervals small hollows with a certain 

 amount of low scrubby bushes growing in them ; in the spaces 

 between these bushes there is a luxuriant growth of flowers, and 

 these are the spots where this fine butterfly is at home. A small 

 hollow would be the haunt of from half-a-dozen to a dozen specimens. 

 The flowers frequented included a species of Achillea, various Carduus, 

 and a brilliant purple Salvia. 



Erebia afer. — This species was not uncommon at Novorossisk, but 

 the specimens were mostly in bad condition at the date we were 

 there ; probably it had then been out quite a month. The butter- 

 flies were flying over flowery slopes on the mountains south of the 

 harbour, and within half a mile of the sea. They extended as low 

 as 1000 ft., and above this level were found all the way up to the 

 summits, which might attain an altitude of 1800 ft. E. afer has the 

 usual slow flight of the genus, but is not easy to capture in 

 consequence of the difficulty in traversing the steep slopes it 

 frequents. 



Satyrus circa. — So far as we saw, this species was confined to the 

 " Tschapurnik Wald," where it was first seen on June 11th ; it was 

 locally abundant in clearings in this wood, males only, which were 

 rather small ; my largest example is 76 mm. in expanse. 



S. hermione. — An exceedingly striking and aberrant form occurred 

 in the same localities as the last species on June 20th and 22nd, 

 males only. In this form the light band on the upper side of all the 



