Sphinx 
erii, 
Best method 
of preserving 
Coleoptera 
captured in 
the East, 
Ateuchus 
Sacer, 
Scarabzeus 
of the 
ancients, 
Eastern 
Coleoptera, ° 
in connexion 
with the 
Medi- 
terranean 
littoral, 
120 REV. F. A. WALKER, D.D., F.L.S. 
at Alexandretta; Venilia maculata (speckled yellow), at the 
entrance to the Wady Ali; and, on my second journey, 
Cheerocampa celerio, at the New Hotel, Cairo, in December.” 
Lastly, to quote once more from Canon Tristram’s article : 
“The caterpillar of the magnificent Sphinx nerii feeds in 
swarms on the oleanders by the banks of the Jordan.” 
It will, I think, be found advisable to transfer Coleoptera 
shortly after the specimens are taken, and, at all events the 
larger species, to spirits, until the traveller has the requisite 
leisure and space to arrange his collection on his return home. 
Otherwise, on the supposition that the Coleoptera are pinned 
in a box in the course of his journeys, some kinds (if the 
box be kept closed and never exposed to fresh air) are apt to 
snap asunder and become very offensive,—notably the Ateuchus 
sacer, or Scarabeeus of the ancient Heyptians, from the 
circumstance of what constitutes its daily diet, not to particu- 
larise further, it being one of those which are popularly 
known as scavenger beetles. On the other hand, if the insect- 
box be opened for ventilation, the misfortune that befel me 
may be the lot of another collector. When staying at the 
New Hotel, Cairo, I lost the Coleoptera, &c., I had collected 
in the vicinity of the Pyramids from the following cause. ‘The 
sashes of the French window in my bedroom were open one 
afternoon, and my insect-box was left open on a settee close 
to the window. A rat must have climbed up the stem of the 
banana in the front garden, thence, by the long leaves which 
reached the verandah, on to the parapet, and thence, doubtless 
by the open casement, into the room, where he proceeded 
to devour the contents of the box, leaving nothing but the 
pins strewed about, along with some stray legs and wings. 
The said verandah communicates with three or four apart- 
ments, and a colonel of our British force quartered in Cairo, 
whose room was on the same floor, had to lament the loss of 
his candles on that same afternoon. If it could be shown on 
sufficient grounds, from testimony that I or others are able to 
adduce, that a considerable similarity exists between the 
respective Coleoptera of the various countries bordered by 
the Mediterranean littoral, a valuable argument might 
be founded on this fact as establishing the connexion 
between the geology, botany, and entomology of a 
district—perhaps a more reliable argument than even 
in the case of the butterflies, as Coleoptera are not 
so apt as Lepidoptera to wing their way from land 
to land, and though most species have wings, they do not 
always—I might say in many cases, do not frequently—. 
use them. Some kinds only fly at dusk, and it is therefore 
