126 THE entomologist's becobd. 



At Baalbek I made two excursions, one to a point some 5000 feet i 

 above sea-level, on the mountains east of the town, the other to the » 

 Niha valley, on the eastern slope of the Lebanon. I started on the 

 first trip in windy, cloudy weather, without great expectations, but I 

 did not do so badly as I expected, the sun coming out after midday. I 

 took one or two Melanargia titea var. titania, which was just appearing ; 

 above the town, and a ? Riisticiis loewii. Then, in a little hollow \ 

 full of green corn and weeds, I took R. nicholU, fresh and brightly f 

 spotted with red, a beautiful fresh specimen of P. baton var. clara, 

 with silvery-white underside and heavy spotting, and a good 3' Dryas 

 pandora. After leaving the hollow, I followed an uninteresting path i 

 up the hill till I reached a series of stony cornfields where insects 

 abounded. Thais cerisyi was common with Aporia crataegi, Melitaea i 

 didyma var. neera approaching var. turanica, M. phoebe, and Issoria 

 lathonia, both worn, plenty of Syrichthus orbifer, and, of the LycsB- 

 nids, Thecla spini not numerous, and suffering from the wind, Chryso- 

 phanus phlaeas and a fair number of Busticus nichoUi and Polyommatus i 

 icarus. I noted that the 5 s of the last-named, which I took this year 

 in Syria, were in many cases suffused at the base, and near the orange 

 marginal spots of the posterior wings, with greyish-blue. My July / 

 specimens from Ain Zahalta showed no blue at all in the ? s. Of 1 

 other captures I noted single Syrichthus tessellum var. nomas, Leptosia ( 

 duponcheli, just out, and Erynnis althaeae. 



Niha was far less stony than the ground I worked above Baalbek. 

 The foothills were chalk, smooth and fairly green, and the dry water- 

 courses and patches of corn and clover held plenty of insects, though 

 I missed Chrysophanus ochimus, (.'. asabinits, and Thecla myrtale, taken 

 there by Mrs. Nicholl. Of the other butterflies, I took much the same 

 species as at Baalbek ; ? s of Plebeius nicholli were not yet out, and 

 one P. isaurica, g- , was my only new blue. Skippers were common, 

 mostly S. orbifer, with a few worn Hesperia riialvae var. melotis. The 

 Melanargia was again M. titea. var. titatiia, while Melitaea didyma was « 

 very close to var. turanica indeed. Had I had more time I might 

 have taken more species, still, I did not do badly, and on my return i 

 to Baalbek, picked up Adopaea lineola in the B'kaa plain. Next day v 

 I went up by rail to Ain Sofar, having picked up a good few moths, 

 mainly Geometers, by exposing a candle in my bedroom window at 

 Cook's Hotel, Baalbek. 



Synopsis of the Orthoptera of Western Europe. 



By MALCOLM BURR, B.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.E.S. 

 (Continued from vol. xviii., p. 68.) 

 Genus VI : Caloptenus, Burmeister. 

 A single species. 



1. Caloptenus italicus, Linn. 

 A stout reddish grasshopper ; the $ twice as big as $ ; elytra and i 

 wings fully developed ; anal segment of <? very large, and cerci i 

 extremely long; wings pink. In var. marginellus, Serv., the pronotumi 

 marked with longitudinal white bands. In var. ivattenivyliana, Pantell 

 {icterica, Brunner), the body stouter, pronotum more or less gibbous i 

 at sides, rounded posteriorly, the lateral carinse curved outwards ; 



