50 
THE BUTTERFLIES OF MESOPOTAMIA. 
By H. DD. Prmr;) EVE:S. 
(With a plate*.) 
As but little appears to be recorded on the butterflies of Mesopotamia and 
their habits, the following notes on some 44 species recently taken there, and on 
some 44 others taken in the adjacent highlands of North West Persia and Kur- 
distan by members of the Society may be of interest to collectors. 
The forms here mentioned include those taken by Major T. D. Broughton, R.E., 
Captain P. A. Buxton, R.A.M.C., Major F. C. Fraser, I.M.S., Lieut.-Colonel 
GC. H. Watney, I.A., by myself and a few others. 
Many of these notes were hastily put together when on Field Service ; 
being now in England I have, through the kind permission of Dr. C. J. 
Gahan at the British Museum of Natural History, South Kensington, been so 
fortunate as to have had my collection, most of which has now been set up, 
gone through by Capt. N. D. Riley who has found a number of forms te be 
new, including a very interesting new Lycena whose males are orange-yellow 
instead of the usual blue. I have also to thank Capt. Riley for permission to 
quote from his notes on my specimens many of which are now incorporated 
in the National Collection. Some specimens were at first identified by 
Lieut.-Col. W. H. Evans, D.S.0O., R.E., and by Mr. H. T. G. Watkins whom 
also I have to thank for notes upon variation, races, etc. 
Mesopotamia, situated between the Persian Gulf to the South, the moun- 
tains of Armenia and Persia to the North, East and South East, and deserts 
on the West and South West, may be divided into :-— 
‘1. A plain of river-silt with immense stretches of marsh and desert, ex- 
tending from the Persian Gulf to about 300 feet above sea level, and 
with the Euphrates, Tigris and Karun winding through it. 
2. An upland region of undulating sedimentary plateaux, alternating 
with ridges of sandstone, conglomerate and gypsum ; extending from 
about 300 feet to a little over 800 feet elevation, and gently rising 
to meet the foot-hills near the border; the gypsum often standing 
out conspicuously white in the landscape. In the spring this region 
is a gorgeous carpet of flowers, among the earliest being small mari- 
golds, patches of a mauve stock ; white, blue and several shades of 
purple anemones. Clumps of a large crimson ranunculus and poppies 
make a rich mosaic with various yellow and mauve crucifers ; white 
and yellow marguerites ; blue irises, borage and lupins, and pastures 
gold with buttercups. Later, sprays of rue, and later still, when 
all these are long over, a lowgrowing thistle here makes stretches of 
yellow upon the plateaux. This thistle, common everywhere, here 
makes up with the sharpness of its long needle-like spines for the 
almost complete absence of stinging nettles both here and in the 
highlands beyond the border: liquorice, a luxuriant jungle in the 
lower alluvial region, continues as rather a stunted plant up onto the 
plateaux of the highlands. Tamarisk spreads along the margins 
and beds of the rivers. There too and in moist hollows umbellifers 
cover immense areas. The green stems and leaves and white flower- 
clusters of the latest of these (Ammi visuaga, Lam.) stand out conspi- 
cuously brilliantly, when almost all else has been dried up and with- 
ered by the summer heat. In Macedonia, as remarked by Mr. Mace 
in the Entomologist, the same conditions occur. Flowering mint 
along the margins of water-channels attracts large numbers of butter- 
flies both. in Mesopotamia and in the highlands. 
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® The plat> has not been received in time to be included in this number, and will be issued later- 
