SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



209 



After that, in company with a German assistant 

 from the Landesmuseum, an excursion was made to 

 Lukavica. This is a fertile valley south-west of 

 Sarajevo, giving a good view of Trebovic, the 

 Igman Planina, and the hills behind the capital. 

 Here we took nothing very striking ; the only 

 additional species being Platycleis roeselii Hagenb. 

 A few days afterwards Mrs. Nicholl and Mr. 

 E. Witty joined me. They had already done a 

 considerable amount of collecting in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and in Dalmatia, Herzegovina and 

 Montenegro. Together we ascended Trebovic, 

 which is very rich in animal and vegetable life. 

 On the very top, I took a single specimen of 

 Gomphocerns macidatus Thunb. Strange to say, no 

 other example of the species was seen by me the 

 whole time I was away. It seemed most unlikely 

 to take among the stones at the summit of 



of 1,680 metres, is dry and stony, without much 

 vegetation, but a little lower down the hillsides 

 swarm with insect life. The most notable species 

 of all, perhaps, was Stenobothrus miniatus Charp, 

 with its peculiar buzz when settled and harsh 

 clattering noise when on the wing. This, with 

 its black wings, make it a conspicuous object 

 and very easy to catch. Under every stone was a 

 small colony of Ectobia lapponica L. Besides 

 Stenobothrus nigromaculatus Herr. Sch., S. dorsa- 

 tus Zett., S. parallelus Zett., 5. bicolor Charp, 

 hopping about in numbers in the grass were 

 numerous Decticus verrucivorus L., here and there a 

 great active Thamnotrizon transsylvanicns Fisch, a 

 dark, fighting, carnivorous insect that can give a 

 good nip with its powerful mandibles. A less 

 pugnacious and handsomer creature was there 

 too, Thamnotrizon frivaldskyi Herm, much less 



View of Sarajevo. 

 1, Trebovic. 2, Igman Planina. 3, Ilidzhe. 4, Dolac. 



Trebovic a little grasshopper which in England 

 is nearly always found on sandy heaths. Here 

 also occurred a female of the beetle Anisoptia 

 caerula. On the actual top of the peak is a round 

 polished stone, like a table, marking the highest 

 part. Standing on this stone, the traveller sees a 

 lovely panorama. The hill is isolated, standing 

 quite alone in the centre of the valley, affording a 

 fine view of the mountains all round. Every now 

 and then we saw a stone falcon (Falco lithofalco), 

 with wings outspread, hanging over the valley at 

 our feet. I am not positive as to the identity of the 

 bird, but the natives called it " steinadler," and as 

 far as I could tell, without seeing one close enough 

 for examination, they very closely resembled a 

 preserved stone falcon that I have at home. 



The peak of Trebovic, which reaches an altitude 



stoutly built and of a delicate green colour. 

 Species of flightless Phaneropteridae, including 

 Isopbya obtusa Boi., kept turning up in the net 

 after a sweep, delicate insects that lose their 

 colour at once and are very difficult to deter- 

 mine. Under a stone I discovered a single 

 immature female Anechura bipunctata Fabr. This 

 alpine earwig was the only Forficulid that I took, 

 excepting, of course, the two common species, 

 Forficula auricularia and Labia minor L. Among 

 Lepidoptera I noticed, as an outsider in their study, 

 Parnassius apollo, the first time that I had seen this • 

 magnificent insect alive. Mr. Witty took some, 

 and told me that they were some variety based on 

 the absence or presence of certain spots, but un- 

 fortunately I have lost the note, and so the name. 

 There were numbers of Erebia flying about, appar- 



