1888] 179 



extend for many miles along the valley of tlie Guadarranque and the 

 adjoining hillsides. These woods are chiefly composed of the Quercus 

 suber (cork oak) and Q. lusifanica, with a sprinkling of ash ; and, where 

 the ground is Jmarshy, with alder trees of unusual size, and a very 

 varied undergrowth. Most of the coi'k trees have a very curious 

 appearance from the bark being stripped off to a height of ten or 

 twelve feet from the ground: a good deal of the timber is recklessly 

 cut down to be converted into charcoal, but it is rare to find a log or 

 stump in good condition for working at. This wood never failed on 

 every visit (and I walked out there at least weekly throughout April, 

 May, and June) to produce something new and interesting to me ; 

 the furthest point reached on foot being the " Long Stables," 14? miles 

 from the Eock, which is thus the limit of my collecting. 



The local list of butterflies is not at present a large one, consisting 

 of 55 species, including the specimen of Danais Plexippus, L.,* 

 recorded in Ent. Mo. Mag., 1886, vol. xxiii, p. 162: and of these, 

 30 species, indicated by an asterisk, have been observed by me on the 

 Eock itself. ^Some 900'sSpecies of Coleoptera have as yet rewarded 

 my efforts, but this Order is evidently far from exhausted here, as I 

 never^fail to find one or more additions in every walk in the country : 

 the other Orders of insects, especially the Hemiptera and Symenoptera, 

 appear also to be very well represented. 



At the time of my arrival here, on the 20th October, 1886, the aspect of the 

 Rock presented a cm-ious mixture of autumn and spring, some recent copious 

 showers of rain having caused the fresh green grass to spi'out up everywhere, with a 

 good number of flowers in favourable spots, while, at the same time, the leaves of 

 the plane and poplar trees were brown, withered, and falling. Insects were by no 

 means numerous on the [wing, as besides those butterflies already mentioned as 

 existing all the year round, only odd specimens of Papilio Machaon* Satyrus 

 Megmra* Lycana boetica, L.* and Telicanus, Hb.,* Spilotliyrus alccea, E.,* and 

 Macroglossa steUatarum, were to be met with. A male CJicerocampa ceJerio in very 

 fine order was brought to me on November 12th, and a few Noctum were taken on ivy 

 bloom, which, however, does not appear to be nearly as attractive as at home. 



In Coleoptera a great deal more work was to be done, and, during the months 

 of November and December, I obtained a large number of species : my usual hunting 

 ground being the lower slopes of the Sierra Carbonera and the open country between 

 these hills and Campamento, easily reached in little more than an hour's walking. As 

 an instance of the abundance of beetle life here, I may mention that 100 species 

 were not unfrequently taken in an afternoon's work (on one day I bottled 135 

 species), and from 30 to 40 were sometimes shaken out of a single tuft of grass. 

 Turning stones was also very remunerative, three Carabi {rugosus, F., melancholicus, 

 F., and another species) being of frequent occurrence, as well as Scarites hespericus, 

 Dej., Siagona Jenissoni, Dej. (a most active creature), and Aptinus displosor, Duf. 



