372 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Lebanon at 4800ft. among the thick hedges of zizyphus, dog-rose and 

 bramble, and in the orchards that surround Bludan (Graves) ; it was 

 found commonly throughout the Lebanon from 2000ft. to 5000ft., from 

 April to June, occurring amoag other places at Khan Sunnin, about 

 6000ft. above the sea, in a hollow directly below the highest summit 

 of Djebel Sunnin, on the western side, in rough, half -cultivated, 

 terraced fields, deep watercourses and snow-fed streams (Nicholl) ; at 

 Damascus, it occurs in the thick orchards and plantations, and in the 

 valley of the Barada ; it also occurs in the great open plains of the 

 Hauran where a splendid wheat crop grows on red volcanic soil ; 

 at Haifa, it occurs abundantly in the plain of the Mohatta river, in 

 the gardens of the town, as well as on the bushy slopes of Mount 

 Carmel (Graves). Niceville says that the species occurs almost every- 

 where in India, except at great elevations in the Himalayas, and in 

 perfectly desert regions ; it most probably feeds, he thinks, on a great 

 many leguminous plants and hence can exist almost everywhere; 

 Elwes says that it is not common in Sikkim, which is probably too 

 wet for it, but occurs up to 10000ft. ; it is, however, more common in 

 the interior towards Bhutan. In Ceylon, it appears to favour rather 

 dry open country, and seems to frequent places where Mimosa pudica 

 grows, the plant and butterfly often being found together (T. B. 

 Fletcher). It is found everywhere in the Shan States and at all 

 elevations, the specimens being very constant (Manders). This widely- 

 spread butterfly occurs in Sumatra near the sea, as Martin has 

 taken it in the Saentis Estate and at Loboe Dalam on the flowers of 

 the common kidney-bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and also very high in 

 the mountains at Soengei Batoe, and on the Central Plateau, but it 

 is never found in the intermediate area. Martin is quite unable 

 to account for this fact which has also been observed by Hagen, 

 who has taken L. boeticus near Laboean on abandoned indigo-plants, 

 and believes that the butterfly was imported to this very low elevation 

 from Singapore when the Malays first introduced the indigo-plant from 

 thence (Niceville). It was found in the Pamir, in the defile of Gang- 

 Guirdak, in the western ramifications of the Ghessar Chain, in July 

 (Grum-Grshimailo). So far, this insect has been found sparingly in 

 all the Chinese localities visited by collectors, but, although also found 

 in Japan, appears to be very rare in that country (Leech) ; Pryer, 

 1 owever, says that it is very local in Japan, occurring chiefly in 

 gardens, but that it occurs in every eastern country in which he has 

 collected, in Labuan, Ogasawara, etc., and possibly in all the inter- 

 vening islands where its foodplant is cultivated. It occurs commonly 

 at Hong-Kong especially in the low ground about the " Happy 

 Valley " (Trans. Ent. Soc. Loud., 1895, p. 439), where it is sometimes 

 to be found in numbers flying about the flowers of a species of Cassia 

 (Walker). In Europe, along the north Mediterranean littoral, the 

 species is widely distributed, and Ochsenheimer, a century ago, 

 recorded it as an European species only from Switzerland, Italy, 

 Spain, Portugal and South France. It is found on the hillside of Crete 

 where the air is laden with the scent of myrtle, wild thyme, sage, 

 peppermint, etc., with which the hills are clothed (T. B. Fletcher) ; it 

 is common in the Gallipoli district, wherever wild vetches grow, several 

 broods ocurring during the summer, and examples being netted 

 through November, December and January (Mathew) ; it is found 



