218 DR. N. ANNANDALE ON 



character ot which has probably caused its existence to be overlooked in many localities in 

 which it is abundant. It is very possible that Cophogryllus arcnicola has been passed over 

 in the same way. The other Orthoptera obtained require no special comment from the 

 point of view of geography. 



All the Hymenoptera brought from Ramanad belong to species which have a wide 

 distribution in India and the surrounding countries, with the possible exception of 

 Icaria marginata, which, however, is represented by a closely allied race in North- 

 Eastern India. 



The small number of Beetles which it has been possible to identify, and the little 

 that is known about the Indian representatives of some of the more obscure or less 

 attractive families, prevent any statement as to the geographical character of the 

 Coleopterous Fauna of the neighbourhood. 



Three out of the five Butterflies obtained are widely distributed forms. Of the two 

 which remain, Papilio hector appears to be somewhat local in its occurrence, which is 

 limited to the eastern half of India proper, the Himalayas, and Ceylon. It is found 

 chiefly in sandy localities. Catachrysops pandavais a form characteristic of Southern India 

 and Ceylon. 



The Oriental Hemiptera, at any rate as regards the smaller species, are as yet 

 very imperfectly known, despite the great advance which has been made in their study of 

 recent years. Many of them have a very extensive distribution. 



Of the Arachnida, Palamnceus swammerdami lucidipes is probably confined to the 

 sandy districts of Southern India, and the same may be true of the typical form of 

 Buthns famulus. Pcccilotheria striata belongs to a genus characteristic of Southern India, 

 while Artema atlanta and Hderopoda venatoria have a wide distribution, which in the case 

 of the latter is due, at least partly, to the agency of man. Trombidium grandissimum 

 occurs in Southern Europe and probably in other countries intermediate between the 

 Mediterranean and India, in which it is found in localities widely separated from one 

 another both in space and in climate. 



It is perhaps worth noting that not a single species in any order of the Arthropoda is 

 represented both in the Seistan Commission's collection and in my own from Ramanad. 



The above remarks show clearly that while the Insects of Ramanad may include 

 among them certain forms (e.g., Cophogryllus arenicola) more or less adapted for living 

 amongst barren sand, they cannot be said as a whole to form part of a Desert Fauna, the 

 great majority of the more conspicuous forms being organisms of a hardy and little 

 specialized nature which can endure a great variety of outward conditions without specific 

 extinction. 



REMARKS ON COLOUR. 



If only a few of the Insects and Arachnida noted in Ramanad can be said to be 

 definitely adapted, as far as coloration goes, to their surroundings, the great majority 

 of them are dull and inconspicuous. This is generally the case with the Arthropodous 

 Fauna of desert localities. It may be more than a coincidence, however, that a 

 very large proportion of the few conspicuous forms obtained in Ramanad owe their 



