CICINDELA. 



375 



M. Maindron (Aim. Soc. Ent. France, 1899, p. 380), in speaking 

 of this species, says that it was discovered originally in Senegal 

 and has a very extended distribution in an oblique line from the 

 north-east to the south-west. It is very common at Karachi, on 

 the sands of the coast of the peninsula of Kiarnari, where they are 

 rich in clay. The examples there captured are of small size, 

 usually of a reddish-coppery colour, like those he took at Obock 

 and Jibouti (French Somaliland) in 1893. Many are greenish, and 

 some (and these the most rare) are completely green. All the 

 transitions between the coppery type and the varieties are found 

 at Karachi. These Indian specimens are always more slender, 

 smaller, and more brightly coloured than those from Senegal and 

 Tunis ; they have always an inclination towards the greenish tint, 

 whereas those from Obock are usually entirely reddish coppery. 

 At Jibouti, and especially at Obock, M. Maindron has observed 

 that C. aulica frequents places where the mud and sediment 

 of fresh water meets the salt sands. 



An entirely hlue variety (both upper and under side), with the 

 sutural angles of the elytra less drawn in, occurs in Persia, and 

 has been named var. diania by Tschitscherine (Horse tioss. xxxvi, 

 1903, p. 11). The thorax is said to be shorter, with the sides less 

 rounded ; but this is a very variable character in the species. 

 I have three specimens of C. aulica from Karachi — one of which 

 has the thorax distinctly longer than broad and almost parallel- 

 sided ; another has the thorax plainly broader, about as long- 

 as broad, with the sides slightly rounded ; while the third is 

 intermediate. In the description the var. diania is said to be an 

 inland insect ; but it has recently been found on the Persian 

 Gulf, and very likely it occurs in India. 



154. Cicindela lunulata, F. 



Cicindela lunulata, Fabriciiis, Spec. Ins. i, 1781, p. 284. 

 Var. Cicindela nemoralis, Olivier, Ent. ii, 33, 1790, p. 13, pi. 3, 

 tig. 36. 



This, like C. aulica, is a very variable and very widely dis- 

 tributed species. It appears to differ mainly in the shorter tarsi 

 and the shape of the male organ ; this is much straighter in 

 C. aulica, and much more curved and produced in 0. lunulata ; 

 the elytra are somewhat less convex in C. lunulata, and the first 

 joint of the antennas is usually plainly stouter. The type-form 

 is black ; greenish or bronze specimens must be referred to the 

 var. nemoralis, 01. The elytral spots are much, as in C. aulica, 

 but appear to be more variable and are sometimes confined to the 

 margin or almost disappear altogether. 



Length 10-16 millim. 



The type-form has occurred in the Nushki District, North 

 Baluchistan, and the variety on the Perso-Baluch Frontier or 

 Seistan. 



