105 
TTTE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
'while others, penetrate the heavens and stand out 
as an effective contrast to the rich tints that 
surround them. 
And as the light wanes, and the kaleidoscopic 
changes of colour become less marked, so the 
charm of the scene increases, until the sun final! . ! 
disappears behind the ridges of the western | 
plateaux. 
The colourings then melt away, the clouds | 
disappears vapourously, the twilight deepens, and 
in a short space of time darkness creeps in and 
rapidly envelopes the land in the mantle of night. 
In the foregoing observations I have endea- 
voured to show that the climate of the Maltese | 
Islands does not deserve the severe strictures 
that are so often passed upon it. It will 
compare favourably with the most frequented of 
Mediterranean health resorts. The lack of a diver- 
sified landscape, the limited area of the is!; ml 
the exile from home associations, and the' mono 
tonous routine of island life, — these are some of 
the causes that play the greatest shore in a [.set- 
ting the digestion, and in inducing those fed dies 
of dissatisfaction and. querillity that are so often j 
attributed to the ill effects of the islands' dim; o- 
There are of course occasions when the climate is 
trying; but such are not frequent, and tak'ng it 
all the year round, in no part of Europe is the 
same degree of mildness and equability to be 1 
found. 
Jon isr II. Cooke. 
Notes on the Lepidoptera of Malta. 
(concluded.) 
Nymphalidse. Gen. Vanessa T. 
12. Atalanta L. — Malt. Fa-rfdt-tal-horric. r, It. 
Vanessa talanta. Eng. Red Admiral. Frequent in 
gardens, valleys, and fields during the year par- 
ticularly in Autumn. The larvae feed on nettles. 
13. Cardiff. — It. Vanessa, Eng. Painted Lady. 
Very common all the year round in open and 
sunny places, rocky plains, gardens, fields etc; but 
less frequent from November to February. The 
caterpillars feed on mallows and nettles, and are 
very abundant in autumn when changing into pupce 
they either develop themselves after a few days, or 
spend the winter under stones or attached to the 
branches of trees. 
Satyridae. Gen. Pararge Hb. 
14. Megaera L. — Var. Tigelius Bo. Png. Wall 
Brown. Frequent on walls, in roads, and in uncul- 
tivated places between February and November: 
but in winter it is less common. I believe that 
our form, like the Sicilian one, must rank with the 
var . tic/dius. 
15. Aegei 
ria L. — 
Eng. Speckled woo< 
1 ( 
m- Wood 
Argus. A h 
>calized 
species. It is limited 
to 
gardens. 
and fertile v 
’alleys li 
ike Gneina, Boschett' 
hi 
mtahleb, 
Ghirgenti, 
Uied-e 
1-gbir, Uied-Encita, 
etc. It is 
common in 
these lo 
►cali ties from March 
to 
Novem- 
ber; but in 
winter 
it is rare. 
Gen. Epineplffle. Hb. 
1G. JaniraL. — Var. HispullaHb. — Eng. Meadow 
Brown. Very common between March and October 
in fields, gardens and valleys. The male is often 
of a 
dark 
: bran 
vnish colou 
r. 
Gen. 
Coe 
nonyi 
npha Hb. 
17 
. Famphil 
us L.— Eng, 
. Small 
1 heath. Common 
fVom 
Mai 
•eh to 
November 
in dry 
places and rocky 
valle 
ys, 1 
ields, 
etc. togethe 
r witli 
i the var. Lyllus 
I'dt). 
whi 
ch is 
, however, 
rarer. 
Corradin >, En- 
cita, 
etc. 
Fr 
om 
this 
catalogue i 
t will 
be seen that E 
was 
just 
ified 
in alludin 
g to 
the comparative 
unimportance of our butterflies: besides, the af- 
finity of the Maltese fauna to that of Sicily is also 
confirmed here, for it will be seen that all varie- 
ties are common to the two islands, i. e., P. s/>hyrus 
of the P. machaon , V. deux of the P. phUas v. 
tigelius of the P. maegera, and the v. lyllus of C. 
painphillus, and that no forms are found in Malta 
that are not also found in Sicily. 
The lack of the most delicate and beautiful forms 
when compared with those of the neighbouring 
ts'and is a remarkable feature which is due, I 
believe, to the unfavourable climatic conditions 
and to the insufficient protection that they find 
here. 
From our not having, in fact, mountains or 
hills of any considerable height, no alpine species 
are to be found; the absence of woods next, and 
the scarcity of trees, whilst depriving many lepi- 
doptera, — those with riendrophagous* caterpillars, 
— of their means of subsistence leave the various 
species exposed to the wind and to the winter 
rains, to the burning sun and to the drought of 
the summer months. It follows that our species, 
which are of the commonest in Europe, aie of 
that class that are the best adapted to withstand 
atmospheric influences and that enjoy a very wide 
distribution. 
Our butterfly-fauna are generally characterized 
by a great unifoimity in their colours, which is 
necessarily owing to the small number of species 
