162 
ALGERIA 
(March 3rd) the weather was unfavourable and no butterflies were 
seen. Suleiman showed me the locality for Teracolus nouna , Lucas, 
but said it was too early for it. On Feb. 27th and 28th I was 
more fortunate and took a specimen of Euchloe belledice, Hiibn. 
(belia, Cram.), three of E. belemia and five of E. charlonia, Donz. The 
last-named, Dr. Dixey says, is probably identical with E. lavaillanti, 
Lucas. My specimens were all males. With the Pierines was a very 
small, worn Painted Lady. All these butterflies were taken on 
sandy hillocks near the baths, with the exception of one E. belemia 
which I came across in one of the mountain gullies. The Euchloe 
all flew swiftly and were by no means conspicuous as they coursed 
over the light-coloured sand. Both charlonia and belemia sat in 
their pill-boxes in a remarkable attitude, their fore-wings drawn 
back so far within the hind-wings that the costa of the hind¬ 
wing actually projected beyond the costa of the fore-wing. As a 
consequence every scrap of white or yellow on the underside of 
the fore-wings was concealed by the highly cryptic hind-wings, 
which are of an almost uniform green in charlonia, of a striped 
green and white in belemia. But in addition to this the abdomen 
is much raised so as to be held almost erect between the hind-wings, 
which in turn are held far from the object on which the butterfly 
sits, thus greatly increasing the resemblance in form as well as 
colour of the whole butterfly to a leaf. [See Plate V. Fig. 10.] Un¬ 
fortunately I did not see either butterfly resting in natural conditions. 
On one of my visits Suleiman brought me an example of the 
cosmopolitan Nomophila noctuella. 
Another favourite collecting ground of mine lay some three 
miles to the west of the town, just north of the Route des Zibans, 
where a low ridge of hills has led to considerable accumulations of 
sand. The scanty vegetation of these slopes, and the ground between 
them and the road, was prolific in typically desert insects. 
The first creatures to catch the eye were the heavy black 
Heteromerous Beetles of the genus Pimelia , whose curious tracks 
made a sort of embroidery over the smooth sand. Here and there 
the insects themselves might be seen journeying at a fair pace over 
the ground, succeeding in a surprising manner in ascending even 
steep slopes of dry running sand. Among many P. consobrina, 
Lucas, some of which were seen to bury themselves, was one of 
another species which Mr. Arrow considers to be near to, but not 
identical with, P. senegalensis, Qliv. The beetles of this genus are 
phytophagous in habit and several times I saw them climbing up 
and eating the petals of Retama retam, Webb. Suleiman told me 
