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blade of dead grass to be seen, nothing but sand, rocks, and sky. I 
say “appeared,” for I came across the trails of Lizards, and where 
there are lizards there must be insects, and where there are insects in 
all probability vegetation of some kind, though it is conceivable that 
lizards might subsist on insects dependent in their turn on the dung 
of passing animals. It was hard to remember that it was mid-winter. 
Such insects as I did come across were mostly seen in the small 
oasis near the golf-links, especially on a small patch of a lilac- 
flowered Crucifer that I took to be Eadish (Baphanus sativus , Linn.). 
Here Pyrameis eardui was in abundance, but faded and worn; many 
were seen to orient; among the Painted Ladies were a few Danaida 
chrysippus , dark but otherwise typical. The same patch of flowers 
attracted many insects of other orders, conspicuous amongst them 
being Eumenes tinetor and E. dimidiatipennis, Sauss.; there also 
Elis senilis , Fabr., was in abundance, its sexes so unlike that it did 
not occur to me that they were conspecific. Of all the insects on 
those flowers the Cetoniid, Epicometis squalidus , Linn., was the most 
abundant, and I could easily have collected a pint of them, whereas 
a Stilbum splendidum was alone in its glory. 
In the same oasis that long-legged, black, spider-like Hetero- 
meron, Adesmia cothurnata , Forsk. (? bicostata, Klug), was to be 
seen running about in all directions, occasionally accompanied by 
his big relative, Ocnera hispida, more often by the common ant, 
Myrmecocystus viaticus. A Steraspis speciosa was found on an 
Acacia, and a dead one on the ground. A potsherd gave shelter to 
the Noctuid Sesamia (. Nonagria ) cretica , Leder.; sundry stones on the 
desert round about concealed Sceliodis castaneus, Eschsch., Mesostena 
laevicollis and Pimelia grandis, Klug. 
On the right (eastern) bank of the Nile, close to the river, 
Polyommatus baeticus , Linn., was occasionally to be seen together 
with a Danaida chrysippus and two or three Pyrameis eardui. 
Here Mustard flowers ( Sinapis sp.) proved to be specially attractive, 
yielding a Halictus ; Andrena ephippium, Spin.; Megachile albocinda , 
Ead.; Eumenes tinetor and Elis senilis. The same flowers attracted 
the handsome well-named Fly Eristalis taeniops, Wied., and the 
Beetles, Himatismus villosus, Haag, and Coccinella 11-punctata, Linn. 
Stone turning produced Ocnera hispida , a number of Thriptera 
crinita , Klug, and a Scorpion. 
In the Garden of the Cataract Hotel on January 26th, 1909, at 
about 5.30 in the afternoon, Miss Stracey called my attention to a 
number of Stilbum splendidum upon a Parhinsonia (an Australian 
tree with yellow flowers); they formed two clusters, one on a branch, 
