226 The Ottawa Naturalist. [March 



There are many species of fragile butterflies and insects 

 of all kinds, which are found only on the bleak and wind-swept 

 summits of high mountains. These are naturally, on account 

 of their rarity in collections, a great attraction to entomologists 

 whenever opportunities occur of seeking for them in their 

 native haunts. 



In response to the President's invitation to speak for a few 

 minutes this evening on "a collecting experience of the past 

 summer," I am going to tell you of a short expedition made 

 on the 4th of August last in company with my friend Dr. Henry 

 Skinner, of Philadelphia, the well known authority on many 

 branches of entomology and the Editor of Entomological News. 

 The chief objects of our search were some species of mountain 

 butterflies discovered by Mr. T. E. Bean whose excellent work 

 on the butterflies of the Canadian Rockies has made Laggan, 

 the place where he lived for some years, a classic ground for 

 entomologists. We decided to stop at this Mecca and endeavor 

 to secure among others, specimens of Argytinis alberta, Edw., 

 and CEneis heanii, both discovered for the first time by Mr. 

 Bean in this locality. The chief object of our search, however, 

 was the beautiful and most interesting Argynnis astarte, Dbl.- 

 Hew., which has a very interesting history. This butterfly 

 had been described in 1848 from a specimen brought back to 

 England by a collector sent out by Lord Derby. Owing to the 

 small appreciation of the value of exact localities in those days 

 and even to-day with some of the entomologists in Europe 

 who deal with all-world collections, the inaccurate and in- 

 definite locality given on this specimen was "Jamaica," which 

 was one of the points of call of the collector in proceeding to 

 or from North America. In 1888 Mr. Bean who was then living 

 in the Rocky Mountains, re-discovered the species which had 

 been a mystery to all entomologists from the time the single 

 specimen was taken back to Europe. As Mr. H. J. Elwes, one 

 of the most astute of the English lepidopterists, wrote to me 

 just about that time, it seemed almost impossible that a species 

 with the general appearance of A. astarte could be a tropical 

 insect, and he felt sure that this insect would prove to be an 

 arctic or high alpine form, which would be found in the Rocky 

 Mountains if anyone would go and search for it. He even 

 offered to subscribe ;^200 towards such an expedition. Just 

 about this time, by a curious co-incidence, Mr. Bean sent 

 specimens of the butterfly, together with several other new 

 species, to Mr. W. H. Edwards of Coalburgh, W. Va., for identi- 

 fication, and Mr. Edwards had decided to name it A. Victoria 

 after our late beloved Queen, Victoria the Good. This fine 



