I902 BiUterfly-Hu7iting in the Alps 91 



however, — E. innestra, E. gorge, and E, glacialis, — with their 

 varieties, are easily distinguished ; while, as an encourage- 

 ment to the insect-hunter, it may be mentioned that two 

 quite new species have been discovered within the past 

 few years — E. christi in the Laquinthal, a valley on the 

 Simplon well known to climbers, and E. flavofasciata 

 on the Campolungo Pass, in the St Gothard region, re- 

 spectively. 



The family further affords an interesting field for students 

 of the Darwinian theory that all species have their origin in 

 a common ancestor, and when that ancestor dates from the 

 glacial epoch be sure we shall find something approaching 

 to it in the neighbourhood of the eternal snows. Another 

 butterfly — this time a Fritillary — is a good example of the 

 descent of species. In the Eastern Alps — on the Albula 

 route to Pontresina — and in the Tyrolese mountains of the 

 Brenner, at the highest grass altitude, we may come across 

 an inconspicuous little insect, MelitcBa asteria, in the company 

 of another member of the family, our Greasy Fritillary (M. 

 aiirinia. Aurinia, subjected to alpine conditions, is a very 

 different-looking butterfly from the gay little species which, 

 though generally decreasing in these islands, is still common 

 enough in some counties. The wing-scales are so reduced 

 in density that the wings have become almost transparent ; 

 the scarlet and yellow spots, even in the freshest examples, 

 have " gone rusty " ; and to the uninitiated var. merope bears 

 little resemblance to the lowland form. In the same way, 

 asterie shows much the same peculiarities when compared 

 with relations which appear to graduate through many forms 

 into our rare Heath Fritillary (M. athalia). A single mountain 

 climb will often afford a chance of capturing the entire series 

 of connecting links, little fulvous-coloured fellows for the 

 most part, with netted wings ; and here, again, in the 

 Melitceas, the species overlap and intermingle in such con- 

 fusion that exactly what is and what is not distinct is still 

 unsettled. Quite recently a new member of the family was 

 claimed for the neighbourhood of the Simplon, one of the 

 best hunting-grounds in all Switzerland, and, though found 

 also near mosquito-haunted Martigny, it bears the name of 

 herisalensis, from the little village nine miles up the road 



