60 



and is met with at a higher level in Sicily than (jalathea, where, 

 owing to the prevalence of high winds, it is more often seen than 

 caught, and I wonder whether further differences in the nervures 

 may be traceable in order to account for this difference of flight. 

 Should the collector reach the japi/f/ia ground on a calm afternoon, 

 a very rare occurrence, he will have a great treat, for the place is a 

 "live" garden in two respects, and the red, white and blue flowers and 

 butterflies will recall our Union Jack, and alone in the wilds of the 

 steep gorge he will feel patriotic. Melitcea didyma is the brightest red 

 " flower," and suns itself in numbers all round. Aylau urticcB and 

 Pyrameis cardiii settle on the mule-track, almost under his feet. P. 

 atalanta prefers the tree-trunk close by; Dryas pandora and Issoria 

 lathonia flit from flower to flower; Pierii^ rajue and J7. japyyia, which 

 show up white, settle quietly, but do not try to catch a specimen of 

 the latter, if you do the whole batch hurries off down the slope where 

 you cannot follow them ; the blues, chiefly Polyoinrjiatiis icarKs, 

 brighten up the blue and white flowers; Papilio machaon blunders 

 along, while lovely P. podaliriua soars over the tree occupied by 

 atalanta, just out of reach. Night comes on quickly in Sicily, and 

 it is dangerous to be caught by darkness on the steep slope full of 

 pitfalls, so hurry down to the military road below ; on your way 

 you may pick the black burnet Syntoniifi phegea oft' the thistles, pass 

 scores of Adwita statices flying over the Erica, and watch a batch of 

 larvae of Malacosoma franconica scattering for their evening meal. 

 After passing the Cataract, a fall of about 50 feet, and having bid 

 good night to the polite washerwomen who crowd to the stream, 

 you feel safe, and wish for another calm day in the near future — a 

 wish very seldom gratified until your coveted specimen is battered 

 and worn-out. 



Melanargia larissa. 



I have no knowledge of larissa in its native haunts, but the speci- 

 mens I have examined appear to me to belong to the japyyia group. 

 The pattern is divided into four, and the last nervure on the under- 

 side is straight, not Y-shaped, the females are large, and altogether 

 there is a close resemblance to the Sicilian ionn otjapy<iia. The 

 affinity is so close that I have no hesitation in suggesting that 

 larissa is a geographical form of atropos, Hiibner, and therefore 

 japy<jia, Cyril. I may add that in the Natural History Museum 

 Collection, there is a series under this name (from the Elwes Collec- 

 tion) which requires further examination, as it may be an Asiatic 

 form. 



Suggested Classification of Melanargia (European). 



GENUS. MELANARGIA (Meigen, 1829). 



Species. (1) Galathea (Linnaeus, 1758). 

 var. procida — dark, 

 var. leucomelas ? — pale u.s. 



