2 THE ENTOMOL,()(ilST S KECORD. 



certainly seem to combine to favour the floral plethora with which one 

 never ceases to be astonished and gratified. 



The North side (facing South) of the Valley from Villar d'Arene to 

 Lautaret, from some 6,000ft. upwards to 8,000ft. or 8,500ft., is not 

 grazed, but all is cut for hay, and this cutting is not begun till quite 

 the end of July, nor finished till well into September, when the seven or 

 eight months' winter commences. Any grazing is done on only a few 

 awkward places after the cutting is over and this late cutting seems to 

 enable the plants to thrive about as well as if they were not cat at 

 all, though how such luxuriance persists with constant cropping and 

 no return, was a puzzle for which I could not find the key. On the 

 opposite (south) side of the valley, with trifling exceptions in places, 

 the whole slope is grazed, and the different aspect of the vegetation is 

 very striking, due more perhaps to the aspect than to this different 

 treatment. From some 8,000ft. or 8,500ft. upwards, grazing obtains 

 on all available areas. Insects seem also able to maintain themselves 

 in the mowing areas, not usually in profusion like the plant life, 

 but vastly in excess of what usually occurs in the mowed meadows of 

 the lower areas in Switzerland. 



Mr. Tutt's references to the species he met with is so detailed that it 

 would be superfluous for me to go over the same ground now, and I 

 will only refer to such points as may extend the picture of the butterfly 

 fauna of the district that he gives. 



I visited this district largely with a view to studying Auriades 

 tliersiti'.'i, and went to Le Lautaret to fill up time till the second brood 

 emerged at lower levels. I was rather astonished to find it at Le 

 Lautaret, but this and other items in reference to that species may be 

 left till I have something to say as to its life-history. I have now got 

 larviB which appear determined to hibernate, so that whether I shall 

 succeed or not in getting them through the winter is my present 

 problem. Mr. Tutt says he took Poli/oiiniatKs icarns var. irarimis 

 here. I do not find these amongst any of his specimens that have 

 come my way ; probably these were Agriades thersites, but icarinns is 

 not very rare at Le Lautaret. P. icarns is common and well dis- 

 tributed, but the commonest "blue " at Lautaret is certainly P. eras, 

 though it is a little localised. It is abundant wherever Oxi/tropis 

 cawpi'stris grows, and also with Antra</alus aristatns; Phacn astrai/alina 

 is also a foodplant, though not apparently so much favoured, and 

 accounts, I think, for the more scattered occurrence of P. eroa. It 

 very probably has other less acceptable foodplants. 



After P. eros the most abundant " blue " was Plebeitc^ arifjjm- 

 linoinon, P. icanm being rather less common. Tutt notices P. aniyro- 

 ijnomon (under name P. ari/iis) as only locally common ; it was during 

 my visit generally distributed and common in most places. Really 

 much more abundant than /*. eras, if allowance be made for the latter 

 being abundant in only a few restricted localities. Plcbeim^ an/ns 

 {aeijDu) was rare, and only occurred occasionally. 



A 5 of Ciipido sehnoi was met with, and a few odd specimens of 

 Lijcaena avion, a small dark form. Poli/diiuiuttKs seiiiia)yiis was not 

 uncommon. Tutt says the specimens were small compared with 

 examples from the Tyrol. They seemed to me aboat average size, one 

 ? was 35mm. ; Wheeler says 30mm., Ruhl 32-34mm. Ai/riades condon 

 was not uncommon, but rather below the Hospice, becoming frequent 



