250 THE entomologist's record. 



Notes on a holiday in Soutli-Eastern France. 



By J. A. SIMES, F.E.S. 



In July, 1912, my wife and I made a short tour in Dauphiny and 

 the Basses Alpes. Our route was a well-known one to British students 

 of the European butterflies — out to Grenoble and Bourg d'Oisans and 

 then via La Grave, the Lauteret and Brian9on to Mont Dauphin, 

 Guillestre and Abries, whence we proceeded to Digne via Embrun and 

 Veynes. 1 do not propose to write a lengthy account of all the species 

 met with — the route is too well known to warrant that ; but I made a 

 few observations which even at this late date I think it may be as well 

 to put on record. 



I have no notes of anything out of the common until we entered 

 the Valley of the Guil. In the lower part of the valley — i.e., below 

 Guillestre — little was to be seen except a French Army Corps on 

 manoeuvres ; but after that insects of the commoner kinds became 

 abundant, especially at and about the blossoms of lavender. Close by 

 the Maison du Roi we took a large $ of Linienitia popnli — an insect I 

 was far from expecting to meet with at such a place near the middle 

 of July. For the next few miles tbe dominant species was Aporia 

 <:ratac(ji, which in all my experience I have never seen in such pro- 

 digious numbers. Round every little puddle on the road there were 

 assemblages of 40 to 60 examples ; along the whole course of a little 

 runnel by the roadside there were legions — so many, in fact, that in 

 places a newcomer had difficulty m alighting ; but nevertheless the 

 air was full of the flying insects, the vast majority of which were flying 

 downhill. The numbers thinned out rapidly above Chateau Queyras, 

 and I do not think I encountered a dozen examples during a stay of 

 ten days at Abries. Between the Maison du Roi and the Chateau I 

 found b'olyomiiiatm iiielecu/er (males) in some numbers, and an example 

 of Hirsiitina admetiis var. ripartii a short distance below Queyras was 

 a surprise. Erunnis laraterae was numerous right up to Abries. (I 

 had previously taken a couple near the summit of the Lauteret on the 

 La Grave side). Pohjommatua eroa was abundant throughout the 

 valley, but there were very few females. At Abries itself insects were 

 not m vast numbers, nor was there much in the way of quality to 

 make up for the shortage. On the Collette de Gily I found Erehia 

 (jovfie in some force, and with it E. qlacialis. It was on July 15th on 

 this mountain that I saw two females of E. (jladalis deposit each an 

 ovum on a loose stone on the scree slope as briefly recorded on p. 

 312, vol. xxiv. The operation in each case was carried out in such a 

 business-like fashion that I feel confident that what I saw was a 

 regular method of oviposition of this species. I hope, however, that 

 further observations will be made to confirm or disprove this in the 

 near future. It should not be a difficult matter to follow up, as E. 

 f/lacialis is at all times a species which is much more easily observed 

 than caught. I am wondering now whether E. gonje may not also 

 oviposit in a similar manner. 



Three days later I witnessed the earlier stages of the courtship of 

 a pair of Aglais urticae, the incidents of which closely followed those 

 recorded by Dr. Chapman on p. 208 et acq. in vol. xxiii. We came 

 upon the insects about 3.80 p.m. on a sunny bank by the side of a 

 jnountain path about 500 feet above Abries. The behaviour of this 



