A NATURAL HISTORY Of THE BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 163 



and mostly <? s. By this time more than another hour has sped, but 

 the kilometres have lessened and we go steadily on. Our ignorance 

 of the locality here led us astray, for we might have struck the 

 railway and saved at least half a dozen miles in which no entomology 

 was to be done, but we did not, and it was fully 6 p.m. before we found 

 ourselves washed and comfortable in our hotel at Botzen, perfectly 

 satisfied though that Mendel is still safe for the butterfly-hunter even 

 if he has to walk a few hundred yards for his specimens instead of 

 taking them almost in the hotel grounds as of yore. 



Note on the Habits of Nemeobius lucina. 



By a. S. TETLEY, M.A., F.E.S. 

 I found Xeiiifdbitis lucina generally distributed from May 15th to 

 29th, 1910, in the Rhone Valley at S. Maurice, Lavey, and Martigny, 

 and also near les Avants on the northern slopes of Lac Leman. It 

 occurred freel}' at Baveno and Laveno, on Lake Maggiore, from 

 May 18th to 21st. On May 28th I noticed specimens between 9 and 

 10 a.m. sucking honey from Medicai/o satira and Antlii/llis vnlneraria. 

 The sun had not been long on the meadow and the grass was still wet 

 with rain. The buttertl_y sat with wings inclined upwards at varying 

 angles, generally from 100° to 120°, but occasionally much closer. I 

 do not remember seeing it with wings closed above the back. All I 

 observed sat with "tail" to the sun; if they pitched otherwise they 

 appeared always to twist round to the aforesaid position. The 

 primaries were drawn up from the secondaries, but not excessively so, 

 the inner margin of the fore- covering the costa of the hindwings 

 for perhaps three-fifths of length. On May 15th, in hot sunshine, 

 between 11 a.m. and 2 or 3 p.m., I noticed a number flying among low 

 bushes, mainly hazel and little spruces, or similar conifer, at Lavey. 

 They sat m the way above described, and, when disturbed, generally 

 returned to the same place, often to the same leaf. Several times I 

 observed two, when meeting, flying up in the air 15 or 20 feet and 

 apparently attacking each other, but quickly separating and returning 

 to their original posts. I noted them as being both c? s in one case. 

 The insect generally flew with short sailing movements interspersed 

 with numerous little jerks. In all places where they were seen there 

 was abundant growth of Primula veris. Some $ s were very large and 

 bright in colour and conspicuous on the wing. I saw no pairings and 

 no oviposition, though the general scarcity of butterflies left me ample 

 time and opportunity for observation of this little creature. It was in 

 excellent order, but far scarcer than in 1907 and 1908 at Lavey, where 

 it was very abundant in those years. It flies there with llesperia 

 olri'oliis, Nisoniadcs tatjes, Cupido miniums, and Melitaea partlienii'. 



A Natural History of the British Lepidoptera. • 



By G. T. BETHUNE-BAKER, F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.E.S. 

 Another exhaustive volume of the British Butterflies has been 



A Natural History of the British Lepidoptera, vol. x., pp. 410 + viii, plates 

 i-liii, by J. W. Tutt, F.E.S., Published by Swan Sonnenschein A- Co., 25, High 

 Street, Bloomsbury. Price, £1 net. [Published separately as A Natural History 

 of the British Butterflies, vol. iii. Price 1 guinea net.] 



