238 THE entomologist's recoed. 



Agriades thetis and Aricia aatrarcJie were fairly common, whilst several 

 specimens of the broad -bordered bee hawk moth, Hemaris facifonnis, 

 were seen flying in the sunshine. At damp places along the footpath 

 Ciipido minimus, Folyommatus Icarus, Cyaniris semianjus, Hesperia 

 malvae, and Powellia sao were congregated, though not in any great 

 numbers, and out of the group I picked a very nice specimen of 

 Cyclopides palaem.on, and one or two Hesperia alveus. Keturning to 

 Territet, I took the train to Villeneuve, and walked from there in 

 the direction of Noville. In the marshes lying between Noville and 

 the head of Lake Geneva, I found Enodia hyperanthus very common, 

 and picked up a few specimens of Melitaea athalia and M. dictynna. 

 Newly-emerged Aglais urticae, of a larger size than one gets in 

 England, were flitting along the footpath, and their capture added 

 another species to the list. I was very pleased also to get one or two 

 very nice Brenthis ino, and might have got more had I stayed longer, 

 but the mosquitos were as a horde of ravening wolves, so I left them 

 in possession of the ground. 



The morning of the following day, June 7th, opened very dull and 

 cold, with a strong wind blowing. I went by train to Vernayaz, 

 crossing over to the Branson side of the Rhone by the bridge near 

 Vernayaz station, with the intention of working along this bank of 

 the river to the Collutea patch at Branson, for I was anxious to try 

 for Lycaena tolas in that well-known locality. In the absence of 

 sunshine very few insects were on flight. Plebeius aryyvoynomon was 

 not uncommon resting on the grass stems, and an undersized ^ was 

 taken, measuring '24mm., with nearly all the underside submedian 

 spots obsolete, the remaining spots showing up very faintly owing 

 to their being much reduced in size. Occasional specimens of 

 Ayriades thetis, Cupido osiris (sebrus), Aricia astrarche and Loweia 

 alciphron var. yordius were disturbed. A single Erynnis alceae was 

 picked up, and a few Hesperia carthami were observed. A search was 

 made on the rock faces for stray pupse, but only a cocoon of Lasiocampa 

 quercus was found, spun up at the foot of the rock and well hidden 

 by the long grass ; from this cocoon a $ of this species emerged on 

 July 6th. In addition, the search revealed a number of Fararye 

 maera resting on the rocks. Here I first came across Lycaena avion, 

 two $ s being captured, flying over some rough stony slopes, and 

 immediately afterwards I netted a specimen of Op/dodes lunaris, which 

 was flitting along the footpath. 



Parenthetically I may remark that an easier way to reach the 

 Collutea patch is by the usual one across the meadows from Martigny 

 station to Branson. I cannot recommend the route I followed. I 

 had expected to find a footpath leading along the bank of the river as 

 far as Branson, but in this I was disappointed, for, where a sharp spur 

 of the FoUaterres comes steeply down to the Rhone, the path dis- 

 appeared. I found it somewhat exciting scrambling over the steep 

 slopes, for, in this exposed quarter, the wind was blowing with the force 

 of a hurricane. However, the little grove where the Collutea grows 

 was safely reached, and the first insect seen flying about the bushes 

 was a specimen of Lycaena iolas, which on netting was found to be a 

 trifle worn. I spent some time in the grove, but the sun was very 

 intermittent, and I saw no more L. iolas. Another species new to me 

 was Nordmannia (Ihecla) ilicis, four or five specimens in fine condition 



