312 THE entomologist's record. 



only noticed aiew Ercbia %crtjustout, the customary crowd of Melanargia 

 (/alatea, and, at the summit, one or two Anthrocera purpuralis {nihws). We 

 had better luck at Mende, our next halting-place, though the weather 

 most of the time was execrable, and one intended outing resulted in a 

 whole day's incarceration in a small roadside station. The path from 

 Mende, by the lower road following the line of railway to Balsieges, once 

 clearof the town, traverses much first rate collecting ground. Theslopes of 

 the Causse here are steep and covered with aromatic herbs, vetches, and 

 long grass, and there is enough spring water in the hills to keep them 

 fresh, in pleasant contrast to the stony uplands above. All the 

 Satyrids found elsewhere abounded, with S. alcijone, and ,in a gully above 

 the village of Balsieges, F. dolus was flying in hundreds. I'ymineis 

 cardui, very large and perfect, hovered about the lavender, and, on the 

 stems of grass and rushes, Hesperia actaeonvfas not uncommon, though, 

 once disturbed, difficult to detect. The protective resemblance of 

 some of the insects we came across was most striking. In particular, 

 I remember a specimen of I'arnassius apullo asleep on a dwarf conifer, 

 the red spots of the wings appearing to harmonise exactly with the 

 centres of the pine stem, where the undeveloped cones were already 

 showing a rosy pink. The folded wings of S. circe, which, like 

 all its kind, loves to settle on tree-trunks, assimilate in a remarkable 

 manner to the rough bark of the chestnut, and Polyyonia c- album, 

 perched in the same way on the pine, is almost invisible. M. galatea 

 ab. leucomelas I also found difficult to separate from the tufted 

 grasses and daisies. In the same way the colouring of Hesperia actaeon 

 resembles closely the brown flowers of the rush, which here, at any 

 rate, it particularly affected. Both Culias edusa and C. hyale were 

 swarming at the lavender; Argynnis daphne was represented by single 

 specimens, while A. aylaia and A. niobeweve in abundance, Noctuids 

 seemed particularly scarce everywhere in the Cevennes, Taking our dinner 

 alfresco and sitting well on into the darkness, it was remarkable when the 

 lamps were lit how few lepidoptera were attracted. The Epjhemeridae 

 were in great force some nights, but other orders were wanting, and, 

 taken all round, the mountains and cailons themselves were disappoint- 

 ing. Perhaps we expected too much. A gully brim full of lavender, 

 with scattered bushes of bramble and clematis recalls the mountains 

 at the back of Digne, and P. var. rippertii, which I was rather sur- 

 prised not to encounter, but this was not the only absentee, and it is 

 apparent that the insect fauna of south-central France approximates 

 far more to the fauna of western and northern than of southern 

 Europe. 



From the time we arrived at Mende (July 27th) onward, the weather 

 was all against collecting, to say nothing of the localities, and this 

 may have something to do with the too obvious fact that our bag 

 for the last week was nil. On the 31st we drove to Le Puy, a 

 thirteen hours' diligence drive, during which the rain never ceased, 

 while this otherwise extremely interesting city, did not boast in its 

 environs a single piece of collecting ground that we could find, the 

 land being heavily cultivated with cereals and other crops right up to 

 the summit of the hills. August 2nd found us at Clermont Ferrand, 

 and there again butterflies were conspicuous by their absence. A walk 

 to the famous Puy de Dome on the 3rd gave us no better results than 

 a single Euvanessa antiopa ; while the green slopes of this extinctest of 



