MY I^'IKST IMPRESSIONS OF SWISS KUTTKRFLIES. 5t 



My First Impressions of Swiss Butterflies (li'/f/( I 'late). 



By W. G. SHELDON, 



I suppose most of us have indulged in fancies, more or less vivid, 

 that we should like, given time and opportunity, to increase our know- 

 ledge of that most charming group the Rhopalocera, by extending our 

 researches from the very small number of species found in these 

 islands to those w'hich occur in the Continental districts that are so 

 far accessible as to be reached during an ordinary spring or summer 

 holiday. At any rate, my thoughts had run that way for very many 

 years ; a fortnight spent on the Riviera during the spring of last year, 

 and a short acquaintance with such gorgeous species as Gonoiitcryx 

 (■It'upatra and Eiiddd'c euplwnuides, settled the matter once for all, and, 

 instead of spending my summer holidays, as I had planned, in the 

 Hebrides, I promptly made arrangements to pass them in Switzerland, 

 where it is, of course, well known, that considerably more than half of 

 the slightly under 800 species of butterflies that have yet been detected in 

 the entire European area are to be found. Accordingly, accompanied 

 by my son, I left London on June 24th last, having planned an expe- 

 dition that would allow of seventeen days' collecting, returning to 

 England on July 18th. One's thoughts of Swiss butterflies naturally 

 centre in the small district comprising the upper Rhone valley and 

 the mountains south of it, where are to be found nearly all the species 

 that occur in the entire country, in most cases, in the greatest profu- 

 sion, and, after reading up all the articles in the magazines that dealt 

 with the localities we wished to visit, and availing myself of some very 

 valuable information from Dr. Chapman, I wrote to the Rev. George 

 Wheeler, to ask the order in which certain localities should be visited, 

 so that we might best obtain one or two species w'e were particularly 

 keen on. Mr. Wheeler not only very kindly answered my queries, but 

 took a great deal more trouble in giving us the benefit of his unique 

 experience, with the object that we should obtain the greatest possible 

 number of species in the time at our disposal, and it is entirely owing to 

 thisthatthe large numberof ll'i species wasobtained or observed, which, 

 I fancy, constitutes something like a record. We are also much in- 

 debted to Dr. Chapman for very kindly naming the more doubtful 

 specimens. We enjoyed throughout magnificent weather, and, with the 

 exception of one day during the whole of which the rain poured inces- 

 santly, and one other day, which was showery, we had bright sunshine 

 and blue cloudless skies from morning to night. These conditions, 

 with the grand scenery one was amongst, and with the — to an English 

 collector — extraordinary abundance and beauty of insect life, made 

 the experience a most enjoyable one, and we both look forward in the 

 hope that others may follow at no distant date. The season in the Rhone 

 valley was an average one, and species were up to date and plentiful. 

 In the mountains, however, the cold spring had left its mark, and many 

 species we might have reasonably expected to come across in numbers 

 were represented by odd specimens or not at all. We arrived late on 

 the evening of June 25th at Aigle, and spent the night at the Hotel 

 Beau Site. The next morning, after the usual unsatisfactory break- 

 fast, we unpacked our apparatus and commenced operations in the 

 woods around the Grand Hotel, a mile or so at the back of the town. 

 Proceeding along a lane, a lively brown butterfly was soon spotted, 

 Makch IGth, lUOo. 



