MY FIKST IMPRESSIONS OF SWISS BUTTERFLIES. 63 



the cuisine excellent, and the pemio)i terms could not be considered 

 anything but moderate. The meadow in front is the chosen haunt of 

 l'icri.'< najii var. brijojiiac and swarms of Paniasfiiiifi vnicino.'^i/ne. We 

 found staying here Mr. E. F. S. Tylecote, and had the pleasure of his 

 company and experience in most of our collecting. The second view 

 is taken from above the fifth refuge, and looks down the pass towards 

 the Ehone valley at Brigue. This is one of the best localities for 

 collecting in the district, and is the haunt of I'anwKsiiis dcUnx, the 

 beautiful ('oUcni palaeno, ('. phieoDtoiw, Mclitaca ci/ntliia, llrcnthis pales, 

 I'lill/oiiiiuatHH plinrtcs, and many other Alpine species. 



One of my first visits was to the second refuge for Plebeius var. 

 li/ci(las. On the way down the Ganter valley I saw, for the first time, 

 PaniassiKs apollo — once seen never forgotten ; that lazy, yet powerful 

 and most graceful, flight ; rising and falling and floating, travelling at 

 a great pace, with hardly the flap of a wing. The species was common, 

 and with it W'ere plenty of Aporia cyatai'fii (at this height in grand con 

 dition) , Mi'litaea d idi/iiia andYiu . aljnna, J,J. phoebe, Erebiaceto, E.euryalt', 

 Nomiades aeiniarf/us, Polyowinatun esclieri, J', lit/las, P. icarna, P. 

 aatrarclie, and Plebeius aeymi, and a few Erebia erias, Mclitaea partlienie 

 and var. varia, JI. dieti/nua, Ari/ynnis lat/ionla, A. aiilaia, Satijnis semele, 

 etc. Arrived at the li/ridas ground, I found the inseet fairly abundant, 

 and had no difficulty in securing a series. On the morning after our 

 arrival we turned out before breakfast into the meadow adjoining the 

 hotel for Pamassins inneiii(isi/ne, which, at that early hour, w^as flying 

 in numbers and in good condition, and with these were a few Pieris 

 var. bnjoiiiae. I5etween Berisal and the fourth refuge, and at the 

 latter place, we found Pararue hiera not uncommon and in fair order, 

 Pieris var. bryoniae, Ueneis aello, Papilio iiiacJiaoii, Palt/oinDuxtns 

 eumedon, Lijcaena alcnn (one female), and Erebia ti/ndanis ; whilst in 

 the flowery meadows between the Ganter bridge and the second refuge, 

 above the road, the brilliant L lin/sophanus hippotho'e var. eiirybia oc- 

 curred, with Papilio podaliriiis, and hosts of ParnassiKs apollo. We 

 made one expedition to the Steinenthal, a locality so well known to 

 Mr. Wheeler. The Steinenthal is a ravine which has its lower outlet 

 leading into the Ganter valley. The entrance is a very steep path 

 leading up a gorge, which does not show on the view of Berisal given, 

 but the Steinenthal itself is at the dip in the profile of the mountains 

 in the centre of the view. The mountain on the left hand with a 

 considerable growth of larch and fir is the lower portion of the Stein- 

 enalp. We expected to find Lyeaena alcon and Pohioiiniiatiis orbitnlus 

 at the entrance to the gorge and in the Steinenthal valley itself, but 

 not a specimen was seen. l\rebia erias was not infrequent in the gorge, 

 and in the Steinenthal a few Syricthns fritnlliwi var. alveus were 

 netted. I made at once up the side of the Steinenalp and climbed to 

 the top — a very steep pull of, I suppose, nearly 2000 feet — imagining 

 I should then find the alpine Coliads. Nothing, however, was flying 

 on the peak except a few PirriH callidice and a pair of Papilio marhaon. 

 Returning, I found (Eneis aello common on the steep side of the alp. 

 Seeing ip'. aello here, however, is a very dift'erent matter from catching 

 one, and I got very few specimens. I did, however, net a fine fresh 

 PWebia innestra. Returning to the Steinenthal, I found that Mr. Tyle- 

 cote had been more successful with the Coliads, having taken a fine 

 C.palaeuo, whilst my son had obtained a few ('. pJii('n»io)ie, all males. 



