LEPIDOPTERA OF THE VAUDOIS VALLEYS BOBBIE, AU PRA. 



85 



Lepidoptera of the Vaudois Valleys— Bobbie, Au Pra, 



By J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 

 There are some places that cue visits for entomological purposes 

 that leave lingering memories of satisfied longings much beyond any- 

 thing to be accounted for by the immediate results of the visit from 

 an entomological point of view. A sense of rest, a fulness of satis- 

 faction with "one's surroundings, rough comfort, intellectual enjoyment 

 in what one sees, and other details accumulate now and again, causing 

 one to regret the termination of a visit all too short and fleeting. 

 Such a feeling still clings to me with regard to Bobbie (a little village 

 some miles up the Pellice valley, beyond Torre and Villar, and nest- 

 ling at the foot of the ascent that leads, finally, by the Col de la Croix, 

 into France, and directly on to Abries) and Au Pra, a little mountain 

 hamlet, that lies at the final ascent of the Col de la Croix. Ten 

 days in the second and third weeks of August, 1901— August 9th to 

 18th— were spent at Bobbie, idling on the slopes within easy reach of 

 the village, catching such insects as came in my way, and occasion- 

 ally taking a long stretch away up to the lovely falls of the Pellice 

 and the old fort of Mirabouc, away through the walnut trees, on into 

 the pines, until even these thinned out in the final ascent to the little 

 isolated hamlet of Au Pra. There were a good many lepidoptera around 

 Bobbie— such species, however, as would have driven our real hunters 

 mad with ennui at having nothing to catch. Still, here are my cap- 

 tures, such as they are, ready to be distributed in the cabinet, and now I 

 look at them with satisfaction, as they call up memories that strongly 

 hint that, with health and strength, I shall probably see Bobbie agam 

 some day. Avfji/nnis adippe ab. cleodoxa loved the village, and so did 

 Leptidia miapis^ which collected in large swarms round the puddles 

 with Pieris napi ; five or six of each at a stroke could often be netted 

 easily, Fararqe maera patronised the roads, and Porthetria dispar 

 danced here, there, and everywhere. On the trees around was Satyrus 

 hermione, crafty and wary, and difficult to catch. Up at the second 

 bridge, where the Eupatorium grows in large clumps, was a capital place 

 for lots of common species, particularly Caliimorpha hera ; sometimes 

 a score or more were to be seen on one large clump, with quite a 

 number of Pi/mmeis atalanta and Polyijonia c-album, the latter much 

 interesting me by its habit of sometimes resting with its wings flattened 

 horizontally out, whilst Dnjaf^ paphia and Argynnh «(%/»(; kept up a con- 

 siderable flutter among the swarms of Epinephele jnrtina (jamra) and 

 other insects that congregated there. On the way up to the bridge one 

 always passed some examples of Parar<je maera, keen and active, as usual, 

 but although one saw an occasional Polyowniatns hylas, P. corydon, P. 

 astrarche, and Plebeius an/yrotinoinon {aryus) before one started climbing 

 the steep, sharp stones that commence directly the bridge is crossed, it 

 was not until one had got beyond the next hamlet (where, by the bye, 

 liniophila muralis occurred on the walls) , that these species became really 

 abundant and were joined by P. icarus, P. cro^, with an occasional F. 

 ischn-i. Here, on the path, wherever a rivulet crossed the gro^na, 

 the blues and Syrichthus alveus were usually in abundance, and, with 

 them, Pamphila comma, not at all common. The fields on either side 

 are the haunt of Chrywphanns var. gordias, the males worn, in August, 

 the females rather better. Much commoner were C. virgaureae and C 

 phlaeas, but evidently Mditaea phoehc, so common at Torre, was rare 

 Apkii. I.JTU, 1903. 



