LEPIDOPTERA AT PONT-DU-GARD AND DIGNE. 195 



good underside aberrations ; it appears to vary more than any species of 

 the Lycamidfe with which I am acquainted, hardly two specimens being 

 spotted ahke, and some had the spots quite radiated. X. ci/llaniH was 

 the commonest bhie seen, and varied much in size, my smallest speci- 

 men having a wing expanse of barely one inch, whilst the largest one 

 was over an inch and three-eighths, a good proportion of females were 

 netted. Erehia evias was not common, local, and in splendid condition. 

 Melitaea aurinia was taken freely, all of the provincialis type. 



Naturally, one of the chief objects of our visit was Thais mededcaste, 

 once occurring in the greatest abundance, but now, alas, so far as 

 Digne is concerned, sadly reduced in numbers ; it still occurs on most 

 of the hills surrounding the town, but in very small numbers, in fact, 

 by hard working, one cannot expect to obtain more than three or four 

 specimens in a day ; accordingly one has to go a considerable distance 

 from Digne in order to see it in any abundance. A day's expedition 

 we made will always rank in my memory as one of those red letter 

 days, which come few and far between in the life of most of us. The 

 locality is one of the most romantic I have ever seen ; imagine a gorge 

 with sides 1200ft. to 1500ft. high, the lower 1000ft. of which is formed 

 of steep slopes, the upper portion of cliffs unscalable ; down the centre 

 runs a turbulent mountain stream, and a road which, in many places, 

 has been cut out of the solid rock ; the gorge just here has taken a 

 sudden turn, hiding the outlets, and giving it the appearance of 

 a volcanic crater, reminding one forcibly of Max Pemberton's 

 "Impregnable City." The slopes were at the time covered with wild 

 lavender, rosemary, and many other flowering plants of whose names 

 I am ignorant, amongst which grew the foodplant of Thais niedesicaste, 

 Aristolochia pistalochia, in great patches. Here and there a peasant pruned 

 his olive-trees, or planted his corn, whilst above all the hot southern sun 

 poured down its beams, making the whole place, even at this early period 

 of the year, a veritable oven. Such a spot is an ideal one for jf7/a/,s Dwdcsi- 

 caste, beautiful denizen of a southern clime, here at its northern limit, 

 and compelled to choose the warmest and sunniest spots for its habitat. 

 At the first sight of the insect on the wing, somewhat of adisappointment 

 rises in one's mind ; there are no brilliant masses of colour here, nothing 

 in this respect to compare with the flame-like (ronepteriix deopatra, or the 

 not less brilliant Eiu-ldu? euphennideti, only a dull grey creature, with a 

 flight as much like Farari/e eijeria as anything I can call to mind, but 

 presently, after gently flying to and fro, Thais will settle on the 

 ground, or on a low plant or flower, and then one realises at once all 

 its charm, that glorious wealth of crimson, and cream, and jet black, 

 and the delicate lacelike beauty of design, of certainly one of the 

 most beautiful European butterflies. I searched for ova, and did not 

 experience any difficulty in obtaining sufficient for my purpose, to- 

 gether with a few small larvfe ; the ova are deposited on the leaf 

 or stem of the foodplant, usually singly, but occasionally two or three 

 will be found on the same plant ; my larv;? fed well on potted plants, 

 and I already have several pup;e and other larv;v full-fed. 1 brought 

 home a few full-grown larvje of Aporia cratae(/i, the imagines of which 

 emerged a week ago, and also some larvfe of A(/lais urticae, which 

 produced imagines from June 12th to 20th. 



The species seen or taken at Digne numbered 46 and were as 

 follows : Si/richthns sao, Xisoniades toges, Callophrijs riibi, Chnjsophanits 



