A TRIP TO CORSICA AND THE ALl'ES MARITIMES. 279 



was one of the commonest species met with, both here and on the Nice 

 road, which otherwise did not yield much of a bag. Higher up again, 

 and in the little meadows, watered by a careful system of irrigation, 

 P. damon was just beginning to show with Noniiadci^ sinnionjus, and 

 C'l/aniris an/i(dt(s, while I may as well mention here that a few battered 

 female Lycaena arioii were still ovipositing in the Vesubie valley on 

 the other side. (Jhrijm))hanus vin/aKrcae was also to be found in pro- 

 fusion, the females not easily to be distinguished on the wing from ('. 

 doriiis var. siibalpina. Argynnids were not very much in evidence. A 

 few wasted IJrenthis ciiphrosijiw, fresh Issoria latunia, Ari/i/iinis niobe, 

 A. adijipe ab. licodn.vci and Dri/as paplda, appeared at intervals, the 

 last-named being by far the commonest of its kind. Melanart/ia var. 

 procida, on the other hand, swarmed, and, presently, in the pine-woods, 

 I found Erehia liijea and E. ciiryale, both fine examples and in 

 exquisite condition, ('oennnympha dorua was another common species, 

 and there were the usual confusing Hesperiids, among which Ht'speria 

 cart/ianii, H. sao, and a very beautiful form of what appears to be H. 

 alvens var. fritUlmn, were prominent. That day, at least, I saw nothing 

 of the promised Laenmpis robnris, although I must have passed over the 

 spot more than once, where I afterwards discovered it two days before my 

 departure (July 29th), when I was, however, carrying, not a butterfly- 

 net, but a heavy camera. So, in the afternoon, I returned to the 

 clematis hedge from which I had flicked the tell-tale specimen, took 

 two fair examples, and saw at least half-a-dozen others in about half- 

 an-hour, but L. ruhoris was evidently on the wane, though from hear- 

 say, and my own observations, I should say it occurred not 

 infrequently here, the larvae feeding on ash. My walk up to the 

 Madone (July 28th), like so many similar expeditions this year in the 

 south, was spoilt by the sky clouding over soon after ten o'clock ; and 

 there is surely nothing more irritating to a collector than the sudden 

 and prolonged withdrawal of direct sunlight after a brilliant, cloudless, 

 early morning. Dr. Lang had told me that, in 1899, he found L'liiunobas 

 aello flying in the village itself, if the group of sheds belonging to the 

 inn, and the little pilgrimage chapel of Our Lady can be dignified by 

 the name. At an altitude of 6000ft., the valley, which is in Italian 

 territory, is an ideal collecting-ground for alpine insects. In a brief 

 interval of sunshine I took, or observed, ( '<dian idiicomune, Paruassius 

 apullo, Erehia ijoyije, E. sti/yne, E. tjoante and what I take to be a bright 

 and well-ocella'ed form of E. ejdpJiron var. cassiojie, E. melanipHs, and 

 again a well-marked and rather large T'A ti/ndari(fi, referable to var. dromua. 

 The Melitfeas were represented by Xlelitaea parthenie var. varia, and 

 Ar;/ij)inif< pales was, I expect, common enough, though most I saw were 

 sitting on flowers or the leaves of low-lying shrubs. Aporia crataeiji, 

 Atjlais iirtirae, and, a little lower, Brenthia aiiiat/nisia with Epinephele 

 lijrao)i (males only), suggested a useful field of exploration, but the 

 absence of sun made collecting extremely difficult. It was perhaps re- 

 markable, however, that here, as elsewhere, the Anthrocerids appeared 

 little ati'ected by the dull grey light ; and, though never occurring in 

 such profusion as I have seen them in the Swiss alps, lower down, 

 on the lavender, I took a few interesting species, including 

 Anthrncera [Zi/;/aena) juirjiiiralus and ab. pobjt/alae{f), A. transalpina, 

 A. /lilaris var. ouonidis, A. carnioUca, and one ab. ireileri (/), A. 

 ejdiialtes ab. medusa (one), and several forms apparently of A. triftdii, 



