LEPITJOPTERA OF THE VAL D KERENS AROLLA. 



this species is one in whicli the ordinary pale reddish areas of the 

 underside, on which the yellow or silvery spots are placed, become a 

 deep rouge or red-brown, &c., thus presenting a striking and beautiful 

 contrast. This deepening of the ground colour of the underside of the 

 hindwings occurs both in the yellow- and silvery-spotted forms, and I 

 would call the form ntft'scoi^ n. ab. — ruft'scL'us-tijpica (with silvery 

 spots), rKh'scrns-eris (with yellow spots). The 9 s, on the whole, are 

 here, also, very dark on the upperside. Similar forms occur at 

 Lavancher, near the foot of the Mer de Glace, but I think those at 

 Arolla are somewhat larger. 



For two or three species we had to climb a good way up the 

 mountain. I saw no Melitaea cijnthia till I was a good 500ft. -1000ft. 

 above the chalets, on the way to the Pag de Chevres, and then only a 

 few of either sex, nor did one meet with Erehia (jorge, E. glacialia, or 

 E. Uijijiona until one got on the skrees of the Roasette, or on 

 those below the rocks on which the conspicuous crosses are placed. 

 It is a remarkable feature of the Erebias here that they tend to 

 forms with little or no spotting — such is the case more particularly 

 with Eirliia ti/ndanis, and E. //"/y/f, of which I got long and 

 interesting series, and also, I think, of E. lappona, which, how- 

 ever, was scarce and going over. Here, too, on the herbage growing 

 at the foot of the skrees, I captured several Melitaea aurinia var. 

 merope, so poorly coloured, however, that I thought them worn, 

 and rejected many, although those I now have I find to be in much 

 better condition than any I have obtained elsewhere. Here, too, I 

 found an occasional (Eneis aello, swift of wing, and reminding one of 

 Sati/nis seuiele, whilst a single example of aello was taken down almost 

 as low as the Hotel du Mont Collon, on the bank of the stream that 

 runs down by the side of the wood. Here, too, I may mention that, 

 on August 6th, a large number of big, faded Pi/ra)iteis cardni invaded 

 the district, so far as my captures were concerned ? s, that settled 

 down, each on its own piece of ground, to the alternate duties of fight- 

 ing with a neighbour and egg-laying. They were still busy when I 

 left. Epinephele li/caon, so abundant further down the valley, does 

 not seem to reach Arolla, nor did I notice Coenomjmpha pani- 

 p/iiltis, but '' '. satyrion, worn badly, in the neighbourhood of 

 the hotel, was in first-class condition here and there about 

 oOOft. -1000ft. higher, the <? s of a very uniform sooty grey-brown 

 hue, the 2 s with the median area of the forewing brownish, and 

 showing a distinctly darker margin, as in $ s of r. var. ilanriniana, a 

 form that, perhaps, has led to the statement that the latter is common 

 throughout the Alps. True C var. ilanriniana has to me proved ex- 

 ceedingly rare, or, perhaps, it would be better to say exceedingly 

 local. Perhaps I am rather too late. I have examples from 

 Fnsio, Macugnaga, Simplon, The Cristallo (Cortina), Campiglio, 

 !Mendel Pass (where the variety runs into typical < '. airania), the 

 Penegal (above Mendel), Andermatt, and the Val Lauzon (near 

 Cogne). The Tyrolean localities are excellent ones in which to note 

 the transition from typical ( '. anania to var. (lanciniana : that C. 

 snti/rinn is specifically distinct from these I feel quite convinced. 

 It would be a good thing if we could get the eggs and larvn? (in 

 all their early stadia) of these compared critically by an expert. 

 The 2 s, of course, from which the eggs were obtained should be 



