54 THE entomologist's record. 



thing. A few gieaius of morning sun produced Jirenthis dcqiline and a 

 single Xo>-rf>/^fl»?H"« [Thecla) ilich, and Hesperia cartlianii tiew occasionally 

 on the rocks of La Batiaz, and a single PolyoHivuttua amanda in the 

 marshes below only raised vain hopes. On June 9th, with warmer weather, 

 we made for the mountains behind Bex to see if we could light on Loireia 

 a}ii])Indaiiias. When we got to Yillars all was dull and misty, so we 

 worked down to the lower ground which we could see bathed in sun- 

 shine. In the meadows Melitaea atlialia was in perfect condition, but 

 M. parthenie was generally very worn. Along the banks of the Gryonne, 

 Farart/e iiiaera was extremely abundant, and single specimens of Cupula 

 scbrufi and Xovu'ades ci/llarus, worn to shreds, recalled to mind their 

 abundance in that place last year. Mclanari/ia (jalatea now swarmed 

 everywhere, and, in some marshy ground close to the railway, we took 

 a few Cocnunymplia iphh. Next day (June 10th) we decided to go to the 

 famous " underclift"" at Vernayaz. Favoured by brilliant sunshine we 

 had one of our two best days. Just outside the station gates Lmreia 

 var. gordins turned up as if to encourage our hopes. All along the 

 path lender the clift's butterflies were swarming. One big bramble 

 bush in full flower I shall never forget. It was literally covered with 

 Broitii i s d a phne , a,nd [j)>rfiawav.tiordiiis,'\yithXord)iia)inia [Thecla) ilicis a 

 very bad third. Up and down the path worn Melitaea cinxia flew along 

 with M. phoebe and half a dozen common " blues." I was surprised to 

 take three Er>/7i}iis {Carcharodiis) lavaterae so early. But it was a day of 

 surprises. I took a single very worn ParnassJKs nineinosi/ne and a perfectly 

 fresh Erebia sti/i/ne : but, later in the day, as we were nearing Martigny, a 

 strange-looking butterfly suddenly flew off one of the large boulders that 

 are so frequent there. It reminded me of Hipparchia seuiele in Hight and 

 appearance, and a luck\' shot disclosed Oeneix aello, a ragged old male, 

 but unmistakable. One Ari/i/nnis adippe J fell to the net while we 

 were in the marshes after Pohjovunatiis amanda. The latter was 

 freshly out, but all males. We took all suspicious-looking Melit*as, 

 and worked hard round La Batiaz for 2f. var. beriKale)tsis, but got no 

 more than two. Ajjoria crataei/i was very common ; I counted eight 

 at rest in the late afternoon on a single scabious head. Mditaea 

 dicti/nna was also very abundant in the marshy ground. 



The next day we went to Berisal, after a morning in the Lavey 

 woods, when we added Brenthis inn to our record there. June 12tli 

 to 14th were spent near Berisal. Above the village, butterflies were 

 scarce. Paranie kiera Avas common just below the hotel, and all along 

 the road up to the fourth refuge. Xisoniadex tages kept up nearly to 

 the top of the pass along with Cupid o vriniiinis and Pier is var. brt/nniae. 

 But down in the Gantertal there were butterflies in abundance. 

 Hesperia carthaMii was the commonest " skipper," but there were 

 plenty of others, including H. serratidaf, difficult to get in good order, 

 Poneliia sao quite fresh, Xismiiades taijes, and H. malvae. Parnassius 

 nnietiinsi/ue ^^•a,s very common in its well-known haunt, nearly all males; 

 there also were Aricia etDiiedon and Antlmc/iaris siiiiplnnia, the latter 

 much easier to catch in the early morning than later in the day. I 

 was glad to find Vlebeius li/cidas in some numbers at the second 

 refuge, and well out, too, both 3 and $ ; odd specimens occurred 

 along the road as we went down. Krehia evias occurred sparingly 

 from the second refuge upwards to Berisal, and again below Simplon Dorf 

 for a mile or two. Pierisnapi var. brijomae seemed to begin at Berisal^ 



