COLLECTING IN SWITZERLAND IN 1908. 81 



to make good the deficiencies of the last few days, especially ou the 

 look-out for more Pontia dapUdice, of which, however, we saw no 

 sign. On the slopes to the left of the River Arve, near Lavancher, 

 there was no abundance of insects, but Urhicola comma was in fair 

 numbers. An occasional worn Kuodia hi/perant/um $ , worn ileodes 

 virgaiireae, Ar<iynnis af/laia, and Melajiijiias melanipiiif, fresh Aijriades 

 corydon g , fair Erehia iiianto, a good Cnenmupnpha arcania, and one 

 very nice Erebia Ivjea were all the captures, although much ground 

 was traversed. On the banks of the river, IHeris rapae and P.hrassicae 

 were abundant, mostly with their wings torn ; Pamassitis apoWi, and 

 an occasional A(/lais iirticae, were the only species seen. 



The 11th was spent in ascending the Montanvert, crossing the 

 Mer de Glace, and returning to Argentiere bj^ the Mauvais Pas, and 

 proved a grand day — not entomologically, however. Very few insects 

 were seen during the whole of the day, the most interesting of these 

 being Pyrameis atalanta on the Montanvert. 



On the 12th we went by train to Zermatt. The 13th was wet. 

 On the 14th we walked to the Findelen Cascade and viaduct of the 

 Gornergrat railway. In meadow's on the way were Heodes vlnjaureae, 

 an occasional very worn ClirysophcDius hip pot hoe, Partia^sius apollo $ , 

 two C'olias ediisa (one very fresh, the other in rags), two worn ('. hyale, 

 a very good hsoria lathonia, a few very nice Ayriades corydon : Pieris 

 hrassicae were fairly commen, Aryynnis aylaia J s abundant, very much 

 bleached, and very busy egg-depositing with ( 'oenonytnpha pamphilus of 

 very rich colouring, one PolyoDitnatns hylas ? , i^rbicola conniia, and fresh 

 Hesperia alveiis. In the afternoon, Mr. Page being very busy setting, 

 I tried some ground on the right bank of the Visp, which produced 

 Erebia yoante in abundance, but almost all very worn, very good and 

 abundant Hesperia alreiis : fair Epinephele lycaon, fresh Plebeiiis aryus 

 {aryyroynouion) and P. optilete, Aricia aatrarclie and Ayriades corydon, 

 in good condition, with Aryynnis aylaia, and very fair Brenthis 

 ettphrosyne. I was very interested in taking this species in August, 

 and at first rather sceptical as to its identity, but apparently this is 

 not an uncommon experience in the Alps (see Ent. Rec, xix., pp. 231 

 etaeq). 



Next morning, the 15th, we tried the Zmutt Valley, where we had 

 the good fortune to meet Dr. Chapman, who kindly gave us hints as 

 to further collecting in this district. We found ParnassiKs apollo and 

 Epinephele lycaon in good condition and plentiful, and, on a delightful 

 little slope, carpeted with a purplish labiate flower, mingled with wild 

 thyme and fairly alive with insects, took, among other things, some 

 very nice Heodes viryaiireae 2 of the zennattenfiin form; the males, 

 however, were worn. The other captures included Colian phicomone, 

 Powellia sao, Urhicola conniia, Issoria lathonia, Melitaea parthenie var. 

 varia, M. phoebe, all worn ; Erebia yoante, E. eiiryale, E. tyndarns in 

 good condition ; Plebeins aryyroynomon worn. The sun disappeared 

 about 2 p.m., and rain set in for the rest of the day. On August 16th, 

 signs were evident of the weather clearing up, so we climbed up the 

 Trift Gorge, a delightful little place, where we found many flowers 

 and plenty of insects, but these were mostly passe. A fresh brood of 

 Brenthis pales occurred in one spot, and a specimen of Parnassitis 

 delius was captured by the little stream. Erebia eiiryale, E. tyndarns, 

 and Urhicola comma in very good condition were the chief things taken. 



