THE LEPIDOPTERA OF THE DISCHMA-THAL. Ill 



pink of condition, the g s with their long slender bodies and much 

 more uniformly-coloured pale grey wings, certainly more conspicuous 

 on flight than the smaller, more variegated, J , which shows consider- 

 able variation in the development of the discal spots, the fissural spots, 

 and the upper lobes of the forewings ; they flew just above the level 

 of the herbage w'hen disturbed, and hung on the grass and flower- 

 heads, ('rainbus concliellus fleAV somewhat high for a Crambid, with a 

 very gentle flight, but very conspicuous, looking whiter on the wing 

 than might reasonably be expected from its white-streaked golden fore- 

 wings and grey hindwings. With the exception of EuhoUa memnraria, 

 nothing else of interest appeared among the larger insects. Near 

 some sheds, ho'wever, a mass of Solidago vinjaurea was attractive, and 

 a suspicion that Fredericina calodactijla {zetterstedtii) might be an 

 inhabitant of the valley, led me to make a careful search. Beside, 

 the S. virf/aurea grew amongst a large bed of Pctositi^, from which, at 

 Mendel, I had disturbed some fine giant examples of Plati/ptilia 

 nenwralix. The herbage being now nearly dry, I plunged into it up to 

 my knees, and gently working forwards, soon had the pleasure of 

 seeing a Platyptiliid in my net, a certain Fredericina calodactyla: but 

 it was too early in the evening, or the insect was rare. I suspect the 

 former, but a close andcontinuoussearch, in the manner in which British 

 lepidopterists excel, only ended in fewer than half-a-dozen examples, 

 enough to shoAV that the species was there, and certainly past its best 

 condition. This, perhaps, was not to be wondered at, as it was at 

 least a month later than its time of appearance at Folkestone, although 

 again it was at some 5500ft. greater altitude. At the same time I 

 disturbed three examples of Leioptilufi tep/iradacti/la, one of which at 

 least was quite exposed, sitting on a Se)iecio flower, and these were not 

 at all in bad condition, but I kept them in confinement alive, fed them, 

 and pampered them, and was able to get some notes on their habits 

 for the next "plume" volume, if ever it should be finished. However, 

 it was getting late and cold, and, as close work produced so little, a 

 start back was made for Davos. Over the slopes Neweuphila plantaginis 

 was racing in its well-known, break-neck fashion, a few ]\lerrifieldia 

 tridacti/la were netted, and a few Tortricids, but this was all, except a 

 solitary ? of BrentJd^i pales at rest on a flower-head. One of the J 

 F . calodactyla enclosed in a box laid three eggs, exceedingly small, of a 

 full oval apparently in outline, much longer than broad, and not sunk 

 in the top ; under a hand lens the shell looks structureless, of a pale 

 or yellowish colour, and both ends not equally rounded, but as a 

 detailed description had already been published of the egg from British 

 examples {Xat. Hist. Brit. Lep., v., p. 167), I made no other notes at 

 the time, although I sent them to England for further observation. 



The next day, as has already been recorded (rtv(?m, vol. xx., pp. 273 {et 

 seq.), was spent on the high slopes between the Schatz Alp and the Strela 

 Pass, and it was not until August 8rd that we again visited the Dischma- 

 Thal. This time we plunged into the pinewood at its entrance, and 

 wasted a considerable time. True there were large numbers of Larentia 

 caesiata, and worn Erebia ligea and E. enryale, both with especially 

 small spots, in many E. enryale reduced on the upperside of the fore- 

 wings to mere black dots, although the specimens and bands were of 

 normal size. A very fine J E. stygne was the only one seen, and an 

 abundance of FircntJiis awat/nisia, Aryynnis aylaia, some of the former 



