THE LEPIDOPTERA OF THE GRISOXS SUS TO GUARDA. 167 



semele, whilst, gliding to and fro on outstretched wing, with scarcely 

 perceptible movement, was Poh/f/onia c-albmu, sitting almost suddenly 

 at last on a leaf, drawing up its wings, and then slowly lowering them 

 in the sun, just, as it were, to show how lovely it could be. From a 

 thistle-head by the roadside a most interesting capture was made, a 

 fine freshly-emerged Volyomwatus aniaruhm. From among the bushes 

 came swarms of Erehia aetJnops, fluttering in and out or resting on the 

 flowers ia the sun or on the road at the puddles of water left from the 

 rain of the preceding days. At these puddles by the side of the main 

 road was quite an abundance of Af/riades coridon, Hirsntina damon, 

 and a few I'acciuiuia optilete, whilst, in the village of Lavin, the solitary 

 poplar tree observed had been sadly interfered with by Leucoma salicis, 

 the imagines resting on the garden wall beneath, whilst the most 

 lovely Issoria latlionia, in their freshest beauty, settled directly in front 

 of one, displaying their colours in the sun, and then, at the slightest 

 approach, snapping up their wings and darting off like an arrow to 

 return and go through the same manoeuvre, just a few yards in front, 

 again and again, so that even on the main road there was plenty 

 to interest one, and even to afford material for observation. 

 At Lavin, one leaves the main road and makes for the slopes, across 

 which the path leads to the conspicuous village of Guarda, but we 

 never reached Guarda, although we struggled hard against adverse 

 circumstances. Some of these circumstances are here set forth. 

 Between Lavin and Guarda, three distinct obstacles present themselves 

 as tending to prevent the entomologist from fulfilling the expressed 

 wish to reach the next village : (1) Directly outside Lavin, a lane with 

 flower-covered walls on one side and bushy slopes on the other, leading 

 to a place where the bushy slopes cross the road and wild-flowers grow 

 most luxuriantly, ending with a delightful spring which splashed great 

 wet patches around. (2) A wide stony expanse of wind-swept slope, 

 covered with flowers in full bloom, over which a breath of air just 

 caused the flowers to nod in silent happiness, stretched aw^aj^ acre 

 upon acre, to the foot of the mountains, up which the dark pine trees 

 swarmed in serried ranks as far as the eye could see from our position 

 under the mountains. (3) A glorious open larch wood, with a mixture 

 of birch and an undergrowth of barberry, elder, willow, buckthorn, 

 etc., great clumps of E/nlobiuin, Centaurea, giant Umbellifers, foxglove, 

 scabious, and campanulas, and a carpet of golden-rod, Gnaphalium, 

 Hieracia, clover, trefoils, Ecldum, labiates of difterent kinds, (xalitim, 

 the lovely lace-edged pinks, and hosts of other flowers in full- bloom. 

 Through these we slowly and gently struggled from about half-past 

 ten in the morning till about four in the afternoon, gathering in 

 lepidoptera, and being gathered in by diptera, until we had to confess 

 ourselves beaten on both occasions, and returned weary, hungry, and 

 happy to Sus and dinner. The ground here described was, on the two 

 days we visited it, swarming with lepidoptera, many common, some 

 worn, and all most interesting. The lanes beyond Lavin gave an 

 abundance of Micros, the names of which do not easily recur to one 

 who is allowing himself to get rusty, but there were Catoptria 

 candididana, Dicrorhampha, sp. ?, Pijraasta purpuralis, Ennychia 

 aiKjuinalis, Herbnla ct'spitalis, Crambus falsellus, Phycis suboniatella, 

 Argyresthia brockella, as well as Acidalia jiaveolaria, A. osseata, etc. 

 On the slopes an abudance of Merrifieldia tridactyla (tetradactyla), and 



