A LEPIDOPTERISt's summer in central ITALY. 249 



Florence, and about the same length of time on two other afternoons, 

 one just below Perugia, and the other, in mid-October, in the gardens 

 of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli. It was, in various ways, an immense 

 gain to stay so long this year in one place, as it enabled one to note 

 exactly the coming and going of different species, to make absolutely 

 sure in certain cases of a double-brooded habit, where it was uncertain 

 or perhaps unsuspected, and to get at least a good general idea of the 

 butterfly fauna of one practically unworked locality during the busiest 

 part of the summer. 



We left London on June lith, and, spending two nights at Milan 

 on the way, arrived at our old quarters at the Porta Rossa at Florence, 

 on the 17th. As our stay here was to be but short, I made my way 

 up to my old hunting-ground at Fiesole the following afternoon. 

 Here I found Pohjommatus escheri and Af/riades coridon fairly common 

 (for Italj^), the former being very fresh, A. thetis {bellarc/us) just emerg- 

 ing, as were also BrentJiis hecate, Rumieia phlaeas, and 2Ielanarf/ia 

 (jalatea var. procida : there were also a few Scnlitantides baton, and a 

 fair supply of Coenomjwpha pamphihis, the latter somewhat worn, and 

 one disreputable Pyraineis cardiii persistently sat upon the road in 

 front of me. The following afternoon I got half -an -hour or so in the 

 Val d'Ema ; here Poly(/onia egea was common and in fair condition, 

 Pieris rapae was fresh, as were also Epinephele jurtina and Pararge 

 megaera : two or three torn Pieris napi of the napaeae form, and a couple 

 of torn Nordrnannia ilicis were the only other species seen. On the after- 

 noon of Monday the 21st, I got in a second visit to Fiesole ; here P. 

 escheri was no longer common, though still fresh, and I took two ? s, 

 one of which has almost the whole of the lower wings, except the 

 costa, suffused with brilliant blue, and small patches of the same colour 

 just inside the orange border of the forewings. All the specimens are 

 slightly lighter and brighter, and much smaller than those of the 

 Rhone Valley and the neighbourhood of Berisal. Agriades coridon, 

 a darkish form, was still common, but A. thetis was in small numbers 

 only, the 2 s, however, being specially fine, not of the ceronns form, 

 but with very broad and bright orange borders. Brenthis hecate was 

 commoner than on the 18th, but there were as yet no ? s to be seen. 

 It is not an easy species to take, as it flies in and out amongst the 

 heather and other low-growing plants, and may thus be readily 

 distinguished on the wing from B. eiiphrosi/ne, which generally remains 

 above the undergrowth, though the two species look much alike, the 

 flight of B. hecate being however somewhat slower, as is indeed 

 necessitated by the habit just referred to. Powellia sao was fairly 

 common, and Thyinelicns acteon and Adopaea lineola in considerable 

 numbers. All these species except A. coridon were confined to the 

 north-east side of the hill, while S. baton was to be found only on the 

 south and south-east, where I also took one Pontia daplidice, and saw 

 a few Celastrina argiolus. Colias edusa and Epinephele jurtina were to 

 be seen in all three places. 



On Wednesday the 23rd, we left for Assisi, where on the following 

 morning Poh/gonia egea was seen to be abundant. In the afternoon I 

 went down into the plain below the town, and hunted round a field of 

 purple vetch, where Pleheius argiis {aegou) was common but almost 

 over ; Melanargia galatea (somewhat lighter than at Fiesole), Leptosia 

 sinapis (second-brood form) and Adopaea lineola were all abundant, 



