BUTTERFLIES IN HUNGARY IN 1910. 161 



Butterflies in Hungary in 1910. 



By J. N. KEYNES, M.A., D.Sc, F.E.S., and G. L. KEYNES. 



Hungary has, up to the present time, been visited by comparatively 

 few English entomologists. A list of the papers on Hungary, which 

 have appeared in the Kntomolof/ist and the Entoinoloiiiat's Record since 

 1890, is given at the end of the present article, and it will be noticed 

 that these have been contributed by only five collectors. Any ento- 

 mologist reading these papers cannot fail to be attracted, as we were, 

 by the prospect of meeting many forms and species which are not 

 usually to be found in the more western parts of Europe, and he 

 should not be deterred by the length of the journey nor by an inability 

 to speak Magyar. The country is interesting, its capital is in its 

 situation one of the finest in Europe, and its people are charming ; 

 they are very quick to recognise an Englishman, and — partly, perhaps, 

 because their newly constituted parliament has been modelled on the 

 English system — they are ready to shew kindness to anyone of our 

 nationality. 



Mr. Sheldon was collecting in Hungary in May, 1910, while we 

 visited the same localities in June and July, so that his paper and 

 ours will between them cover the greater part of the season. We 

 arrived at Budapest on the outward journey on June 28rd, but our 

 stay there was short. First broods were over and second broods had 

 not yet begun to appear, so that a vi.^it to the well known Svab-Hegy 

 locality produced nothing more interesting than some fine specimens 

 of Kluffia spini and a few of t^cnlitantides baton. Accordingly, on 

 June 26tb, we started south for Hercnlesbad. We had expected to 

 reach our destination the same evening, but an attempt to buy railway 

 tickets elicited the fact that, owing to the recent floods, Herculesbad 

 could not be reached by rail. We therefore spent the night at 

 Temesvar, which we found interesting as a specimen of a flourishing 

 industrial town in the centre of the great Hungarian plain. The next 

 morning we travelled by rail to Bazias, and there took the steamer to 

 Orsova. As already indicated, we had not originally intended to travel 

 any part of the way by river, but in the end we were heartily glad that 

 circumstances had compelled us to do so, for the scenery on the 

 Danube between Belgrade and the Iron Gates is magnificent, and 

 incomparably finer than anything that is to be seen on the upper 

 reaches of the river. A carriage drive took us from Orsova to 

 Herculesbad, where we began collecting on June 28th, and where we 

 remained until July 16th. 



The collecting grounds in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 Herculesbad are somewhat limited, but entomologically this is the only 

 drawback to a verj^ rich locality. One may walk up the valley of the 

 Cserna along shady paths and past occasional patches of hay and 

 pastureland, or one may ascend through the woods to the summits of 

 the Suskului or the Domogled, which lie on the east side of the valley. 

 We found the road down the valley in the direction of Orsova 

 unproductive, and the same was true of the Coronini meadows on the 

 west side of the valley, though the woods on this side are worth 

 visiting for Paran/e roxelana. We found ourselves, 'therefore, practically 

 restricted to the walk up the valley and the toilsome ascents of the 

 Suskului and the Domogled by way of the Weisses Kreuz and the 

 Quelle. No guide is required for either of these peaks. A steep zig- 

 JuNE 15th, 1911. 



