78 THK KNTUMOLCXilS'r's RKCOUD. 



summer plants all blooming together. At Le Lautaret we found 

 narcissi, the spring gentians, lilies white and red, pasque tiowevs, and a 

 thousand others, in such profusion as we have never seen anywhere in 

 Switzerland during a series of visits from May to August in the Jura, 

 the Oberland and Valais. 



We went straight through to Aix-les-Bains, and set ofi" on the 

 morning of July 21st for Gresy and the road beyond. Heavy clouds 

 after rain gave way to a bright warm day. The first butterfly to 

 appear as the sun broke through the mists was Melanan/ia t/alathea, 

 and I was glad to note among the swarms of the afternoon a good 

 number of perfectly fresh specimens, a sign at this low level of a 

 season not too advanced. This was borne out by the entire absence of 

 the big Satyrids save for a single male specimen of Enodia dryas. 

 Nisoniades tones was out in a second brood, dull in colour. A single 

 Lycaena avion, worn to rags, was all I was to see of this " blue," 

 except one at Clelles and another at La Grave ten days later. Pieris 

 rapae was abundant for the only time in our tour, and Kpinep/iela 

 tithonuH, all males, was everywhere about the bushes along the road 

 beyond Gresy. We never saw it again till our last day at Guillestre. 

 A single Pararye aeyeria taken was very near the type form. Dryas 

 paphia was seen once, noteworthy only for the fact that it was one of 

 four which were all we came across anywhere. Another usually com- 

 mon butterfly, Loireia {Chrysophaiuis) dorilis, was taken close to Aix, 

 and never turned up again. 



In the evening we went on to Grenoble, and next morning (July 

 22nd) I went off to Clelles- Mens alone, to be followed later by my 

 friend, who wielded a camera with much success and occasionally took 

 a turn with the net. We had five days at Clelles, all fine but never 

 really warm as one imagines it should be there in July. The butter- 

 flies of Clelles are well known, and I think we met most of the habitues 

 of the place except the August Satyrids, Hipparchia briseis, H. arethusa 

 and Satyr us statilinits, the last two of which we were fated never to 

 see. The big Argynnids were very scarce, and there were no Vanessids 

 except Polyyonia c-albuin and Pyraweis cardni. And here I might at 

 once say that we saw hardly any of this group anywhere, the record 

 being /'. cardni three times, P. atalanta twice, one Euranessa antiupa, 

 one hibernated Vanessa to at Chateau Queyras (larvae half-grown there), 

 Aylais urticae, very few, no Enyonia pnlyclduros, and only one or two 

 Polyyonia c-albiun. 



On July 24th, we climbed to the top of the long ridge that lies to 

 the west of Clelles. The lower slopes, dry and stony and covered with 

 lavender were alive with Satyrus circe, and S. hermione, swarms of 

 Epinephele lycaon, bright red Melitaea didyiiia and lovely fresh Polyo)ii- 

 mattis dainon. Then we climbed through a belt of conifers, where I 

 was interested to find Brenthis ino, and came out on some steep uncut 

 meadows, bright with familiar Alpine flowers. Krebia liyea in the 

 trees gave way to Krebia euryale above, in fine condition and great 

 abundance. Higher up were i'>'. tyndarns and E. ceto, females of the 

 latter still quite good. Right on the very top, over 5000 feet, were 

 two Clirysoplianns alciphron var. yordius, very worn — a strange 

 encounter. From the top of the ridge westwards one sees a vast 

 extent of country of rich entomological promise, but one can well 



