THE BUTTERFLIES OF UAUPHINE, 79 



imagine it very difficult to work. The uplands are waterless, with ill- 

 defined tracks and places where one could stay few and far between. 



Another day we worked up to the bottom of the clift's of Mout 

 Aiguille with much the same result, adding another Krebia, to wit 

 utiifinc, male and female, both worn. Theda ilicix was common here 

 and there, and the females still in good condition. A single worn 

 Brenthifi daphne was netted and released, as also was a very worn male 

 Poli/oiinnatiis aiiiawki. There were no Hesperiids except Hespeiia 

 carthaiiii. Auriades coridon was just appearing. Epinepliele jiirtina 

 was in swarms everywhere, with fine brightly marked females, 

 approaching var. hispiilla. 



On Friday, July 26th, we moved on to Briancon, the next day I 

 walked to La Grave. The day was very fine with cloudless skies and 

 a cool breeze. From Briancon to Monetier-les-Bains there was very 

 little to be got, the fields boi'dering the road being too highly cultivated 

 and the roadside barren and Howerless. This stage would be better 

 done in one of the very convenient P.L.M. motors. Just before 

 Monetier I was surprised to find odd specimens of Erebia ceto and E. 

 eurijalt'. From Monetier to Le Lautaret butterflies were very plentiful 

 but few in species. The commonest was Flebeius an/us and its variety 

 alpuia : then came Hirsutina damon, Adopaea Ihieola, A. fiava, and 

 Par)iassii(s apollo. Near the summit were Colias phicoinone and a 

 single Anthocharis siinplonia, in beautiful condition. After 3 p.m., 

 when we were a mile or two from the top of the pass, butterflies 

 disappeared and there was nothing to distract us from the wonder of 

 the flowers. They remain the brightest memory of a glorious holiday. 



At La Grave we stayed a week and had two bad days. Twice we 

 worked up to and beyond the Glacier de la Meije, the second time to 

 the top of the ridge above the little hut, whose lights we used to see 

 every night from the hotel door. In the lower meadows there was 

 not much to detain us, but when we got to the larches every clearing- 

 was alive with butterflies, Erebia euryale in swarms, Argynnis niobe, all 

 typical, lots of little blues, and among them occasional Polyommatus 

 eros. Above the trees the slopes, where the Alpine rhododendrons 

 were in full flower, were full of Brenthis pales, nearly all typical with 

 occasional var. /.sis. We were now over 7,000ft., and E. euryale made 

 \^ay for E. tyndaras and E. la])pona, the former growing more numerous 

 when we came to a little lake right under the clifl's below the summit. 

 After lunch we climbed up to the ridge behind the hut across some 

 steep patches of snow, but the sunshine was fitful and the wind cold, 

 and we saw none «f the higher Alpine butterflies except Pieris cullidice, 

 all tattered and torn, and Krebia yorye. The view from the ridge was 

 wonderful ; on one side the huge mass of La Meije, below us on the 

 other an immense glacier seamed with hideous crevasses, away on the 

 north-east the inassif of Mont Blanc, very clear and distinct, and to the 

 right of It a line of big snow peaks, suggesting the Valais Alps. 



A long day on the bare heights at the back of the village, and 

 another at Le Lautaret were spoiled by bad weather. August 1st I 

 spent down the valley towards Bourg d'Oisans, and found swarms of 

 Hirnutina dainun, Epinepliele lycaon, and Erebia euryale, with Cliryso- 

 p/tanus viryaureae more numerous than elsewhere, yet never common. 



On August 3rd we left La Grave and walked over the Col d'Arsine 

 to Monetier les Bains. We followed the Lautaret Road to Arsine, and 



