June, 190S.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 31 



LEPIDOPTERA OF THE VICTORIAN ALPS; TWO 

 NEW BUTTERFLIES FOR VICTORIA. 



By G. Lyell, F.E.S., Gisborne. 

 (Read before the Field Naturalists^ Club of Victoria, I'StJi Ajjril, 1908.) 

 From our botanical members we have had several papers 

 describing the plants to be found in our Alps, but as far as I 

 remember no attempt has yet been made to record any of the 

 butterflies and moths, so these few notes may be of interest. 



On 5th February last, after the long, hot railway journey of 

 nearly 200 miles to Bright, we found the 1 6-mile coach ride to 

 Harrietville very pleasant. The narrow, green valley of the 

 Ovens River, with the abruptly rising, steep, timber-clothed 

 ranges on either side, were in delightful contrast to the long 

 stretches of dry, flat country to be seen from the railway between 

 Melbourne and Wangaratta. Several water-races for the dredges 

 near Bright flow down the valley, but these and the pretty 

 rushing mountain stream itself are sadly discoloured by the 

 mining operations higher up. 



After a night at Harrietville, we made an early start on the 

 Omeo road for the climb of nearly 3,500 feet to the Hospice 

 standing on Mt. St. Bernard at just above the 5,000 feet level. 

 The narrow, steep mountain road, doubling upon itself continually 

 in its climb up the range, is hard work for the horses, but very 

 pleasant for us, taking us as it does away from the heat of the 

 lowlands and into the coolness of the mountains. For the first 

 two hours of the journey we have occasional glimpses of the 

 dwindling township in its narrow, green valley below, and then 

 having neared the summit of the range, the going and the pace 

 are both improved, and we get a glimpse of the Hospice itself. 

 There it stands, lo or 12 miles away, up at the head of a big 

 gully, perched just below the skyline of the ridge, and but little 

 below the point where the dwarf Snow Gums give way to the 

 treeless summits. 



The past weeks had been very barren, from a collector's point 

 of view, the exceptionally dry season having spoilt even our 

 best grounds, but a decided improvement is noticed as soon 

 as we begin our mountain climb. The rare moth, Hydriomena 

 heteroleuca, flies up in numbers from the shady banks overhanging 

 the road, and the butterfly Xenica achanta is abundant — this we 

 did not see higher up the mountains, so it is evidently hardly'an 

 alpine species. Heteronymjiha meroije is also abundant at the 

 lower elevation, while only an occasional specimen is seen above 

 4,000 feet, where its place is taken by H. soland^'i, a species 

 described by Waterhouse from my collection as lately as 1904. 

 Pyrameis kershawi and P. ilea are numerous on the coach road, 

 and the occasional specimens taken on the heights are noticeable 

 on account of their very large size — three examples of P. ilea 



