THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XLIV.] OCTOBER, 1911. [No. 581 



A BUTTERFLY HUNT IN SOME PARTS OF 

 UNEXPLORED FRANCE. 



By H. Rowland-Brown, M.A., F.E.S. 



(i) In Charente. Angouleme. 



I USE the word "unexplored" for the title of these short 

 faunistic papers m a purely entomological sense, and meaning 

 thereby a part of the country wholly outside the cognizance of 

 our British, and in some cases also of French, lepidopterists. 



Gradually I am collecting information both first-hand and 

 through the kindness of many correspondents on the other side 

 of the Channel, which may throw some light on the curious pro- 

 blems of butterfly distribution in France, more especially as it 

 indicates the trend of immigration to our shores ; the reasons 

 why certain species have stopped short at the narrow dividing 

 sea ; and why others, after apparently establishing themselves 

 here (or even indigenous species), have gradually disappeared, 

 not only from their authentic haunts in Britain, but also in 

 Brittany, Normandy, and the Nord generally. Unfortunately 

 the limits of a summer holiday confine the scope of enquiry 

 within extremely narrow compass, but this year (1911), at all 

 events, I have managed to make a "pioneer" expedition, which 

 may lead me and, I trust, others of my entomologically inclined 

 friends to visit the western regions of France for systematic 

 study of its notably rich lepidopterous fauna in those favoured 

 spots where petite culture has not entirely banished the butterfly 

 from the face of the land. 



A glance at the map of 'France G6ologique ' (j)ar E. Levas- 

 seur) affords a useful indication for the lepidopterist who by 

 experience has learnt that the calcareous strata therein depicted 

 offer the most fruitful field for exploration. Between tlie volcanic 

 rocks of Auvergne and the schist formation of Limousin and 

 the Gulf of Gascony there is a large cretaceous tract, and 

 in the neighbourhood of Angouleme there is no mistaking 

 the agreeable fauna and flora which accompany the normal 



ENTOM. — OCTOBER, 1911. 2 A 



