﻿THREE WEEKS IN THE HIGHER PYRENEES. 61 



ence of Pyramcis cardui took place. The other Vanessids were 

 scarcely eraerged, every nettle-patch being crowded with larvae 

 of Aglais urtica, and on the wet 18th we found a roadside birch 

 towards Gedre on which numbers of the larvae of Euvanessa 

 antiopa were taking a shower-bath, and apparently enjoying 

 themselves vastly. Mr. Warren returned next day, and filled 

 with them a huge tin box commandeered from Madame's kitchen, 

 and I believe the majority of the brood should now be qualifying 

 for "white-bordered" British " Camberwell Beauties" this 

 spring, after hybernation in the comfortable thatches of mid- 

 Buckinghamshire. I do not remember having noted the species 

 in the mountains elsewhere feeding on birch ; as a rule it pre- 

 fers various kinds of willow. From the '25th onward to the 

 30th, when I left for Bordeaux, the weather was extremely 

 unsettled, and nearly all the butterflies met with were becoming 

 worn, after what was, certainly, in most cases, a remarkably 

 short period of flight. I may add also that the usually com- 

 mon Pierids were quite rare, while I took but a single Pontia 

 calUdice on the Astazou side of the Cirque, Ptirnassius apollo 

 being only occasional where formerly it was present in large 

 numbers. Earlier in the year a very fine form of Anthocharis 

 simplonia haunts the mountains round Gedre ; M. Rondou, when 

 I visited his fine local collection, most generously presented to 

 me a series of males and females. Mr. Warren took a worn 

 example or two at the beginning of our visit. 



Butterflies observed at Gavarnie, July 14th-July 30th. 



HespkriidjE. — Carcharodus lavaterce, C. aliliece ; Hesperia 

 carthami, H. alveus, H. serratidcB ; Pyrgiis sao ; Urhicola comma ; 

 Thymelicus actceon. 



liYGMmDM. — Heodes virgaurecs, and var. miegii ; Chryso- 

 phanus hippothoe ; Loiveia alciphron var. gordius ; Rumicia 

 phlceas ; Lyccena avion ; Ciipido minimus ; Nomiades semiargus ,- 

 Agriades corydon ; Polyommatus hylas, P. escheri and var. 

 rondoui* Obthr., P. eros, P. pyrenaica ; Aricia medon (a large 

 form) ; Pleheius argus ; Strymon spini. 



Papilionid^. —Parnassias apollo, P. mnemosyne. 



* As this form of escheri has been only recently distinguished by M. 

 Oberthiir (Bull. Ent. Soc. Fr. 1906, pp. 57, 58, and Lepid. Comparee, fasc. iv. 

 pp. 216, 217), I think it may interest our collectors to transcribe a short 

 description from the latter work : — 



Male. — Smaller than the type. On the upper side the blue, looked at in 

 full daylight, shows a light greenish reflection ; under side uniform grey 

 ground colour, with the black spots very small, and the triangular white 

 mark along the marginal border of orange-yellow spots on the hind wing 

 almost wholly wanting. 



Female. — Characterized by blue dusting of the wing bases on the upper 

 side ; the fringes of all four wings entirely white, and not brown with white 

 at the apex as invariable in the type. 



