16 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



With A nemo7ie alpiiia and A. 7iarcissiJiora, on an immense velvety- 

 green lawn-like expanse was an unforgettable sight, with )avines 

 of Lilium croceiim, spiraeas, purple campanulas, and a host of 

 brilliant leguminous plants — a gorgeous blaze of colour. Tlie 

 lovely blue clematis hung it.s tresses on the rocks bright with 

 Aqailegia alpina, and the air was redolent with the lily-of-the- 

 valley here and there. In some of the side valleys 'Hialictrnm 

 and Dianthus, linarias, saxifrages, and a host of rock plants and 

 showy labiates interested and attracted the eye at every step, 

 and all the fields were a sheet of tender pink and mauve bestarred 

 with marguerites. St. Etienne has a splendid water-sui^ply from 

 the chain of lakes in the high peaks of liabuons and Tenibres, 

 and their cascades descending to the valley are nil under control, 

 and can be shut off or turned on at will for irrifi;ation purposes. 

 It is for this reason that considerable portions of the lower slopes 

 are always green and floriferous despite the great heat and 

 drought of the southern summers, which burn up the rest of 

 mountain and valley. There is no Dorijcnimn, but plenty of 

 lavender of course. 



Collecting is hard work on the long excursions. Often I was 

 up at 3 a.m., and, after coffee, started in the darkness at four 

 for a six hours' walk to reach the ground, and then sometimes 

 when one had arrived the sunshine went off. The Col de 

 Gialorgues, 2529 m., is a five-hours' run, the Lac de Yens ditto, 

 as also the Foret de la Sertriere. At the Lac de Rabuons, 

 about the sam-e distance, there is a hut, and one can stay the 

 night, but I did not get as far as the lake as the day I set out 

 for it was one of the few broken days exi)erienced. And Oh ! the 

 steep, rough mountain paths, or nn paths. What it cost in shoe- 

 leather, though heavily armoured with nails, I will not here 

 recount. Seven pairs of boots did not carry me through without 

 many repairs ! 



I subjoin an annotated list of the various Lepidoptera that 

 we either took or observed during our many hunts in the 

 district. 



Hesperiid.e. — Carcharodits hoeticiia Rbr., males plentiful at 

 mud ; females very scarce on flowers ; a second emergence, very 

 small in numbers and size, at end of August and beginning of 

 September. Larva?, nearly full fed, feeding on mallows when 

 we left. C. alcece var. aastralis not nearly so common. Second 

 emergence, September and October. C. lavaterce, at mud, but not 

 very common ; mostly flying on hot rocks in steep, inaccessible 

 places. '? Second emergence ; one male taken in mid-September. 



Hesperia. — The species captured appear to be as follows, so 

 far as I can determine them at present with the limited means at 

 my disposal : H. carthami very plentiful on mountain roads at 

 mules' droppings, wet mud, etc. ; females scarcer, but with dark 

 hind wings, and some of both sexes heavily spotted white. 



