BUTTERFLIES IN MAOEDONIA. 63^ 



Gonepteryx rhamni was moderately common over the whole 

 period, but never specially abundant. I saw more than any- 

 where else at Karasuli in November, 191(3, and at Sarigueul in 

 the following spring there were a few specimens in the ravines. 

 None of those I saw differed from the normal. 



Dn/as pandora is the largest and handsomest of the fritillaries 

 met with in Macedonia. It ranges from 2|- to Sj in. in expanse,, 

 the females distinctly larger than the males. The markings on 

 the upper side are almost precisely similar to those of paphia, the 

 males having the familiar bars on the nervures, but the ground- 

 colour in both sexes is much more greenish. The males are 

 almost the exact colour of var. valesina and the females even 

 darker and greener. The latter have a distinctly yellow patch 

 below the costa of the fore wings, wider towards the tip. In the 

 months of May and June, 1917, 1 saw solitary specimens in some 

 of the ravines near Kukus, but in the autumn it was in great 

 profusion in a ravine a mile or so to the south of Janes, and in 

 the following spring it was even more abundant at the same 

 place. Unlike paphia it is not at all strong on the wing, the 

 flight being heavy, and it rests frequently, either on the ground, 

 or plants. On a certain clump of acacias I found numbers 

 resting with closed wings on the underside of the leaves, where 

 the soft green of the underside proved strikingly protective. It 

 is more gregarious than any other fritillary I have met, and, 

 indeed, its habits are quite different from those one associates 

 with the British fritillaries. 



According to Kirby, the larva feeds on the wild heartsease^ 

 but there was very little of this to be seen in the neighbourhood 

 in question. I only paid one or two flying visits to the place and 

 did not see any females ovipositing. 



Issoria lathonia, regarded as such a prize in England, was^ 

 next to M. phcehe, the commonest fritillary in Macedonia. The 

 earliest note I have of its appearance is the middle of March, and it 

 was abundant down to the end of June. Although frequent enough 

 in the ravines, I found it more addicted to tracks and roadsides 

 than most fritillaries, and in this respect it resembles the " Wall,'' 

 which it is not unlike in appearance on the wing. I took several 

 fine examples. None vary from type, and the size ranges from 

 44 mm. in the males to 54 mm. in the females. 



Melitcea didyma I first met on a rounded hill close to the 

 destroyed vineyards of the monastery near Kukus, about the 

 middle of May, 1917, and it was very abundant there for about 

 three weeks. I did not see it again till the following year, 

 when it was very frequent in the cornfields around Armutci 

 village. It is a bold insect, flaunting itself freely before one as it 

 sails gracefully from flower to flower. I greatly admired the 

 rich reddish colour of the male, which does not vary much^ 

 either above or below. The sexual difference is striking, the 



