BUTTERFLIES IN MACEDONIA. 



103 



December, when it iDresumably went into hibernation, although 

 the weather was still mild and open. It appeared again in 

 March fairly freely, and although I left the village soon afterwards 

 I used to visit there occasionally and often saw atalanta flying 

 round the gardens. Comparison with home specimens reveals 

 no important variation, but the red appears much more crimson 

 than in British specimens. 



P. cardui. — The most abundant of all butterflies in Macedonia, 

 thronging everywhere, from the tops of the highest hills to the 

 seashore. At times it seemed incredibly numerous. In the 

 autumn of 1918, just before I left Janes, I found hundreds con- 

 gregated round a barley-stack in the middle of the plain one 

 evening. I presumed they were merely going to roost, but the 

 numbers settled on the stack and flying around were uncountable. 

 I was amused one day by four of these insects, which were 

 fighting most furiously for quite a long time, dashing at each 

 other and often sending an opponent headlong to the ground. 

 It seemed to be quite a free fight and not the ordinary rivalry for 

 a female, such as is often seen among other species. 



Pararge megfcra. — A moderately common insect from April 

 to October, haunting roadsides exactly as at home. All the 

 specimens I examined were of the variety Lyssa with grey 

 hind wings, and compared with British specimens there are two 

 other differences worth noting. One is that the subsidiary eye 

 near the large one at the tip, which in the type is often a mere 

 tiny spot, is in the variety quite definite and clearly pupilled, 

 both above and below. The eyes on the hind wings beneath are 

 also larger and more distinct than in the type. 



Ccenonymvha pamphilus. — An abundant species from April to 

 November. AH my specimens are of the variety Lyllus. They 

 are larger than the type, the apical spot is more distinct, and 

 there is a submarginal row of small spots on the hind wings. 



Hipparchia briseis. — This fine butterfly, though not unduly 

 common, was occasionally seen in June and again in autumn. 

 I found it only in the roughest and stoniest hollows and ravines 

 and its powerful flight made it difficult to capture, although it 

 seldom went far away and continually returned and settled on 

 the same spot. 



Epinephele lycaon. — It is quite possible that I overlooked this 

 species, the male being extremely like jurtina, and I have only 

 one specimen, a very w'orn female, taken near Lake Doiran in 

 September. 



E. jurtina. — A very abundant insect from May to September, 

 the 15th of the former month being the earliest date on which I 

 noticed it. 



In a ravine near Janes I encountered a number of curious 

 forms of this species. All were considerably darker than British 

 specimens, especially the males, but many exhibited more or less 



