The Travellers 229 



been attracted by the hope of food to the top 

 of the Ventoux, some 6000 feet above the level 

 of the sea. Vegetation is too scanty up there ; 

 and no Plant-louse ever ventured so high. 



On another occasion, in June, on the table- 

 land of Saint-Amans, a neighbour of the 

 Ventoux, at a height of 2400 feet, I witnessed 

 a similar gathering, only much less numerous. 

 At the most prominent part of the plateau, on 

 the edge of a bluff of perpendicular rocks, stands 

 a cross with a pedestal of hewn stone. On 

 each face of this pedestal and on the rocks sup- 

 porting it, the same Beetles, the Seven-spot 

 Ladybirds of the Ventoux, had gathered in 

 their legions. The insects were mostly station- 

 ary ; but, wherever the sun beat at all fiercely, 

 there was a continual exchange between the 

 newcomers, anxious to find room, and the old 

 occupants of the wayside cross, who took to 

 their wings only to return after a short flight. 



Nothing here, any more than on the summit 

 of the Ventoux, was able to tell me the cause 

 of these strange meetings on arid spots, con- 

 taining no Plant-lice and possessing no attrac- 

 tion for Ladybirds ; nothing suggested the 

 secret of these crowded gatherings on masonry 

 situated at a great height. Were these again 

 instances of entomological migration ? Were 

 they general musterings, similar to that of the 



